Your thoughts on deer hunting?

[Fly]

I live by a lake in east Okla.We have a lot of deer.I don't hunt deer any more, but I once did a lot.
But today people hunt deer with timers on feeders & cameras hidden , watching & recording when deer come &
go.

I have people across from me that do just that.They sit on there back deck & shoot there deer.
How in the hell is that hunting?I call it harvesting.When I use to hunt I went out & looked
for tracks, rub's ect.But what can anyone hang claim on hunting this way.

JMOHOP, Your thoughts?

Fly8-)

[nagantguy]

I here you, I hunt, sit in a swamp and get eaten alive buy bugs or freeze my sitting parts off. I have however done a lot of harvesting with crop damage permits. Doe only, no rules no limits they cost us a lot in lost crops. But every pound of meat is used by us or given away. Couldn't stomach wasting it. But you are right that's not hunting its killing. To keep your livelihood or to keep from starving to death is the only time I can condone killing over hunting

[smoked turkey]

Different strokes for different folks they say. I guess some people also pay big bucks for Big Bucks over bait from a nice comfortable hunting hut. From what I have seen on the hunting shows it is like shooting fish in a barrel. You just take your pick. Any of that sort of activity is not hunting and gives real hunters a bad rap. Those who spend the time in the field scouting, looking for sign, and work for their deer is what I call real hunters. I think the hunting magazines and so called hunting shows have turned deer hunting into a big business and have taken some of the fun out of it for those of us who just hunt for meat or even a smaller buck.

[DIRT Farmer]

When I was young, I hunted for three years before I saw a buck while I was hunting. It was a small one and as Indianas deer herd was still small, if you passed on a buck it was tag soup. I did what I could do for any advantage, mainly going to a muzzle loading rifle. A 54 round ball from a rifle gave a lot more range than the shot gun slugs in the smooth bore guns then. As I killed more deer the challenge was leaving so I went to a flint lock 50 loaded the old way (60 grains of powder or what ever the name of that forulma is) and worked on getting closer. Now I work back and forth between a 28 bore (54) trade gun and the 50 rifle both in flint to put the challenge back in with the need to get close.
As far as the cameras, they work great around the farm stead to see who is slipping in and if a couple would decide to disrobe on a blanket, try to remember some one may hand film to the county proscuter and file tresspasing charges.

[DougGuy]

I used to love hunting the Blue Ridge mountains in Virginia, that's God's country without a doubt. It's gorgeous, and a day in the woods hunting is quite often a nature day, full of sightseeing, but no shooting since you can't hunt with dogs there and they seem to know when rifle season opens. Although most of my trips there were productive, it gets pretty rough when you don't have deer in the freezer and you invest quite a bit of money in hunting trips just to go watch leaves fall and listen to birds chirp.

Therefore, I fill my freezer the best way I can fill it. If I tag one with a vehicle, so be it. Killed one with my bare hands and a ratchet strap. I lived in a little house on the edge of the woods and had all the creatures of the forest in my back yard, so I hunted deer out my kitchen window with a .44 magnum in my pajamas. Harvested. Whatever.

This year I have moved from the little house in the woods because they dozed the woods and built houses, grr hate it when that happens, so I will be back to actually hunting instead of laying in wait. Either way don't bother me really, as long as I got meat in the freezer.

[johnson1942]

fly, a very interesting post. i call it search and destroy like vietnam. its the same with fishing, i like to fish with skill not with high tec. here in western nebraska we are very fortunate as their is so much land and so low a population you can hunt the way they did it yesteryear and pretty much avoid other hunters during muzzle loader season. we have thousands and thousands of acres of federal and state land here that if you want to do it like a mountain man you can. our muzzle loader season is all of dec. our game warden just moved back east and we are nervous about the new one the state is sending here. not that the one that left was a winner but the old saying, the devil you know is better than the devil you dont know. thanks again for the post made me stop and reflect and be thankful for western nebraska. any one who wants can message me and ill give them any info of muzzleloading hunting here and they wouldnt be disappointed.

[starmac]

I personally have never hunted from a baited stand, and don't own any cameras, but if it is legal and they are eating the meat, who am I to complain.
People hunt different ways and for different reasons, many hunt for horns, but I've never figured out how to make them edible.

[NSB]

I have food plots, use cameras, and like to hunt deer. I don't hunt on the food plots and the cameras come down before the season starts. Don't think that everyone who puts cameras up has an advantage in getting deer. I put them up to see what's actually out there on my property. I've gotten pics of lots of bear which I never shoot, a bobcat which is very rare in my area, and lots of trespassers who don't belong there. I enjoy using the cameras almost as much as hunting. I've gotten some really good pictures of things I'd never see otherwise. I put the food plots in because I'm in the middle of about 28,000 acres with virtually no carry over food for the deer and after the season is over they have a winters supply of food on my property. Like I said, we don't hunt on the plots. Not everyone who plants food plots and uses cameras do so to kill more deer. It's not the same thing as putting out bait and hunting over it just to kill something. However, if it's legal, to each his own.

[WilliamDahl]

The deer that I see around here are mainly does and too small to even make the effort to harvest them. They are so used to people and cars that you can often get within 10 ft of them before they *walk* off. Some people complain about them because they eat the plants in their front yard, but as far as I'm concerned, if you plant a deer buffet in your yard, you have no justification to complain if the deer partake of the buffet you provided them.

[idahoron]

Deer hunting for me is all about hunting the canyon lands and sage covered hills here in southern Idaho. Mule deer are the only deer we have. The wide open country is what brought me to put together my long range muzzleloader and paper patched loads. With any luck I will be able to use the gun below to kill another big deer this year. Ron

http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd294/idahoron/Muzzleloaders/HawkenwithRecoilpad1.jpg

http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd294/idahoron/Deer%20hunting/2009buck04-A.jpg

http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd294/idahoron/Deer%20hunting/Mybuck55.jpg

http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd294/idahoron/Deer%20hunting/Bigbuck4.jpg

[WilliamDahl]

Deer hunting for me is all about hunting the canyon lands and sage covered hills here in southern Idaho. Mule deer are the only deer we have.

If we had deer that size around here, I might be tempted to harvest some.

[Hellgate]

I'm wonderin' if old Idaho Ron isn't putting out calcium/vitamin d supplements to grow horns on those pet deer.:kidding:

[rodwha]

When my father first began teaching me to hunt deer as a teen in Oklahoma it was all stalking on public land. There were no stands, no feeders, and no cameras.

I moved down to Texas and had been invited by my boss to hunt with him on various leases. In these places stalking is virtually a no-no. You hunt over feeders. I didn't like it as much. It didn't feel like "hunting." What I often did if others on the lease didn't come was choose a section away from the other(s), and come late morning would stalk around.

What I found is that I'm not a very good "hunter" and need much more practice walking slowly, taking my time, and paying closer attention. I walk slowly, but not slow enough. I am one of those ADD kinda guys, and have worked on being patient and mindful as I don't want medication. I've come a long way, but still have more to go. Quite frankly I see ADD as being helpful in some ways as I've noticed that I generally pick up on things others might miss. I see movements and shapes quite sharply. I also notice tracks, pooh, and other things that the slightly trained, such as myself, would potentially miss. If I could just slow it down a bit more!

I'm wanting to move near the Rockies in the lower half of our country. I've read of guys literally making a camp well out there and hunting from there. This sounds awesome to me as I love backpacking too! If I could just figure out how in the hell I'd carry out an elk with my little 150 lb frame by myself!

[dragon813gt]

So what about stand hunting? Where I live it's the only option. I don't have miles and miles of terrain to track deer. I'm limited to a few hundred acres at a time. I hear people from the west complain that hunting from a stand isn't hunting. I really don't care how people hunt. My time is limited. So I spend the time early in the season to figure out their patterns. Then I make sure to be in the stand a half hour ahead of them and I wait. Puts meat on the table which is what I'm after. I guess technically I hunt on a food plot since its corn and soy fields or apple orchards. Is this a problem as well? Baiting is illegal here. And even if it was legal I don't think I would do it. I feel I have enough advantages already so I don't need to do it. Now if I absolutely relied on the meat to feed my family I would use anything at my disposal to take a deer.

[rodwha]

I think stand/still hunting is still hunting. It's just another form of it. Hunting over a feeder isn't the same. I don't complain, and do it myself down here, but I can certainly understand the view of it not being hunting. Quite frankly, if it's legal, it's OK with me. I get more from the reward if I had more to do with it other than filling the feeder with corn periodically.

Sure would like land of my own!

[1616s16]

what is the price deer meat ? i know its a lot higher than beef. so just do what you think is right!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

16s

[waksupi]

what is the price deer meat ? i know its a lot higher than beef. so just do what you think is right!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

16s

Not around here, it isn't.

[johnson1942]

thanks idaho ron for the pictures. our land is similar. ours guns our similar. their is something special about the west, thats why we are here. my neighbors boy got a mule deer like that two years ago. he was hunting next to ted turners ranch when this huge racked mule deer jumped up and before he could get it it went on turners land. they watched it for a while and sure enough it came back off turners land and he nailed it. i understand all the diff. ways of hunting and if the ultra rich out of state hunters who come here would treat us locals better and with more polite respect we might feel better about their ways of hunting. ive been screamed at, threatened and bullied and i had permission to be on the land i was on. they didnt. i dont confront them i just call the sheriff or the game warden. yelling at them dont cut it. the deer are thick this year, the feed good and dec. will be a good month

[rodwha]

People's behavior has always astounded me. The manners I was taught as a child have certainly gotten me further than had I have behaved as though only I mattered. Attitude means a lot! Not to mention, "Treat others as you'd like to be treated."

[gtgeorge]

I am one to say to each his own. I personally hunt public land and work hard at it but keep the freezer full since that is our main source of meat. If I could harvest out the back porch and needed meat, so be it. I do enjoy to hunt though but also like to eat.

[sbeatty1983]

I have no problem with people "Harvesting" deer. They are over populated here, and need to be thinned out some. Farmers have a hell of a time between the hogs and the deer. At this point they are practically a nuisance. I know people around here that will pull a trailer with cull sweet potatoes to a tree line and shoot them off the trailer while they are eating. While it seems unsporting, think of the farmer thats gonna have a lean winter.

[izzyjoe]

I hunt on public land, and for meat only, and i'll shoot anything legal that walk's in front of me. a young doe is the best, we have a three point rule in Ark. most times i can care less about counting horns, unless it's a big buck, and he'll have three point's. i like to get my limit before modern gun start's, cause that's when it get's crazy, all the guy's with there semi-auto's and runing dog's. two to three races a day, and when you see a deer, there just a blur. i can't see paying alot of money for a lease to hunt deer, by the time you pay out alot of money you could just go buy T-bone steakes and come out ahead, but everybody's different. i don't use cameras, feeder's or stands, they just get stolen! i do the the old way, with good woodsmanship skill's, and a lot of luck. and luck play's the biggest role.

[mooman76]

Yes, it is not hunting but with the deer population back east and such I s no problem with it. If I was as living somewhere that I could shoot from my back porch and deer were coming through, why not!

[missionary5155]

Greetings
I am blessed to be able to hunt farmland river bottoms and woods in east ILLinois. My simple method is scouting and knowing where those corn crunchers are going and when. The land I hunt has maintained the same deer patterns for well over 20 years so it really boils down to what tree will I use for my tree stand. I normally bow hunt anymore and most my deer are taken at 12 yards and less. I use a recurve with none of the gizmos. I do carry a spear also as there are cougars loose in the area and I want something in my hand more substantial than an arrow to fend off if need be.
My last buck was taken stalking down a creek at 15 yards. I was up on the 6 foot bank slowly moving down towards the river. A happy faced 3 year old came trotting up creek. My only opening was to let him get just a bit passed and the arrow flew true just behind the upper ribs agling down under the spin and through near lung cutting the heart. Found him about 60 yards up creek almost under my deer stand.
So me, I enjoy hunting amnd being out there. Trying the difficult. But I have no bad feelings if someone else is not like me. I like to kayak... I like to climb trees... I ride a 1971 R75... I like recurves and old military flinters... that is just who I am and there is no need for anyone to have to be like me.
Mike in Peru

[Hanshi]

For years I've only hunted with flintlocks; very sporting, IMHO. I generally hunt from a seat on the ground as I can't walk like I use to be able to. I think you have to "suffer" to earn a deer. By that I mean enjoy the cold and all the sometimes annoying things you run into. I don't need the meat; I'm a pescetarian. I do believe in fair chase hunting above all.

[10 ga]

Dead deer is dead deer. Hunting is only one way to make deer dead. I love hunting! I've hunted mostly here in the east but have made a trip to CO and CA. Grandfather and before were commercial game "harvesters" and fishermen. I have done population control hunts that involved bait, lights, night shooting, suppressed rifles, etc... I don't pretend that "harvesting" deer is the same as sport hunting. Just as some like traditional archery and others like 700 yard shots with the latest super magnum rifle there is choice. Hunting for me serves internal satisfaction and not outside reward. So long as they are not lawbreakers then to each their own.

10 ga



10 ga

[Bullshop]

IdahoRon
Please more than just a teaser on the " Long range ML" What caliber? What twist? Bore/groove? Boolit design, weight, diameter? What fuel and any other pertinent information please?
BTW in about a week I will be moving to about 15 miles from the border between Idaho and Montana near Moneta Pass on I-15. I will be near Lima on the Montana side.

[Fly]

IdahoRon
Please more than just a teaser on the " Long range ML" What caliber? What twist? Bore/groove? Boolit design, weight, diameter? What fuel and any other pertinent information please?
BTW in about a week I will be moving to about 15 miles from the border between Idaho and Montana near Moneta Pass on I-15. I will be near Lima on the Montana side.

Check out the paper patching deal at the top.Ron got all the info to what he did.It's really cool.

Fly

[Bullshop]

At the top of what? I am not seeing it in the post with the pics.

[RoyEllis]

At the top of what? I am not seeing it in the post with the pics.

Look at the sticky near the top of the muzzleloading forum, I believe that's what he's referring to...

[mooman76]

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?71134-part-1-paper-patching-the-ML

[idahoron]

Bullshop, I have posted a lot about my rifles. I have .451 1-30 twist that is the one above.
I have a TC Renegade Hunter with a .458 Green mountain 1-18 twist. It has a Lyman peep and a Lee Shavers Long range Globe sight with a level.

http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd294/idahoron/Muzzleloaders/458bennitmountainmag25jpg.jpg

I have another Renegade Hunter that is a 50 cal. It has a Green Mountain 1-28 twist Stainless barrel. Same sights as everything else. I shoot paper patched 500 S&W bullets.

http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd294/idahoron/Muzzleloaders/Farspeaker.jpg

I have an original Renegade with the double triggers. Same as the one above but a better trigger.

http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd294/idahoron/Muzzleloaders/Flatlander2.jpg

If you look for my posts you can see a lot of pictures, tests, and Game killed with these guns. Ron

[Fishman]

This post is excellent. I have nothing further to add.


Greetings
I am blessed to be able to hunt farmland river bottoms and woods in east ILLinois. My simple method is scouting and knowing where those corn crunchers are going and when. The land I hunt has maintained the same deer patterns for well over 20 years so it really boils down to what tree will I use for my tree stand. I normally bow hunt anymore and most my deer are taken at 12 yards and less. I use a recurve with none of the gizmos. I do carry a spear also as there are cougars loose in the area and I want something in my hand more substantial than an arrow to fend off if need be.
My last buck was taken stalking down a creek at 15 yards. I was up on the 6 foot bank slowly moving down towards the river. A happy faced 3 year old came trotting up creek. My only opening was to let him get just a bit passed and the arrow flew true just behind the upper ribs agling down under the spin and through near lung cutting the heart. Found him about 60 yards up creek almost under my deer stand.
So me, I enjoy hunting amnd being out there. Trying the difficult. But I have no bad feelings if someone else is not like me. I like to kayak... I like to climb trees... I ride a 1971 R75... I like recurves and old military flinters... that is just who I am and there is no need for anyone to have to be like me.
Mike in Peru

[Boz330]

I put out food plots and have feeders on my farm. I actually hunt 120 miles away though. I paid my dues in the early days when there were no deer. I moved and I sat and spent years at a time without seeing anything more than an occasional track. I always took the whole week of season as my vacation.
As the herd increased and deer became much easier to take I got rid of my high powered flat shooting rifles for ML and BPCRs in original chamberings. Now I hunt with my own homemade BP to add another level of interest. I have hunted the same farm since 1977 and it is a producing grain operation so the fences and sink holes and usable land has been made into one giant field. There still are a few wood lots where the deer bed and we don't go into them to hunt, we still/stand hunt the edges. If you run the deer out of those areas you will have a long unproductive season since we can't hunt the adjacent property. In a good year, deer hunting is sort of like grocery shopping (since I'm a meat hunter), but there is no guarantee when a year is going to be good. Several years ago Blue Tongue took a toll on the herd in this area. Last year was the first year that it was really good again. I could have taken a dozen had I wanted them.
I enjoy the camaraderie of deer camp as well as being out in nature. If it rains or is really bad we enjoy a good breakfast or an early adult beverage rather than getting wet or freezing our butts off. There are enough days to hunt now that you don't have to be out there every daylight minute like I use to do to have a chance at taking a deer. A couple years ago my godson hit a deer with his car on the way back from getting supplies. That was my deer that year. She dressed out at 145lbs.
The deer taken in the early years here in KY had to be worked for just by being out there and putting in your time so the satisfaction level was high. Today my priorities are different and I get satisfaction from having to take closer shots in order to make a clean humane kill. JMHO.

Bob

[gnoahhh]

First of all, I don't have the blood lust that I had when I was younger. No longer is it necessary for me to kill a deer to be able to say a hunting trip was a success. My life doesn't depend on having a freezer full of venison. I hunt for the pure sport of it, and am mildly saddened by those who absolutely must kill a deer, using any means necessary.

This isn't 1765, or Depression-era desperation, and having venison in the larder is necessary for pure survival. Those who lead a subsistence lifestyle get a free pass on this one, but who amongst us truly 'needs' to kill deer for survival? We do it for sport now, not for sustenance. Lowering oneself to using every high tech trick at one's disposal may be legal, and is certainly within one's rights to do so, but to me it cheapens the experience somehow- making it become deer killing instead of deer hunting.

Perhaps those folks on the back deck of the OP's neighbors can't be bothered with investing the time in scouting, observing, plotting and executing the hunt. Time which for them may be better spent drinking beer, watching 'reality' TV, or playing video games. (But by God, they have plenty of venison to throw on the grill.) More's the pity that they don't get to experience the awe of the sun breaking through the dawn in a crisp deer woods, the snap of a twig as a deer tries to sneak past, or having a blue jay scold a squirrel that is doing his best not to be seen by me. That's their loss, not mine, and a shame that they miss out on the real blessings of being a part of nature for a little while.

[KyBill]

Thought Deer hunting was to get one out of the house away from the ole Lady ! and to lie to your hunting buddys . should I go on YES and to also have some (good eating) . I have 5 ponds and go elsewhere to fish ,go figure

[quilbilly]

My wife and I both drew muzzleloader doe tags for our neighborhood and we have a trail cam on the trails we built in the "rainforest" in the back of our land that shows that we not only have some extra yearling does but a couple mountain lion that visit us regularly. We will be hunting the sagebrush grasslands of Central Washington for the opening of the ML season and if we aren't graced by a fine mule deer, we know we have those surplus does on our place that I might see from the back or front porches. We both prefer venison to either beef, buffalo, or elk so filling the freezer is the goal. I just wish we would get visited by a black bear near our front porch since my business won't allow me the time to go hunting them in August.

[Fly]

Man there are some grate,grate post on this subject.
Fly

[wallenba]

I don't hunt them, never did. Our deer population is quite healthy statewide, some corn fed in the lower half. First, I don't like venison that much that I would put money into a hunt. Second, I'd have to drive a ways to be able to use a centerfire rifle, it's shotgun or muzzle loaders only in the lower half of the state. Lastly, most of my buddies hunt them and I usually get a little. I also have some disabilities now, so I don't think about it much. I wouldn't mind going to deer camp and helping out though.

[jhalcott]

When I was much younger and healthier, I'd walk several miles when hunting every day! Passed a lot of animals I COULD have taken, but my freezer usually had several crop raider Does in it. As I got older I learned to sit and wait for THE BUCK to come out. Knew he was around as I saw him all year while I was shooting ground hogs. Took some LOONG shots, cause I KNEW I was that good. One nice 8 point I shot was stolen by a tresspasser who never fired a shot. I took my time getting to the spot, and found a drag line leading to a road. Now I don't get to hunt much as I want to be cause of health issues. When I do, I find a nice sunny hillside and sit and wait. I also take a friend and or son to drag the animal out IF I get one! I went to the Contender or Bolt pistol because it's lighter than my rifle and just as effective at the range I will shoot a deer.

[Fly]

When I was much younger and healthier, I'd walk several miles when hunting every day! Passed a lot of animals I COULD have taken, but my freezer usually had several crop raider Does in it. As I got older I learned to sit and wait for THE BUCK to come out. Knew he was around as I saw him all year while I was shooting ground hogs. Took some LOONG shots, cause I KNEW I was that good. One nice 8 point I shot was stolen by a tresspasser who never fired a shot. I took my time getting to the spot, and found a drag line leading to a road. Now I don't get to hunt much as I want to be cause of health issues. When I do, I find a nice sunny hillside and sit and wait. I also take a friend and or son to drag the animal out IF I get one! I went to the Contender or Bolt pistol because it's lighter than my rifle and just as effective at the range I will shoot a deer.

I think I like your post the most.I wish I had people as you living here.
Fly

[Good Cheer]

When we were kids nothing was safe from the kitchen be it squirrel, deer, armadillo, rabbit, wood pecker... that was just normal.
Now about half the time I'd just as soon watch them day to day rather than swirling down the plumbing once.
http://i791.photobucket.com/albums/yy192/SNARGLEFLERK/8-15-056_zps5ef61cc7.jpg (http://s791.photobucket.com/user/SNARGLEFLERK/media/8-15-056_zps5ef61cc7.jpg.html)

http://i791.photobucket.com/albums/yy192/SNARGLEFLERK/dreamingofthekill.jpg (http://s791.photobucket.com/user/SNARGLEFLERK/media/dreamingofthekill.jpg.html)

http://i791.photobucket.com/albums/yy192/SNARGLEFLERK/th_AlarmCat.jpg (http://i791.photobucket.com/albums/yy192/SNARGLEFLERK/AlarmCat.mp4)

But what I want to use next is my TC New Englander that's been sleeved to have a .458" bore x 24" twist. Mr. Hoyt did the job two years ago at least and about all I have had time for is targets.

[Fly]

That,s pretty cool!

Fly