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I'm sure some of you enjoy rifle hunting and that's fine. But an army of PA guys are pushing the land next to us and it's a shitshow right now. It's gonna be a long week.
ugh, awful feeling. Although I did talk with the wife about how I miss the tradition of "hunting camp" and opening day,the gun raffles and not sleeping the night before, hanging out with my cousin, missing school, anticipating deer coming your way after a close shot. Now all that said, I'd rather shoot a buck with a bow any day. But I wouldn't mind my boys having that experience. Times have changed though.
Keep the corn pile high. Should be ok. Pa guys don’t bait
I used to feel the same Pat, but as I’ve gotten older, my view has changed a bit. It’s a necessary evil. Although I shoot as many does as I legally can, along with like minded neighbors, we still can’t keep up with them. Someone has to help, and gun hunters are usually willing to take them.
Hope you're able to police your property lines so they can reach your sanctuary...
Why is it a ''shitshow''? Are they trespassing or shooting across the fence line? Pretty sure my buddy had a nice one pooched off his place in Carroll co by the Amish next door.
I saw it the night before and tried to put a buddy on him the next morning with his x-bow. He heard a shot over the hill and by the time he got down there was 5 pilgrims standing over the buck 10 yards on "their" side of the property line in a open horse pasture.
My buddy just had some timbering done so I'm sure a mature buck was walking in that open pasture instead of hanging tight to all the tops and other heavy cover in there.
Zbone, so far all my mature bucks are alive. Nobody is trespassing because I run 40 cams and 15 cell cams. Everyone knows it. I’ve got three new bucks too. My food and sanctuaries are holding them well, so far.
They might actually be helping you. IMO a sanctuary is the best things you can do for mature buck whitetail hunting. Lot's of pressure around you will make your property better then if there was the same or less pressure around you. It does drive me nuts thinking about "my" buck getting killed during a gun deer drive.
There is no such thing as a "my buck" in a wild free ranging deer herd.
I never think of them as 'My buck' but there's no denying that watching a particular buck grow up and passing them several times, only to see it get whacked by some guy on a drive does bother me. I accept it, they are wild animals and I can't control them. Because I run so many trail cams, and I have so many close encounters with these bucks (most which I pass on) it does drive me a little crazy when they are killed before their prime.
Pat, Some of this can make me a little crazy as well. Last year I had 6 bucks that I thought would net over 140" and an 8 that would be in the low 130". I was so excited to see what these bucks looked like this year. Only one of the 7 showed up on camera this year and he damaged a G-4 in velvet. Around 10/27 I finally decided to focus on what I had and forget about the rest. It was driving me nuts wondering what happened to the other 6 bucks. If it was not for the educational benefits of seeing how the deer use the land as the season progresses and trespassers, I would pull my cameras now. Next year I will take inventory of what I have starting in late July and hunt accordingly. I don't think I got the buck I killed this season on camera last year even though he showed up on a lot of different cameras this year. I may have a picture of him from 2019 but I cannot say for sure and how do I tell. I hope to get to the point where I do not focus which bucks made it and who is killing what and how. Of course, I really need the one repeat buck to make it because I know the area that he likes to bed in! :)
The statewide firearm season wish was done away with is this second weekend on Dec 17 & 18, then muzzleloader Jan 7 -10... Just after survivors relax to come out of hiding, again and again firesticks back in the woods... Not only is it hard on bowhunters hunting pressured now mainly nocturnal deer, it's hard on the deer this time of year with added stress of finding food... It just ain't right pushing deer on drives late December and January...
Youth season the weekend before Thanksgiving, then give the muzzleloaders Thanksgiving Day through Sunday (am sure they'd be happy and luv that), then statewide slug/rifle season Monday through the following Sunday, then be done with it... That's over a 2-week window for blasting at deer, that's plenty...
Well the hardest part is over. I know we got the 2nd rifle and Muzzy but my experience has been if they survive the first rifle, they usually make it through the 2nd. Not a lot of people hunt muzzleloader in my parts.
All 5 of my shooters were captured on cam last night so they survived the drives and the Amish that were shooting everything that moved. We did lose 4 young dinks to neighbors that meat hunt, but the smart bucks knew my property had everything they needed: girls, food and security. I left the property before thanksgiving and there hasn't been a sole there during rifle. I'll be back down on Friday for the late season.
Good luck to all you bowhunters still at it going into the late season.
"survived the drives and the Amish that were shooting everything that moved"...8^)))
Toldja,,, the amish motto - "If it's brown, it's down"...8^)
Great to hear your mature bucks made it... I take it that one-eyed bastard (joking) made it?
Yes, getting a lot of pics of Scarface
Wow, times are a changing, hadn't realized this just released from the ODNR:
"Straight-walled cartridge rifles have become more popular since becoming legal for deer gun hunting in 2014. This year, straight-walled cartridge rifles were used to harvest 55% of the deer checked during the seven-day gun season. Shotguns accounted for 38% of the total. In addition, 5% were taken with a muzzleloader, 1% with archery equipment, and less than 1% with a handgun."
https://ohiodnr.gov/discover-and-learn/safety-conservation/about-ODNR/news/Successful-Deer-Hunting-Week
We're down to two more days of hell - then it's over. All my bucks intact as of last night and so far (11am Saturday) I've only heard 2 distant shots. Not a lot of gun action going on here. I was told there's a lot of drives that happen during the 2nd rifle but I've not experienced that going into my 3rd hunting season since buying ground here.
A buddy shot a good buck today... One more day left, new snow not in favor of the deer... Then prepare for muzzleloader...8^)
There were a lot of shots in our area on Saturday with a lot of shooting the last hour. In addition to all of the shooting off of our land, I opened my land up to some guys from Alpha House which is a program for addicts. They wanted some meat so we had a does only hunt. Seven shots were taken and seven does died. One of the guys had never gun hunted for deer. I gave him a scoped ML to use. When I had him adjust the focus on the scope to match his vision, I noticed that he was left eye dominate and shooting right handed. For some reason he could not close just his left eye so I had him cover his left eye with his stocking cap when he shot. He killed two deer. It was a good day in the woods.
Goyt, hats off to you for being so charitable to that program. What a wonderful way to do some doe population control.
That’s awesome Goyt. Well done.
Thanks guys. I appreciate the kind remarks.
Hunting pressure during 2nd rifle was almost non-existent. And all of my shooters survived. This weather pattern should really drive them into my beans and brassicas. I'm given the land a rest this week but will hit it hard first week of January. Bucks are mostly nocturnal but getting the occassional pic of the mature bucks at first and last light.
Cool Pat, thanks for sharing...
Good luck Pat. You have a couple of weeks before ML I hope that the mature bucks start moving during daylight for you.
