My last deer hunt was a little (lot) disappointing. I went on a guided doe management hunt. I paid for the opportunity. Although the hunt was not expensive, the cost did add up once you add hotel and traveling expenses. Let just say this one hunt was about 30% of my total hunting budget for the year.
The hunt was supposed to be a low-challenge, fun hunt. I, and all of the other hunters, were promised to see lots of deer. I was told that the normal success rate was quote "near 100%". I was also told that last year the success rate was 110%. We were all excited, mostly with the anticipation of seeing a lot of deer. The hunt was on a deer management area and we were told that we would probably see some giant bucks, although we would not be able to shoot them unless we were prepared to pay a hefty trophy fee.
The weather was perfect, and although my day started off rocky (I locked my keys in my truck), things were really looking good. By noon I was getting concerned. I had not seen a deer. Out of the five hunters on the hunt, only one had seen a deer.
At the end of the day only two hunters saw deer, one was killed. Three of us, including myself, did not see a thing. We all tried to stay positive, but everyone was disappointed and frankly felt a little misled. The guide was also visibly upset. At times he even seemed angry, this was apparently one of the worst hunting days he had experienced on the land.
I know that hunting is hunting. No matter how good of an area you are in there is always the chance you will not see anything. It was deflating though. I had been looking forward to this hunt for months.
I debated mentioning the name of the guide, but I am going to save it for later. I plan on trying him one more time. He is close to where I live and has a good reputation among local hunters. I certainly don't want to give him a bad review over one day of hunting. Bloggers have a lot of power in this regard, I don't want to hurt his business without just cause. He did seem to try to get us on deer and his accommodations were nice. He did a couple things I didn't appreciate, but I'll save those for a real review.
Anyway, I killed one doe this year. I am pleased to have some great meat in the freezer. I had fun deer hunting this year, but deer hunting has never been my favorite. Now I'm going to focus on hunting the things I enjoy most; small game.
