Down 29%

[Mountaineer]

Im no expert but id say(odds thingy) the mast crop will more and likely be poor next year..which means you guys with the fields are gonna see absolute giants while ill be stuck in the big woods scratchin my ass wonderin where all the deer went

 

[JD Boyd]

Im no expert but id say(odds thingy) the mast crop will more and likely be poor next year..which means you guys with the fields are gonna see absolute giants and ill be stuck in the big woods scratchin my ass

Thanks for the heads up... I might know of a couple???

 

[Jackalope]

The bolded phrase is the whole point. If everyone around you drives and you dont. WHala!!!! Deer central on your property! Like you said, its rough when you have other guys who want to strictly drive! with 890 acres! I would turn several of those thick areas into sanctuaries! THe hardest part is to keep everyone out of them! I am a firm believer in sanctuaries and not driving!

You'll see when i take ya down grouse hunting next year.. You might think the deer leave the area down there when pushed. They don't buddy. The stay there. Just circle back around or hold tight.. Most times when they push that 250 acres of pines they have about 15 people pushing.. They may have 10% of the deer bust out. Never a big buck though. But they're in there. I don't know how many times i've pushed those pines and had deer sneaking back through the line not 30 yards away from me. I might see an ear, glimpse of a rump etc. The big ones just hold tight and watch or listen to you walk by... They will leave the hardwoods wen drove, but they head for the combined 500 acres of pines and clear cut we have. So i guess you could say you're half right, they do leave the hardwoods. But all they do is cross the road and lip in our pines. The back hill by the AG field is pushed by a lease member that also owns the field. They just push over the ridge and back down.. They will do it 3 times a day 3 days in a row.. They will get deer up every time, but all they do is run in circles. We actually drive less than the neighbors. We might push the pines on the last day. and the hardwoods in sections. once or twice each over the week. The neighbors are non stop. I see what you're saying. And no doubt it would be better.. But it's not the kiss of death though.

 

[Diablo54]

Ive git big woods and fields. Why dont i kill big buck deerz?


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[Mountaineer]

JD,:smiley_bril:

 

[Kaiser878]

You'll see when i take ya down grouse hunting next year.. You might think the deer leave the area down there when pushed. They don't buddy. The stay there. Just circle back around or hold tight.. Most times when they push that 250 acres of pines they have about 15 people pushing.. They may have 10% of the deer bust out. Never a big buck though. But they're in there. I don't know how many times i've pushed those pines and had deer sneaking back through the line not 30 yards away from me. I might see an ear, glimpse of a rump etc. The big ones just hold tight and watch or listen to you walk by... They will leave the hardwoods wen drove, but they head for the combined 500 acres of pines and clear cut we have. So i guess you could say you're half right, they do leave the hardwoods. But all they do is cross the road and lip in our pines. The back hill by the AG field is pushed by a lease member that also owns the field. They just push over the ridge and back down.. They will do it 3 times a day 3 days in a row.. They will get deer up every time, but all they do is run in circles. We actually drive less than the neighbors. We might push the pines on the last day. and the hardwoods in sections. once or twice each over the week. The neighbors are non stop. I see what you're saying. And no doubt it would be better.. But it's not the kiss of death though.

I guess when you have that much acreage they almost have to stay on your property. WHat are the age ranges of the guys who are in this lease? What is the recruitment plan you guys have implemented? meaning, when soemone dies or wants out, how do they decide who gets the next buy in? Eventually you probably could recruit only bowhunters! THat could make for some superb hunting!

 

[huntn2]

So 73 or the 88 counties had a reduction. The average decrease for the 73 counties was 30.7%. Mercer saw the worst decline at 74.3%. On the flip side Champaign had an increase of 80%.

So as we debate the reason(s) for the decline and weather is tossed around, I decided to look at the weather records from this seasons 4 days of muzzy and last years 4 days of muzzy. I looked at Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati. Each of the 4 days for these 3 cities had a colder mean temperature last season when compared to this season. The average of the mean temperatures that were recorded for the 4 days in each of these cities last season was 17.4. This season the same average is 20.6. The winds were comparable with last years average being 7.3 mph and this years being 7.4. Snow accumulations were also comparable from the records. I know in NE OH we did get some significant lake effect last Saturday that isn't captured in my numbers.

So with this insight, unless the archived data at the weather underground is not accurate, the decline isn't weather related. Well, that is unless many hunters decided to hunt in colder temps last year than they were willing to do this year .

So it is down to mass crop vs. herd numbers...

 

[Kaiser878]

So 73 or the 88 counties had a reduction. The average decrease for the 73 counties was 30.7%. Mercer saw the worst decline at 74.3%. On the flip side Champaign had an increase of 80%.

So as we debate the reason(s) for the decline and weather is tossed around, I decided to look at the weather records from this seasons 4 days of muzzy and last years 4 days of muzzy. I looked at Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati. Each of the 4 days for these 3 cities had a colder mean temperature last season when compared to this season. The average of the mean temperatures that were recorded for the 4 days in each of these cities last season was 17.4. This season the same average is 20.6. The winds were comparable with last years average being 7.3 mph and this years being 7.4. Snow accumulations were also comparable from the records. I know in NE OH we did get some significant lake effect last Saturday that isn't captured in my numbers.

So with this insight, unless the archived data at the weather underground is not accurate, the decline isn't weather related. Well, that is unless many hunters decided to hunt in colder temps last year than they were willing to do this year .

So it is down to mass crop vs. herd numbers...

As far as the weather goes, I think that point was made in reguard to the rain on opening day of gun season! Although, I suppose it could be taken into account for muzzy as well. A lot of guys dont liek to brave the cold!

Ill speak for my area, again MY AREA! I think a lot of guys that were not seeing deer were due to acorn abundance this year, not a lack of deer!

 

[formerbowhunter1023]

If it has to do with acorns, how come I didn't see a single spot in the snow where deer had pawed down to look for acorns when I walked the farm last week?

 

[Beentown]

I have an observation about acorns on my properties. They don't touch the reds until after the snow is on. Don't know why but whites are the go to before December then they like the reds/pin oaks. Not much to do with the conversation but that is what I have observed.

Beentown

 

[Diablo54]

I can see where they are tearing up the ground at my place.


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[jagermeister]

I have an observation about acorns on my properties. They don't touch the reds until after the snow is on. Don't know why but whites are the go to before December then they like the reds/pin oaks. Not much to do with the conversation but that is what I have observed.

Beentown

Red oak acorns have a higher tannin content than whites, which makes them more bitter tasting. That's why deer prefer the white oak acorns as long as they are available.

 

[Kaiser878]

If it has to do with acorns, how come I didn't see a single spot in the snow where deer had pawed down to look for acorns when I walked the farm last week?

In my area a lot of the acorns were cleared up by first snow fall. Not all of them, but a lot of them! Not ot mention that thaw we had allowed the deer to access them easily. Although, I Was thinking, do acorns go bad? Will they rot?

 

[Diablo54]

In my area a lot of the acorns were cleared up by first snow fall. Not all of them, but a lot of them! Not ot mention that thaw we had allowed the deer to access them easily. Although, I Was thinking, do acorns go bad? Will they rot?

They are rotten/growing stems in our driveway but the deer are still eating them.

 

[RedCloud]

The ground here was littered with acorns from last years bumper crop and add to that the good crop from this year and the forest floor was carpeted with them. I started looking and most of the whole ones had small pin holes in them. I decided to pick up a few that didn't have holes and brought them home and put into a zip -loc baggie. Sure enough a couple weeks later little white maggot looking grubs came crawling out leaving a small pin hole in the acorn. I'm not sure how or when they got in there but none the less there they was. Now I know why we had so many acorns left on the ground and the deer wasn't eating them. Still not sure what those little maggots was. Anybody here know ?

I was also told by an old farmer once that if an acorn falls off the tree and stills has it's cap on that it is not a good acorn. Anybody else ever hear that ?

I haven't seen a deer eating acorns on our oak flats since mid November.

 

[tuffshot]

Which type of Oak, Redcloud?

I see the hole in chestnut oaks mostly.
Acorn weevils

http://insects.ummz.lsa.umich.edu/MES/notes/entnote20.html

 

[RedCloud]

Which type of Oak, Redcloud?

I see the hole in chestnut oaks mostly.
Acorn weevils

http://insects.ummz.lsa.umich.edu/MES/notes/entnote20.html

Mostly chestnut oak but had some in the white oaks as well. When the snow melts I will take some pics of the layers of acorns still on the ground out there. There are a few spots that are pretty thick with the acorns still laying untouched even by the tree rats and other little critters. Just odd that nothing has eaten them unless they had bugs and the meat inside is now gone so the deer and other critters don't bother with them.

Thanks for the link and info Tuff. I will read it in just a minute .

Yes sir. That right there is what it was.