Is property management on smaller properties

Also big bucks are only killed around corn during the rut, only because that’s where the does are.
I’m with you except on the corn during the rut. They will hit it all year. I’ve had mature bucks hit my feeders in daylight multiple days a week every week of the season. It’s stupid easy to put out a site just before the season and kill him first week of the season. Bucks are stupid about 2 things. Does and corn.
This is a prime example of deer doing different things in different places or under different circumstances. I've witnessed both of these. I've hunted in places where corn or feeders equals nighttime only bucks, and I've hunted places where feeding was the easy button. I've seen the same thing with plots or even ag fields. I've sat over a 240 acre soybean field in the middle of prime timberland and witnessed no deer coming in during daytime. These kinds of different circumstances get people adamant about one thing or another, when it turns out, they're both right.
 
Man there is so much hunting pressure for me in alabama I never see mature bucks in fields or feeders in daylight outside of rut. I see lots of young bucks do it.

Where I have to catch good bucks outside rut is pathway too fields, they usually start walking 30 minutes before dark but don’t step into open until dark.
Yeah and maybe I should have clarified, if you are smart about it they will come in during daylight. With pressure they won’t but that’s goes for any spot. This am but granted seasons out, still wouldn’t matter they came all season long too 6EC0458D-7B61-4E7D-9BFB-CA6B60F9CAC0.jpeg
 
I've also experienced where it can take generations for deer in an area to have the "nocturnalness" or "spookiness" removed from them. It's really frustrating to be on 2100 acres for several years of low pressure after closing dog hunting and limiting pressure, and still have deer act like they're going to get killed if they come out of a thicket.
 
I've also experienced where it can take generations for deer in an area to have the "nocturnalness" or "spookiness" removed from them. It's really frustrating to be on 2100 acres for several years of low pressure after closing dog hunting and limiting pressure, and still have deer act like they're going to get killed if they come out of a thicket.
I agree. Takes time for sure.
 
I've also experienced where it can take generations for deer in an area to have the "nocturnalness" or "spookiness" removed from them. It's really frustrating to be on 2100 acres for several years of low pressure after closing dog hunting and limiting pressure, and still have deer act like they're going to get killed if they come out of a thicket.

I'm guessing it is that same epigenetic thing that shows it can takes several generations for quality foods to evidence themselves in body weight.
 
Yeah and maybe I should have clarified, if you are smart about it they will come in during daylight. With pressure they won’t but that’s goes for any spot. This am but granted seasons out, still wouldn’t matter they came all season long too View attachment 49191

I realize it is completely legal in some places and has been traditional, but pictures like that just make me sad.
 
I realize it is completely legal in some places and has been traditional, but pictures like that just make me sad.
Yep necessary evil for me but I will quit hunting before I hunt over it. I have a not so secret secret…most of the big bucks you see on grip in grins are taking over a big ol pile.
 
I’ve noticed a lot of daylight activity on bucks on my Iowa farm . Way more than in Minnesota.

I attribute it to less hunting pressure, and the gun season starting in December. They move more often .

Gun season shuts em down in Minnesota!
 
Yep necessary evil for me but I will quit hunting before I hunt over it. I have a not so secret secret…most of the big bucks you see on grip in grins are taking over a big ol pile.
I'm always concerned how non-hunters that aren't anti-hunters view that sort of thing. Can they differentiate the difference between the two?
 
I'm always concerned how non-hunters that aren't anti-hunters view that sort of thing. Can they differentiate the difference between the two?

I think that's way down the list of concerns on the public perception front.
 
I'm always concerned how non-hunters that aren't anti-hunters view that sort of thing. Can they differentiate the difference between the two?
Kind of like the covid thread. Most have already made up their minds.

What’s important is each of us doing what we think is right and moral. There is no doubt that dawgs is doing that.

Everyone else can fly a kite.
 
I think that's way down the list of concerns on the public perception front.

I agree, some of the "competitive hunting" concepts are a real thorn.

Kind of like the covid thread. Most have already made up their minds.

What’s important is each of us doing what we think is right and moral. There is no doubt that dawgs is doing that.

Everyone else can fly a kite.

That is true for the anti-hunting crowd, not non-hunters as a class. I often chat with non-hunters. Even when I talk about food plots I often first hear: "So, you plant crops so you can shoot deer when they come to eat them?" I correct them and let them know that is not how it works. I tell them I plant to improve the health of the herd and that the food is available 24/7. As soon as the deer get a little hunting pressure they use them mostly at night after hunting hours. I watch the wheels turning and usually get "Ok, that makes sense...Please pass the venison..." More and more seem to value hunting from an "eat local" and "eat natural" perspective these days as long as they think it is being done ethically. Most of the non-hunters I talk to are very receptive to explanation and discussion.

I also run into a lot of the anti-hunting folks and they have their minds made up.

Thanks,

Jack
 
I agree, some of the "competitive hunting" concepts are a real thorn.



That is true for the anti-hunting crowd, not non-hunters as a class. I often chat with non-hunters. Even when I talk about food plots I often first hear: "So, you plant crops so you can shoot deer when they come to eat them?" I correct them and let them know that is not how it works. I tell them I plant to improve the health of the herd and that the food is available 24/7. As soon as the deer get a little hunting pressure they use them mostly at night after hunting hours. I watch the wheels turning and usually get "Ok, that makes sense...Please pass the venison..." More and more seem to value hunting from an "eat local" and "eat natural" perspective these days as long as they think it is being done ethically. Most of the non-hunters I talk to are very receptive to explanation and discussion.

I also run into a lot of the anti-hunting folks and they have their minds made up.

Thanks,

Jack
The anti hunters are the only ones that pitch a fit or post online or put effort into anything to make a change. And they are too lazy to do that much.

The non hunters here are so tired of hitting deer with their cars or them eating their flowers and bushes they would pay for me to hunt them.
 
I'm always concerned how non-hunters that aren't anti-hunters view that sort of thing. Can they differentiate the difference between the two?
Anti hunters don’t bother me. They are a pimple on a bulls ass compared to the real issue hunters face. Losing land will be the death of hunting.
 
Anti hunters don’t bother me. They are a pimple on a bulls ass compared to the real issue hunters face. Losing land will be the death of hunting.
In my experience, non-hunters run the gamut. Some are on the fence of becoming anti-hunters and lean hard in that way. I've converted several to hunters by, first inviting them over for dinner with my wife cooking loin, chatting with them casually. I don't push anything, but most will asking about hunting. I then invite them to come to one of the hunter ed classes I teach. I tell them, they learn a lot more about hunting, but even if they are not interested in it, they will learn a lot of firearm safety and, until recently, it was sufficient training for a concealed carry permit. Those that come to a class, I offer to take the the range and then offer to take hunting. They don't have to buy anything but a license and our state offers inexpensive novice licenses. They are cheap, only good for 2 years, and you have to hunt directly with a licensed hunter. I provide firearms, take them out, and sit in a box blind with them.

I would say both of these categories represent the fringes of non-hunters. Most just don't care as long as thy think it is done ethically.

Thanks,

Jack
 
I agree, some of the "competitive hunting" concepts are a real thorn.



That is true for the anti-hunting crowd, not non-hunters as a class. I often chat with non-hunters. Even when I talk about food plots I often first hear: "So, you plant crops so you can shoot deer when they come to eat them?" I correct them and let them know that is not how it works. I tell them I plant to improve the health of the herd and that the food is available 24/7. As soon as the deer get a little hunting pressure they use them mostly at night after hunting hours. I watch the wheels turning and usually get "Ok, that makes sense...Please pass the venison..." More and more seem to value hunting from an "eat local" and "eat natural" perspective these days as long as they think it is being done ethically. Most of the non-hunters I talk to are very receptive to explanation and discussion.

I also run into a lot of the anti-hunting folks and they have their minds made up.

Thanks,

Jack
Hopefully they never find out where their beef comes from and how they "harvest" cows for food.
 
Hopefully they never find out where their beef comes from and how they "harvest" cows for food.
That reminds me of a funny thing that happened years ago when public forums were just getting off the ground. I was having a debate with an anti-hunter (hopefully just a teen). At one point in the discussion, he said: "I don't know why you hunters pick on poor defenseless animals. Why don't you just get your meat at McDonalds like everyone else where no animals are harmed?" 🤪
 
Losing land will be the death of hunting.
Not to derail this thread, but this is something I see as inevitable. I don't want to sound like an alarmist or some eco nut, but the human population is squeezing out the animal and plant populations. New "human habitat components" are being constructed every day at the expense of other types of habitat components. I see it very much where I live. Subdivisions are going in at an alarming rate. People who want to live in the country keep building and pushing the "country" further and further away. I don't have a solution, but it does scare me as to what our future looks like.
 
Not to derail this thread, but this is something I see as inevitable. I don't want to sound like an alarmist or some eco nut, but the human population is squeezing out the animal and plant populations. New "human habitat components" are being constructed every day at the expense of other types of habitat components. I see it very much where I live. Subdivisions are going in at an alarming rate. People who want to live in the country keep building and pushing the "country" further and further away. I don't have a solution, but it does scare me as to what our future looks like.
It’s mind blowing that people aren’t more afraid of this. Additionally there is a “housing shortage” that we can only build our way out of to satisfy. So obviously what comes with that…housing developments, shopping developments, infrastructure, etc.
The other huge factor is the fragmention of land. Large tracts of land are as scarce as unicorns in most states east of the Mississippi. Get on onx and see how many contiguous tracts of a 1000 plus acres there are. Very very few especially in stuff that isn’t so rough very little wildlife lives there’s anyway. It’s a sad state of affairs.
 
Not to derail this thread, but this is something I see as inevitable. I don't want to sound like an alarmist or some eco nut, but the human population is squeezing out the animal and plant populations. New "human habitat components" are being constructed every day at the expense of other types of habitat components. I see it very much where I live. Subdivisions are going in at an alarming rate. People who want to live in the country keep building and pushing the "country" further and further away. I don't have a solution, but it does scare me as to what our future looks like.

I don't think that will be the case. It will clearly change the character and, perhaps, the types of hunting. Many game animals, especially deer, are very adaptable. I grew up in PA were we hunted big tracks of mostly timber on state forest land and state game lands. There were so many hunters you were allowed to shoot one deer a year, and it was shameful to shot a doe. We had a short gun season, and with so many hunters, hunting escape routes was the best option. I never had a shot opportunity during bow season.

I though my hunting days were over when I was transferred to DC. No apparent places to hunt within hours it seemed. Then I found some military bases that had controlled hunting. The managed for wildlife and controlled the number of hunters per acre. I soon found that deer abounded in the suburbs but there was no place to hunt them. Stream valley parks were off limits and there were very few if any tracks larger than 10 acres and they had houses on them. Lots of deer/auto accidents. Deer were eating landscaping in folks back yards. I ended up being one of the founders of Suburban Whitetail Management of Northern Virginia. As that organization too off we were killing hundreds of deer each year in the suburbs on tracts as small as 5 acres.

This is just one example, but, as I see it, the forms of hunting will change as ownership of land changes. Urban sprawl clearly makes it hard to find a large contiguous tract of land. When I was growing up in PA, you just knocked on a farmers door and asked for permission to hunt. I had better than a 50% success rate. Those days are dwindling if not gone. Many farms are owned by industry and are farmed edge to edge. As I see it, man will always need to coexist with wildlife. There comes a point where large predators come into conflict with man. Man wins. As those large predators are reduced in the eco system, someone has to take their role in controlling prey species. That is hunters. Where we hunt, how we hunt, and even why we hunt, may change but hunting will always be needed.

One thing I learned with suburban whitetail management is that non-hunters can be influenced by the anti-hunting crowd quite a bit. Bambi stories with large eyes and arguments from the anti-hunters have influence...UNTIL... reality hits them in the pocketbook. Replacing landscaping annually, hitting deer with a car, little Billy getting Lyme disease, and so can turn non-hunters into allies pretty quickly as long as they see us as a responsible group in society.

Thanks,

Jack
 
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