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Joined: May 2006
Posts: 4,063
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 4,063 |
Do you guys ever have seasons where it seems that your entire deer herd goes nocturnal for a while? I know too much hunting pressure can do that with deer and hogs, but we've not been hunting much over the last few weeks and deer movement has slowed to a crawl. Cameras reveal lots of deer but only nighttime photos. Everybody around us is reporting the same thing. Our acreage is in a very rural area with a lot of different landowners and several big hunting clubs but it is now rare to hear more than one gunshot on a weekend evening. Everybody is scratching their heads. It's been pretty warm lately and the moon has been bright, but this seems really odd, as we're not doing any very different from previous deer seasons. Of the last 5 times I've been on a stand, I've seen one deer, total. That hasn't happened to me in at least 10 years. It's weird....... 7-days in the woods saw one deer, 45 lbs live weight......western VA. Saw three coyotes though
Last edited by vacrt2002; 12/16/14.
“There is no limit to the amount of good you can do if you don’t care who gets credit.” R. Reagan
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Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 1,559
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 1,559 |
Where are you hunting Scott? We had 4-6 days in west central Tx around Dec 4th and nothing on game cameras day or night. I thought at the time maybe they were in the lock down mode but now I wonder.
Last edited by sambubba; 12/16/14.
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Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 14,761 Likes: 4
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 14,761 Likes: 4 |
No cold weather! The bucks with the PHDs to my knowledge have been nocturnal for the 60 years I've hunted them and now....there's a friggin corn pile on every 5 acre plot and peckerheads constantly going in and out checking their photos!! If deer were idiots...they wouldn't have survived for 4 million years!
Even birds know not to land downwind!
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Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 44,022 Likes: 28
Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 44,022 Likes: 28 |
The way I see it, I kill EVERY doe in sight. Give all that meat to starving winos or fuggit just toss the carcasses into a ditch.
I can do that every year just me and my buds.
Oh wait, goddammitt where's all the bucks at? Oh that's right there aint no pussy in my thickets cause i killed it all in the name of cheap beer and remington.
Now all my resident bucks are wandering off 5 miles away all exposed to spotlighters.
Jeeze I'm punching myself in the nuts now cause all my does are depleted. I sure hope the magic fairy from the State Game Dept can air drop me some more pussy to hold these bucks in my thickets.
Oh well, I gotta run. CoreLokts are "on sell" at the Fulton, Tn walmart. Kinda what happened to the mule deer does in Eastern MT. That and 1 or 2 mean Winters.
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Joined: May 2004
Posts: 10,883 Likes: 1
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 10,883 Likes: 1 |
Circumstance has allowed me to have hunted as hard or harder this year than any others in the recent past. This season I have seen only 7 deer and only killed one. Where as in most years I would have seen at least several dozen and tagged out by now. Everyone in my area is talking about this very thing. And I have not heard of any really exceptional bucks being taken this year.
True, the mast crop has been heavy this year but I can't believe that is the sole reason that deer are so inactive during daylight. Thinking they may have learned to read a calendar.
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Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 96,121 Likes: 1
Campfire Oracle
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Campfire Oracle
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 96,121 Likes: 1 |
when all the brown downers in tn start complaining about no deer is probably when the govs cronyies on the twrc will command the twra to reduce doe limits so the population will rebound in overhunted areas
the brown downers are the root of this and eye candy limits for them as put out by the twrc to the twra for license sales are to blame also
from very reliable inside sources that I have spoken and others have also spoken too
almost 2/3rds of the twra biologist 5-7 yrs ago were against increased doe limits and having back to back ml and then rifle season a lot of them are also in favor of a 2 buck limit which most people I hunt with or associate with are also in favor of
our regs are designed for the bubba brown downer hunters who get out opening weekend of ml and rifle guys who might hunt 6-7 days a yr max is what drives our regs and then the guys who have connections with twrc political appointees by the governor good ole boy shyt................
the regs when we had 2 separate ml seasons and rifle seasons and bow seasons worked just fine
at least the deer got a respite between ml and rifle with that week of bow inbetween
this was changed for simplicitys sake cause it just soo confusing to your average hunter according to the twrc
b.s. it was done so friends of twrc appointees could hunt back to back ml and rifle cause they was ticked off cause bow hunters got some pre rut and rut action
unfortunately it will never change
twra people have stopped fighting the govs appointees on the trwc cause of job security which I have also heard from good sources
and going to the meetings don't make a difference in squat unless you have some connection to a twrc appointee from your region
that is what is going in tn deer and turkey regs
the state needs to go to a 2 buck limit and 1 doe a day limit and do a 3 turkey limit
then things will rebound
look at what they did when ehd hit hard in 2007
not a fuggin thing
they actually expanded unit l and in some of the hardest hit counties at that........
trwc runs the show and has control of the strings of the trwa in all reality............ I'm with that. I just wish people would only shoot what they eat. I can't eat 87 deer a year, I'm not hunting to feed the homeless, I hunt to feed me.
"Dear Lord, save me from Your followers"
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Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 4,487 Likes: 1
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 4,487 Likes: 1 |
I must be the exception. Seen deer virtually every time out though some health issues with my wife have drastically cut down on my deer hunting this year.
We had an early rut (most chasing and fighting seemed to be 2nd half of October) and we always seems to slow way down post rut. Big deer have shut down completely but still seeing deer and getting more daylight pictures than prior years. But no big bucks on camera and the decent bucks are all at night.
We have 700 acres that doesn't get much pressure other than me hunting roughly once per week and checking cameras on same frequency. Plenty of pressure in the area though. No shortage of coyotes, Bobcats and raccoons on the cameras
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Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 415
Campfire Member
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Campfire Member
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 415 |
Another report from SC (Anderson). We had a great acorn crop too, and saw very little activity late Oct to mid Nov when the acorns were raining.
But went 2 days in a row last week mid week when it was cold and saw 11 deer including 3 small bucks I passed on. And one was chasing a doe. In mid Dec....secondary rut.
I've come to believe the cold weather gets em moving more than moon phase.
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Joined: Feb 2014
Posts: 67
Campfire Greenhorn
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Campfire Greenhorn
Joined: Feb 2014
Posts: 67 |
Same story here in N FL, it has been frustrating as hell. Hunted hard during bow season, spooked one doe as I was leaving one day around 11 A.M. Sat back down for a few hours and nothing else.
Gun hunted yesterday from a tree stand, spooked a deer setting up my climber, didn't see it though. Sat all day until dark with nothing. The place I'm hunting has tracks on top of tracks, lots of deer there just not moving. It's also all swamp so they don't stick to normal game trails. Have until Jan 18 but I'm starting to lose hope of getting some meat this year.
Don't think it is hunting pressure here, I've only seen two other hunters on this 3,600 acre parcel, it's too thick and full of moccasins for most people to mess with.
Last edited by Gatogrizz27; 12/16/14.
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Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 29,383
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 29,383 |
Saw a ton of does and small bucks late october in SC. Good piece of property half ag/half timber that is cut , does are carefully controlled and coyotes are shot at year round. I think I went just 1 sitting without seeing deer.
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Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 5,940
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 5,940 |
The poaching around my place is crazy, one guy has killed 17 bucks in 2 years. East TN doesn't have high deer density and IMO the Unit B guys need a 2 buck limit and a 3 doe limit. Eastern TN needs a 2 bird limit in turkey season also.
The biggest thing that needs to happen is if/when they ever catch a poacher they need to make an example of every single one of them and just nail their ass to the wall.
When I die I hope I don't start voting democrat.
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Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 29,383
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 29,383 |
The poaching around my place is crazy, one guy has killed 17 bucks in 2 years. East TN doesn't have high deer density and IMO the Unit B guys need a 2 buck limit and a 3 doe limit. Eastern TN needs a 2 bird limit in turkey season also.
The biggest thing that needs to happen is if/when they ever catch a poacher they need to make an example of every single one of them and just nail their ass to the wall. Absolutely crazy. Fish and Game departments seem to have a vendetta on Does , not so sure that fawn recruitment is as high as it has been with Coyotes and other manmade pressures on the herd.
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Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 5,940
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 5,940 |
We have a 3 buck per year limit, BTW. So 17 bucks in 2 years is flexing our laws a touch.
When I die I hope I don't start voting democrat.
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Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 14,761 Likes: 4
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 14,761 Likes: 4 |
Increased limits on deer are coming about because insurance companies are riding the azzes of many states because of vehicle strikes!
As for my state....the rule here is...if it's brown it's down! In other words if it's got hair on it....it's shot!
The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries is a joke! It doesn't manage game....rather it manages REVENUE!!
Even birds know not to land downwind!
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Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 67,653 Likes: 75
Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 67,653 Likes: 75 |
Tennessee is just a fu(ked up state when it comes to deer hunting. There is some sort of ingrained/inbred brown-downer mentality that persists from East Tn to West.
Many of the counties in Middle and Western Tn do have high deer densities, and somewhat thusly there is a bleed-over thought process shared with One-Buck Ky hunters. Which is a trend toward allowing a mature age structure to develop. But that is hard to do by leaving the proverbial Unit L door wide open with a 3 buck limit. What happens annually is this migration of East Tn license plates showing up at West Tn public lands or the same hunters moving in to lease the property next to your family farm. And these guys gun and gun and gun anything and everything like sailors clubbing Dodo birds.
Tn is floating a license increase of $FIVE (5) dollars. Reading other forums you think that someone has threatened to rape their mommas. Oh the crying, the wailing, the gnashing of bleedin gums and bubba teef. If this state ever reverted to a ONE BUCK limit, these tards would run an electolux hose out and suck start a Beau James chevy tailpipe in a basement. God forbid.
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Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 873
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 873 |
You must think those does just stand in the thickets while the bucks do their business?Doesn't matter how many does you have, if they aren't ready they will run a Helluva long way with buck in tow. They certainly aren't holding bucks on a 200-300 acre tract.
"The world breaks everyone,and afterward, some are strong at the broken places" Hemingway
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Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 57,494
Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 57,494 |
Never mind...
Last edited by rost495; 12/17/14.
We can keep Larry Root and all his idiotic blabber and user names on here, but we can't get Ralph back..... Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, over....
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Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 57,494
Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 57,494 |
You must think those does just stand in the thickets while the bucks do their business?Doesn't matter how many does you have, if they aren't ready they will run a Helluva long way with buck in tow. They certainly aren't holding bucks on a 200-300 acre tract. Our place is about 1400 acres... its shaped such that I can see a long ways from my ridge. I"ve had on multiple occasions a buck on a doe, and seen them from 400-500 yards one direction, come past me and continue on 600-800 yards past me, and on and end up another 500-600 yards away to be shot by one of the old idiots on our place that thinks he is owed a decent buck every year.... And they can cover that ground pretty dang quickly... like in 10 minutes or so at times it seems.
We can keep Larry Root and all his idiotic blabber and user names on here, but we can't get Ralph back..... Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, over....
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Joined: May 2007
Posts: 34
Campfire Greenhorn
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Campfire Greenhorn
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 34 |
my backyard backs up to a state park and lake plus 700acres of private land adjacent that is not hunted. i have mineral lick in my backyard and not unsual to see deer anytime during the day. around the 1st of november daylight deer sightings stopped. 1st of december place my trail cam in backyard, in 10 days only had 163 pictures, very few deer and all at night. there are so many deer you can see the browse line throught the woods. this year is definetly different, we are not seeing deer on our lease. 1 buck harvested out of the swamp and the adjoining lease is 1100 acres with most all trail cam pictures at night. 1 consolation is seeing lots of turkeys. weird year for sure.
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Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 67,653 Likes: 75
Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 67,653 Likes: 75 |
The does on my place are whores. Lazy whores.
Yes, they DO just hang out in the thickets and let the bucks run them around INSIDE these 50-60 acre thickets. BECAUSE they don't wanna get shot by the mthrf'n "meat santa" hunters.There are 3 thickets about 50 acres a pop. They are thickets of ill repute.
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