Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting A slightly unusual deer

Oh aye, I manage to pull an elk outta the Cold Jungle once in a while too, just gotta be willing to get in there and slog through it. It's hard work, until the elk falls. Then you learn what work truly is.

I would like to hunt deer in each of the 50 states so i could personally check on the herds...

swrshooter on page one had a comment on Texas deer. I am not from Texas (not ugly enough to live there) but a person from one part of the country making comments about something they really have no clue about makes me shake my head is all.

At least with "steep" you get some elevation to look down. Ours country is flat and over head high brush. Senderos (narrow open right of ways) are sometimes the only openings to see and shoot.
All's fair down here. You can hunt how you want. No rules say you can't employ your methods here.
I can tell you without question the elevated blind or stand on a sendero crossing gets the most bucks. With or without corn.

stumpy

When I hear this sniping going on it amazes me how holier than thou some can be...

We need to be careful about such nonsence..inasmuch as those speaking out live where bear and deer are shot from tree blinds over oat and wheat patches, and I don't see much difference in here.

Then we have calling animals in to point blank range and shooting them during the rut, both deer, elk, and moose are hunted this way. Oh yeah and rattling in Whitetail. Is there any difference here?

The point I'm trying to make is carefull what you stir up, your as bad as an anti hunter when you pass your misplaced judgement..It is all legal and acceptable and such talk will bring all of it to an end if were not careful, and thats the way that works. Most folks with real hunting experience wouldn't make such comments IMO....

Texas is the only place I've been where "corn" is a verb--as in: "We better corn that back road."

Actually that not true for the National Forest in Western Va. Due to the radical environments that have been able to stop logging in many parts of the National Forest the population has crashed. Just no browse. The F&G Dept. contends their hands are tied. Also, the Northern Va. area is over run with deer most of which are small due to over population. Sorry to hijack the thread.

Comparing public land in VA, to private ranch "farmed" land, is a non-starter.

And, the public land in the western VA mountains ain't that bad; it's just not as good as what we've been spoiled and accustomed to.

Well said, Ray. I guess we all have our own definitions of what "hunting" is. And I do appreciate the enthusiasm that some here have.

But hunting, after all, is something we do for enjoyment. So if I enjoy getting up early on a cold December morning, sitting in my box blind, drinking coffee from my thermos, watching the sunrise, watching the wildlife come alive, and perhpaps taking a deer if the opportunity arises, you will have to humor me. Look down your noses if you like. And feel free to self righteously convince yourself that you do it "right" and all others do it "wrong".

But I will do it my way and you may do it yours. And may we continue to have the freedom to do it our way.

Tis true. There's even an alternative verb use--as in: "We corned sum feral pigs into the figger 6 trap."

Thanks Mule Deer. I was having one of those kinda serious days where you get all up-tight and such. That "corn" remark cracked me up.

Mr. Atkinson, I respectfully disagree with your position, lets face it, it's baiting. I assume you're not defending baiting itself, just the right for people to conduct their hunt the way they see fit and for other hunters to show respect for it. That's fine, but if baiting is unequivocally excepted as an ethical method of hunting, why is it illegal here in Montana and I assume other states as well? If it's considered a questionable hunting tactic by a large segment of the hunting population, then I think it's more than fair for contributors to this forum to comment on it. That's whether they have hunted only once or for a life time.

well, of course, it's baiting. No one denies that.

As to it being illegal in different states, each state develops its own regulations based on local factors (type of game, type of terrain, populaiton density, hunting pressure, etc) to manage wildlife properly. Such variables as season length, bag limits, hunting techniques,etc are used. Just because one state choses a particular technique, doesn't make it "right" or "wrong" in another state under different conditions.

And just because baiting may be viewed as wrong by a large segment of the population makes it wrong everywhere? conditions vary by area, hunting technigues and methods are developed that work in certain areas.

I like to fish with artifical lures and wade the flats. Other like to fish with live bait from a boat. I feel wading and artificial lures are more challenging and it's more fun to catch fish that way. But others like to catch fish with live bait, and if I really want fish for dinner, I have been known to use live bait myself.

Sometimes I still hunt through the woods (where possible), sometimes I sit in a stand and throw corn out on the sendero. Sometimes I use a pistol or bow to increse the challenge, sometimes I use a scope sighted MOA rifle. It's all legal, and IMO. it is, an should remain, and individual's choice.

You tell me you wouldn't shoot a deer off of an alfalfa or wheat field? That is bait too even if it is incidental to farming practice.

How about stakeing out a big old white oak tree or other mast tree for you boys on the other side of the river? That is bait too even if it is a natural occurance.

Ray and southtexas said it for me. What is legal is jake with me. I would not participate in a deer drive or party hunting but find no fault nor will I poor mouth those who like it and do it. I have absolutely no interest in seeing how far off I can snipe a deer but I won't poor mouth long range shooters.

We all have an unfortunate tendency to believe that if it ain't done the way we do it then hunting isn't really hunting. That isn't true and while I may not care for the way you do it there is no call for me to low rent you is there?

I quit playing the "mine is bigger than yours" game long years ago. Where ever you are and however you hunt if it is legal where you are I will enjoy hearing about it and wish you well.

I sure as the dickens ain't going to get on your case just because I personally don't care for that style of hunting.

BCR

That is funny. Guilty!

stumpy

Southtexas and Boggy Creek Ranger, I appreciate your thoughtful responses and you raise some good points. My intention was not to criticize you or your style of hunting. If I were born and raised where you guys hunt I'd probably do the same thing. I'm just asking the question, and maybe it's a more general question and not specific to baiting, why are some hunting tactics considered ethical in some areas and not in others?

mw406:

Interesting topic, and it's refreshing to be able to discuss it objectively. IMO, it is largely a function of how we were each raised and what we were taught. I know my Dad would have shot himself before he would have shot a doe, and that wasthe right thing back when we needed to increase the deer population. Today, we need to control the number of does.

Another example. I was taught never to shoot at an unwounded running deer. But I understand from my cyber friends that given the way they hunt in New England, if they didn't shoot at a running deer, they would never have a shot.

IMO, different regions and different circumstances dictate to a large extent what is acceptable and what is not, and to extrapolate from area to area can be a mistake.

When you plant crops (alfalfa fields) to feed them, scatter corn to attract them, use trail cameras to "scout" and "find" them, and then sit in a blind until the deer you picked out and named from "scouting" (since the day it was born), comes out and you "harvest" it, you are not hunting... You are slaughtering your cattle. If you try to "grow" bucks, you're not growing deer, you're growing cattle.


There is no way anyone with a straight face can look at how deer are "managed" and say it is anything but a glorified farm animal.

just call me "crooked face"

I'd agree with southtexas. Depends on what you got introduced to.

When I was a kid, deer hunting was with dogs. No ifs ands or buts that is the way you hunted deer. Now dogs are illegal in Texas and most everywhere else.

When deer here were few and far between, in the 50's it was a mortal sin to kill a doe. Took me a long time to get over the way I was taught and finally shoot one when they bacame legal.

BCR