Hunting and Fishing Thread - With Poll

[allen ml - 2007]

Sounds like another kind of quality, doesn't it?

Note: BTW, my comment about PA was not meant at all as a putdown - the deer hunting tradition there is as good as you will find anywhere, according to reports from friends who have had the experience.

Craig

You're right Craig, it is a kind of quality control system...

No offense taken regarding PA's way of hunting. Tradition up here is just as good as down in GA or AR. Couple of fellas have been religiously hunting with the same neck of the woods, and know exactly where the deer are, where they're headed, what time of day, and so on... These guys definitely aren't the "weekend warrior" types that throw lead around at the first sign of movement.

Implementing a deer management program was undoubtedly tough for the Game Commissioner last year, I heard he travelled everywhere with a bulletproof vest on after announcing the new restrictions.

In my opinion, its just fun to chase 'em around, and enjoy what nature provides for us. Crisp, clean air...birds singing in the trees...<insert your tree-hugging phrase in here...>...I couldn't care less whether I got one every year or not, the stories about the "one that got away" are more fun to tell

I am happy to announce my luck this year on bagging a 7 point w/ 15" spread in the afternoon on Saturday.

Now I get the lucky task of driving/tracking for all my relatives on the farm for the final Saturday... Well...at least I won't be cold...

 

[Craig H.]

Allen:

Congrats on getting a buck!

Your comments about both QDM being a kind of quality control and the difficulty of implementing QDM are right on the mark.

For so long, getting a buck, any buck, and letting the does walk was OK, just as long as the herd was not at the land's carrying capacity. Now, we have problems with habitat, not to mention the CWD disease problem and herd buck/doe imbalance. Factor in the car - deer collisions (glad we don't have any moose) and it becomes obvious that we have to step in where the wolves used to, and manage the herd. The science is compelling.

Although we have a nice camp here in GA (hot and cold running water, satellite TV, electricity, etc.) I have heard about some hunting camps in PA that sound more like a resort. Hot tubs, indeed. Now, that's roughing it!!! Of course, some of those camps have had the same families in them for generations.

Good hunting!

Craig

 

[allen ml - 2007]

Up on the farm this year we just rolled out (literally) our new "field stand". It is the shell of an old hay wagon boarded up and attached to a small deck. More or less, we can hook a tractor up to it and cart it around to wherever we need it. Has a nice wood-burning stove, and couple of windows to watch out the back. Nifty piece of recycling for the farm.

Out at the ol' Allen camp, we got the cabin with water/electric, with a small bunkhouse upstairs. No hot tubs, just the "basics" Though I might have to talk to Dad about that one...

I think the biggest hangup with the QDM around this area is the "trust" factor of all the other hunters. We get a lot of folks from the nearby states (OH & NY) that come in once a year to hunt on their friend's places near us. Makes it hard to pass up a buck if you're thinking somebody else is just gonna end up shooting it anyways (case in point, the small ones being left to rot). I agree with the new changes myself, I've seen more actual bucks this year in the past two weeks then I've seen in the past 5 years combined. Makes watching them go by your stand a bit more exciting in my opinion.

Craig, down in GA, what type of QDM were you using? Antler restrictions? Buck size restrictions? I'm kind of curious to see what you folks have come up with down there...

 

[Craig H.]

Up on the farm this year we just rolled out (literally) our new "field stand". It is the shell of an old hay wagon boarded up and attached to a small deck. More or less, we can hook a tractor up to it and cart it around to wherever we need it. Has a nice wood-burning stove, and couple of windows to watch out the back. Nifty piece of recycling for the farm.

Out at the ol' Allen camp, we got the cabin with water/electric, with a small bunkhouse upstairs. No hot tubs, just the "basics" Though I might have to talk to Dad about that one...

I think the biggest hangup with the QDM around this area is the "trust" factor of all the other hunters. We get a lot of folks from the nearby states (OH & NY) that come in once a year to hunt on their friend's places near us. Makes it hard to pass up a buck if you're thinking somebody else is just gonna end up shooting it anyways (case in point, the small ones being left to rot). I agree with the new changes myself, I've seen more actual bucks this year in the past two weeks then I've seen in the past 5 years combined. Makes watching them go by your stand a bit more exciting in my opinion.

Craig, down in GA, what type of QDM were you using? Antler restrictions? Buck size restrictions? I'm kind of curious to see what you folks have come up with down there...

Allen:

We actually have what I guess you could call 2 types.

The first has been developing for some time now, and is voulntary (but in some cases with some seriuos arm-twisting). The components of QDM are

-antler restrictions. For our club, and many others, this is 15" inside. It is easier than you think. When you see a buck, imagine it with its ears out flat. That is usually about 15". This requirement alone is NOT QDM

-food plots and controlled burning. Use fertilizer on the plots and try to have something available year-'round. Newly-burned land will sprout tender green stuff. The deer love it, as do many other animals.

-doe harvest. If you want meat, shoot a doe. This is done to try to restore the balance male/female. The resulting balance should result in "big boy" having to go farther to compete for the remaining females, greatly increasing the chance he will be seen. Also, rutting activity will be more concentrated.

This "style" requires about 3000 contiguous acres, but there are many "pockets" of lease and land holders who practice this "full" QDM. One of these groupings has around 10,000 acres and is some of the best hunting land in the county.

The other QDM initiative is in the 2 counties that have antler restrictions, with fines for small bucks. Of course, there are no "shoot does" requirements or provisions for food plots. The other down side to this approach is it is only 2 counties, and the hunting lease prices there are now unreal.

The best way, if it is possible, is to get people to do the 3 things outlined above. Others will have the experience you had this year, and peer pressure will take care of the rest. Like any resource, we need to manage what we have.

Try www.qdma.com

Thanks for asking!

I like the hay wagon idea. I'll keep my eyes open for one that's ripe for conversion. Wonder if I could fit my battery operated TV in there?

As far as "outside" hunters, we have the same issues with some people from Atlanta and Florida. ATM (anything that moves) hunters. I even heard one at a gas station talk about taking a "movement shot". Boy, what a jerk.

Good Hunting

Craig

 

[Mike S.]

Up on the farm this year we just rolled out (literally) our new "field stand". It is the shell of an old hay wagon boarded up and attached to a small deck. More or less, we can hook a tractor up to it and cart it around to wherever we need it. Has a nice wood-burning stove, and couple of windows to watch out the back. Nifty piece of recycling for the farm.

Just curious -- do you sleep in this thing or hunt from it?

Just before my Dad quit hunting (he was in his 60's) he and his buds built totally enclosed treestands with a roof & windows, and used Sterno to heat it. I said "that ain't huntin', that's a vacation home". But it was the only way they could take the cold I guess.

 

[allen ml - 2007]

Actually, the roll-around resembles more of a type of duck blind then anything. It's not all closed in, there's a few boards removed to watch out the front, and an open doorway. You could "probably" sleep in it...but doubt it with the draft...

Was nice to have this year. The first few days, the wind chill dropped us around the 0 deg mark. Was nice to not worry about frostbite this time around.

Incidently, the field we put the thing on (which I might add is usually the area we tend to see the most deer) never saw half the amount of bucks on it as the treestand I was in on the other side of the farm (couple of wood planks nailed to a tree) Unfortunately, I had to endure the cold from the fields with no stove, no walls to block the wind, etc...but then again, I got my buck

 

[Mike S.]

I have to admit that is the first time I heard of a deer stand/blind having a wood-burning stove! Unless you want to count the people I have heard of who shoot their deer from their house. One such fellow is only interested in meat, which is fine, but the other bragged about the great rack on his buck. Sorry, but even if a state-record 14-point stood in my backyard, the only shooting I would do is with my camera. I could take no pride in that deer from a trophy standpoint, while I could from a spike I worked hard to get. JMO.

 

[Craig H.]

Re: Hunting & Fishing

Hi, everyone!

How about a fishing and hunting update? I really have not had much luck of late, and this is the last weekend of the season. My Dad is joining me on Saturday afternoon. He'll use my rifle, and I'll use the binocs. Wish us luck!

If he does pull the trigger, he's going to be in for a surprise. That 7mm STW packs a wallop.

Craig

 

[db]

Re: Hunting & Fishing

Hi, everyone!

How about a fishing and hunting update?
Craig

I have a good friend who was visiting family over Christmas. His nieces left for home, got about 20 miles away and hit a deer. His brother was on his way home and hit a deer. The nieces borrowed another car and the following day hit their second deer (in Ann Arbor city limits). Three deer in two days, without firing a shot!

 

[Craig H.]

Re: Hunting & Fishing

I have a good friend who was visiting family over Christmas. His nieces left for home, got about 20 miles away and hit a deer. His brother was on his way home and hit a deer. The nieces borrowed another car and the following day hit their second deer (in Ann Arbor city limits). Three deer in two days, without firing a shot!

Geez, and I thought hunting with a rifle was expensive. Hopefully, no one was hurt?

Here in GA we can't use rifles in city limits, but every year it seems like there are several NICE bucks taken with bows in the metro Atlanta area.

Here, where it is more rural, a few years ago we had a deer come up to the shopping center, trigger the automatic doors at the grocery store, and walk right in. He went straight for the produce. Must have thought he had died and gone to heaven.

Fortunately, they got him out without him, or any humans, being hurt.

My point is that in and around urban areas there is less or no hunting pressure, and the main predator is the four wheel variety. There are also these yummy gardens. Deer find this out, and take advantage.

FWIW, after I hit a deer a few years ago, I was talking to my insurance guy, and I said that I didn't have time to stop, or even avoid, the deer because of an oncoming driver's brights being on. The agent stopped me and said something to the effect that you should not try to swerve to avoid the deer - that's the way people get hurt or killed, and they would rather pay for sheet metal than for sheet metal and hospitalization. Makes sense.

Stay safe.

Craig