Trailcam pics

[Mtyhunter]

My best spot i call the killing zone is the same every year. 1 resident doe group, 3-4. other doe groups show up here and there. Had cams out for 2 months now, 5 of them in this one area, and finally got my first buck pic 2 days ago.

 

[BenA]

Respectfully disagree. We have well over a month of gun season. There’s no difference in ml and rifle. We have an extremely long bow/xbow season. Early season brings in tons of people to hunt velvet where 99.9% of bucks are shot over bait. I think the reality is bait is the most attractive feature any property can offer and with enough time spent hunting over it, an any buck can eventually be killed.

Compared to having a gun season from the middle of October until the middle of January non-stop, that is short. Oh, and throw in being able to shoot them while chasing them with dogs for part of that. Deer are flat out scared to death of bait piles or daylight. My mom texted me to say she saw A (ONE) doe this morning. They are scared of their shadows in some places.

 

[SwampCat]

We kill most of our big big bucks in food plots post rut. Of the dozen or so bucks we have killed worthy of mounting, we have killed one early Oct over a bait pile, two first week of Nov on acorns, three during rut mid to late Nov around wheat/clover food plots but not feeding in them, and another half dozen post rut in Dec feeding in food plots.

The grand daughters do shoot a small buck or two and a couple does over bait - but we dont see big deer doing that - or they would shoot them.

Below are just some of the mature bucks that are regulars on my property. I live here and I am out everyday on my land - bush hogging, spraying, planting, hunting, just riding around drinking a beer - I have not seen one of these deer this year or any of the other mature bucks

That was not the case 15 years ago. We would see every big deer we had on camera - during the day. The deer I am hunting this year, I have never got a picture of it in daylight in two years. Maybe KY deer are just dummer

 

[Bowsnbucks]

View attachment 83810

We have hunted this deer pretty hard this year, starting with the velvet season early sept. When we were not there, he would show up just at that time you would think MAYBE you had enough light to shoot - maybe. When you hunt him, he shows up an hour later.

He did the exact same thing last year.

Isn't that always the case, pretty much everywhere, Swamper?? Here, we set up in a tree stand at point A - buck comes out at point B for several days. Move tree stand to point B - buck now comes out at point A.

Nice buck pics, though. At least you have some big boys to focus on. Good luck to you & family.

 

[SwampCat]

Truth be known, I think everyone understands everywhere is different. I have not killed a hog in the daytime on or near my own property in 5 years. I can go to my duck lease 30 miles away and there is a 50/50 chance I shoot one at high noon. A lot of factors go in to making a deer act like they do and just because my deer act like they do does not mean anyone else’s deer act like mine do and vice versa. I watch hunting shows filmed in the midwest and see video of mature bucks walking through open hardwood. We typically dont see that here. Our deer are slinking around in thickets and tight along the edge of cover. I can put out feed in the corner of an 8 acre food plot and never get a picture of a buck older than two - and move over 200 yards in a pocket in a thicket and have five mature bucks using it. They all might be deer, but they dont all act the same way

 

[Native Hunter]

Grey foxes eating persimmons:

 

[Telemark]

My observation from hunting deer in various parts of the country: baiting can be the easy button, or it can be an exercise in futility depending on the area deer herd. And, there are various levels of effectiveness between the two depending on population size, habitat, and pressure type and frequency.

That has been my experience.

Deer in Ohio tend to hit a bait pile, as long as it's corn, soybeans, acorns, fruit, or something else they are used to. I've even had them eat up a pile of cotton seed that was heavily mixed with cracked corn and Acorn Rage. They devoured an expensive apple bait block, but completely ignored a cheap one left in the same vicinity. They also ignored a pile of rice-based bait that was supposedly flavored with chestnuts.

The deer where we hunt in Ontario won't touch a bait pile in the summer no matter what you put out. Later in fall and winter they will eat apples, alfalfa, and acorns, but they're not desperate for it. They ignore corn, which ends up only attracting raccoons and bears. I've stopped putting out bait there entirely because it's more hassle than help.

 

[Mtyhunter]

Been hunting mainly prairie deer now for about 10 years, and man, it's tough. Smartest whitetails I've ever hunted. Skittish as hell most of the time, and if you bust them out, I've personally seen them cover 1/2 mile in no time flat. They get the hell out of dodge, moving to the next hill on the horizon.
Good luck getting them under a tree w/ stand in it. Good luck getting a mature buck pic on a feeder. It seems to be all about the terrain with these deer. They'll disappear in the smallest of depressions in the field.
Oklahoma has almost every type of habitat there is, and I've hunted them all. Prairie deer are twice as difficult to hunt compared to all the other habitats I've been on.
I thought I would like it better due to being able to hunt more long range, and it gave me an excuse to buy a new rifle and scope for the longer distances. Found out it bores the hell out of me watching a half mile all around me.

 

[Feelslikefar.]

Columbus day snuck up on me. I was hopping for a 3 day weekend but I thought it was later in the month. When I found out it was this coming Monday I decided it was too early in the month and too warm to go hunt (central NY). Guess I was wrong. My cameras have been dead, but I kept thinking it was too early to blame it on the doe avoiding the bucks. But two days in a row I got pictures of doe high tailing it from something. I assumed it was predators, which my cams have been a constant parade of the last couple weeks. But tonight I got a buck (which I've seen so very few of all year) chasing a doe.

 

[Feelslikefar.]

There’s no difference in ml and rifle.

I would say to whomever... then your not muzzle loading.

You're hunting with a modern rifle that loads from the muzzle. They're not the same, but sadly that's where we are. We've removed all the joy from it and just turned it into just another tool. And that's a shame.

Years ago someone, afraid to shoot/hunt with a traditional sidelock said to me "But what if I go to shoot a deer and it doesn't go off?" I replied, "then you are muzzle loading."

 

[Howboutthemdawgs]

I would say to whomever... then your not muzzle loading.

You're hunting with a modern rifle that loads from the muzzle. They're not the same, but sadly that's where we are. We've removed all the joy from it and just turned it into just another tool. And that's a shame.

Years ago someone, afraid to shoot/hunt with a traditional sidelock said to me "But what if I go to shoot a deer and it doesn't go off?" I replied, "then you are muzzle loading."

100%. That’s the states fault of caving to the participation trophy mindset of hunting. Modern muzzleloaders are single shot rifles now

 

[SwampCat]

I would say to whomever... then your not muzzle loading.

You're hunting with a modern rifle that loads from the muzzle. They're not the same, but sadly that's where we are. We've removed all the joy from it and just turned it into just another tool. And that's a shame.

Years ago someone, afraid to shoot/hunt with a traditional sidelock said to me "But what if I go to shoot a deer and it doesn't go off?" I replied, "then you are muzzle loading."

There is some difference. Second biggest deer I have ever seen from a stand came running up 25 yards away - after I had just shot a medium sized 8 point. Yes, I tried to reload - but I didnt get very far. I have had a hang fire or two and, a ML with the smoke on a cool damp morning can be impossible to see which way the deer went. Another thing about a ml, turns out quite a few folks dont like the hassle of sighting in and cleaning. In AR, last year a straight walled cartridge was made legal to hunt with during the ml season - and name was changed to alternative weapon season. Any straight walled cartridge was legal as long as it wasnt semi auto - like my AR 15 .450 bushmaster.

Two years ago, the same season length with only ml allowed saw a harvest of 14,000 deer. Last year, same season length with ml and straight walled cartridge saw a harvest of 27,000 - almost double. At least in AR, front loading ml hunters lag way behind a true centerfire cartridge rifle.

Our state’s “alternative weapon” season basically added two weeks to modern gun season.

 

[Feelslikefar.]

What they could have done was... add two weeks to the modern gun season. lol
As I always say, if you want a higher take, make the gun season longer and/or increase bag limits. But they don't, instead they just come up with $ome new $eason$ for $ome $trange rea$on????

I'm a poser, I've never hunted with my flintlock in the muzzle loading season because there's usually too much snow. I've only hunted with in regular rifle season.

I have a repro 1863 Springfield that I used to say... this IS my modern muzzle loader.

But alas we've run astray of the threads purpose.

 

[356]

More Halloween Month Fun with Black Cats, Spiders and Sparing…

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Truth be known, I think everyone understands everywhere is different. I have not killed a hog in the daytime on or near my own property in 5 years. I can go to my duck lease 30 miles away and there is a 50/50 chance I shoot one at high noon. A lot of factors go in to making a deer act like they do and just because my deer act like they do does not mean anyone else’s deer act like mine do and vice versa. I watch hunting shows filmed in the midwest and see video of mature bucks walking through open hardwood. We typically dont see that here. Our deer are slinking around in thickets and tight along the edge of cover. I can put out feed in the corner of an 8 acre food plot and never get a picture of a buck older than two - and move over 200 yards in a pocket in a thicket and have five mature bucks using it. They all might be deer, but they dont all act the same way

Mature bucks hang in the thick stuff here, too. Especially when hunters start to get into the woods each fall. No monsters walking casually in open woods. I just think it's funny, and challenging, to play the "chess game" with wily older bucks. You move north - they move south. We go right - they go left. Right place / right time = buck on wall. Every deer is different, which is why I've always loved the challenge.

Your pics are great! Thanks for posting.

 

[356]

First picture of more than one turkey in the fall....these are 10' from where I harvested a deer earlier this week.

 

[SwampCat]

I know this isnt game cam, but a motorist ran over this big lion in sort of central part of Arkansas. All we need is another big predator. We have already had two people killed by bears this year