J-birds place

[trampledbyturtles]

Not to be the turd in the proverbial punchbowl.

But the best time to get after your yote problem is in the spring.
Easier to kill a pair than a family.

Once yotes get ready to drop their litters an for some time after, they really do not traverse very far. Due to the abundance of food in a smaller area.
If you can get them early, there is less likelihood of another pair moving in around the time fawns drop.

Whereas at this time, young of the year have now dispersed an are looking for new territory's an mates of their own. Remove them now, there is a greater likelihood of new ones moving in on the freed up territory in relatively short order.

Also, constant vigilance is necessary to truly start to tackle the problem. Killing one or two a year really is only a drop in the bucket.
I believe predator removal has just a big of impact on micro level in our habitat plans as does say a 10acre NWSG planting.

But by all means, get out an call an kill em all. Fur is about as prime as its gunna get and its a blast when it all comes together.
Just don't get discouraged if doesn't work the first couple of outings.
A lot of people have started calling in recent years. An with the increased pressure have started to become increasingly call shy.

Also, the fox pros r very nice.
But, I will say, over the past couple of years I have started leaning towards a quality hand call.
Just feel the sound quality is better, an reduces the potential that those yotes would have been called with those sounds previously.
But for bird sounds, squirrel, cat, fawn distress, turkey, calf, they r very nice to have in the back pocket if rabbit is not working.
So I like to run a mix of both.

Edit: Forgot to add, I love calling, have a full day planned for Saturday an Sunday, conditions should be perfect.
But on my ground, I try to concentrate on spring trapping to help control my predator issues.

 

[j-bird]

Not to be the turd in the proverbial punchbowl.

But the best time to get after your yote problem is in the spring.
Easier to kill a pair than a family.

Once yotes get ready to drop their litters an for some time after, they really do not traverse very far. Due to the abundance of food in a smaller area.
If you can get them early, there is less likelihood of another pair moving in around the time fawns drop.

Whereas at this time, young of the year have now dispersed an are looking for new territory's an mates of their own. Remove them now, there is a greater likelihood of new ones moving in on the freed up territory in relatively short order.

Also, constant vigilance is necessary to truly start to tackle the problem. Killing one or two a year really is only a drop in the bucket.
I believe predator removal has just a big of impact on micro level in our habitat plans as does say a 10acre NWSG planting.

But by all means, get out an call an kill em all. Fur is about as prime as its gunna get and its a blast when it all comes together.
Just don't get discouraged if doesn't work the first couple of outings.
A lot of people have started calling in recent years. An with the increased pressure have started to become increasingly call shy.

Also, the fox pros r very nice.
But, I will say, over the past couple of years I have started leaning towards a quality hand call.
Just feel the sound quality is better, an reduces the potential that those yotes would have been called with those sounds previously.
But for bird sounds, squirrel, cat, fawn distress, turkey, calf, they r very nice to have in the back pocket if rabbit is not working.
So I like to run a mix of both.

Edit: Forgot to add, I love calling, have a full day planned for Saturday an Sunday, conditions should be perfect.
But on my ground, I try to concentrate on spring trapping to help control my predator issues.

Thanks for the info. I have never actually "hunted" them. We can hunt them here from sometime in Oct into mid-March. I figure the only good one is a dead one. I figure we will struggle, but hopefully we figure it out and can at least put a dent in them. My boy has a buddy that has hunted them before, so maybe he can mentor us some. For right now I want to avoid a significant investment.....and a light and a few mouth calls (since I already have the gun) should get us started. If we struggle I may simply allow someone more serious about it hunt the place for them instead.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

I have several mouth calls too. There's nobody hunting coyotes around our camp. The groups we've been hearing seem to be hanging in 2 spots - don't know if they've found a rock outcropping or pile of fallen trees to call home - but they always seem to start yapping in those same 2 locations. We can bait them here too, so between bait and calling, I hope to stiffen a few of them. We can also hunt them at any time, so I'll keep after them. They usually start howling about 1/2 hour before dark each evening. Plenty of time to set up.

The FoxPro call I'm getting has all kinds of animal sounds on it, and if you shoot, the call can be set to go to a pup in distress automatically. It may just sucker another one in to "help" the pup in distress.

I guess we got off the track and into yote hunting/calling. Apologies J-bird !!

 

[j-bird]

I have several mouth calls too. There's nobody hunting coyotes around our camp. The groups we've been hearing seem to be hanging in 2 spots - don't know if they've found a rock outcropping or pile of fallen trees to call home - but they always seem to start yapping in those same 2 locations. We can bait them here too, so between bait and calling, I hope to stiffen a few of them. We can also hunt them at any time, so I'll keep after them. They usually start howling about 1/2 hour before dark each evening. Plenty of time to set up.

The FoxPro call I'm getting has all kinds of animal sounds on it, and if you shoot, the call can be set to go to a pup in distress automatically. It may just sucker another one in to "help" the pup in distress.

I guess we got off the track and into yote hunting/calling. Apologies J-bird !!

Nothing to apologize for.....I hope to put a hurt on some yotes and have never specifically hunted them before so I'm trying to gather info.

 

[j-bird]

Well we hit the woods again this week end in an effort for just one more deer - as that is what we need to provide the meat for the household for the year.

I went out Friday evening to our 2 man stand and saw nothing.
Tom and I went out saturday morning and saw nothing to our SW shooting house (I did pull the SD card from the cam)
Tom went out saturday evening and sat at doe point and saw nothing.
Tom went out sunday morning to 2 man and again saw nothing
Tom went out sunday evening to sit at the north basin and saw again .....nothing.

Somebody may be asking why i am not hunting......we have one muzzleloader in the house, AND I have only a few places we can hunt together. So I am letting ,my boy go and be able to have more stand choices by him going alone.

I had also talked to my dad and about the deer numbers at his place. His cam sighting numbers are 1/2 of what they normally are. I also talked to another guy who has family in the same county I hunt but has even better property and they had seen far fewer and have only harvested less than half of what they normally do as well.

Tom claims we are hunting a mythical creature...like a unicorn!

The wife and I drove into town sunday and we did see 4 after dark in our general area.....seeing those deer triggered my memory that I had not reviewed the cam card.

So I sat down at the table to review my SD card expecting to not see much. I had 36 triggers in roughly 2 to 3 weeks of time. The cam is sitting low (just because i wanted a little different cam angle) in the corner on my SW plot where I have soybeans standing with some wheat in it. I figured the cold temps would move the deer to feeding on standing grain if they could find it.

Well to my surprise - the deer are still there.......however EVER all triggers but 3 where at night. The three daytime triggers - one I was not able to see anything, one was of me going to the cam and the third.....well its a good news/bad news thing. He isn't huge, but he does meet our rules. The day this happened.....we hunted a different stand!

This buck likes this plot as I had him show up in a few other videos as well.

He has a little buddy around as well......

Had a video of a yote....and a family group of a mature doe and 2 fawns (I assume the group I pictured in post #381) So the deer know the food is there, they are just mostly using the cover of darkness to access it.

So our daytime sightings are in the toilet, but we do appear to at least have some deer still alive and in the area. I guess it's better than not seeing them in the daytime and not having anything on cam as well.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

You're not alone, J-bird. At our camp, the deer had all gone nocturnal between our archery season and our bear season. When bear season comes in, and people drive for bears, it really puts the clinkers to daylight deer activity. One of our members runs cams and the only pix are at night - usually anytime between 8:30 P.M. and 4:00 A.M. - both in complete darkness.

The talk in camp was " Where the hell did all the deer go ?? " I 100% believe the deer pattern US, and as more activity ( foot traffic or 4-wheelers ) occurs in the woods/fields, the deer adapt to what we're doing. At our place, the spike in human activity starts around the 1st week of October each year with archery season opening. Also it's cooler, so guys head into the woods to work on their tree stands, put in new stands, cut trails open, look for sign for deer and bear, etc. After all spring, summer & early fall having no disturbances in the woods, the human onslaught has to have an effect. I think if other strange people suddenly showed up in my yard and house, I'd notice pretty quickly too !! I just think they change habits to avoid us.

 

[rocksnstumps]

Tom claims we are hunting a mythical creature...like a unicorn!

But they DO exist. Course I only got one and he sure is frisky with the ladies...

 

[Bowsnbucks]

I like the looks of those spruce and that thick stuff in the background right next to the green field. It looks like a good place for deer to hang out in cold, windy weather.

Don't know about your unicorn ...........

 

[j-bird]

Well I am still trying....2 more evening hunts.....still no deer!

December 18 - evening hunt. Wind from the due south and sitting in the SW shooting house. Sort of dreary out with a heavy mist. This is the bean plot where the pics from last trail cam pull came from. Still no deer.

December 19th evening hunt. Again sort of dreary, wind from the North West I am in the 2 man stand overlooking another plot...still no more deer.

 

[hesseu]

J Bird, which site are you using for that temp / baro pressure graph?

 

[j-bird]

J Bird, which site are you using for that temp / baro pressure graph?

Weather underground. It is a function on their 10 day forecast tab.
Here is a link....it's of my location so you will have to change that, but this should get you on the right site.
https://www.wunderground.com/forecast/us/in/greensburg?cm_ven=localwx_10day

 

[j-bird]

Well - still after it. With this week being the week before our holiday break at work I have been able to get out a bit early in the afternoons and get a few evening hunts in. When the sun goes down X-mas eve my gun hunting days are done.

Dec 18th hunt. Wind was from the NW so I headed to my ladder stand up north that sits between a bedding area in the woods and an inside corner of a cut soybean field. I wasn't able to hunt until dark as I had dinner plans with the fam for my daughters birthday.... No deer sighted, but I thought I heard some, so I am hopeful.

View looking towards the bedding cover.

View looking towards the field corner.

Yesterday the wind was from the south, but I didn't feel like following the norm since I wasn't seeing anything so I decided to "wing it". I decided to take a post on the top of a hillside overlooking my south bottom plot. There was some sign of deer activity and sat down and got comfortable. I finally did see 2 deer! It was a small yearling buck chasing what I assume to be a doe fawn. This is good news in that maybe I will see a little activity of a secondary rut. Neither deer was what I was after and neither offered a shot. It is always fun to watch the show however. I get distracted watching them and didn't get a picture.

This is looking to my right back at "doe point". There is a nice flat area just inside the woods where the deer like to move to skirt around the CRP and plot area. i figured - since I wasn't seeing deer in the normal places it was time to look in the abnormal places!

This is looking straight out in front of me. I have a 3/4 acre soybean plot with CRP around it - my 2-man stand is almost directly across from me about 100 yards away.

This is is more to my left and more toward a bedding project I am working on.

I will be out after it again this evening.....it is gloomy now with with highs forecast in the 50's....but the weather man is forecasting rain and snow with falling temps (highs in the 30's) for Saturday and Sunday.....so maybe this weather moving in will get the deer up this evening. We have been seeing deer at night as well......I just have to get one that I like to show up in the day light, sure would be a nice Christmas present Santa....if your reading....wink, wink!

 

[Bill]

You've been hard at it..
I'd say you're do one at this point.

 

[4wanderingeyes]

Jbird, I have had less then good luck as well. I have been out 8 of the last 10 evenings, I have seen a few deer, even pull the trigger. The string hit my coat, pushed the arrow a few feet to the left. The deer ran 20 yards and gave my a 30 yard shot, hit a branch and the arrow sailed over his head. I have let that spot cool since. That was last Sunday. I haven’t seen a deer since, and I have been out everynight except last night. I see them in the field as I leave, I see them on the roads on my way home.
I will keep at it every evening I can until Jan 1st.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[j-bird]

Well I got out again Friday evening and again this morning..... still no deer on the ground

Dec 22 pm hunt - My view of the SW bean plot - wind was from the south and temps where in the 50's......weather moving in......got foggy out!

My view of the soybean plot

My view of my perennial plot and "orchard" to my left.

I did get to see 2 deer come out in the fog.....in the neighbors field!

We hunted this morning as well. Tom hunted in the north shooting house from daylight until about 10 and then I took the second shift from about 10 until 1......we had colder temps (roughly freezing) as the rain switched over to snow. Still no deer, we had X-mas with my folks later today so no hunting in the evening.

My view this morning (12/23) to my left - only thing I saw was a squirrel running all over the plot. No deer....

View to my right..... The shooting house was nice to stay out of the north wind and the rain/snow.

 

[j-bird]

I must have been a good boy this year......Santa got me just what I asked for.....new Scent Blocker digs! You might find it hard to see me in the pic.....I am camouflaged!!!!:p

I can't however figure out what the hell these things are used for inside the jacket!!!!

 

[Jim Timber]

"Tree Spider Compatible The Spider Speed Clips™ patented system allows for full system integration by securing the Tree Spider® harness into your favorite ScentBlocker® Jacket. Just attached 4 quick clips and pull the tether through the jacket slit. When it’s time to hunt, simply put your jacket on, fasten your leg buckles and waist buckle, then zip up! Tree Spider® is the only product to offer this technology."

Not too shabby!

 

[j-bird]

"Tree Spider Compatible The Spider Speed Clips™ patented system allows for full system integration by securing the Tree Spider® harness into your favorite ScentBlocker® Jacket. Just attached 4 quick clips and pull the tether through the jacket slit. When it’s time to hunt, simply put your jacket on, fasten your leg buckles and waist buckle, then zip up! Tree Spider® is the only product to offer this technology."

Not too shabby!

I will have to look into that.

 

[j-bird]

Well I am in my SW shooting house for my last gun hunt of the year. Not looking so good so far. Supposed to snow later today but I have seen just one deer across the creek on the neighbors property to the south of me. Oh well, all I can do is try. I may try to sneak in a few late season crossbow hunts but I am not sure just yet.

Merry Christmas everybody! Enjoy the holidays, be safe and enjoy the friends and family as that is what this time of year is all about!

 

[j-bird]

Pulled the cam card today.....my little 1/8 acre soybean plot overseeded with winter wheat....seems to be drawing in the neighborhood deer.

Even has caught the attention of some bucks as well.....I think these are 6 different bucks.