Of Those Who Hunt

[FishDFly]

I was visiting with a friend from Ohio and we were talking about deer hunting. They sure do things a lot different up there. They have 3 seasons, bow, ML and general gun. The general season is only 7 days. Depending on how you hunt in Texas you can start in October and hunt until February. If you cannot kill a deer in 120 days, you need to take up golf.

They hunt from tree stands and I don't think they use feeders. He talked about how cold it gets after Thanksgiving, too cold for me. We hunt in shorts and T-shirts at the start of the season at times.

In Texas almost everyone hunts from box blinds, with swivel chairs and heaters. Also in Texas, since 98% of the land is privately owned, you pay to lease land to hunt. Folks put corn feeders out or mineral feeders and some feed year round. Deer hunting in Texas is a business. I know if you hunting over a feeder it is not hunting. If your neighbor is running feeders,, guess where the deer are?

Of those who hunt, how many hunt your own land, pay to be on a lease or hunt on public land? How long is your ML season if you have one?

I know in Alabama you are allowed a deer a day.

 

[rich pierce]

I hunt public land in Missouri. I see an average of 0.5 deer per day. ML season is a week long at the end of the year when the rut is over and deer are scattered and wary.
On private land here, in several areas guys see 4-6 bucks a day. In some counties Bucks must have at least 4 points on one side to be legal. No feeding or salt licks allowed.

 

[THBailey]

Kalifornistan here. The earliest season started on July 11 this year, the latest season will close on December 31. All depends on what zone you have a tag for. The area I hunt (Zone D 3-5) the gun season ran from September 26 through November 1. No feeding allowed, 1 dog per hunter allowed, most zones buck only with a forked horn or better on at least one side. Lots of public land, especially in the mountains. Generally the seasons close just before the rut begins.

 

[Phil Coffins]

I hunt public or private land (with permission) for all game. I won’t pay to hunt any ground and don’t believe we will have a hunting tradition long as how did we start out? As kids are the future of hunting they can’t afford a lease or pay the fees many of the older people have taught the land owners to expect. Years ago I asked a rancher if I could shoot prairie dogs and he said $30 a day. I said a simple no and said they can eat all his grass they want.

 

[Bob McBride]

In Middle Tennessee in my zone I’m allowed 3 does per day and two bucks per year. I hunt my own land. In TN we have basically a month of Archery, a few weeks of muzzleloader, and a month + of gun. No feeders, no bait. We still-hunt/climb stands/tree stands mostly but I do see the occasional insulated Texas man-cave blind with Aggie flag flying, s’mores smoke coming from the chimney and light coming through the treble-paned windows from the PlayStation. Newcomer city boys in bedazzled mom jeans and high heeled boots, who put plastic down in their truck bed before taking their .223 riddled deer carcass to someone who can process it for them....They think deer meat is yucky but since they live in TN now, they want to experience the culture, Bless their hearts.

 

[Rudyard]

No body sits in trees in NZ they just plough through the bush' With all the subltey of a dislodged boulder' ( quoteing Barry Crumps' A good keen man') or quietly stalk. up or down creaks over miles of Crown forests or tops . No seasons no limits & free , So no need for baiting , tree stands, or the damned in lines .
Rudyard

 

[hanshi]

Most of my deer hunting was done in my native Georgia. There the limit is 12 per season with only two bucks; and one of the bucks had to have 4 pts to a side. I hunted public land, small leases and private land. I guess I used some sort of elevated stand about 60% of the time. I never put out anything to draw them in, I just found where they were moving. Many were taken while I sat on a dove stool, walking trails, etc. Other than being able to see a bit farther from an elevated position than from a ground blind, I found the results to be about equal. The only thing I won't do is hunt with dogs, I like solitude.

 

[rodwha]

Here in TX as well. I don’t have the money to throw at a lease and haven’t sat on enough land to hunt, but my old boss would invite me. In general he’s always had his neighbors land leased out by a little town called Doss a hop, skip, and jump from Fredericksburg. I could easily take all 5 deer in a weekend if I wanted to do that much work and pay for that much processing.

 

[FishDFly]

"The only thing I won't do is hunt with dogs, I like solitude."

I agree on the dogs. Hunting deer with dogs was extremely popular in East Texas, but it was ruled unlawful and a very unpopular ruling.

I use to like sitting in the woods on the ground, but with age that has changed to box blinds.

I spend more time deer sitting and watching. Hogs get my attention now. I would rather shoot them. I use to give a lot of them away, but with caller ID, folks won't answer the phone any more.

I take the hogs and put them in the woods, next morning they are gone. Put cameras up and found I have a lot more coyotes than I thought. Now something else to hunt.

For those who hunt with flintlocks, what is a lot of fun is shooting one from inside a box blind. Takes awhile for the smoke to clear out of it.

 

[Old Hawkeye]

I lived in Texas for a time & when it comes to hunting, that is a world unto itself. Very little public land & nearly all hunting is PAY or you don't get to PLAY, especially those tiny deer they go crazy about. We got dogs in Iowa bigger than the deer I shot in Texas. All of the other states I've hunted had many public areas, although some may get crowded, that one could easily hunt a variety of game on. I found that in every other state I've hunted that it is possible to get permission to hunt private land with a little effort & proper communication. Not so in Texas. I was fortunate to have met a fella where I worked whose family had farmland just 50 miles from where we worked or I would not have been able to hunt when I lived there.

 

[MTGUNNER]

In Middle Tennessee in my zone I’m allowed 3 does per day and two bucks per year. I hunt my own land. In TN we have basically a month of Archery, a few weeks of muzzleloader, and a month + of gun. No feeders, no bait. We still-hunt/climb stands/tree stands mostly but I do see the occasional insulated Texas man-cave blind with Aggie flag flying, s’mores smoke coming from the chimney and light coming through the treble-paned windows from the PlayStation. Newcomer city boys in bedazzled mom jeans and high heeled boots, who put plastic down in their truck bed before taking their .223 riddled deer carcass to someone who can process it for them....They think deer meat is yucky but since they live in TN now, they want to experience the culture, Bless their hearts.

"Bless their hearts" I LOVE IT

 

[oldwood]

Pa . has an early m/l combined bear and deer season in October. .45 cal. or larger. U may hunt the modern rifle season for bucks and bears the modern rifle doe season. The late flint only deer season is Dec.26th , until mid January.

 

[renegadehunter]

I hunt 95% private (my own or family's property) and 5% public for whitetail.

Whitetail is any weapons from Oct. 10th through Dec. 1st in the units I hunt. No baiting allowed. I either still hunt them with a muzzleloader or sit in a tree with the same or my bow. I'd say I still prefer to still hunt them, but the last couple years I've probably sat in a tree 50% of the time. I hold out for a mature buck during this season. If I don't ever use my one tag I get, then during the late muzzleloader elk season, Dec. 5th to Dec. 14th, does are also open and I'll take one if the opportunity arises and I don't think I'm in the middle of elk at the time. There is also an archery only late season, Dec. 5th to the 20th, for whitetail in a unit 2 hours away, the deer in that area migrate out of the higher country. It is very fun, there are a ton of deer moving. This hunt is a matter of sitting still on one of the migration trails and waiting for one to come by. It is very cold and tough to sit for very long if the wind is blowing.

 

[Hermit Tim]

In Middle Tennessee in my zone I’m allowed 3 does per day and two bucks per year. I hunt my own land. In TN we have basically a month of Archery, a few weeks of muzzleloader, and a month + of gun. No feeders, no bait. We still-hunt/climb stands/tree stands mostly but I do see the occasional insulated Texas man-cave blind with Aggie flag flying, s’mores smoke coming from the chimney and light coming through the treble-paned windows from the PlayStation. Newcomer city boys in bedazzled mom jeans and high heeled boots, who put plastic down in their truck bed before taking their .223 riddled deer carcass to someone who can process it for them....They think deer meat is yucky but since they live in TN now, they want to experience the culture, Bless their hearts.

Brother, you nailed that one. Short Mountain sure sounds alot like Pulaski. Plenty of those mom jean purty boys showing up in my area. Road hunters too...

 

[rodwha]

Brother, you nailed that one. Short Mountain sure sounds alot like Pulaski. Plenty of those mom jean purty boys showing up in my area. Road hunters too...

I thought you guys were just kidding. Cant say I’ve seen those types with a firearm of any sort, much less hunting or fishing or anything...

 

[Nameless Hunter]

Most of my deer hunting was done in my native Georgia. There the limit is 12 per season with only two bucks; and one of the bucks had to have 4 pts to a side. I hunted public land, small leases and private land. I guess I used some sort of elevated stand about 60% of the time. I never put out anything to draw them in, I just found where they were moving. Many were taken while I sat on a dove stool, walking trails, etc. Other than being able to see a bit farther from an elevated position than from a ground blind, I found the results to be about equal. The only thing I won't do is hunt with dogs, I like solitude.

When I hunted my native GA, it was about the same. Hunted on some paid leases (about $5 per acre then), and later with my dentist buddy who bought about 200 acres. I hunted about 50% from a tree - the rest on the ground (either sitting against a tree or standing behind a tree). Now, it's in my holler (north of Nameless, TN).

 

[Jay Templin]

Came up hunting my family’s farms in the Adirondacks and Catskills. When I moved to Virginia, I had to hunt public land. After a few years, a friend from work invited me to hunt at his place. When my Bride and I bought the house and land we’re on now, one of the reasons we picked it was that this was a rifle county. Two years later the dirty so-and-sos banned unmentionable rifles for hunting. But muzzleloaders are still okay, and the doe I shot last November was the first I’ve taken on my own land.
If you’re a bow hunter with access to property in a participating town, you can hunt most of the year in my part of Virginia. Archery opens in early September, muzzleloader in late October or very early November. Shotgun opens two weeks later and stays in through the first Saturday in January. And Urban Archery runs until the end of March. Bag limit is 6 per year, and a certain number have to be antlerless. (I’m not worried- I never shoot enough to have to.)
Jay

 

[Nameless Hunter]

Came up hunting my family’s farms in the Adirondacks and Catskills. When I moved to Virginia, I had to hunt public land. After a few years, a friend from work invited me to hunt at his place. When my Bride and I bought the house and land we’re on now, one of the reasons we picked it was that this was a rifle county. Two years later the dirty so-and-sos banned unmentionable rifles for hunting. But muzzleloaders are still okay, and the doe I shot last November was the first I’ve taken on my own land.
If you’re a bow hunter with access to property in a participating town, you can hunt most of the year in my part of Virginia. Archery opens in early September, muzzleloader in late October or very early November. Shotgun opens two weeks later and stays in through the first Saturday in January. And Urban Archery runs until the end of March. Bag limit is 6 per year, and a certain number have to be antlerless. (I’m not worried- I never shoot enough to have to.)
Jay

Those deer in the burbs can get pretty big. Here is an urban archery deer taken behind my brother's house (northern VA, just NW of DC).
I recently saw one standing in the front yard of a house in East Nashville that was bigger than this DC area buck.

 

[RoaringBull]

I totally understand about the Pay for Play in Texas. I luckily get to live on 350 acres of Christian campgrounds, with a bass stocked lake I can fish when I want, and get to hunt the primitive camping area when I want. Not a lot of deer, but there are a couple of flocks of turkey and a lot of hogs that pass through from time to time. Or I go to my native lands of Louisiana and hunt on my brother's lease or my Dad's farm.

 

[rusticbob]

I must be getting old. Its hard for me to consider sitting in a heated box blind, over a bag of corn as HUNTING. Its deer SHOOTING, no hunting involved.
I grew up stillhunting in Northern New England. Compass and sandwich in a fannypack, hunk of rope for dragging, and with a little luck, some tracking snow. We learned about the woods and nature from the woods, not from a book. Its sad that "hunting" is dead in most parts of this country.
I have two grandsons who will have the opportunity to lean real hunting, in the real woods. I shot this nice little buck two days ago in Vermont while stillhunting. Not big, but he should be tasty.