First day numbers
- Thread starter Boarhead
- Start date
helps a lot to reducing the cumulative affect of human smell on the ground when it rains an inch or more every week for 8 weeks. good bucks naturally disappear on their own once the breeding is done. have not seen a mature buck since 11/17. I did see a decent 2 1/2 4x4 chasing a doe and grunting after her Monday morning. would have shot him with a bow. he gets a pass when I'm making meat with the revolver.
I tend to think it's just the absurd amount of people in the woods today during late October and November that is disruptive, and I think this does have an effect on deer movement during gun season. I took up bow and arrow hunting to avoid the orange army and the masses in general. thanks to equipment, those days are gone for good. the masses are in the deer woods more in archery season than gun week now.
I tend to think it's just the absurd amount of people in the woods today during late October and November that is disruptive, and I think this does have an effect on deer movement during gun season. I took up bow and arrow hunting to avoid the orange army and the masses in general. thanks to equipment, those days are gone for good. the masses are in the deer woods more in archery season than gun week now.
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First day totals are determined by many varying factors here... This year the weather on opening day was definitely a huge factor... With less hunter turnout and deer hunkered down the kill was lower than normal... This in the end will result in a better season next year... I love an occasional bad opening day when the kill is normally high... Means the herd will rebound a little... I read an article recently where the author said that hunters were mainly at fault for the declining deer herd across the nation... He said that states create liberal seasons and bag limits, but hunters can limit what they shoot... What do you think has a direct effect on the area you hunt??? Who pull's the trigger???
Hortontoter
Senior Member
Truth be told, hunters have the control of the numbers. If we kill less the herd would have to grow. Hunter restraint is the best tool available. Creating habitat, planting food plots and the such are good. But, if you do these things just to kill every deer that shows up won't help the cause.
Build it and they will come....
Create a killing field and they will kill....
We’re nothing more than a tool for the state too achieve their goal....
Create a killing field and they will kill....
We’re nothing more than a tool for the state too achieve their goal....
Hortontoter
Senior Member
I have my own agenda. If others want to be puppets and let the state pull the all strings, so be it. And I'll stand behind what I've said before. Those that say "I need the meat" really do not. Just admit you "Need to kill a deer". Nothing wrong with that need, just be honest about it.
I realize my views rub some the wrong way, but I'm not going to let the state pull my strings.
I realize my views rub some the wrong way, but I'm not going to let the state pull my strings.
Hortontoter
Senior Member
Sgt Fury
Sgt. Spellchecker
seriously?
As if you know what the hell I, or anyone else, "needs". since I don't care to eat industrial meat, and since I cannot go to the local grocery store to buy fresh wild venison, I most certainly do need the meat. that fact of the matter is you have it completely bass ackwards. I don't NEED to kill a deer. I do it because I like to collect my own food, and, by necessity, that means I have to kill animals, which I have no problem doing. I can tell you for certain that if I did not eat venison, I would not hunt deer, and I have a bit of an ethical issue with people who kill deer repeatedly and refuse to eat them.
All 3 of my kids get what they want for dinner on their birthdays. All 3 want bacon wrapped venison backstrap. To me, I feel like I “need” to make that happen. My last couple of trips to AK I have bought my halibut and not gone out to catch it. That said, I’m not above paying for wild food. Today though, I “need” to go kill to make that happen. The thrill of the hunt sure is fun too!
Hortontoter
Senior Member
If we all lived off the grid in some remote area we would need to kill animals to survive. This is the 21st century and we all seem to be connected to the internet, so most likely not off the grid. Like I said if you choose to kill a deer so be it. I eat what I kill or give it to someone else to eat. Jamie, if you choose to collect your own food, my thought is that is by choice, not out of necessity. If you live in a cave and hunt with a club or spear I stand corrected.
Sgt Fury
Sgt. Spellchecker
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Hehe... Jamie is about one rung up the ladder from a club and spear. And his cave is well painted for certain. Lol
I don't profess to know what your "agenda" is or why you choose to shoot a deer, but suggesting that people who want to kill and eat deer because we allowed to are puppets of the state is, well, totally fucking ridiculous and insulting. further, you very clearly implied that those of us that like to shoot (and eat) deer by choice are doing so because our ego's require it, i.e. we "need" to shoot deer even though we don't literally "need the meat" . I'm going to assume that you did a piss poor job expressing your thoughts on this and that you didn't actually mean that since the state says that anyone allowed to shoot three (or whatever number is legal) deer in their county, and happily do so, is a puppet for the state.
"Those that say "I need the meat" really do not. Just admit you "Need to kill a deer". Nothing wrong with that need, just be honest about it." ok. honestly, who are you to decide what anyone else needs or does not need or why they need it or not?
"Those that say "I need the meat" really do not. Just admit you "Need to kill a deer". Nothing wrong with that need, just be honest about it." ok. honestly, who are you to decide what anyone else needs or does not need or why they need it or not?
I disagree. Don't run off Dick. Your input is much appreciated. If everyone here had the same opinion it would be pretty boring and accomplish nothing. I'd say I am somewhere in between "shame on the DNR for liberal limits too long" and "we as hunters need to be more responsible."
Hortontoter
Senior Member
Most of us are in agreement that we are the tool used by the state to get the herd numbers to where the state wants them to be. So in essence, we are the states puppets, like it or not. I think I expressed my thoughts in a reasonable way. Maybe I should have used the word want instead of need. And let's be honest we all have egos. How we stroke them differs for each individual.
My agenda is to try to plant the seed that we do control the number of deer killed, on a personal basis. I can only control the amount of deer I kill. I've chosen to only kill one deer a season due to the lower herd number. That one deer must be a buck, I won't shoot a doe at this point. Most likely I'll never shoot another doe. I realize my agenda doesn't fit the masses, but it works for me.
My agenda is to try to plant the seed that we do control the number of deer killed, on a personal basis. I can only control the amount of deer I kill. I've chosen to only kill one deer a season due to the lower herd number. That one deer must be a buck, I won't shoot a doe at this point. Most likely I'll never shoot another doe. I realize my agenda doesn't fit the masses, but it works for me.
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Fury... If our governor looked like that I might be willing to give up bear hunting for a year... But then again with those teeth he does look like a beaver...
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Dick I agree with you 110%.... Heres an example... We've been leasing a 200 acre farm in Pike County Illinois now for 5 years... This year I was talking to a neighbor and he said it was the best thing to happen to his neighboring farm... He said before we leased it, locals hunted it and had the mentality of:" Brown its Down" they shot everything they saw... Back then he said they would see maybe 2 or 3 deer a sit... Now he said they see upwards of 20 deer a sit.. He also said the quality of bucks have improved drastically... So whats different since we took it over??? Well absolutely NO DOES WILL EVER BE SHOT and we try to shoot 130 inch bucks or better... We closed our conversation with him stating that he hoped we had a long term lease...