My son and I where talking today about people that get big deer every year and how it seems they get to hunt a lot more than other people. That got me wondering on a normal year how many sits do most people get to hunt. A sit would be one morning or one evening. All day would be 2 sits. We thought it would be 4 to 6 a month considering all the days of archery season divided by the times you got to go. Is it more or less for you and what do you thing average is

about 5 times a week 20 a month 60 a year give or take 10. but it only takes 5 min. to get from back door to stands.

I deer hunt about 60 days a year on average. That doesn't count any other game hunting I do. I believe the average for most is less.

If you count sits, then.. Thanks to my current job and good boss, probably close to 5 a week during bow season. Less when rifle season opens. Overall I would say I push the 45 mark, but I too believe the national average is somewhat less.

When I could walk out the back door and hunt it was 60+. Now that I am retired and have moved north I hope to maintain that number of sits...but if one or two should run into my arrows, I enjoy perch and steelhead fishing too!

I've taken 27days off of work this fall. I'm required to work every third weekend, this gives me a day the week before and a day the week after off. I've set some of my days off to coincide with my weekends off hence 3 to 4 day weekends. I live in the South. I work 7am to 3:30pm home by 4 I can make it to the woods by 4:30 if I wanna sweat the early season pretty much everyday that ends in "Y" till the time changes. From my accounts I saw 5 deer pope and young class last year a couple of stallions. As follows, first encounter transistion from greens to acorns late September. Next 3 were November 6th, 7th locked on does chasing. And final week of thanksgiving. By December they were all ghost. I sealed the deal on a broken down rutted out buck with his horns broke car or fighting the processor said no way he would've made it gouges limping and blind just real poor health. Taking time off doesn't help kill anything. Being in the woods is the trick. I'm run ragged by January but I'm a duck hunter too. So after November I'm mostly afternoons. I'd a say 60plus days spent after deer. If 2 sits is a day. I got the first 9days off and it's coming less then 3 weeks. Good luck! Shoot safe, be safe!

Not enough and apparently less than many it appears:(

10 if I'm lucky. Steve

I've been hunting almost 20 yrs now. I've averaged 7-12 sits per yr I'd say. This year I live on my hunting property, don't have to be at work until 9 on workdays, so I'll be going pretty much every morning until I get what I want or run outta hunting season. Lucky me!

I've been in college the last 4 years so hunting time has been very limited for me. I could only hunt whenever I could make it home for a weekend so I probably only got 6 days of bowhunting in or so and then more with gun. But this year, since I just graduated and I currently don't have a full time job ( I'm planning to move to Nashville early next year to pursue a career in music) I can literally hunt EVERY SINGLE DAY OF THE SEASON!!! I don't plan to hunt as much early on, but once Halloween gets here I'll be in the woods every day. I can't wait! Expectations are high for this year!

I no longer hunt big game but when I was active last I would only hunt about 20 days a year.

Because I could hunt all year round I'd pick very specific times to be out there,like early spring when the animals would be out on the grassy clearings or just prior to the rut before the bush became to busy with rifle shooters and the stags were most active visiting scrapes and wallows ect.

For me one or two deer every year was all I ever really wanted as I've always been more a meat hunter with a casual eye out for a trophy animal if one should turn up.

Jack.

I hunt starting at the end of Sept when it opens I hunt early season more than late (I cant take the cold and after youth gun season its a lot tougher to see deer where I hunt) I really like the time before daylight savings hits (prior to Nov 1)

I like hunting in the evening hours (2 hours prior up to legal shooting)

I like to hunt (just as happy shooting a doe, or heck even a rabbit or squirrel)

IMO focus on trophy animals has really hurt the sport. Its made the sport more $$, but I think we've lost focus on what hunting is about.

After typing this I just realized it really doesnt answer your question. On best I guess I average 10 hours a week in the woods, Sept 25th thru Nov 25 After that its hit or miss

Some years more and some less. Id be happy if it was 1 and done but its not. 10 to 15 on a bad year and 20 to 30 on better year on average. Just on Big game not inc. birds or fish.

The real question might be better how many days do you spend setting up for the shot. Not sitting hopeing for the shot?

Ohio has a 4 month season so I'd guess around 160 a year if I don't fill my buck tag early. I usually have my freezer full of does in first couple weeks then I hunt till my buck tags filled with a mature buck. Sometimes thast takes a while.

40 to 70 "sits" per 2 month season.

while I was single I hunted 6 days a week, married I only got to go 3 days, now disabled I get very few. not something I'm so happy about.

We only got 6 weeks in the early archery season so you only got 36 hunting days in Pa. I try to get out at least half of the days do it would be around 20 hunts. I try to focus on the first two weeks of Nov.

I can hunt every day of the season if I feel like it, but don't hunt near as much as I used to when I was younger and worked. Back then I hunted every day of the season. During the wk I'd go after work in the afternoon and both days morning and evening during wk ends.

Now, I seem to find all kinda excuses not to go..mainly the weatherman's predictions get most of the blame. I still go almost every day of season..unless it's too cold or raining or real good chance of rain.

In my opinion it's better to not go every day if you're hunting the same areas your odds are better in seeing something if you only hunt on the wk ends. I'm terrible about putting too much pressure on my favorite areas and pushing deer out.

My times vary so, there is no equation. I go when I can and most of the time, try to make a whole day of it.

I probably only average 20-30 now a days. When I lived in Montana I was always hunting, scouting or fishing

60 to 80 sits per year for whitetail i'd guess. I don't know what people who don't hunt do with all their time. lol.

I have really been surprised on how many days people get to hunt in the archery season. I mean between work family things that come up seeming to have to travel farther to good hunting ground that a person can get to hunt. I know on here I was surprised on the average age of a person on here tells us we don't have the young trad. Hunter we wish. I thought I got to hunt a lot more than most and although after gun season starts around here it seems it's one gun season after another witch makes it seem like it not worth even going. Nice to see a lot of you get to hunt all you want wish I could

I bet 20 to 30 sits for deer. Maybe more. Probably another dozen for turkey.

Once or twice a week from Sept-March for deer. Maybe a few other times for squirrel, crow, etc.

Our deer season isn't as long as many, due mainly to the sheer number of hunters in Pa. I'm retired so my days afield are only limited to my want-to.

We have a long season in TN.

But I can already see the days fading away... I'm photographing a wedding the 2nd day of the season (will hunt that morning anyway!). I'm out of town the first week of October.

I don't think I am leaving town for Thanksgiving this year. Gotta get out as much as I can!

every Saturday morning and free time during the season... the rest of the week im working and going to class.. ( only 2 more years of college!)

I am 64, and have not lost the burn in the belly...... Sept if I am not hunting, I have to go after brookies, and still go hunting.

I hunt grouse and woodcock, shoot ducks and fish, and set traps, and scout and bow hunt, and it never ends, till the season is over, because I JUST LOVE IT...

I am out every day, just comes natural to me. I have no other intrest once fall comes. My wife loves to be outside and my daughter, comes when she gets off of work... Young professional now, but she makes the hunting day always better....

When I was younger I kept track of such things and found out that at home(MN) I would average a 100 days(basically everyday) a fall. Now I'm retired and can go anytime but find myself usually going out 3-5 times a week. I also make other states, this year it's South Dakota and Iowa.

It's counter-intuitive, but many of the most successful deer hunters hunt less, but hunt smart. Many guys who put in many hours actually hurt their prospects of success and burn stands out. From my personal experience, the best success you'll get from a stand is the very first time you hunt that location. The research backs that up.

http://www.outdoorlife.com/blogs/big-buck-zone/2014/07/study-one-sit-deer-woods-equals-three-days-pressure-mature-bucks

Hunters know that putting too much pressure on whitetails can alter deer activity. We often hear that putting too much pressure on a mature buck makes it go nocturnal for the rest of the hunting season. But how much pressure is too much? In a recent study of South Carolina bucks, just a single day of light-impact hunting made bucks avoid the area for several days.

At the recent Quality Deer Management Association conference, Ohio DNR biologist Clint McCoy presented findings of a new study of buck movements in South Carolina. While a grad student at Auburn University, McCoy placed GPS collars on 37 bucks living in the Brosnan Forest of the South Carolina low-country. The tracking equipment on bucks ranging in age from 1.5 to 4.5 years of age and older enabled McCoy to get a bead on each buck’s location every 30 minutes from Aug. 24 through Nov. 22. Breeding season occurred between late September and October. The 6,400-acre study area consists of high-quality deer habitat: a mix of long-leaf pine stands, oak trees, and swamps. More than 100 food plots and 60 feeders keep deer on the property. Tractors and ATVs were used to transport hunters to their stands, so there was minimal intrusion on the deer. Hunting season on the property opened on Sept. 15 and extended through the study period. Around each of the 100 hunting stands on the property, McCoy designated a visual danger zone, meaning bucks that moved through the area while visible to a hunter on stand were at risk of being harvested. After studying the data, McCoy was surprised to find how bucks’ experiences with hunter-occupied stands affected their patterns over the next several days. “After a hunter had sat in a stand for just one day, bucks would stay out of the danger zone of that stand for the next three full days, meaning they wouldn’t return, on average, until the fourth day,” explained McCoy. “This finding wasn’t affected by whether a hunter had shot; just occupation of the stand made deer alter their movements.” In other words, if a hunter occupied a stand for just one day, they were better off staying out of the stand for the next three days. Bucks stayed out of the danger zone around that stand for three days. By the end of the study period, adult buck movements averaged 55 yards farther away from stands than on Aug. 24. Yearling bucks showed no difference in their average distance from stands as the season progressed, although it should be noted that hunters didn’t harvest yearling bucks. Not surprisingly, deer’s use of bait sites decreased as the hunting season progressed, as did the percentage of visitation of bait sites during daylight hours. On opening day, half of all bait site visits by bucks occurred during the day. By the end of the season, only 25 percent of bait visits happened during daylight hours. Finally, most hunters assume that older bucks are just smarter than younger bucks. For example, we think that mature bucks have survived by quickly learning how to avoid hunting pressure. That assumption didn’t hold up in McCoy’s study. “When I calculated the probability of each buck staying out of the danger zone of each stand location, age had no effect on the likelihood of bucks staying clear of hunters,” McCoy noted. “Older bucks didn’t stay out of danger zones any more or less than younger bucks.” The bottom line? Keep track of how often you hunt your stands, and make sure to mix things up. If you're not careful, you could overhunt your favorite spots before you know it. For more info on mature buck movements, check out QDMA's research roundup here.

I would rather overhunt the few spots I have than sit on the couch waiting for the "perfect wind and day". I like the guys on tv that cant hunt a stand because of a not so good wind. I want to tell them that they are wearing a $1000 worth of scent lok and if they were that confident in them they would hunt anyway:)

Guys that hunt a lot have multiple stands. They know as much about burning stands as guys who don't hunt as much.

I take off Oct 15th and bowhunt til the end of November. Then I bowhunt my days off during the months of Dec/Jan. That's roughly 24 more days in 2 months. I bowhunt NY NJ CT.

Every Saturday of our 1 1/2 month long Pennsylvania archery season I hunt am and pm. I'll take a few days off 1st or second week of November and do prob 1 or 2 short evening sits a week behind my house after work. I'm home by 330 and can be in a tree 45 min after that. On a side note grey rider is that one of those German ridge quiver/possible bah combos I'm trying to find? They're out of business now and I want one.

As much as I can. I've found out that working as a forester, money or a place to do it is never a problem. As mining inspector, time wasn't the problem but, the money to do it as often as I could was an issue. I'm forster'ing it now so, not nearly as much as I'd like. Maybe, if I'm lucky, I'll get 20 sits. That's all season combined. Just bow, 6 to 8 sits. God Bless

About 30-35 days.

Over 60 days last year and I hope to beat that this year. Black bears are open all year and grouse from August - March as well as coyotes and foxes with long seasons. I've put in over three weeks already this fall and have shot a bunch of grouse and have stalked several moose. I don't sit and hunt I still hunt. Sitting bores me to tears.

Unfortunately not enough. Fifteen days if I'm lucky.

When I was younger. No matter how much time I got to hunt. It never seemed to be enough. But now I'm happy with what ever time I get to spend in the woods.

1st season 9-10 days. 2nd season 20+. So, as far as SITS, 18-40+ as I sit 3 times some days. That's elk and deer specifically, doesn't include turkey, grouse, huns, pheasant, bear, and cougar.

I am going at it hard this year . Slow but hard and often . In 2 days I will be in Maryland for the Sika and whitetall . I plane on hunting 5-6 days then back to NY for the early bear in the Adirondacks ,4-5 days . The early dear in the Adirondacks opens up on the 25-26 . I plane on hunting 4 days , then dear opens in NY southern zone October 1st . I will hunt walking out my door . Back to Maryland for 2 week's in October .I plane on hunting Maryland 1 week in November , December and January. I will also hunt in NY November and December . A lot of hunting . My plane is slow and steady so my health will let me do it .

May life's simplest things bring you the greatest pleasures !!!

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