Report only - no pix

[Bowsnbucks]

Just looked at some cam pix a camp member sent out to all members. It looks like we have a legit 140" buck coming in to our plots. He looks to be a 9 pt. Along with him, there are 5 other 8 pts.,( 110" to 125" class ), a 7 pt., a nice wide 6 pt. and several other bucks of 5 pts., forks, or spikes. In our mountainous location, we've proven to ourselves the value of year-round food plots, improved cover cuttings & plantings, diversity, and apple / crab trees. 140" buck in our mountains is a DREAM BUCK.

 

[bueller]

Well that will get the pre-season excitement rolling.

 

[Bill]

Wasn't so long ago a basket 6 point in PA was a dream buck. You're doing something right a 140 ain't no slouch anywhere..

 

[Apple Junkie]

Keep doin' what you're doin' bows... seems to be working!

 

[Native Hunter]

Keep up the good work and get after that beast.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

The work gets done at camp by about 10 of us out of 25 members. I report what we do on here, but I'm not the only one doing the improvements.

As Bill said above in post #3, a basket 6 pt. was a "bragger" not so long ago in most of Pa. Thankfully, due to some self imposed restrictions on does by our & several neighboring camps, and a group effort to plant plots, fruit trees, & improve cover by those camps - we have better local hunting. Collectively, we own enough acreage to be able to pull it off. Rack sizes ( and body sizes ) have improved over the last 10 years or so. Seeing 6 or 7 well-racked 8 pts. together in a plot was a pipe-dream for those camps a few years back. The last 2 to 4 years, it's a reality. Trigger self-control and not shooting every smaller - but legal - buck lets them get some age on them, which also helps.

I'm NOT patting myself on the back here, but I've passed on a few smaller, legal bucks in archery and rifle season the last few years. It felt good to "let 'em walk ", hoping to see them get bigger. Maybe it paid off for a couple bucks. I feel no loss - but rather a gain with our deer.

 

[Apple Junkie]

Clearly your habitat improvment and harvest guidelines work Bows. You're right about the improved condidions being "local". It's nice to have a decent size block to work with so everyone benefits. The older I get, the easier it is to pass on smaller bucks just knowing they are part of the local heard but not quite ready for the pole.

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

I could have world renowned hunting if I could get some neighbors to CO-OP. 8 pt yearlings are common and we get a 10 pt yearling every few years. Never going to happen so I'll just have to settle for being happy that I have access to hunting private property that I can also do habitat work to a certain degree and plant plots.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

^^^^^ Co-op was out of necessity around our mountain. We got to the point where all camps were seeing so few deer - and you hardly heard any shots anymore - that it was either cool the triggers and make a plan …......…. or not see deer. I stopped at a few camps and shot the sh*t with them and we were all in the same boat. One camp said they were voluntarily letting does walk for a couple years. Our camp adopted " no does " for a few years and started to see more fawns. Word spread among some other camps and beside laying off the does, most camps started to plant food plots ……….. big-time. Timbering, replanting seedlings, caging stumps, planting fruit trees …….... it all started to add up. A few of the "blood-thirsty" guys in our camp started to pass on smaller bucks too.

For context, when I first started hunting, Dad & I would count shots on opening day ( buck season ). It was nothing to hear between 50 and 70 shots every year on the opener. At our low point, I was hearing only 5 to 10 shots all day on the opener, counting distant shots.

Everything we do to improve things will pay off. We may not get run over by a herd of B & C bucks, but hunting does get better. Seeing a 140" walking our plots is worth the effort.

 

[Skelly]

^^^^^ Co-op was out of necessity around our mountain. We got to the point where all camps were seeing so few deer - and you hardly heard any shots anymore - that it was either cool the triggers and make a plan …......…. or not see deer. I stopped at a few camps and shot the sh*t with them and we were all in the same boat. One camp said they were voluntarily letting does walk for a couple years. Our camp adopted " no does " for a few years and started to see more fawns. Word spread among some other camps and beside laying off the does, most camps started to plant food plots ……….. big-time. Timbering, replanting seedlings, caging stumps, planting fruit trees …….... it all started to add up. A few of the "blood-thirsty" guys in our camp started to pass on smaller bucks too.

For context, when I first started hunting, Dad & I would count shots on opening day ( buck season ). It was nothing to hear between 50 and 70 shots every year on the opener. At our low point, I was hearing only 5 to 10 shots all day on the opener, counting distant shots.

Everything we do to improve things will pay off. We may not get run over by a herd of B & C bucks, but hunting does get better. Seeing a 140" walking our plots is worth the effort.

Man I wish I had like minded neighbors. I’m smack dab in the middle of dog hunting clubs with the mentality if it’s brown it’s down.

I know that what I’m doing is helping draw deer in. I only have 15 acres so I can’t really keep them here. my first year here (4yrs ago)I only caught 1 buck on camera last year if I remember I had 13 different bucks visit my mineral site.

Great to hear all your efforts are being rewarded

 

[Bill]

It felt good to "let 'em walk ", hoping to see them get bigger.

Start taking a video camera. It feels good to let them walk but it’s nice to see it after the fact.

Just don’t let the camera make you let the wrong one walk.....

 

[Livesintrees]

Either shoot your dream buck or get all the guys who hunt there on board with chancing letting him go one more season. You didn’t mention age but I would guess he is 4-5 years old? For me I would shoot a 140 with the potential of the other up and comers attaining that status in the next 2 years.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

^^^^ The 140 will get shot if seen, I'm sure. It's unrealistic to think he'll get bigger here. Age ?? ……….. he's at least 3 and probably 4. Around Pa. - if a deer makes it to 4 he's a miracle. The difference - in our mountain area - is the improvement in food quality I believe. Before the camps were planting food plots, 1 or 2 nice bucks were getting shot across our whole mountain. Now - just around the camps on our side of the mountain, all of us are seeing multiple decent racked bucks every year. Most camps have plots of clover, alfalfa, oats, WW, WR, radishes, PTT, DER, buckwheat, & corn. Years before, deer had weed fields and crappy wire-y wild grass around the camps. Better groceries = better deer.

The funny thing is …….. the more nice racks that have been seen - the easier it's become to pass on smaller, yet legal bucks. So they get a chance to gain age too. Most of the other camps' guys say they'd rather shoot something like 120" or better than a legal "basket".

It's tough to change a culture of "if it's brown - it's down". (We don't restrict kids starting out, for sure.) But some plot planting, cover improvement, and self - control on triggers has paid dividends for us.