Milestones

[KwackWacker]

So I was sitting in the stand this evening watching the misting rain turn into drops the size of hickory nuts and it dawned on me that 22 years ago yesterday I killed my first deer. Made me feel old, but it got me to thinking about how much deer hunting has changed in those 20 or so years since I first started. From technology to tactics, everything has changed in one way or another. What's the biggest difference, good or bad, that you have seen in deer hunting? Let's hear it, whether you have been hunting for 2 years or 50 years.

[Tenpoint]

Deer populatons. We're in the "good old days" here in Ontario, with deer numbers as high as ever. Success rates are great, and the herd is healthy.

Tenpoint

[crosscountry2]

I'm only 16, so i haven't been hunting to long, but from the stories my dad and grandparents have told me, I think it's the creation of the pop-up-blind. They told be stories about how they would just sit under trees and endure the cold and wind. I've hunted in a pop-up-blind all my life, and i couldn't think of how miserable it would be enduring the wind.

[KwackWacker]

I guess I would have to say that what we as hunters used to believe about deer and what we know now has changed the most for me.

[ironhead]

Scent defeating technology. Used to be baking soda was what I used, now we have the silver ion stuff, scentblocker and all the stuff like that. Looking back, I was a caveman in that area.

[NYBuckhunter]

I have to agree with you on this Kwack. I think that the biggest difference is in overall and specific understanding we have about deer. That has led to all of the other improvements in scent control, equipment and tactics.

[RICHARDCatdaddy]

Does turning 47 years old count?

[DocHolladay]

I would have to say Google Maps/Google Earth, scent blocking technology, bullet improvements, rifle improvements, Deer Hunting Chat....... the list goes on.

[BuckeyBuckhunter]

Heat seeking Broadheads

[backstrap]

Going on 30 yrs of hunting now.

1. Hunting clothes - used to be long johns and 2 pair of jeans, boots were sneakers and pull over rubber boots, coat what ever you had, Camo yeah right.

2. deer population - much higher now, used to be allow one deer per season

3. warmer weather - used to be friggin cold

these are the things that come to mind right away, of there have been many other changs as well

Man making me old still remember my first deer though

[Bowhunter 400]

This is my 19th year in the woods and some of the changes..

1. Scent control technology
2. Being able to scout from your pc
3. The loss of good hunting property to development...
4. The amount of pay to hunt fair chase ranches and the ridiculos money they charge
5. The advances in archery equip and optics

[buckbuster92]

in my area the deer population is down big time from when we first moved here. We'd go shining at night out in our fields and see 40 deer at a time. now your lucky if you see 2.

[Brow Tine]

I have been hunting for almost 25 years now. Some of the changes that I have seen over time are…

-Increase of technology devices and available information (ie. Trail cams, Google earth, DHC, etc).
-Scent Technology by far has improved and I think that it really has given me an edge in the woods.
-Bow technology has greatly improved resulting in faster production bows.
-Younger persons getting involved and wanting to be good hunters.

Some of the not so good things that I have seen are:
-More stringent hunting rules and regulations..again this is not necessarily a bad thing but a few bad apples will rot the barrel.
-Increase in deaths from inexperienced hunters that don’t follow basic field safety rules and ethics
-Fenced in ranches
- CWD

That’s all I have for the bad stuff….. There is so much good that can be found hunting

[chorton]

Been nearly thirty years. Changes I've seen is you could walk up to almost any landowner and it would be "help yourself", but now you might be looking down the wrong end of a gun as your ran off the property or you pay half your retirement to hunt there. And lets not forget PITA!!! I'm a bowhunter at heart, 30 years ago we were few, but now it seems we outnumber gun hunters around my neck of the woods. I hope to think its because of its more "sporting" and because of more season to be one with "Mother Nature"...

[cbriarrabbit]

I have been hunting deer since 1962. No tree stands at that time. We would climb trees or sit on the ground. Went thru a few years with climbing stands and now too old to do this. Thanks for ground blinds. Seasons were short but still a lot of deer around. Lost several properties due to housing and various reasons. With the number of deer you can take here it's a good thing.

[ironhead]

I remember when i was a kid here in Missouri,,,there were NO deer, or turkeys. NOW look at us.