Deer Hunting

[Dr5x]

It just occurred to me that when growing up in Eastern Nebraska there was a lot of hunting , Swuirrels, Rabbits, Ducks, Pheasants and occasionally another hunter but the entire subject of Deer was never mentioned.
I moved from there in '51 and have had only two brief visits since.

Are there no deer inEastern Nebraska or western Iowa?

I was raised thinking all deer were in Minnesota and the other tier of states.

Fill me in
I remember having been told of rafts with banks of shotgun barrels pointing in all four directions with a second tie of shotgun barrels aimed a little higher..

The raft was floated out to the center of a likely pond and the water saturated with corn or whatever goodies would appeal to ducks.

The gun barrel were fired in sequence. First the lower bank of barrels to get a many as possible on the water and then the second tier of barrels to get the ducks rising in repnse to the first blast.

A total unsportsman like process performed by the professional hunters who supplied the restaurant and meat shops of the period, Late 1800's and Early 1900's.


This caused the restrictions you see in the game laws.

It was stopped in time so we still have ducks and geese,

Back around that time there was a bird called a Passenger Pigion that flew in flocks so heavy the shies were darkened. All you had to do was fire pointing your gun straight up and the victims would fall around you.
The Passenger Pigeon is now completely extinct. There is a stuffed example in the Smithonian Museum, the only one to exist.

This darn near happened to other fowl like ducks and geese.

The hunting season were intended to allow the various birds and other animals a chance to reproduce to keep those critters coming back year after year.


I suppose you all know the above stuff but just in case I thought I'd risk boring the knowing in order to teach the newbies, Forgive me

Dutch Schoultz

 

[Kansas Jake]

Dutch, I grew up on a farm in south central Nebraska in the early 50s-60s. When I was a kid in the 50s there simply were very few deer. I remember seeing a couple for the first time on our farm in the middle 50s. They were just passing through and we didn't see any again for several years. I hunted a lot and saw lots of pheasant, duck and quail but rarely saw deer until the middle and later 1960s.

Since that time the deer population expanded greatly in Nebraska and are now common throughout the state although the population took a hit a couple of years ago due to disease. Also, chronic wasting disease is becoming more common, especially in the western part of the state.

 

[crockett]

My family is from the extreme western part of the state (Ft. Robinson). I think there might have always been a deer or two but now a days they have come back big time- totally a different situation. Back in yesteryear the hunters in the family went after ducks. Kids shot rabbits.

 

[1100 Remington Man]

You are a young man Dutch or your memory’s are.
My Grandfather was born in 1899 just east of Sioux City IA and he hunted Ducks & Pheasants up intill his passing at just under 94.
I have heard of many stories from him, from when he saw his first Pheasant in Iowa as a youth and his Father did not believe him. Or how there were no Deer at the turn of the century and if you saw one it was a big deal as they had all been bagged.
What there was plenty of was Jackrabbits and today there are hardly any as also prairie chickens.
He was also the only person I have personally met who had hunted waterfowl with live ducks for decoys.
When he died he was buried in his Duck hunting coat with his calls around his neck, as that was his passion.
I spent many days with him in a duck blind visiting and today I still waterfowl hunt to see the sun rise and remember Him.
Yes times change some better and a some worse..

 

[Dr5x]

Ztoy,
Your history of your grandfather is very similar to my history of my Dad who was born about 1886..
I spent much of my early years biting oman occasional shot he had put in pheasants or ducks. You didn't realize how hard you chewed your food till you bit on a wee lead shot that early shook your cage..

We also had squirrel and rebbits in abundance and considered meat from the grocery store as a treat.

My brother got shot in the rear at just the right distance to place shot just inside the skin. I remember him spending a lot of time in the bathroom trying to get the shot he had retained to line up with the hole it had made on entering so it would pop back out.

He later became a dive bomber pilot and finally a three or four star admiral. while I became a T/5 or Crutch corporal so maybe the shot in the rear gave him an incentive I didn't have.

I understand that coyotes which used to be exclusively a western animal has now spread a far as the Eastern states

While the black tailed deer was considered to be extinct in Missouri, I remember some clown celebrating his find a rare surviving example which the was delighted to have killed.

Dutch

 

[Dr5x]

Kansas Jake.
So with an ever increasing number of deer hunters, their numbers seem to increase.
The western part of St. Louis County is severely toubled with excessive numbers of deer, My caught can't grow anything, flowers, vegetable or even some weeds because anything that raises its wee green head gets bitten off by deer in the night.. She is an avid bird feeder and has had to raise the various feeders high enough so the deer won;t figure out how to shake their contents loose.
People have volunteered with rifle, then muzzleloader then crossbow then regular bow and arrow to thin the herd but the Bambi crowd, who do the ost complaining won;t stand for it..
The practice of capturing city deer and releasing them in distat wooded areas doesn't seem to work as those deer don't prosper where they are released, or so I have been told.

They are much prettier than rates

There is a large flat area on the west North West of St. Louis county where there was a small local airport. I was interested in the very flimsy Ultralight aircraft and one Sunday notice a flock of easily 150 to 200 deer. All around this mob were individual deer placed like sentinels facing out

I don't believe hunting is allowed in that area

Hunting isn't the word because you don;t have to hunt, your problem would be more like avoiding the herd.



Dutch

 

[will5a1]

Dutch - regarding the passenger pigeon, the last one was named "Martha", she died at the Cincinnati Zoo in 1914, I think, and was stuffed and now resides at the Smithsonian. There are several other preserved examples, I think the Ohio Historical Society has one as does a university in IL.

 

[Dr5x]

So much for my iron like memory. I was assured the Smithsonian was the only remaining example.

I was told that when "hunting" them you only had to fire straight up. They serve as an object lesson to what life without game laws can accomplish negatively.


Thank you for the update. When I finally know everything O will be summoned aloft to get my free Banjo.

Thank you

Dutch

 

[1100 Remington Man]

The problem with the Passenger Pigeon was not only was it hunted for food there.
There eggs were collected for food and there nesting habits made them easy to collect.
I saw a stuffed one at the Chicago field museum one of the last living specimens.
I for one would like to see them cloned and see if they could be brought back.

 

[Kansas Jake]

Ironically Dutch, the museum in Hastings Nebraska had a passenger pigeon displayed when I was a kid. I haven't been there in many years so don't know if there is still passenger pigeons displayed there.

 

[Dr5x]

Jake, He of Kansas,
I guess I am the sole remaining person who thought the last Passenger Pigeon was in the Smithonian

A couple of times I have referred to my early subscriber who visited me a few weeks ago for a pre funeral (Mine) visit .

I had thought that, as a gunsmith, he busied himself retrofitting stock American .30 caliber rifles of incredible long range accuracy, He still does, apparently, but on examining his recently refurbished web site I was stunned to see how far beyond the above mentioned activity he has gone.
If you look at LRKMechicals.com

Occasionally he has passed on fan letters he has received from people in the field reporting such long range hits.

It was an education on how far out of date I have become.
He still shoots ML rifles at the range for fun and relaxation. He told me that something I had said got him started in all this amazing activity.

Wonders never cease.

Dutch

 

[longcruise]

It's very difficult to hunt a small animal to extinction. The diminishing returns to the hunter as population falls causes hunters to lose interest and focus.

It's said that the demise of the passenger pigeon was more the result of the clear cutting of beechwood forests in the northern portion of North America. Apparently they nested in large colonies and wouldn't or couldn't nest successfully without the beech forests.

Anyway, that's what I've read over the years. May or may not be true. Blaming hunters is too convenient and satisfying to a large segment of society for much consideration to be given to an alternate explanation.

 

[Sun City]

Due to hunting restrictions these days and only allowed during seasons, mankind may not wipe out the deer but that's not saying that CWD won't wipe them out!! :idunno:

Sad to say!!

What's been a great assist to the CWD has been various states allowing these game farms and the eternal quest for the ALMIGHTY $$$$$$!! Wild animals were not meant to be 'bunched up' and when that takes place.....nature knows what to do!!

 

[Stumpkiller]

In NY State in 2015 there were 72,615 reported vehicle collisions with deer.

Muzzleloader season take statewide was 11,570

Bowhunters took another 37,697.

So it appears cars are more likely to wipe out deer than primitive weapons.

But, in fact, there are likely a LOT more deer around now than there were in the 1700's. More browse and less mature growth forests.

What will eventually get the deer is good hearted people or hunters who put out feed that gets deer in close contact and spreading disease and saliva.

We can be our own worst enemys.

 

[BrownBear]

But, in fact, there are likely a LOT more deer around now than there were in the 1700's. More browse and less mature growth forests.

And a whole lot of urban areas that don't allow hunting. Some cities and parks are overrun with them.

Got a buddy (I'll leave out the town for obvious reasons) who uses his bow to cull deer from parks for one municipality back east. All camo, very early morning, shooting from tree stands, dragging the deer out (covered) on deer sleds, gutting and delivering to a processor for charitable donations. He can only manage one a day and get out before discovery, and that's a big part of the arrangement. He reports that at one a day, 4 and 5 days a week, he can't even put a dent in them.

But you surely don't want to get into a shooting contest with this guy!!!! :shocked2:

 

[Griz44Mag]

What's been a great assist to the CWD has been various states allowing these game farms and the eternal quest for the ALMIGHTY $$$$$$!! Wild animals were not meant to be 'bunched up' and when that takes place.....nature knows what to do!!

Yup,
Nature gives them instructions to find housing developments that are encroaching on wild habitat and ran by DimoCrats that want to ban all hunting, There they can munch happily on gardens and flower beds and live stress free without concern of being hunted.
IF I were allowed to, I would be be getting a steady supply of fresh venison within a 15 minute walk from the house.

 

[azmntman]

IF I were allowed to, I would be be getting a steady supply of fresh venison within a 15 minute walk from the house.

:metoo: (maybe 25-30 min)

 

[BrownBear]

IF I were allowed to, I would be be getting a steady supply of fresh venison within a 15 minute walk from the house.

:metoo: (maybe 25-30 min)

Yard for me. My wife loses enough from her flower beds, she's long since decided the deer are not pets.

 

[hanshi]

In my native Georgia the deer limit was 12 per season and only two antlered deer, one of which must be 4 pts to a side. I use to take as many as 3 a day and closed in on the limit...almost. But they were still everywhere and a hunter was in some danger of being trampled.

Now here in Maine it's kinda the opposite; one buck limit and a hunter can apply for a doe tag.

 

[Stumpkiller]

IF I were allowed to, I would be be getting a steady supply of fresh venison within a 15 minute walk from the house.

:metoo: (maybe 25-30 min)

I could enjoy my morning cup of coffee and take the occasional deer (weekly) while in my jammies on the back deck.

But I make it a point to walk at least 300 yards from the house before I begin to hunt. ;-)

Annually, there are maybe two splendid bucks hereabouts. So those are the goal. And they NEVER pop up in the yard or pasture during daylight. They take some hunting and planning. :hatsoff: