J-birds place

[j-bird]

OK - it only took until september to get the data......but here it is for my county. There are some things that I am not sure I fully understand.....



I guess I don't understand - How can we have a record county harvest of 831 deer in 2014 and the DVC (Deer/Vehicle Cases) of 93 and we have seen the harvest drop over the past 3 years....due to a declining population.....to 730 deer and we still have the same number of DVC's? We average ONE damage report per year for the last DECADE! I also do NOT agree with the buck:doe ration or the fawn:doe ration the state is sighting for my area. I see several does for every buck - while hunting and per trail cam. I also see multiple fawns per doe as a norm.

 

[Bill]

I'd call and ask to get a package to be an observer. I've been filling them out at my farm for years.
When I duck hunted heavy I filled out surveys for the Feds every year and even sent in wing samples to thier biologists.

 

[j-bird]

I'd call and ask to get a package to be an observer. I've been filling them out at my farm for years.
When I duck hunted heavy I filled out surveys for the Feds every year and even sent in wing samples to thier biologists.

I can do that.....

 

[j-bird]

Was out over the weekend and took some pics. I had to prep/clean out shooting houses as the youth deer hunt is this coming weekend. Gotta shake out the mouse poop and chase out the wasps!

Found this on the back deck.....dang squirrels are so determined that they are now eating my plastic pots!


Actual habitat updates.... turnips are growing nicely....


Chestnuts burrs are just starting to turn and open......


North corner plot is looking good......clover looks good, turnips are coming in, corn is OK, trees are caged......now we just need some deer!


Same plot - different view.......

 

[ghilliehunter]

Great pics j-bird!

 

[j-bird]

Great pics j-bird!

Thank you......your place taking shape for the coming hunting season????

 

[Bill]

Good luck on the youth hunt!

When that's done start shooting squirrels

 

[ghilliehunter]

Thank you......your place taking shape for the coming hunting season????

Not too bad, 2 acre bean/corn combo plot got eaten pretty hard. If I do that again, have to e-fence it. Clover and chickory doing really well. Hoping my boys get an opportunity during archery. Almost here!

 

[j-bird]

Not too bad, 2 acre bean/corn combo plot got eaten pretty hard. If I do that again, have to e-fence it. Clover and chickory doing really well. Hoping my boys get an opportunity during archery. Almost here!

At least you know you have the deer and your providing something they like. If those beans and corn are that bad - toss some turnips and wheat over it and the rain will do the rest.....get a little more green food in there for them. And the seed is fairly cheap as well..... I hope you and Jake have a good season....and be safe!

 

[j-bird]

Well, the last weekend in September is the youth deer hunt weekend here in IN. Saturday morning I was up and ready to go.....while somebody had a late night the night before and decided that bed was where she was staying. So instead the boy and I hit the woods for some squirrels..... We didn't find any, but it was fun to just get out. I had to get the cam card any way.


Part of this trip to the woods I found the first scrape of the year on my place..... And I made my "contribution" to it!


I pulled the cam card......nothing to report there other than the same 2 doe families......

On the way back I saw some bright orange mushrooms on a dark damp log and the constrast in natures color caught my eye and felt it was picture worthy.


We did finally get to deer hunt Saturday evening but didn't see any deer. We saw rabbits and 2 turkey take to the roost. This is the view from the shooting house we had. The ag corn is still standing so that make hunting difficult because it is food and cover and the acorn drop here is in full swing as well.



Sunday morning I was finally able to get Emma to get out of bed to deer hunt! However it came with it's own struggles. We did see three deer...a medium sized doe and her twin fawns. They came down the path in the pic above. She decided to pass...... then..... somebody tried to sneak in a nap...... She is doubled over while sitting on a bucket, eyes closed, deep steady breathing and even a little drool! She started to list one way and I woke her up. She swears she was just resting her eyes and wasn't sleeping! My grandfather used to say, "You can't BS an old BSer" (I cleaned that up). No deer hunting that evening....social event with her "squad" had precedence.

 

[j-bird]

Some folks think I am a little "tough" on my states DNR.....well way back on post #31 - I posted where in our 2015-2016 hunting season regulations where our state had closed grouse hunting in the entire state. Today, I was looking thru changes the DNR is wanting to add them to the state's endangered species list. Now....we went from hunting them prior to 2015-2016 hunting season to now just a few years later they are being requested to be added to the endangered species list?!?! I realize this is more than likely habitat related......but that's a pretty rapid decline! The statement also said that they estimate their population was 0.5% of what it was in 1983 and their range has dwindled from 43 counties in 1983 to only a few currently. This is where my concern stems from.....the slow reaction time to make such needed changes in efforts to maintain healthy wildlife populations AND maintain healthy habitats for these animals.

 

[j-bird]

So fall has really set in here. We have had cool temps and even a good frost.... We even had a thin bit of ice on some rain puddles this morning.
This was the view off the driveway this morning on my way to work....yes work. I'd rather be hunting.....but I got bills to pay!


I did get some work done over the weekend as well.....when I should have been hunting...
Put a cedar tree to good use. It was in a livestock fence so it had to go and I was going to use it in my folks pond for fish habitat....but it's a rub post now....we will see if it gets any use.


I pushed off some corn stubble and the like to expose some bare ground and spread some winter wheat as well.....



I was checking stands and clearing entrance paths and the like.....decided to take in the view for a bit.... about 15 acres of cut corn, a 120 foot CRP buffer and 5 feet wide "deer trail" that I tossed out some wheat between the CRP and the trees. Here, deer...deer...deer...deer!

Had a nosy neighbor in that stand. Dang coon was trying to reach the berries on the green briar vine! Funny watching them do their thing. HE would hold on with his back paws and leans way out there like a little kid trying to reach the cookie!


Set up a new licking vine/branch as well......This one is one a small oak lined "ridge" I have. Hopefully it sees some visitors.


Normally fall, real fall, doesn't come this early. Normally I'm still fighting the skeeters and the heat, so I was caught a little flat footed as far as having stands ready, but I'm in good shape now. So now it will get hot again!!!!

 

[j-bird]

Finally hit the woods saturday morning with bow in hand. I had a deer blow at me that I never saw, but other than that I just enjoyed the morning and the sounds of fall. As the sun came up and filtered thru the trees and a couple of groups of honkers passed over head it was just a wonderful morning all the way around. Even took a moment to talk to the man upstairs and to let some of those on the other side that they are still in my mind in in my heart...

I had to knock the dust off the old Hoyt, but she will get the job done if needed...


The view from the stand... I'm sitting in a 15' ladder stand that is about 75 inside the woods of an inside corner of a cut bean field and my plot is just over my left should about 50 yards away as well sitting over a logging trail...

View west...plot is just to the left out of frame...


View north... thicker stuff to the left side here is a little bedding area and the logging trail leads north to a basin type area... My hanging vine is right on this logging trail.


View east... thru some younger hard maple...


These are just some pics I took later in the morning once the sun started filtering thru the trees... The joys of morning in the woods...

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Great pix and thoughts, J-bird. It's tough to beat time spent in a tree stand in the fall. You obviously know that.
My wife has always wondered how and why our sons & I climb out of a warm bed at 3:30 AM and crawl up trees in the dark. Like you said …… there's something about mornings in the woods / tree stands.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[j-bird]

Great pix and thoughts, J-bird. It's tough to beat time spent in a tree stand in the fall. You obviously know that.
My wife has always wondered how and why our sons & I climb out of a warm bed at 3:30 AM and crawl up trees in the dark. Like you said …… there's something about mornings in the woods / tree stands.

Thanks for sharing.

Thank you. The last picture reminds me of someone who has passed on... I was by myself, but not alone...

 

[j-bird]

Update...
I was able to get out Saturday evening to hunt. Took some pics along the way. I did see 3 deer - 2 does and a young buck. I am seeing signs of the early phases of the seeking and chasing phases. Seeing more deer in the ditches, bucks I had not seen all year on cam and some actual chasing and rubs and scrapes...

The 2 does got chased out of the woods buy a young buck, but nothing was what I was looking for or even got close enough for a shot.

These are the view from my stand as a pan from left to right...




While out and about I also found some rubs in the willows... Nothing huge, but signs of some frustration...


Turnips are about the size of softballs as well...

 

[j-bird]

Took the day as a vacation day today. We have had 2 solid days of steady rain and the weather broke over night... I got up this morning and was very hopeful. I went to my north ladder stand this morning and had what I think was a button buck come in around 8am. It was an antlerless deer all by itself and was right at the limit of my shooting range...so I passed. Views from that stand have been posted already... That was all I saw this morning. I went back out this evening. I went to a ladder stand with the intent of moving it to a different location, but once I got there I decided I would just hunt there this evening and then move the stand in the dark.

View from the stand... Lots of standing water and the creek/stream is still moving pretty good, but you could see the silt still on the plants that the stand area was under water yesterday.

This is looking to my right with a real small WW kill plot (green spot)

This is looking straight ahead - with my small corn plot in the distance... This is a narrow strip of timber along a stream ...maybe 30 or 40 yards across....a CRP buffer and then my small 1/4 acre corn plot.


This is the view to the left....where the bucks came from....

So about 5:30 - I catch movement to my right and there is a small yearling buck. Not what I am looking for, but he continues to look back into the cover... Sure enough there is another buck...a bigger one. At first I just saw the body and it was a lot bigger and then saw that the antlers met the "ear width" rule. Which here tends to mean the buck is at least 3 years old. I was expecting a showdown...but that wasn't the case. The deer I wanted...was limping. After watching for some time I was able to tell why. The lower 1/2 of one of his rear legs was missing. So then I really wanted this deer. I figured it was some sort of accident and the deer may struggle to survive, I need meat in the freezer AND he was a respectable buck. Well he eventually made his way to me and at about 20 yards I let the X-bow do it's thing. The deer bolted about 10 yards and I could see a steady stream coming from each side. The deer didn't go 50 yards total. So much for moving the stand...

He is a clean 8 point and will score around 120"...he isn't anything special, but he is the biggest archery kill of mine to date. I have posted other pics in "successful hunt" thread. I try to post "cleaner" pics from the field, but I was not prepared so this one is a bit "messier" that I typically care for and I apologize for that.

 

[Bill]

Hey I'm curious if that cedar rubbing post has or will get used with the PVC base.
I remember reading/hearing that they needed to firmly planted in the ground like a live tree.

 

[trampledbyturtles]

Love the color character on the bases, and the dark forehead. Neat deer for sure, congrats. Gotta get some ring bologna made, my favorite from the butcher.

 

[Mortenson]

Congratulations on the successful hunt, J-bird. Always a noble thing when a hunter can take down a wounded animal. His steaks may or may not taste the best, but anything you turn him into should taste great! The rack will look nice on display.