How'd all the Habitat/Deer Managers do this year?

[Andy]

I wanted to start a post that we could tell about the type of deer we killed and saw on our land this year. We had an extra specially large acorn crop this year. It really put a spin on things relating to the deer's need of the food plots. They didn't really need the plots at all actually! Well, they're using the plots heavily now, but throughout the rut the does were locked into oak flats feeding on acorns. I have to say we didn't really figure this out in time to see the best rut action. We had a dismal year for bucks.....2 mature bucks shot at, with muzzleloaders no less, and both missed. And one was a real whopper. But as a group, we put another big dent in the thriving doe population and it feels good to continue down the road of balancing the herd and passing on young bucks while providing high quality food throughout all 12 months! We even started pulling jawbones of the does this year, which is cool. And oh yeah, we still have our 4 day ML season coming up where we may just connect on a buck at that time. Picture of the opening day gun doe slaughter:
http://www.hunt101.com/watermark.php?file=500/14181Pinebrook_058-med.jpg
my brother's doe
http://www.hunt101.com/watermark.php?file=500/14181Pinebrook_047-med.jpg

[MGV]

It would be interesting to hear the age of those does. They look like they have been around a while.

[Swamp Ghost]

Acorns killed us but it was a really good year.

My brother scored on a 130" 10 point and we took 7 does so far and hope to get back out before Christmas to take a few more and maybe get a crack at 160" that was seen this last week on our place.

Did see a ton of great deer interaction and activity throughout bow season, can't wait until next year!

[Andy]

we had a 3 1/2 yr. old that weighed 128 field dressed.

another 1 1/2 that weighed 115 field dressed

yearling doe that weighed 85 lbs. field dressed

i believe we really have some healthy, healthy deer in our part of the nation
andy

[NorthJeff]

PA Rifle:

http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/500/2005PA.jpg

WI Rifle/Doe:

http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/500/2does.jpg

MI Rifle:

http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/500/z5.JPG

http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/500/mybuddy.jpg

WI Rifle:

http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/500/WIwounded8.jpg

WI Bow:

http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/500/2005WIBow.jpg

No, I don't manage any property in PA, but it's nice to take part in the state's QDM management efforts though!!

[bishs]

Congrats! Wow Jeff what a season,,,
The acorns really changed things for me. I seen more bucks than ever, but struggled to get a bow shot. Took an 8 point on Nov 15. There finally starting to get into my corn with all the snow making acorn diggin' tough.. :)

[bhntr]

Are the WI deer from public or private land? Has the cwd there affected the hunting where you shot these? Thanks

[mike hartges]

http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/3042/medium/bowbuck2005.jpg
We saw lots of bucks and does this year. I shot this 7 point on November 2nd. He dressed out at 202 lbs. I saved the lower jaw and hope to age him soon.

[Liver and Onions]

Everyone hunting on our setup took all of the deer that they wanted or had time for. We took more bucks this year than last, but about average for the last 10-15 years. We took a few less does this year than last, but well above the last 10-15 year average.
Not much hunting pressure in our area after Thanksgiving......most have killled enough deer by then. We think this is one reason that we have more bucks in the area come next summer than some other areas. No late gun season for antlerless and few muzzleloaders slaughtering the button bucks from their heated hunting coops or accidentally taking a buck that has cast his antlers. Baiting is a non-issue. I think that the majority in the area would welcome an increase in antler restrictions if it were state-wide. Less chance to cheat. By majority I mean somewhere in the 55-60% range. Not the 66% needed to pass DNR standards.

L & O

[mike hartges]

Jeff, you're a deer hunting machine! Congratulations on a great year.

[oldguy]

Nothing compared to NJ's year, but a good one for us.

The greatest compliment I could ever receive came from the previous landowner's son (now 62), who grew up on the place. I still let him hunt the property, and this year he said he's never seen anywhere near the quality (or quantity) of bucks here EVER before.

Four bucks and five does taken so far. No monsters, but the smallest of the four bucks had a 17 inch inside spread (estimated 2y/o), the other three were all 18+ inches inside spread (estimated 3y/o's). We've pulled jaws from everything and have sent them for aging.

To top it off, the deer are herding up on our foodplots early (thirty plus out there one night last weekend, including seven....yes seven, mature bucks). We're all tagged out on bucks, but we're still planning to thin some more does out before the season ends.

And yes, this is Illinois, but we're not in a county known for producing monster bucks. In addition, this is all on a hundred and twenty acre farm surrounded by 5 acre "rural estate" parcels that are heavily (and indiscriminately) hunted.

All in all, we're very pleased with the progress we've made. We've avoided taking buttons and basket racks the past four years, and since last year, have tried to pass on anything that looked less than 3 1/2 (one exception this year). We still haven't got to the point where we pass on the 3 1/2 year olds, and realistically, in our area, that would be a tough sell. I guess that's the next stage in the game. For now, I'm just hoping that some of the bucks we saw out there last weekend make it through the winter.

In any event, thanks to all who have posted on the site. I never cease to learn something new here!

Good luck to everyone next season. BTW, Congrat's NJ on a phenomenal year!

[shotgun12]

nice looking deer

[NorthJeff]

The WI deer are on private land I lease and "manage"...at least with QDM principles and food plots and the landowner was kind enough to complete a great timber harvest last year as well.

We are out of the CWD area and the only way it may effect us a bit..but probably in a good way is the abundance of doe permits available..unlimited this year. We don't see a lot of does thoughout the season probably because most of the food sources are on the surrounding properties down in the valleys, but this is a great time of the year to take some does that are hitting our food plots extremely hard.

Old guy,

That sounds outstanding! That must be very rewarding to enjoy all that hard work..congrats!

[orion]

My wife killed a nice fat spike (her first buck), and who am I to tell her not to kill a little buck, besides it keeps her interested. Besides she now wants a big buck. Even though I dont manage exclusively for deer, they are a nice by-product of good food plots. A nice 20 acre sanctuary of lowland swamp helps a lot too. This is the first year I did not allow any one else to hunt, maybe this is selfish, but it made a big difference in deer activity without any pressure. On Dec 9 I killed the buck of my life with a muzzleloader. A 19" Eight point. I have a trail pic of him taken in Sept. Only saw him once on 12 Nov. Though leaving the place alone allowed me to see 10 different bucks between rifle and muzzle-loader season. Past the first 9. The big 8 was the 3rd buck I saw on 9 Dec. The 12 acres of soys and corn are a huge magnet for the deer now. Lots of deer use on these plots, they should eat well until spring green up. Will increase the soys next year. Clover is seeing minimal use right now, though the WW is seeing some use as they are digging through the snow to get to it. This will be the first to green in the spring and will provide excellent forage when the deer need it most. Sancutaries and food plots seem to have kept a lot of bucks alive through the seasons this year. My neighbors seem to be signing on to letting the little bucks walk and next year will prove its worth.

[KrazyKletus]

Our group ended up taking 2 does and 2 bucks off my property. One buck was a nice 9pt (I took last weekend with a muzzleloader). I have deercam pictures of 6-7 different bucks since Dec 1st. (versus 1 buck in Dec last year). One buck is a very nice 120 class 10pt. I believe he's spending a lot of time in my sanctuary and should hopefully make it this year.
My foodplots came in excellent this year. With all of this snow on the ground the deer are destroying my soybeans, clover, & BFO plots. It appears the corn is getting very little attention, however, I haven't ventured into the middle of the fields yet this year (waiting till the end of season).
I have spent a lot of time on stand formulating a plan for next year. With the closing of season, I will begin laying out my plan on paper. I definitely need to increase my clover & soybean acreage next year.(now I just have to figure out how I'm going to do it)

[farmlegend]

We've taken five does so far.

Would like to take some more, but this is shaping up as a difficult December. Food sources are VERY diffuse this year, and so are the travel routes. I'm surrounded by crop fields, all of which have been harvested (this is only the second time in 11 seasons that has been the case; usually, there is some standing corn still around).

The deer have found the woody browse (brambles, dogwood), and are digging thru the snow for waste soybeans/corn, ditto on my winter wheat and clover, and are working on some red oak acorns (whiteys are about done). Where the mob will head on any given day is darn near a crapshoot.

No bucks were taken this year, though we saw pretty good action. I saw four different 2.5 year olds this year, a record. We also have an unimaginably painful story from noon hour of 11/7 that would break the heart of even a Chicago Cubs fan, if you know what I mean, involving a tremendous buck. Hope he's still alive.

[Swamper]

Saw plenty of deer. We took 2 does, a 4 point, and a cull spike that needed to be removed. More habitat improvement planned for the Christmas holidays.

Swamper

[davidshane]

Just so so here. One of my plots got hit hard and often. It was never over hunted and deer were seen almost every hunt when someone sat that field. However, all sighting were of does, not a buck seen all year.

The second field had lots of tracks and dropping in it and the rye and wheat was all being eaten. However, I never saw a deer in that field all year - so far. I only hunted it maybe three times and only on good winds. They were not showing up before dark.

I did have a banner year for acorns all around my land. This probably had a bit to do with not seeing many deer in the fields. My nephew (12 years old) shot his first deer this year and did it with a bow. That was the only deer we shot on my place.

Between X-mas and New Year I will hunt the last 5 days of the season. I'll take a doe ot two then; up until this point, I would have only shot an 8 pte or better. The last week is when I have fun filling doe tags.

[sandbur3]

Oldguy-maybe you should start a thread showing us how you do things right on 120 acres!! How big is the sanctuary, hunting plots, etc.


Nice deer Northjeff.Happy holidays to all.

[oldguy]

[QUOTE=sandbur3]Oldguy-maybe you should start a thread showing us how you do things right on 120 acres!! How big is the sanctuary, hunting plots, etc./QUOTE]


Sent you a pm.

[wild bill]

Saw plenty of deer. We took 2 does, a 4 point, and a cull spike that needed to be removed. More habitat improvement planned for the Christmas holidays.

Swamper

swamper, why did that spike need to be removed?


so far this year has been pretty good. i didnt get out as much during bow season due to the arrival of my baby girl but i still did have several chances at bucks and does. i took one doe with a bow and an 8 point with my shotgun. i know theres at least 3 different bucks still roaming around by me. theres a spike that i passed on the last 4 times i been out and a 10 point that i seen this morning. ive seen the 10 a couple other times while checking my traps. also seen a small 8 today running with 7 does. right now the soy beans are getting hammered. the deer been passing through the standing corn to get to the beans. the deer are also hitting the wheat and clover.

[NorthJeff]

"and a cull spike that needed to be removed"

:rolleyes:

So much time to spend on this site to learn so little.

[Swamper]

"So much time to spend on this site to learn so little.".....

Whoooeeee!

Swamper

[Swamper]

Wild Bill - the spike needed to be removed due to the fact it was a huge deer with obviously defective headgear (small, spindly, twisted) that would never amount to much. I am not good at aging deer, but I would guess that it was something beyond a yearling. Passed on 5 other bucks, 2 of which were nice spikes that will be shooters next year.

Swamper

[Letmgro]

Took a 3.5yo doe with a 1974-48# Darton Superflight Hunter recurve that had a buck and doe fawn in tow, then took another 3.5yo doe that had a single BB in tow.

Passed on 19 different shooting opportunities at various bucks.

Oh..and grazed a coyote with my .44 mag Ruger Redhawk.

Oh...and stuck a Broadhead into a log below a very mean and very wild tomcat.

[Setter]

We (6 different hunters) harvested 7 does over our 200 acres, let a number of bucks walk. The only buck shot at was a ten point in archery season, hope he is around for next year with the other bucks that have been seen this fall. We are getting the buck to doe ratio more in line with a respectable area. Does were shot in bow, rifle and muzzleloder season.

[NATTY BUMPO]

Well, we've had a good season at our place as well. My brother and I harvested mature does the second week of rifle season. Then we let a friend take another one on the 30th. Didnt see a shooter buck with a rifle in my hands, although I did see a dandy 8 point when I was wielding a Stihl the first week in November. :bash: And the neighbor had a couple of nice ones on his game-cams. Didnt hear about anybody getting those either. Hope they make it through. One of these years.......

The over-mature aspen cut we did last winter is filling in very nicely-some of the suckers are 4' high already. And the deer are loving it. ;) Have had some good chats lately with some of the neighbors and finding out how everybody did. Getting my conifer and shrub tree orders ready for the spring. So it was a good but not great year. We still have way too many does in relation to the bucks in our area- something like 8-9 does per buck sighted from our stands this rifle season. I know thats sure not the real ratio but its way too many females nonetheless.

Merry Christmas, Everybody.

Natty B.

[NorthJeff]

Natty..great to hear!

One thing we find on our lease in WI is that the numbers of does we see in rifle are much higher than we see through the entire summer and up until rifle season. We have good sanctuary cover that we protect and never enter...so the local deer flock to these areas but this is not a representation of how many deer we have on the property. Also, we have winter food sources on the property so even more deer come in for a few months. With the cameras all summer and in through rifle we see less than 2 does for every buck..but then when rifle comes we see probably 5-6 does per buck. I like shooting does on the property because I feel it makes room for more mature bucks to come in and live on the property. But, I like shooting does right before we go home from rifle, the first weekend of bow, or in Dec. so it doesn't hurt are buck hunting..not to mention those are all easy times to harvest does and are virtually guarenteed doe hunts.

I forget...do you bow hunt? It was a slow rut this year with the warm temps, but that first part of Nov. was still a great hunt. Next year we are looking at the 4th through the 11th for our rut-bow hunt and won't do much hunting in Oct. again. Maybe try for some does in Sept., and then go back out for that Nov. rut hunt to hunt mature bucks from fresh stands. We normally don't do well during gun..but I've gotten lucky the last 2 years.

Anyways, you have a Merry Christmas as well!!

[NATTY BUMPO]

Thanks, Jeff.

Well, NJ. you've certainly had an outstanding year! Its been the result of a good plan and great habitat management and maybe, a little luck this year? Always enjoy reading your posts NJ, and seeing those great pix and I know many here appreciate your help and thoughtful answers to their questions. Kudos to you for your efforts here and elsewhere in the deer managers world. ;)

I used to do quite a bit of bow hunting but we got a new fieldbred English Cocker pup this spring and that first season is so important to their development. And I also have an aging Brittany thats going on 12 yrs so this may be his last season also but hopefully not. So we chased birds here and in the UP and in SD right after rifle season. But I know the best chance to kill one of the big guys running around would be in the first two weeks of November.

I'll add one thing about sanctuaries......guys, they REALLY WORK. A short story, I was on a doe harvesting mission during the second week of rifle. One of our sancturaries is about 10 acres of upland swamp surrounded by mature (90') and immature white pines. The swamp grass is chest high in there.Its in the exact center of the section. And simply loads up with deer as the rifle season progresses. Anyhoo, around noon, five antlerless deer came out on one of their trails and I killed the biggest doe. At the shot, another 8-10 deer which I hadnt seen bolted up out of there and scattered like a covey of quail! ;) We'll be planting another 300 wp seedlings around that spot this spring to thicken up the perimeter even more. I told my buddy where to sit right by that spot and he killed a nice doe 20 minutes after he got settled.
Some guide service, huh?? :lol:

Natty B.

[halfczech]

first year of food plots and practicing qdm. 2 does taken during bow season 1 was 4.5 as aged by the dnr. the head was sent in so we know it was 4.5 and very healthy. the other one was aged by a dnr check station but the head did not go in. it aged at 2.5. both deer had the thickest layer of fat any of us had ever seen. since our bow camp is going on 20 plus years and we always cut up our deer, thats saying something. the fat on the rump was a good 3 inches thick. it looks like the property has fat bottomed girls. which is alright because fat bottomed girls make the world go round. the plots did extremely well and are really getting hit now.

[brokenarrow]

I harvested an 8 point with a 17" inside spread. Nice tines and decent mass. It weighed in at 157#. We had a chance at a very nice buck but as fate would have it he made all the right moves at the right time. A few smaller bucks were passed on during gun season along with a dandy 8 pointer that I let walk during bow season. Had him at 8 yards and in full draw. Was not what I was looking for this year at that time. My group struck out (besides me). Although we can harvest alot of doe, this year we did not (my immediate group anyway). Here is the sob story. The week before gun opener on Thur. night at 3 am a majestic 11 pointer was killed by a truck 80' from my driveway. The next monday morning a 8 pter was struck and killed 5 feet from my driveway. The Thursday night right before opening day gun anouther nice 8ptr was killed by the 2 lane highway that is infront of my 160 acres. This one I was able to recover and to my suprise very little meat was destroyed. The deer went over the hood of a small car and landed on the snow over in the shoulder of the road. (This one was about 50' from my driveway). After all that dissapointment it finally was Friday night. The night before opening morning. 5 of us were in my cabin and all talkin about the road kills and hoping nothing more gets slaughtered. The traffic was un believable that night. At about 9pm I see the traffic out there moving real slow. About that time we all were getting ready to go out and see what was killed. The red lights came on and sure enough,,, a small truck had hit and killed anouther decent 8ptr but this time it had a doe right infront of it. The doe was still alive but wound up in a freezer and the buck was totalled. The truck was also since it hit 2 deer at the same time!
That made 4 bucks within 100 feet of my driveway in 8 days killed. Dissapointing? YES.
None of my food plots are next to the road although there is a 8 acre corn field there on my land (that is harvested every year). I happen to be located at the top of a small ridge and the deer cross regularily here at night. We all were pretty upset by this but we all are also getting used to it.

I may be breaking a law (dont know but will find out I bet) but next year I have plans to build 2 lighted signs. They will say something on the lines of "Extreme deer crossing, use X-treme caution" or something on those lines.
I dont know how illegal it may be to put em up the week before the rut starts and leave em there till after gun deer? Keep em on my property and we will see?
All in all though, no one got hurt and we all had a great time with each other again, we consider that a successful season.

[G-Vac]

It's great to hear about everbody's experiances and successes! This was a very tough year for hunting whitetails in WNY. The DEC even admitts populations are lower than desired. I saw few deer using my plots before the acorns started falling, and when the nuts came (perhaps the biggest crop I've ever witnessed came this year) the deer seemed to nearly disappear. It made for some frustrating hunting, but I didn't mind - acorns are great for the deer (and so many other creatures as well). I'm pleased the DEC cut down on the number of doe permits this year, and hopefully will keep them down for a few more. It IS possible to overharvest the females.

[bake]

PA hunter here:

We had our best quality year as far as bucks this season. We shot 6 bucks, 4 3.5 yr olds and 2 2.5 yr olds. No button bucks or 1.5 yr olds were shot on our property which is good. The effects of our increase in doe harvesting over the last few seasons was fairly obvious, still good numbers but not too many like there was in the past. Hopefully we can duplicate this years success in the future.