Hunter observation log

Does anyone else keep a log of their hunts during season?

Looking back on my season I saw 25 does, 8 fawns and 14 bucks.
39% of my hunts resulted in zero deer sightings.
Also looks like the predators are doing a great job of keeping our deer population under control without any help from us
My season was a little better than last year so we will continue with our management strategy of severely limiting doe harvest ( we only killed one this year) and hopefully the results will continue to get a little better every year

We did for several years and ended up with the bottom line of us averaging seeing roughly 1 deer for every man hour of hunting over the course of the time we kept up with it.

BigT, I know you have bears and you've related your neighbors' hunting methods. Just curious if y'all do any trapping or have trappers come in?

We have not tried trapping in the past but do have some people that have shown interest in the past year of running traps on our property so hopefully that will pan out.

I keep my own, but we also do it as a club to see any trends.

That's a pretty good ratio of buck to doe/fawn sightings.

BigT, can y'all do anything about the bears? Do they bother y'all? I don't think I'd be afraid of them, but I've never hunted around any either.

I used to keep a Word document saved to my desktop, I'd make notes about each hunt for the whole season. Haven't done that in a few years though. It was probably a neat thing, I just never did anything with it, so I just quit doing it.

BigT I'd say you guys probley have one of the better clubs in that area. I hunt Gulfcrest some also. The deer sightings were poor this year over there one thing is the night hunting off the roads is terrible in that area. I seen quiet a few deer at my place in chunchula but I had to really be a thorn in the poachers side at the house and the numbers are coming back. I'm glad to see a good group in Gulfcrest because there is some fine deer in our area. I seen deer about 90% at the house compared to about 20% at the lease. Good luck on the yotes I trapped 7 last summer out there all were huge yotes.

I keep a personal log. Have been for the past few years.

Have been keeping a record for the last six years I have been actively hunting my farm and it is a good source of information. Because I had kept records it was really clear what the effect was when my neighbor started feeding during season. The four years he did not I averaged about 2.5 deer a sit. First year he fed dropped to less than 1.5 and this year less than 1. Can't fix a problem unless you identify it and record keeping helps.

We can't do anything but watch the bears. They are protected by the State. Other than messing up hunting if your are hunting a food source and destroying anything left out for them to get to like the seats of climbers or the seats of brand new UTVs no they don't bother us lol. I have been hunting around them for over twenty years and they don't scare me, but I also try to avoid them when possible and especially when they have cubs with them.

This...I've been doing it for several years now. Some of my best seasons were 05/06 07/08. I can go back review what I seen/done on each hunt..

We keep a observation log at our club. Each member logs all the deer, turkeys, and hogs they see.

We started a log this year. Not just animals seen but areas you may of scouted. Don't like to sit where someone stomped through the woods or possibly went in after a poorly shot deer. Some people aren't complying as they want to keep their spots and sighting to themselves.

Yes, always keep track of my hunts and sightings.
And, we have a Voluntary Log Book at skinning shed. Very few hunters besides family on land I am currently hunting. So, it is kinda hit & miss. But, in years past, I have always required it on my leases and climbs.
I also keep a trail cam inventory and try to update it regularly.

I usually log what I see on scoutlook app so I can compare year to year sightings. I didn't even bother this year as I only saw very few deer. Lots of nocturnal pictures of deer so they're there but not coming out. Still going after them in FL. The stupid club I joined in Covington county had 8 members kill a total of 0 deer. LOL. May be first year in a long time I don't kill a deer all season.

I usually keep a log but I didn't for most of this year. My year was about average as far as deer sightings go. I didn't lay down any real big deer this year but that wasn't because I didn't see em.

I did the avid bow hunter survey for DCNR this year.

29 hunts. 178 does, 23 fawns, 36 bucks.

6.13 does per hunt, 1.24 bucks per hunt.

about a 5:1 doe to buck ratio. (not considering fawns)

2 hunts got skunked. so 7% I guess.

I started keeping one when I got back into hunting, it helped me to determine when the rut kicks in where I hunt, as well as other useful information.

That's insane, jbc. I'd bet you're in the top 1% state-wide.

Gotta ask JBC, what kind of property are you are hunting that produces those kind of sightings. Thats' incredible.

Private land Montgomery county mostly, little Macon, little Bullock.

All the jack holes that make the rules hunt awesome land in the Black Belt like jbc's. They honestly think that everyone has 50 deer per square mile, when many places have 5.

(Though, I'm not advocating more rules, just stating a fact that they don't hunt a strip mine in Marion county)

52 hunts
292 doe/yearling
31 bucks (12 being spikes)
14 hunts with no deer sightings

Escambia-3 hunts/2 deer
Conecuh-
1)1 hunt/5 deer
2)1 hunt/0 deer
Dallas-2 hunts/22 deer (3 bucks)
Greene-1 hunt/0 deer
Lowndes-
1)2 hunts/ 58 deer
2)1 hunt/ 13 deer (2 bucks)
3)4 hunts/ 59 deer (7 bucks)
4)1 hunt/2 deer
Marengo-14 hunts/19 deer (5 bucks)
Perry-2 hunts/9 deer
Oakmulgee-2 hunts/ 1 deer
Corp land-2 hunts/2 deer (1 buck)
Rockingham Co, NC-13 hunts/130 deer (13 bucks)
Dougherty Co, GA-3 hunts/1 deer

(number list under the county are different properties)

I lease 200 acres in Marengo County and have 750 acre family farm in NC. All the rest of the properties are friends places I was invited to hunt.

I killed one buck during bow season In NC. Other than that killed a handful of does during rifle season in Bama.

Great year!

coosa county - 35 hunts probably 55 deer seen and 10 - 15 bucks.

Bullock county - 4 hunts probably around 60 - 70 deer seen. Probably 10 bucks with one killed and another nice one passed on.