WOW! I'm having trouble believing Tonk really believes that statement! I don't know anyone that thinks that deer hunting has gotten too easy.
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- Thread starter Ohiosam
- Start date
WOW! I'm having trouble believing Tonk really believes that statement! I don't know anyone that thinks that deer hunting has gotten too easy.
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Seeing statements like these make me believe the wheels are coming off his BS bus. I swear, he is trying to find every excuse in the world for lower kills vs. just looking at the obvious....we've killed em all in areas! WTF.
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And I would love to know where the heck all the 750K deer are, cause they sure as heck aren't where they used to be around here!
Milo
Tatonka guide.
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i think they are at the mall or at the north pole...Is it sad when you kids sit on santa's lap and ask for deer?
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Hehe... Mason told me yesterday he wanted to fish today instead of deer hunt...its December. We may go fishing yet, no way I'm gonna make him sit and stare at nothing AGAIN today.
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Although it’s possible that what appears to be a trend might be an anomaly, Tonkovich said trying to get a handle on what direction the herd and the harvest are heading is fraught with unknowns.
To me, this is an admission that Tonk does NOT KNOW what the herd numbers are, what should be killed, and what it left alive to reproduce! As we have said...it's a guess, and they guessed wrong!
To me, this is an admission that Tonk does NOT KNOW what the herd numbers are, what should be killed, and what it left alive to reproduce! As we have said...it's a guess, and they guessed wrong!
huntn2
Senior Member
Pretty rediculous quotes right there....So we are either too old, too lazy, or it is too easy....
Let's see...I put corn out in feeders, run cameras, log every hunt including weather (precipitation, wind, temps, cloud cover, etc.), sightings, stand locations, hours on stand, time of day, etc., and spend countless hours on stand. Lazy can be ruled out. Old, well, I did just turn the big 30 :smiley_bril: . Looking for a bigger challange? Not here, I carry what ever is legal. Bow, shotgun and muzzy. So I guess if the numbers aren't down as Tonk says, I should go back to the eye doctor or something cause I am not seeing anything out there. This morning was another skunk. Weather was awesome with some nice fresh snow, very slight wind and upper 20's. Dissapointing to not catch any movement at all even with the snow to help see them.
Alphamax and I were greeted by 2 WO at my truck today when we were packing up to get out of there. They were friendly and checked our license, permits and guns. We chatted a but and they asked how things are going. We both told them rediculously slow. No deer, no shots, no activity on cameras. They said they really hadn't seen many hunters out at all so the deer must just be bedding all day. The one who was checking my permits says, "wow you still have two permits, you better get killing". I said, I told you, it's been real slow...can't kill what I don't see.
Again, they were real friendly and professional but it is frustrating to hear a comment one of them made and then come home and read Tonks quotes in this article. The one said, "since guys are not out here hunting and killing them during gun it must be because of the growth in bow popularity. Guys must be getting their deer early and then staying home." From the top down there seems to be some bad reasoning/excuses thrown around.
Let's see...I put corn out in feeders, run cameras, log every hunt including weather (precipitation, wind, temps, cloud cover, etc.), sightings, stand locations, hours on stand, time of day, etc., and spend countless hours on stand. Lazy can be ruled out. Old, well, I did just turn the big 30 :smiley_bril: . Looking for a bigger challange? Not here, I carry what ever is legal. Bow, shotgun and muzzy. So I guess if the numbers aren't down as Tonk says, I should go back to the eye doctor or something cause I am not seeing anything out there. This morning was another skunk. Weather was awesome with some nice fresh snow, very slight wind and upper 20's. Dissapointing to not catch any movement at all even with the snow to help see them.
Alphamax and I were greeted by 2 WO at my truck today when we were packing up to get out of there. They were friendly and checked our license, permits and guns. We chatted a but and they asked how things are going. We both told them rediculously slow. No deer, no shots, no activity on cameras. They said they really hadn't seen many hunters out at all so the deer must just be bedding all day. The one who was checking my permits says, "wow you still have two permits, you better get killing". I said, I told you, it's been real slow...can't kill what I don't see.
Again, they were real friendly and professional but it is frustrating to hear a comment one of them made and then come home and read Tonks quotes in this article. The one said, "since guys are not out here hunting and killing them during gun it must be because of the growth in bow popularity. Guys must be getting their deer early and then staying home." From the top down there seems to be some bad reasoning/excuses thrown around.
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Well, I'm guilty, Ryan. I stayed home. The thought of getting up early to sit in the cold and see nothing has lost it's appeal to me.
Having said that, we are gonna start rabbit hunting for real now. Maybe we will see a boom in small game hunting again.
Having said that, we are gonna start rabbit hunting for real now. Maybe we will see a boom in small game hunting again.
Not around my parts you won't. I have kicked up 3 rabbits in as many years. I think the birds of prey and the growing yote population has done a number on the bunnies around here.
X2 Brock.... I'm pretty much at a the hell with it attitude and just work the hell out of the dogs the remainder of the season.... Just run cameras and spruce up the mineral sites and hope for next season lol..... Plus the rabbits have come back some over the last summer..... Working on some new permission as well....
Adam, I've talked too a lot of land owners who have said the same until the beagles showed up and proved them wrong :smiley_coolpeace: The last farmer who gave me permission said good luck haven't seen one in a few years.... Went in with the dogs and only hit 1/4 of the property and had 7 running around while the beagles were on one......
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While I'm struggling to find deer in numbers, I have access to rabbits. I have one farm that is 350 acres, with 200 or so in set aside, brushy ditches and creeks. It's loaded with rabbits, but I really need a lot of snowfall before I can really kill much off it. The dogs will run all day, but it is hard to see anything until the brush is knocked down a bit. In addition to that, I have thousands of acres I can hunt within minutes of my house that I can't deer hunt. Again, great habitat. Oh yeah, Paint Creek WA is three miles from home, and as was evident on Thanksgiving morning, it no longer recieves small game hunting pressure aside from the very early days of dove season. I have it made for a guy with beagles.:smiley_crocodile:
I can't say they aren't there I guess. It's been over 10+ years since I have rabbit hunted and even back then we beat brush since I didn't hunt with anybody that owned dogs. I seriously thought about doing some bunny hunting this season but it ain't easy to beat brush and shoot the little suckers by yourself lol. I guess the old RR tracks will be my best option but like Brock I will need some snowfall to knock down some weeds.
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Some days the shooting is better, faster without a dog. I have grown so lazy over the years, I just like to stand around and wait on the dog while telling lies with whomever has tagged along. Good clean fun. Anyone that wants to come down is welcome BTW...
Same here. I checked cams on Friday and had 5 deer on camera in 6 days. Two yearling deer and 3 bucks, two or which were 1.5 year olds. I've lost my desire to deer hunt this year...
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Maybe I should invite Tonk down for a rabbit hunt so that he can see what kind of tracks a deer herd of 750k leaves behind.
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Jesse, I don't think I would give up hope just yet. You know, if we get extreme cold, and snow, deer will come to corn...good deer, if there are any left. Just pray for nasty weather. It isn't easy, but it isn't impossible either.
I hunted my farm all day yesterday with my father in law. I saw 2 deer before legal shooting light. They walked within 60 yards of my set. I watched them come down off the hill side where one of my feeders are at and make their way back into a thick creek bottom. That's it.........that's all I saw. I seen them at 6:58 (shooting time was 7:12 I believe). My F-I-L hunted all day and did not see a deer. He saw plenty of turkeys, but no deer.
Keep in my mind the hunting pressure around me this year during gun season was non-existent. I did not hear a shot on my side of the road. I guess the distant shots going off have the deer in lock down mode.
Our tactic was to set up on known trails leading to feeding areas such as feeders and food plots thinking the deer would be eating after the rut. That tactic didn't pan out. I filled my feeders up on Sunday of last week and all of them still had plenty of feed in them (gravity fed). My food plots look great, bright green and lush with noticable browse, but must be at dark.
I said the hell with it and shot my limit of ducks today. I will try it again during ML season. I just hope it is cold with a couple inches of snow for ML season. Force these deer to the food plots and feeders.
Another buddy of mine hunted in adams county on his friend's 90 acre farm that borders a hunt ranch (sephanol or something like that). He never saw a deer Saturday.
Keep in my mind the hunting pressure around me this year during gun season was non-existent. I did not hear a shot on my side of the road. I guess the distant shots going off have the deer in lock down mode.
Our tactic was to set up on known trails leading to feeding areas such as feeders and food plots thinking the deer would be eating after the rut. That tactic didn't pan out. I filled my feeders up on Sunday of last week and all of them still had plenty of feed in them (gravity fed). My food plots look great, bright green and lush with noticable browse, but must be at dark.
I said the hell with it and shot my limit of ducks today. I will try it again during ML season. I just hope it is cold with a couple inches of snow for ML season. Force these deer to the food plots and feeders.
Another buddy of mine hunted in adams county on his friend's 90 acre farm that borders a hunt ranch (sephanol or something like that). He never saw a deer Saturday.
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I saw a buck today, he came out of a standing corn field across a hollow from me. The combine started in one of the fields over there made 3 rounds and quit, I'm sure that is what moved him. He covered the 100 or so yards to the bottom in what seemed 4 or 5 leaps. Made one hell of a racket on the way down. Couldn't tell much else but I saw antlers and at the distance and how thick the woods are he must of been a dandy.
Hunted all afternoon. I may have seen a deer, but at this point I'm not sure. There was just a flicker of white was off in the brush. If I remember right, deer have a white tail. It's been so long I can't really remember. What ever it was never came out where I coul positively say, "hey, look, that's a deer!" It could've been chupacabra for all I know.