deer "hunting"

[George T.]

You have a valid point as we all need to pull together. Here in Texas almost all deer are killed under or at least near a feeded. Food plots benefit all wild life as do feeders. It is uncommon here to see anyone walking to hunt.
Geo. T.

 

[Moose Guide]

No one baits here, and personally I have no desire to bait, nor do I like the practice much, but while it is legal I have chosen not to poo poo it!

 

[buttonbuck]

funny you mention 2 and 11 acres. I hunt on a 2 acre plot of a market garden where the deer destroyed the sweet corn and green bean crop. The 11 acres on a bluff I have hunted successfully by luck for 18 seasons is now pretty void of deer hunting pressure and all the neighbors plant food plots or have crops. I am going to do a favor for the land owner this spring and remove non native invasive shrubs and plant a food plot The oaks and hickory will then be able to move in more quickly. I see this as a win, win, and win situation.

 

[blackpowderscout]

People will always complain about "other" ways of hunting than what they see as right. Some folks gripe about food plots and feeders, others about using dogs. I reckon in the end, the deer probably doesn't care for any of it.....

I gripe about people from other places (mainly yankees) moving here and telling us we are wrong for doing things the way our families have done things for generations.

 

[No Deer]

You know been thinking about this. I have a neighbor that has 120 acres next to me. He shot a 12 point buck this season but is it really hunting? We put out feed plots, trail cameras and made sure there was water. Salt and mineral blocks, everything. The big deer came down the trail as it has for the past couple months and he shot it. Deer hunting or deer farming? :idunno:

Where I live, unless you own, or have access to a large enough plot to "hunt" on, you have to "farm" for them. Everyone is so protective (not a slam, just a fact) of their property, that nobody is allowed to cross property lines.

My friend, who btw allows me free access, has 80 acres with probably about 1/3 of it wooded. He has 5 ponds, open fields and has cut some lanes through the woods and built blinds to sit in. If not for his generosity I would not have a place to go at all, and we do bait. I don't feel that baiting is less sporting at all. The deer are free to come and go as they please, and with the limited area available, it increases our chances. I do not call it deer hunting, I always tell people that it is deer waiting.

I do not feel that baiting is any less sporting than putting a worm on a hook while fishing is, and nobody complains about that. I know it is not as sporting as the guy that goes out and busts his butt humping through the woods and up and down mountains, but I don't have that much property available to me to hunt that way.


For me deer hunting is more about grocery shopping than trophy hunting. We have passed up several bucks that probably would not have made it on other properties. We prefer young deer and does, they are more tender and taste better. :hatsoff:

 

[roundball]

Similar to decoying...
There are those who view themselves as "real turkey hunters" and look down their noses at those who set up using a decoy.
Yet using decoys for doves, ducks, geese, crows, etc is the norm.
We humans can be strange creatures and those who hunt are in the mix...

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Folks during these discussions often confuse ethics with aesthetics. As has been pointed out, simply because one uses one or several techniques..., bait, minerals, cameras, to locate and encourage deer to be on a certain piece of land..., it does not ensure that the deer will be on that land when the hunter is present, nor will present a shot even then.

Whether you still hunt a National Forest with clothing hand sewn and a flintlock, or step out on your back porch with a Remington in .270... is aesthetics. I'd prefer the flintlock hunt..., but that's "preference", for I will enjoy the experience more, than leaning out my bedroom window with a .30-06 as my neighbor has done.

I don't come from a tradition of deer driving nor using dogs..., so I don't view that as "right", but I also understand that is in large part simply because of what I was taught as a youngster, and in other places that has been the practice, and continues to be so. It doesn't mean if I ever travel to where dogs are used for deer that I have to use dogs, nor does it mean I should oppose the use of dogs.


On another forum one person assumes that as he hunts "wilderness" areas, that those that don't are not as skilled as he, and thus he pronounces them as less than "hunters". (He may be right about the skills, but he has nothing other than his imagination to back up his conclusion.) I find this illogical, for it assumes that simply because a person is not using the same skill set to harvest a deer ..., that they don't possess that skill set. This smacks of hubris. Oh well.
:idunno:



LD

 

[Eljay]

It's interesting that people get so fussy about a term that encompasses everything from dangerous game trophy hunters to varmint hunting where some farmer's just trying to keep the rodent population down so that his cows don't break their legs. And then there's the folks who are just trying to feed their families.

If this guy's unpleasant, well, he's unpleasant, hunting or no hunting. If he's bragging about getting some 12 pointer and you want to discount it that's fine. I think we can all decide what does or doesn't constitute an accomplishment.

 

[Little Wattsy]

It's interesting that people get so fussy about a term that encompasses everything from dangerous game trophy hunters to varmint hunting ....... I think we can all decide what does or doesn't constitute an accomplishment.

And "constitute an accomplishment" is purely in the eye of the beholder!! Remember its ALL Murder to the PETA Freaks.
When disparage others all we do is devide ourselves and allow the anti's more foothold into eliminating our sport all together; and rest assured PETA is not going to go easy on the flintlock still hunters because its more "real hunting" then standhunting with a centerfire, etc...

 

[ebiggs1]

Bare in mind, I am not affirming or condeming the practice. I just wanted to point out the similarities of this fellow raising a cow or a deer! It just seemed to strike me as very close to the same thing.
As a matter of fact and to the dismay of this guy, last year (2011) I shot one of his big bucks. A 10 point that wandered over to the farm I was hunting on. This deer came right out of a bean field and right in front of my stand.
But his deer eat my garden all summer so I am helping at little! :grin:

 

[S.Kenton]

I use a trail cam and bait, that doesn't mean I will be successful in the year to come. This year I shot 3 does, but have not seen any of the bucks that I was looking at on my trail cam. Who knows where they went.. that happens to me almost every year.I also use treestands and blinds. I don't have the luxury of a large national forest in my back yard. So I hunt ( within the law) the best way to I know how to be successful.
I will continue to "HUNT" this way ( God willing) for many many years to come with no apologies to anyone, nor regrets.

 

[Mad Professor]

With the right weather I'll take stalking over any kind of stand hunting. Jump a deer or cut the track of a brusier and hound him down. Even when they run into existing tracks, you can tell were the big one went.

I've tracked a deer all day, him running me into swamps, though herds of does, running with the does. Sometimes 15-20 miles a day, then having to walk back to the truck in the dark.

The really big ones I never got a shot at but I knew I was doing the right thing. Instead of running into does, they were just nervous and running to stay out of my sight. Always checking their trail and using the wind. Run when they do, then stalk when they slow down, That is hunting.

I learned a lot more about deer and hunting this way in a day, then two weeks sitting on a stand. Had some old smart one run down a frozen creek, while I was stalking just up over the bank. They also make good use of rivers that you cannot cross and you learn where they will cross.

Also find small patches of high ground inside a swamp. They will stay there for a month unless pushed. One of these was on the edge of a corn field and oak grove on the other side. That deer had food, water, and a comfy place to sleep all within 100yds. He was a 2 man effort as if you pushed into the swamp he ran out the other side laughing at you.

When this does not work well is when the snow is frozen and it sounds like walking on potato chips. I have gotten close enough to hit a buck with a rock when it was like this, but the wind was 50 mph and you used the sound and wind to your advantage. Otherwise it is the ten step stalk, get on a track and follow, ten steps then listen sometimes 10-20 minutes, move slowly again. I have had deer spooked by other hunters run right back on their backtrack smack into me.

So I'll stalk rather than sit. This only works well in the big woods were the deer will not run into suburbia/posted land.

 

[S.Kenton]

I can't hunt like that in Ohio..too many people posting their property and the property (s) that I hunt are much too small for that. I own my woods, it's 20 acres along a secluded river, I can ALMOST walk for about 2 miles until i'm out allowable areas to hunt along that corridor. I have stalked a couple of times successfully when the wind is in my favor... but not quite what your talking about for sure.

 

[Little Wattsy]

"The really big ones I never got a shot at but I knew I was doing the right thing."

Is that like an oxymoron? :rotf:
So I guess it would depend a little on ones goal.. I like to get shots at the "really big ones" and although I believe some MIGHT could be tracked down, No man will ever out run one....

:wink: :wink: :wink:

 

[ebiggs1]

Sometimes 15-20 miles a day

WOW, where in the world do you find 20 miles of deer hunting country? Even in my Colorado hunting years, I never had they much land to hunt on. :shocked2:

 

[Little Wattsy]

Sometimes 15-20 miles a day

WOW, where in the world do you find 20 miles of deer hunting country? Even in my Colorado hunting years, I never had they much land to hunt on. :shocked2:

The calvery used to brag on 15 to 20 miles a day on horse back, in a straight line.... That is A LONG A55 way to walk ever, much less if you are actually hunting!
Here in Oregon we have lots of public land, Ive maped out routs to remote areas to hunt. 5 miles , in hunting atire, with a pack, on uneven ground, at hunting speeds, etc is a A LONG way in all reality....

 

[dc7x64]

Three of my buddies have spent mega money on trail cams. They have them all over our hunting lease. After seeing their success using the cameras, I am glad I never wasted my money. It is neat to see lots of deer and other wildlife and could be a useful tool to catch trespassers and poachers. As well as a confidence booster! Unbelievable how many mature bucks you catch on cam, mostly at night, but out of the dozens we have on film only "one" we speculate, was killed on our property a year later. They are probably more effective on less pressured and more controlled properties than ours though, just saying...

 

[Mad Professor]

You don't try to run them down, when they spook/run you do. As you see their pace slow you stalk again. Sometimes at a 90 degree angle so they do not see you on their back trail. E.g. when they are running they don't hear you running.

 

[Mad Professor]

Never in a straight line and this was when I was in my 20s. Deer will run you a long ways often over the same routes, or through other tracks trying to loose you.

A ten mile square area will provide plenty of places to run hide and circle.

P.S. this is when I walked 8 miles a day, one way, to get to school.

 

[smo]

P.S. this is when I walked 8 miles a day, one way, to get to school.

Was this in deep snow and bare footed? :blah: :rotf: :v