I know a lot of people who do it defensively to keep deer off their neighbors land as much as possible - and also use nutritional feed to improve herd health - and never kill a deer off of a “bait” site.
Are the glory days of deer hunting coming to a close?
- Thread starter Howboutthemdawgs
- Start date
I honestly think trail cams save far more deer than they cause to be killed. We might pass 20 different bucks in a season - waiting on those one or two target bucks - and never see them. Without the trailcams, we would probably kill several 2 and 3 yr olds.
Howboutthemdawgs
5 year old buck +
That’s me. I wouldn’t shoot a 200 inch deer if it was eating a pile of corn, but I feel the pressure to have sanctuary areas for a lack of better term to keep some deer from chasing the forbidden fruit on the neighbors property.
Howboutthemdawgs
5 year old buck +
That’s it. I have a funny conversation with my wife all the time along those lines. I HATE onions. Anytime I refuse to eat something because of them she says you can’t taste them to which I reply, then why in the hell did you waste the time and money to put them in! Same with baiting. It works. End of story. It can literally turn a habitat desert into a spot where you can kill a mature buck.
bueller
Moderator
That is an excellent point. We have few good bucks around and rarely ever see them in person even during the off season. Without trail cameras I wouldn't know they even exist in our area and then definitely wouldn't be passing on the smaller ones we do see.
As to the rest of this thread, being from Chicago and hunting in an area of WI was legal in the past and is prohibited now I'm just going to shake my head and remain quiet.
Howboutthemdawgs
5 year old buck +
Good point about trespassing. You have to have balls of steel to trespass these days. Someone would have to be a ninja to get through my property without being noticed by camera. And I don’t even have half as many as my neighbor does.
BenAllgood
5 year old buck +
In some areas, baiting is anti-hunting. You put someone at a bait site to be sure they're not going to shoot one of your good bucks.
BenAllgood
5 year old buck +
Is that hunting with the aid of bait then? If bucks are being kept close because of a feeder, doesn't that give you an advantage that wouldn't exist otherwise? It seems like it's making a sanctuary and you are hunting around the sanctuary. You aren't sitting right on top of the bait, but you are utilizing it to aid in killing a buck.
I've got no issues w/ you Bueller. You're good people. I would be curious to see how many are coming up from the land of Lincoln (a great state for hunting seemingly) that were born in WI (and moved to "Chicago" for work) vs people originally from Illinois. There are a bunch of "Chicago" landowners where we hunt (partially since it's near a lake filled with them).
bueller
Moderator
Hahaha. Thanks. I'm just laughing inside at the posts implying that people from Chicago don't go to deer camp once or twice a year and shoot the first buck they see and that hunting giant bucks over bait is like shooting fish in a barrel.
I don't consider myself the typical dude from Chicago lol.
omicron1792
5 year old buck +
What about rifles? Hunting from 300 yards can’t be fair chase right?
I think my longest rifle shot in 28 years is 100 yards. But I hunt in the woods.
Howboutthemdawgs
5 year old buck +
Don’t ask my opinion on that!!!
omicron1792
5 year old buck +
I’m picking. All I’m saying is at some point the Native Americans said us Europeans were cheating with rifles. Technology is not the enemy.
To be honest, I worried about all this stuff ten years ago. I can even remember back in the 70’s when I came home to Georgia from college with a compound bow and my dad said - “I see you went out and bought a CHEATER”. Georgia had yet to legalize compounds. Back then - we had the same discussion as now - just exchange the word compound for crossbow. How many folks do you think would be bow hunting now, and how many fewer deer would be killed if we had to use traditional archery. Those who use compound bows are using a bow with training wheels. 
Ten years ago, all this stuff was really weighing on me. I even had the head deer bio and his asst down to my place. I didnt have as many deer as I wanted, as many big deer as I wanted, I blamed it on my small acreage neighbors. The Bio’s agreed there was a problem at my place but said they couldnt manage every corner of the state. Since it seemed no one else was going to do what THEY needed to do to make MY deer hunting better - I took it on myself.
Now, I just consider it a game - to see how well I can manage the deer herd in spite of what the other team (my neighbors) throw at me. My deer herd is much better now - both in quantity and quality.
I know it makes a difference where you live - but in general-Deer hunters have it exceedingly easy. I have three ducks holes I plant and pumped up - spent way more time on that than deer food plots - and to my knowledge, there has not been a duck on them this year. Ten years ago, with no management at all - limits were the norm. If quail and rabbit season stopped today - it would not make a difference - they would not come back. They are basically gone from here. Turkeys are almost in the same boat - and as a relatively small land owner - 350 acres - there is not much you can do to bring them back. Ducks are not far behind. But deer - deer hunting is as good as it as ever been.
Ten years ago, all this stuff was really weighing on me. I even had the head deer bio and his asst down to my place. I didnt have as many deer as I wanted, as many big deer as I wanted, I blamed it on my small acreage neighbors. The Bio’s agreed there was a problem at my place but said they couldnt manage every corner of the state. Since it seemed no one else was going to do what THEY needed to do to make MY deer hunting better - I took it on myself.
Now, I just consider it a game - to see how well I can manage the deer herd in spite of what the other team (my neighbors) throw at me. My deer herd is much better now - both in quantity and quality.
I know it makes a difference where you live - but in general-Deer hunters have it exceedingly easy. I have three ducks holes I plant and pumped up - spent way more time on that than deer food plots - and to my knowledge, there has not been a duck on them this year. Ten years ago, with no management at all - limits were the norm. If quail and rabbit season stopped today - it would not make a difference - they would not come back. They are basically gone from here. Turkeys are almost in the same boat - and as a relatively small land owner - 350 acres - there is not much you can do to bring them back. Ducks are not far behind. But deer - deer hunting is as good as it as ever been.
Howboutthemdawgs
5 year old buck +
Well said and good read. With that said is there any worry that deer could suffer the same fate as the others? You think guys in the 50’ with quail or 90’s with turkeys had concerns for the future? Now I’m not saying deer will be eradicated by any stretch, just seems scary what has happened to other species.To be honest, I worried about all this stuff ten years ago. I can even remember back in the 70’s when I came home to Georgia from college with a compound bow and my dad said - “I see you went out and bought a CHEATER”. Georgia had yet to legalize compounds. Back then - we had the same discussion as now - just exchange the word compound for crossbow. How many folks do you think would be bow hunting now, and how many fewer deer would be killed if we had to use traditional archery. Those who use compound bows are using a bow with training wheels.
Ten years ago, all this stuff was really weighing on me. I even had the head deer bio and his asst down to my place. I didnt have as many deer as I wanted, as many big deer as I wanted, I blamed it on my small acreage neighbors. The Bio’s agreed there was a problem at my place but said they couldnt manage every corner of the state. Since it seemed no one else was going to do what THEY needed to do to make MY deer hunting better - I took it on myself.
Now, I just consider it a game - to see how well I can manage the deer herd in spite of what the other team (my neighbors) throw at me. My deer herd is much better now - both in quantity and quality.
I know it makes a difference where you live - but in general-Deer hunters have it exceedingly easy. I have three ducks holes I plant and pumped up - spent way more time on that than deer food plots - and to my knowledge, there has not been a duck on them this year. Ten years ago, with no management at all - limits were the norm. If quail and rabbit season stopped today - it would not make a difference - they would not come back. They are basically gone from here. Turkeys are almost in the same boat - and as a relatively small land owner - 350 acres - there is not much you can do to bring them back. Ducks are not far behind. But deer - deer hunting is as good as it as ever been.
The only issue I have is w/ baiting. Nothing else bothers me. Well, and ag tags. F them to hell and back.
I think there is a big difference - at least now. Deer can be managed with regulations alone - for the most part. If AR had a two week, 1 buck 1 doe modern gun season - you could not drive down the road with hitting a few. Quail, turkeys, and rabbits are not like that. They are much more demanding for habitat and predation affects them much more. I tend to think ducks can be somewhat managed by regulation - but the feds would disagree.
I have a 1200 acre cattle ranching neighbor who does absolutely no deer management. He lets two guys hunt his place - bow only - and he is covered up with numbers and quality. If he let 10 guys come in during rifle season, his land would be no better than anywhere else. I have seen that land managed both ways.
omicron1792
5 year old buck +
I do think about that dogs. Deer were nonexistent in about 1940 in Alabama. They had been wiped out. The state and scientist repopulated it. There are now more deer than the state can handle.
The question is, was that the right move. Humans are part of nature, and if we decimate a population, are we supposed to bring it back? It reminds me of people that think the climate was perfect in 1950 in America. The Earth has always gone through warming and cooling cycles, why are we constantly worried about that.
I am part of the chestnut repopulation strategy. They were the dominant tree for generations, and were wiped out by a blight. Yes it was from another continent which wouldn’t have been possible in the past, but nature obviously took them out. Is putting them back in the right thing to do? Do we wish dinosaurs were still the dominant species on the planet?
omicron1792
5 year old buck +
I think that’s a great cut off point for you. But you can see how that’s an arbitrary stopping point.
