Instead of squirrels, Doe and Buck

[roundball]

Celebrated my b-day by being in woods waiting for it to get light, holding a .45cal flinter with light loads for squirrels (40grns Goex FFFg, Hornady .440 ball).

Squirrels started to move but knowing they'd be out for a couple hours, I waited in case a deer came along, and sure enough at 7:10 a doe came wandering along...got to within 20yds and stopped when she saw me sitting on the ground leaning against a tree...raised the rifle and shot her in the chest/heart, ran 30-40yds and piled up.

Squirrels vanished, figured they wouldn't be back out for an hour, so after reloading, I hunkered back down, pulled up my collar and dozed off asleep. I woke to a sound and saw what I think was a 6 pointer facing me about 25yds away, stretching out as far as he could trying to scent me...I raised the rifle and he started to recoil as I fired, evidently missed him just wide of his chest, passing along one side without touching him...not a drop of blood, hair, etc...grid searched for a couple hours, nothing...so I think he's over in Tennessee by now headed for Missouri.

Squirrels never did come back out.

 

[Rat]

Wow what's your bag-limit there in NC??

Here in Washington State it's only one deer per customer, per season.

::

Rat

 

Wow what's your bag-limit there in NC??

Here in Washington State it's only one deer per customer, per season.

::

Rat

Being from Idaho, also a one deer per season state when i lived there, I was always amazed at the number of deer that easterners are allowed to stuff in the freezer.

In Michigan, you get one buck, but can pretty much keep buying doe permits for private land as long as there are some avaialable in your area.

Farmers can get black permits and shoot a couple dozen if they determine that the deer are destroying crops.

Amazing, ain't it?

 

That's a great way to spend the b-day, buddy...

:master:

 

[roundball]

Wow what's your bag-limit there in NC??

Here in Washington State it's only one deer per customer, per season.

::

Rat

4 Bucks / 2 Does in the area of the state that I hunt in

 

[bezoar]

last time i checked, at the start of archery get your combo liscence of you can go get two deer. one must be 4 or more points on one side

 

[bob1961]

here in PA you get one buck tag with your lic and can draw up to 3 doe tags if not all sold out yet....then you can get some DMAP tags for the state forests....but only one per forest....i got my buck tag and my three doe tags from the game comm then i got 7 DMAP tags for the 7 different state forest tracks around pike county....so i have 7 different places to hunt....i could also use my regular tags for the forests too....so that makes 11 tags all together....so for my buck tag is filled and 10 doe's to go.....................bob

 

[ryoung14]

Amazing is right StumblinBuff. It'll be amazing if there's any deer left in 10 yrs. at that rate. This year's doe is next year's buck...or maybe a year or two after that.

I lived in No. Central Indiana from '91 to '02. Used to hunt the state game land around the Mississinewa reservoir. Up until '96 or '97 (I believe) I always saw deer, usually several, whenever I went up there, even for a short visit. Doe tags in that time period were either non-existent or difficult to get. After '96, as I recall, doe tags got really easy to come by. My memory may be bad, but I think you got one or two with your big game license and could get additional tags for a few dollars more. By 2001, you could spend an afternoon walking 6 or 7 miles at the reservoir and not only NOT see a single deer, you wouldn't even see tracks.

The difference was like night and day. Supposedly the Indiana DNR (or whatever they call themselves) were pressured to start issuing doe tags by the insurance industry. Too much money was being spent repairing vehicles involved in collisions with deer. Instead of managing the herd for the sportman, the DNR managed it for the insurance companies. I feel this is a violation of trust on the part of the DNR, but really the "sportsmen" have only themselves to blame. The DNR wasn't forcing anyone to actually shoot does.

Now they're doing the same thing in NY. They say the herd's way out of balance, far too many does. Well, yes, there are a lot of does. But someone please tell me how killing does increases the number of bucks. I understand how it will increase the buck percentage in the herd, but how will it increase the number of bucks? Guess it could be a winter kill issue, but I don't see any evidence of that. If I'm wrong, enlighten me fellow NYers.

Anyhow, I don't blame the hunter who picks off the occasional doe. Everyone who wants it bad enough to work for it should have some fresh venison and sometimes the bucks don't cooperate. But, in spite of almost always having a doe tag in my pocket (property owner), I've never had the heart to kill one. Those "sportsmen" who max out on doe tags (or "antlerless deer" tags in PC speak) when the state's giving them away and then fill every darn one are going to wreck deer hunting for everyone. It happened where I hunted in Indiana.
/rant off

If I'm blowin' hot air here, set me straight. Maybe some Hoosiers see things differently.
Bob

 

[roundball]

Amazing is right StumblinBuff. It'll be amazing if there's any deer left in 10 yrs. at that rate. This year's doe is next year's buck...or maybe a year or two after that.

I lived in No. Central Indiana from '91 to '02. Used to hunt the state game land around the Mississinewa reservoir. Up until '96 or '97 (I believe) I always saw deer, usually several, whenever I went up there, even for a short visit. Doe tags in that time period were either non-existent or difficult to get. After '96, as I recall, doe tags got really easy to come by. My memory may be bad, but I think you got one or two with your big game license and could get additional tags for a few dollars more. By 2001, you could spend an afternoon walking 6 or 7 miles at the reservoir and not only NOT see a single deer, you wouldn't even see tracks.

The difference was like night and day. Supposedly the Indiana DNR (or whatever they call themselves) were pressured to start issuing doe tags by the insurance industry. Too much money was being spent repairing vehicles involved in collisions with deer. Instead of managing the herd for the sportman, the DNR managed it for the insurance companies. I feel this is a violation of trust on the part of the DNR, but really the "sportsmen" have only themselves to blame. The DNR wasn't forcing anyone to actually shoot does.

Now they're doing the same thing in NY. They say the herd's way out of balance, far too many does. Well, yes, there are a lot of does. But someone please tell me how killing does increases the number of bucks. I understand how it will increase the buck percentage in the herd, but how will it increase the number of bucks? Guess it could be a winter kill issue, but I don't see any evidence of that. If I'm wrong, enlighten me fellow NYers.

Anyhow, I don't blame the hunter who picks off the occasional doe. Everyone who wants it bad enough to work for it should have some fresh venison and sometimes the bucks don't cooperate. But, in spite of almost always having a doe tag in my pocket (property owner), I've never had the heart to kill one. Those "sportsmen" who max out on doe tags (or "antlerless deer" tags in PC speak) when the state's giving them away and then fill every darn one are going to wreck deer hunting for everyone. It happened where I hunted in Indiana.
/rant off

If I'm blowin' hot air here, set me straight. Maybe some Hoosiers see things differently.
Bob

======================================================

:sorry:
Bob, the only problem I have with your post is that you make it seem like it's a concious bad act on the part of deer hunters who take does, or fill all their doe tags, etc.

Here in my part of North Carolina, I'm issued 4 buck & 2 does tags per year by the NC[url] DNR...in[/url] other parts of NC, it's the reverse...4 Does and 2 Bucks.

DNR's intention is that we fill all those tags as part of the statewide wildlife management program...and I don't assume that I alone am smarter than DNR and their wildlife management training, statewide statistics, etc...I assume, and believe, that they know what they're doing.

They used to give us 3 tags/year, but the herd size kept growing...then they gave us 4 tags/year but the herd size still kept growing...now that it's been 6 tags/year for several years, the growth of the herd size is starting to flatten out...around 1.3-1.4 million as I recall.

Sounds like the DNR may not have handled the wildlife management practice very well around the resevoir you mentioned...sounds like all that the hunters did was follow the rules set out by the DNR and fill the tags given to them.

I'm a law abiding citizen of NC, pay all my license fees, pay all my permit fees, play by the rules & regulations, and enjoy filling every one of my tags every year...both bucks and does...and don't agree that it's dishonorable or incorrect to fill all the tags given to me by the DNR.
:thumbsup:

 

[Huntinfool]

You guys need to get educated come on down here in WV we have several Counties that they call unlimited anterless permit Counties. I live in one of them. Last year after harvesting several slick heads I was putting the dog out on his cable after Jan. 1st all deer seasons were over. I looked up on the hill behind my house and saw 12 anterless deer walking around the trail.

The problem here is it's dangerous to drive night or day there are so many deer. I've hit four or five in the last 6 or 7 years. Last fall on my way back from bowhuntin' I popped a big buck. I had slowed down enough that he got away with a few bruises. But my truck didn't fair so well it busted the grill out of my truck, dented my hood with his rack, broke out a headlight and almost busted my radiator.

The amount of people that get killed or hurt in deer auto collisions is outrageous. When someone comes to visit and leaves after dark it's a habit to say be careful watch out for deer. Some people around here call them roadrats. So don't cry just because ya'll ain't got as many as we do.

Heck in Alabama I think you're allowed a deer a day for 60 or 90 days or something like that. My neighbor kills over the limit all the time we still got more deer than we know what to do with!

A big doe was killed in front of my house just this week, anywhere from 20 to 35 deer killed by vehicles within a 1/4 mile of my house per year. Usually 2 or 3 people come to my door looking to use the phone to call someone to come and get them. Plus a lot of people use cell phones.

We hunted in Gilmer County it was full of deer like short_start was describing every time ya went huntin' deer just about ran over ya. I'd see herds a deer mostly does, with an occasional small buck with little scraggly old antlers. Then one year we went up there and they all had some disease Hemorrhagic I think Blue tongue's another name for it. Killed off about 2/3 of the deer population. So take your choice fellows do you want to eat em or have Mother Nature unleash some disease on em to take em out.

Later they started the anterless deer season in Gilmer County and within 2 or 3 years we quit seein' 2 or 3 herds of 20 to 30 deer every time we went out. So we had to hunt a little harder and we didn't see 50 deer a day, but ya know what we all filled our tags and the bucks were much larger and healthier the racks were at least twice as big as before, and got better each year after that.

Last year I killed 4 anterless and one 8 pointer. So far this year I've taken 2 does and plan to get at least 2 or 3 more, whether I see a buck or not. And no I'm not the least bit ashamed of it!

OBTW we also have four or five Counties with no gun hunting at all only bowhunting allowed. The DNR knows what they are doing our deer herd has done nothing but get better since the implication of anterless permits. The reason they allow so many is the fact that some people still believe like you that it's a sin to take a doe they are living in the past. I'll gladly take up the slack!
:m2c:
Chuck

 

[roundball]

The amount of people that get killed or hurt in deer auto collisions is outrageous

:agree:
My Wife is an Insurance Agent, and here in NC, the number of deer / auto collisions broke the 12,000/year mark several years ago...1000 per month...33 per day !!

And that's just the number of claims reported to the insurance companies...vehicles like 18 wheelers hardly even notice it when they hit one, so the real number is probably twice what's reported.

Average repair claim is in the range of a few thousand $$$, to say nothing of the deaths that result.

I chuckle all the time about the number and frequency of buck and doe sightings I have when I'm leaving the area where I live, compared to sightings out into the country where I hunt...saw a young basket 6-8 point buck just this morning at 5:00am, only a couple hundred yards out of the sub-division heading up the highway.

Very common to see a lot of road kills in the immediate vicinity of our sub-divisions because they're so plentiful as they're not hunted around these residential areas...and there's a lot of drivers of course...when I get 20-30 miles out into the country to go hunting, I see a lot less on the side of the road.

 

[Huntinfool]

:agree:
My Wife is an Insurance Agent, and here in NC, the number of deer / auto collisions broke the 12,000/year mark several years ago...1000 per month...33 per day !!

And that's just the number of claims reported to the insurance companies...vehicles like 18 wheelers hardly even notice it when they hit one, so the real number is probably twice what's reported.

The numbers are similar here roundball I saw them on the news the other day can't remeber exactly but just like in my case I didn't have anything but liability on my truck so it wasn't reported.

Rt. 35 is our most heavily used Road for semi trucks. On any given morning you'll see 10 to 15 deer freshly killed in a 10 or 12 miles stretch of it.

I live on Rt. 60 in the country enough to hunt in my back yard. I have 50 acres plus there's several hundred acres of forest connected to it. Mostly private property some will let ya hunt but many won't so the deer always have safe havens to retreat to and multiply from.

WV is 75 to 80 percent forest we have plenty of deer.

YMH&OS, :redthumb:
Chuck

 

[RussB]

Huntinfool seez..."Heck in Alabama I think you're allowed a deer a day for 60 or 90 days or something like that. My neighbor kills over the limit all the time we still got more deer than we know what to do with!"

I was stationed once at Ft.McClellan Alabama (Jackonsville) and as Huntinfool says, the deer are thicker than fleas!
If a person was to take a deer each day, you could legally take over 90 in a single year! If I remember correctly, the limit was "one per day, per hunter".

I still have friends in Alabama,....Dothan, Enterprise, and Fort Payne...They all say it's still that same way.

Tons of Deer, Squirrels, Rabbits, Bob White Quail...and the Crimnson Tide! What more could those boys want? Jeeeezzz!
And they say Louisiana is the Sportsman Paradise? Well, if it's any better than this, I don't see how a feller could stand it! :master:

Russ

 

[shunka]

Most interesting, Gentlemen...
Could any of you fine Citizens find out what out-of-state fees are for muzzleloaders? and does anyone out there have a yard large enough to host a Hunting Rondy? ... I think room for 5 or 10 tipi's would suffice...

But seriously, what are the fees and seasons in the Carolinas and Virginias Colonies?

Regarding Deer/Vehicle incidents - some folks will deride them, but I have put the WalMart Deer Whistles (or whatever the are called) on all our vehicles.

Prior to use of these whistles, we would go upon a Sunday Drive in the Rockies and around nearly every bend we would literally scare up a herd of deer that propmptly chose to jump into the road directly into the path of our vehicle.

After correctly installing these whistles on the bumper, We find that we round the curve to find a herd of deer staring calmly at us as we drive by - and I swear they are murmuring
"what the heck is that whistling noise?!?!"

 

[roundball]

But seriously, what are the fees and seasons in the Carolinas and Virginias Colonies?

http://www.ncwildlife.org/

 

[Old Charlie]

Here in Alabama we have a 76 day season. You nay take two deer a day, one of which may be a buck. I se anywhere from one to three on the highway on my way to and from the hunting club. All that said I missed the only dam one I have had a shot at!
Old Charlie

 

[bob1961]

i may have 11 tags but might only be my buck is the only one i get this year....last year it was 7 tags and 4 deer harvasted....the year before it was 5 tags and only one deer....this year and 11 tags who whats to take bets on how many this year....so far 1 buck and 10 doe tags left....and 4 weeks all together left of hunting seasons....i'm giving 2 to 1 odds ::..............bob

 

[ryoung14]

OK, I stand corrected. If your reports are accurate, then deer in the East are not only varmits but pests. Good thing they are edible. Wasn't intending to make light of deer/car accidents; many are very serious, I know.

When they went on the herd reduction binge in Indiana, I had no real problem with it. When I saw the results at the reservoir I had second thoughts. I try to do my own thinking and don't always trust the authorities to do it for me....bad habit I guess.

I also remember growing up as a kid in NY when the sighting of a deer was a great rarity. Us kids would talk about it for weeks if we kicked one out of a hedgerow. Bucks only and strict enforcement gave us the "problem" we have now. When I see a little family group of 4 or 5 does bouncing over the hayfield and then think about how it used to be, it makes me happy.

And bob61, wasn't picking on you. You got your buck and that's great, congratulations...seriously. I'm still lookin' for one. If the does are that thick and you've got the mouths to feed, take whatever you need with my blessing.
Bob

 

[JesseJames]

Here in Jersey,the area that I hunt you can kill 5 bucks and unlimited does. Bow season starts in September,muzzleloading ends in January. Just remember one thing,deer kill more humans than any other animal.

 

[roundball]

...Just remember one thing, deer kill more humans than any other animal...

Hadn't heard that one before...sums it up well!
:applause: