MilkweedManiac
5 year old buck +
I hope you are seeing better rutting action than we are on this side of the state. I did see a few small bucks last week and a couple 2.5 year olds, but nothing mature yet. I actually only have one mature buck on camera so far.
The neighbor told us this week that their crew found 6 dead deer this year, and one was a really nice buck. So I’m guessing 16 deer found in an area roughly 500 acres large indicates we are now in the rebuilding phase.
Maybe something old and still alive will wander in around Thanksgiving.
j-bird
Moderator
When it's that cold I head to the tower blinds.... I can keep warmer there. I hate the cold. I simply can't focus....I'll stand hunt as long as the temps are reasonable.....but I have found that when it gets real cold the deer here simply wait until the day warms up as well. They ain't so dumb!I made the mistake of looking at the weather on my phone while in a ladder stand this afternoon. Feels like “1”
No wonder my toes were cold..
Bill
Administrator
A lot of truth right there. I’ve noticed the same thing.
j-bird
Moderator
My folks place, Dad says he is seeing some activity, but I have not seen much. We have a young buck on a regular route that we are seeing, but he isn't a target yet. I tend to not see much evidence of rutting simply because of my low deer density.
16 deer in 500 acres could be a lot or a little...depending on your density. Here....that would be every deer in the square mile! There....I don't know, you will have a better idea of that. Even at a density of 30 dpsm 16 means roughly 50% mortality.....a density of say 45...means 33% mortality.
A kill like this can be a good thing or bad depending on the situation. If your habitat was being over browsed, the reduced deer numbers...if sustained...can allow a habitat to recover. It sucks from a hunting perspective because we like seeing deer, but it could be just what the habitat itself needs. The thing is that typically deer numbers will rebound much quicker than the habitat will. There is a time to kill does and a time NOT to kill does....we need to use the feedback from the habitat to know when to apply which plan.
Good luck out there....try to stay warm....and be safe!
j-bird
Moderator
Every time it gets really cold I am reminded of a stretch where I froze my behind off in a tree in December after a doe. We needed 1 more deer for the freezer so I was in a tree stand with my muzzleloader for 2 days straight. I hated every minute of it, but it was before my tower builds. Finally I had a small group of deer come out and I aimed....."snap". Primer went off...gun didn't! I reloaded another primer...."snap" again....no "BOOM". Now the deer are starting to look around and getting concerned. The third time...."snap"..."pause"...."WTF!"...."BOOM!" I had started to pull off the stock and the gun goes off. I actually hit the doe and recovered her....but man was I pissed! When did the deer show up? Middle of the day....when the sun was bright and about as warm as it was going to get. I spent that time freezing for no reason.... Not doing that again! That was back when I thought hunting more meant killing more deer. I know better now and try to pick my moments a little better.
MilkweedManiac
5 year old buck +
Yes, I 100% support nature’s course correction if necessary. Just found out a big 11 pointer was found in a pond of the neighbor’s a few weeks back. I honestly think I was the only one looking for dead deer, so it’s anyone’s guess to the actual number we lost. But it was getting spooky there for a while. Like Ten Commandments, plague kind of deal.
Best wishes to you as your season continues!
j-bird
Moderator
I think very few people actually look for the dead deer. Some many stumble across them during the summer, but only once fall hunters hit the woods do the majority of them get found.....this is why I was so upset with our DNR a few years back when this happened....and they did nothing. The new guy leading the charge in the DNR is using peoples reports to at least curb some of the antlerless harvest in areas known to be most affected. It's better than nothing. I doubt the DNR has the tools to really know how drastic this years EHD was....but it certainly seems to be here to stay and it's going to be another issue deer managers are going to have to consider moving forward. Good luck and be safe....
j-bird
Moderator
So our general firearm season is now closed.... I will have 16 days of muzzleloader yet if I choose to go out. We have had a great season thus far. Spent a few hunts with my kids and filled the freezer.
I want to note that the SW plot has been hit pretty hard. It's funny how things change from year to year. Last year I had deer eating beans in this same plot well into December and January.....this year, the beans are already nearly gone and the deer have also eaten all the green turnip leaves and are starting to eat the bulbs already. Some of this I think is because of the fallow fields in the area (wet spring), as well as the plot not doing as well (poorly timed rains). I also think other farming practices are impacting the available food level as well (dairy farm is increasing demand for silage type crops which impact how much waste grain is in fields). I was working on trying to reduce my need for annual plots....but I may need to re-think that. I may also need to focus much more on getting as much out of a plot as I can where it wasn't as critical in the past.
Plots are a big part of my over-all hunting plan as the food they provide later in the year keeps the does happy and those does are the bait I need to attract the bucks. it's not ideal, but it's what I have to work with.
I want to note that the SW plot has been hit pretty hard. It's funny how things change from year to year. Last year I had deer eating beans in this same plot well into December and January.....this year, the beans are already nearly gone and the deer have also eaten all the green turnip leaves and are starting to eat the bulbs already. Some of this I think is because of the fallow fields in the area (wet spring), as well as the plot not doing as well (poorly timed rains). I also think other farming practices are impacting the available food level as well (dairy farm is increasing demand for silage type crops which impact how much waste grain is in fields). I was working on trying to reduce my need for annual plots....but I may need to re-think that. I may also need to focus much more on getting as much out of a plot as I can where it wasn't as critical in the past.
Plots are a big part of my over-all hunting plan as the food they provide later in the year keeps the does happy and those does are the bait I need to attract the bucks. it's not ideal, but it's what I have to work with.
j-bird
Moderator
So I pulled my 2 cam cards from the last couple of weeks. One on a water hole and one on a community scrape. Both cards reloaded and pulled for the same length of time and these 2 locations are roughly 200 yards apart. What was interesting....the scrape was all a dud. A few does and that was it....not a single buck. The water hole.....several bucks (mostly at night). Nothing to get overly excited about....but I thought the shift in importance and use was interesting.
Part of the waterhole visit was a deer from last year. I had him on cam last year, found a shed of his, had him on cam this year early and now again. This is normally a good thing. The bad thing is that his rack only supports 6 points and because of the history I know he is at least 3 years old...maybe 4. I think he is the culprit for the increase in scrapes and rubs this year. He carried the same frame last year he just seems to have put some mass and a little additional length on. Sorry the pic isn't the clearest....it's s screen shot from a video. If I still needed meat for the freezer I would be out after him with my muzzleloader..... I am not a fan of "culling".....but he may certainly make the "hit list" next year if he is still around.
Part of the waterhole visit was a deer from last year. I had him on cam last year, found a shed of his, had him on cam this year early and now again. This is normally a good thing. The bad thing is that his rack only supports 6 points and because of the history I know he is at least 3 years old...maybe 4. I think he is the culprit for the increase in scrapes and rubs this year. He carried the same frame last year he just seems to have put some mass and a little additional length on. Sorry the pic isn't the clearest....it's s screen shot from a video. If I still needed meat for the freezer I would be out after him with my muzzleloader..... I am not a fan of "culling".....but he may certainly make the "hit list" next year if he is still around.
MilkweedManiac
5 year old buck +
I agree with this philosophy 100% and am dealing with the same issue. When a mature buck with smaller genetic antler potential moves into our smaller property, if he has any moxie to him at all it seems like he pushes the bigger boys around me for most of the season (many trail cam photos to support it). You better believe if I catch a bully buck in daylight he is going in my freezer.
j-bird
Moderator
I have never been one to support "culling" or the like, but if all he is going to do is grow 6 points....I would like to see him gone. I don't have any intense management going on to require his removal, but like was stated if he is 3 or even 4 and this is all he has in him....I would prefer to take him vs a smaller buck with potential. We have our rule for taking bucks and he would meet those rules as well....it's just that since we can only take 1 buck all year many folks would pass on this one. Very seldom does anyone care how big your 6 pointer is!
j-bird
Moderator
I took advantage of the warmer than normal temps over the holidays and tried to get some work done. It's not often we see a week of 50's in December here....
First project was clearing some brush (scrub sycamore and mulberry) in some buffers. The brush cutter worked great but some stuff still needed the chainsaw. I used the brush to create some brush piles, blockades and otherwise just try to create some cover more at deer level. Some of the areas the trees had matured to the point where the ground level cover was bare and the tree types are of minimal wildlife value so buzz-buzz they went. I had found an area where I had previously used brush to keep deer from slipping around the back of a plot of mine. Turns out that brush had broken down and the deer had been taking advantage..... I put a stop to that with the slash. Below you can see the blind and to the left there is where the old blockage was.....there was even a few rubs in there. I want to force the deer out into the plot as the stem count it high enough and the cover tall enough to hide the deer from view if I don't.
Only once I started this post did I realize I didn't take any "after" pics. I will and will post them as well....but the brush is cut to the ground and hopefully as the leaves breakdown the weeds and grasses will return. IF I have a means to remove the leaves and get to bare dirt I may even try to add in some switchgrass.
Second project was that I dug up 2 of my MG clumps to propagate them into some plot and blind screens. I had never done this before and wasn't entirely sure what to expect but things seemed to go well thus far. We will see how well it went come spring and see what grows.
Here is the plot screen....I am trying to screen a small plot off from the large ag field. I have clover and sawtooth oaks in the back of the plot...an area for an annual planting (tends to be beans overseeded with cereal grains and brassica) and then the ag corn/bean field. I think/hope the screen will help increase usage of the plot by helping it feel more secure and not let the deer see our activities in the field after crop harvest. Screen is planted as single row on roughly 24" centers. I figure I can "thin" if needed later. I also planted a screen to hide a blind and entrance on another portion of the farm but I didn't take pictures....if it goes well I will post up some of those as well.
So the two MG plants I dug up provided PLENTY of rhizomes. I didn't count them but for the little bit of actual plant growth I had I was surprised to see as large of a root ball as each had. I probably actually finished with twice as many rhizomes as shown here.
Singular rhizome here. I cleaned and removed a lot of the soil from the root ball with a hose....and then I had to get a little rough with it. I was surprised at just how stout the root ball was and really had to break and work some of them to get them to come apart. I am sure not everything I planted will grow....but I have plenty of other plants to get more rhizomes from if needed.
As for deer/habitat related x-mas gifts go....I got a laser range finder (nice to have in the open ag field areas I hunt) and a new Exodus trail cam. It is now out but I have not pulled any videos from it yet.
First project was clearing some brush (scrub sycamore and mulberry) in some buffers. The brush cutter worked great but some stuff still needed the chainsaw. I used the brush to create some brush piles, blockades and otherwise just try to create some cover more at deer level. Some of the areas the trees had matured to the point where the ground level cover was bare and the tree types are of minimal wildlife value so buzz-buzz they went. I had found an area where I had previously used brush to keep deer from slipping around the back of a plot of mine. Turns out that brush had broken down and the deer had been taking advantage..... I put a stop to that with the slash. Below you can see the blind and to the left there is where the old blockage was.....there was even a few rubs in there. I want to force the deer out into the plot as the stem count it high enough and the cover tall enough to hide the deer from view if I don't.
Only once I started this post did I realize I didn't take any "after" pics. I will and will post them as well....but the brush is cut to the ground and hopefully as the leaves breakdown the weeds and grasses will return. IF I have a means to remove the leaves and get to bare dirt I may even try to add in some switchgrass.
Second project was that I dug up 2 of my MG clumps to propagate them into some plot and blind screens. I had never done this before and wasn't entirely sure what to expect but things seemed to go well thus far. We will see how well it went come spring and see what grows.
Here is the plot screen....I am trying to screen a small plot off from the large ag field. I have clover and sawtooth oaks in the back of the plot...an area for an annual planting (tends to be beans overseeded with cereal grains and brassica) and then the ag corn/bean field. I think/hope the screen will help increase usage of the plot by helping it feel more secure and not let the deer see our activities in the field after crop harvest. Screen is planted as single row on roughly 24" centers. I figure I can "thin" if needed later. I also planted a screen to hide a blind and entrance on another portion of the farm but I didn't take pictures....if it goes well I will post up some of those as well.
So the two MG plants I dug up provided PLENTY of rhizomes. I didn't count them but for the little bit of actual plant growth I had I was surprised to see as large of a root ball as each had. I probably actually finished with twice as many rhizomes as shown here.
Singular rhizome here. I cleaned and removed a lot of the soil from the root ball with a hose....and then I had to get a little rough with it. I was surprised at just how stout the root ball was and really had to break and work some of them to get them to come apart. I am sure not everything I planted will grow....but I have plenty of other plants to get more rhizomes from if needed.
As for deer/habitat related x-mas gifts go....I got a laser range finder (nice to have in the open ag field areas I hunt) and a new Exodus trail cam. It is now out but I have not pulled any videos from it yet.
j-bird
Moderator
Ground wasn't frozen and the plant was certainly dormant so I figured "what the hell". Spring tends to be a busy time for me so I thought if I got this done now maybe it would actually get done. I will see how they do come spring time and monitor thru the year. They should get more sun and in some cases different soil so I will also see how they handle that as well. Some of the rhizomes I planted where smaller, but I tried to keep them fairly large in an effort to hopefully increase their odds of survival. I certainly didn't expect the root mass I saw. I was expecting only a few rhizomes....that wasn't the case. I am wondering if the fescue in the area the plants I dug up is holding them back.... We will see I guess...
j-bird
Moderator
They was dug up and re-planted the same day. I wasn't even sure how to store them if I wanted to. The weather was cooperating so I took advantage. I would have waited until spring otherwise....
