# My neck of the woods



## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

Squirrel season opens the 15th just 3 days away. Big population, do not see a problem with getting a 5 squirrel limit from just one spot this year from several spots.
No pheasant's in the area been a rare thing to see any since about 2003 when we had a week of freezing rain and little cover for the birds.

Rabbits I am seeing a few each time I walk the pup.

Deer: the bucks have abandoned their groups and are traveling with does and fawns, I have at least 4 different bucks using and being seen on my little plot of property. They have lost their velvet & are starting to polish the hardened antlers. 90% of the fawn only have very faded spots there are some still on the small side with spots yet. Most of the deer except the fawns have lost their red summer coats and are growing in there winter gray coat.

Coyotes have found better places to hang out it seems. Have not heard any evening music in several months. None have came to any of the calls used in 3 months in this area either.

 Al


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## Snowfan (Nov 6, 2011)

alleyyooper, you going to be out hunting small game on opening day?


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

My plan for opening day is to be in one of my deer blinds with my Ruger 77 22lr. Shoot a couple squirrels let them settle down if need be and shoot 2 or 3 more and have my limit. Walk back up my cleaning station and do that. Put them to soak for a while and cook them up on the 16th after I get back from getting a second limit of the season.

I should have mentioned the does are now getting back in groups. I have one group of 8 so far.

 Al


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## Vahomesteaders (Jun 4, 2014)

Deer season for does started sept 1st. To hot though. Squirrel rabbit dove and waterfowl are in. Been popping doves today. Got 8 so far. Bucks have shed the velvet. Still in Batchelor groups. Youth buck is 26th and 27th. Then bow season starts. So happy to have Sunday hunting this year!


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## moonwolf (Sep 20, 2004)

In my neck of the woods goose season started first of 
Sept....ducks this weekend. Small game starts 15th, mostly 
it's ruffed grouse hunters are after up here before deer and moose
in the eastern sector 2nd week October and 2 weeks later in
the western districts...
Been hearing some waterfowl shooting off in the Beaver ponds 
nearby. I used to hunt lots waterfowl, now I seem to enjoy
raising my own birds, but occasionally get out to harvest a few
partridge. When cooler, I like snowshoe hare.
The fall bear season later this month, more interest in this 
for non residents with licensed guide hunts, but nuisance 
Bears are always fare game around the stead.


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## JJ Grandits (Nov 10, 2002)

Deer all over the place. Not to many Turkey. plenty of rabbits but not as heavy as last year.
The oldtimers (anyone older then me) have been complaining they are not seeing the deer they saw 30-40 years ago. The theory I have is that first off their senses are waning, and they still hunt the same piece of land they did 30-40 years ago. I believe in that time frame the habitat has changed, the woods matured more, not as many deer in that area. Unless they have been doing some cutting or creating food plots they won't be seeing much. Especially since they don't put in the hours in the field that they used too.


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

JJ Grandits said:


> Deer all over the place. Not to many Turkey. plenty of rabbits but not as heavy as last year.
> The oldtimers (anyone older then me) have been complaining they are not seeing the deer they saw 30-40 years ago. The theory I have is that first off their senses are waning, and they still hunt the same piece of land they did 30-40 years ago. I believe in that time frame the habitat has changed, the woods matured more, not as many deer in that area. Unless they have been doing some cutting or creating food plots they won't be seeing much. Especially since they don't put in the hours in the field that they used too.



I am not seeing the deer I did 25 years ago , but , there is a very logical explanation of that in Wisconsin 25 years ago you had to apply for your doe permit by august 20th , then get drawn for it you got one 2 out of 3 years if you were good at putting in for it 
depending on the area, then the DNR decided we were overpopulated with deer , and made it a doe and a buck tag on every license , now you could shoot it if it was brown then we still weren't turning in the numbers the DNR wanted so they made it earn a buck , this meant you HAD to shoot a doe / antler-less deer first if you wanted to shoot a buck, this saw people shooting the absolute dogs and yearlings , we are talking just out of spots that they would have let go any other year , were getting shot this also for the first time really got the Doe running form everything they were being hunted 

in the days of applying for a doe tag in august and only a few people in the party having them I had mornings where I had a dozen doe under my stand for hours just milling around and grazing 

the other result of this was there used to be a browse line in the winter , and small new forest floor saplings were only here and there , now the saplings are >5 feet tall all over the place with more coming up all the time you can't see near as far as you once could 

the 2000s saw in many parts of the state free bonus tags as many as you could fill you could get 4 at a time form the DNR office if you shot a doe then they gave you a sticker to shoot a buck from 2002 to 2012 if I recall this was in place a decade of free tags and many parts of south central Wis , once you got away from the burbs you just stopped seeing deer in 2004 on my 37 mile drive to work I would see deer nearly every day by 2008 if I saw one a week , in 2004 the road would have fresh road kill every day , in 2010 we would see a few road kill mid rut until the drive took you into the burbs , they are still thick as as ever in the burbs where no one hunts or really can a hay field that backs up to a sub division might have 20 or more deer standing there grazing.

I was talking with a friend who just went through sharp shooter certification this summer , basically you have to prove you can operate a suppressed 308 rifle in a safe way so that you can go in and sharp shoot deer from these areas that won't open to other hunters 

used to be on opening weekend it was nothing to see 25-30 doe and maybe a buck , now you might see 5-7 deer but it is all explainable


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## Vahomesteaders (Jun 4, 2014)

In my area back 25 years ago, you would see a deer or two every couple days. Then in the late 90s early 2000 that jumped to over 30 a day. I've even had a many as 76 in the field at the same time. With a dozen 125 class bucks. Then about 4 years ago it dropped way back. You can still kill a deer any given day mostly but the numbers dropped big time after two major hard winters with a couple 30 plus inch snows that stayed for weeks.


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## JJ Grandits (Nov 10, 2002)

Locally we lucked out in the winter. The mast crop was extremely heavy and deer taken had a lot of fat on them. It was a very hard winter but just as the deers fat reserves were exhausted the snow melted and opened up for grazing. NY is screwing around with the "earn a Buck" idea. Personally I am a meat hunter and the only time I take a Buck is when he goes out of his way and gets real close. As far as I'm concerned a 1 1/2 year old doe fills the freezer real well.

On any given day I see deer. It is actually unusual for me not to see any.
In the area where I hunt it is swampy hardwood forest and agricultural land. They give out antlerless deer tags like throwing confetti. Hasn't made much difference. The 300 acres behind the house has produced 6-8 deer every year for the last thirty years for me and my neighbors. Just about every other year a real monster buck comes out of there. I guess we are lucky.


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

Where I started hunting 47 years ago we saw a few deer mostly does during the 15 day firearm season. All the wood lands had been pulped off in the late 50's and early 60's when pulp prices were high. Doe permits were few and far between and were doled out with a drawing. All the new growth from the clear cutting helped the deer a bunch thru the winter. Also more farmers was doing corn which many times was harvested just as the heavy snows started in.
We in the mid 60's and all of the 80's saw the deer herd explode and went from seeing 5 to 6 does a day to 100 to 200 does a day during the season.
My dad had parts of his woods lumbered off in 1989, one of the sections was where my deer blind was. I figured I would be lucky to see a deer that year. I got two 6 points minutes apart to fill my two buck tags, my brother, a friend and dad also got bucks from my blind that year. 2013 deer were still thick in the area according to my brother. Mich DNR made it a QDM area so the bucks shot there are all 8pt or better and the doe permits are still drawing only. I stopped hunting there in 1992 when I hunted my deer camp in the UP.

Now my deer camp in the UP was a different animal. You were lucky to see 6 deer a day mostly does. My place butts to 6000 acres of Federal land. Very few hunt it because it is cranberry bogs and thick cedar swamps with an rare ridge back in there that has Oak trees, Miserable for a city slicker to hunt. Never heard or seen coyotes there till 2003, season closed during the fire arm deer season too. By 2006 we were seeing more coyotes per day than deer and has gotten worse every year since. the wolves have started moving in by 2010 then 3 horrible winters in a row. 
I hunted there for 7 days in 2010 and never seen a deer. Friends in the area say the wolves are real bad now and they are hard pressed to even see a deer at any time of the year. Most don't even bother to go out to hunt deer any longer unless they have a place to go below the big mac. I hunt in my back and front yard now. I see about 20 to 30 deer per day during the season here. That has got better in the 30 years we have lived here. Now they come right up to the front door. 





And back door.






 Al


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

Al the year before Wis got the wolf season a friend spent his annual 2 week hunting trip 12 days in his usually very good archery deer stand , he saw 9 wolf and 1 doe , wolf tracks every where 
that was one of the problem areas that the DNR trapped and put down several wolf in for attacking dogs there were several problem areas that year , the wolf hunt is one of the best ideas get a bunch of people to pay 100 dollars each to get a wolf tag then close hunting for them as soon as the DNR quota is met , sadly if your trapping and you get a double you have to let one go unless you had the foresight to put everyone you knew with a permit trap tag on your trap only the person with their tag on the trap can harvest the wolf.

JJ , I would think if they went to one deer either sex on the license and then sold the extra tags if people wanted to buy them as extras they would have the best of both worlds , income and the buck shooters going after bucks the meat hunters filling their freezers , I see EAB earn a buck as not a very good idea


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

The reintroduction of wolves just *PI$$ES me off* to no end. First off if it isn't a safe critter to be let loose in city parks then why allow the dumping on rural folks. Just because we live in the country we should not be a critter dumping ground (*hear that city folks take your unwanted pets to the correct agency*.). I really believe they need a few breeding pairs in the Washington mall area and Central Park NYC to name just a few.

Yes they sure do screw the public on those wolf tags, sell them at 100.00 each I think a thousand but limit the kill to 46 the one year they had the wolf hunt in Michigan. So the DNR collected 954.00 for nothing to the persons paying.

We also back in the late 80's had deer show up in the north east part of the state with many showing signs of TB. DNR placed heavy fined bans on feeding and baiting in the area and issued unlimited doe permits so the deer herd in that area declined drmatoicly, still hasn't recover to what the western north part of the states levels.

 Al


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## Fishindude (May 19, 2015)

Yea, that wolf reintroduction was a brilliant move.
Homesteaders and rural folks worked for decades to rid the country of the varmints, and the desirable wildlife; deer, elk, etc. took off like gangbusters. A few years after wolf reintroduction, those deer and elk herds in many areas are nearly wiped out.


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

If I hear one more moron say but only the Alpha male and female breed 

lets try a little experiment lets take 50 teenagers 25 male 25 female and put them in a town with everything they need for the taking no police just their group and nothing to do but eat the food that is plentiful and "hang"

here is the catch once a year there is a athletic competition a running jumping and boxing match , only the winning male and winning female get to breed all the rest are told not to. 

how long do you think that would last , yup it lasted about that long in wolves also 

then the packs started to split and reproduction exploded 

you can follow the population with damage dollars http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/wildlifehabitat/wolf/documents/WolfDamagePayments.pdf
2010 , 11 ,12 were big years for damage $ then the wold season started , I fi I recall last years season was disrupted again by some court ruling 
but I think if we were given 5-10 years of uninterrupted seasons we could see the damage dollars at least flatten out , it looks like they have the last 3 years but 3 years is not a big trend when your talking 30


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

Funny thing in Michigan the DNR claim only 600 wolves in the main land UP. that 600 has remained a number given since about 2010. To think as many wolves die each year as are born is just plain dumb thinking even for *CITY FOLKS* who don't know how many pups are in a litter normally more than two. It may also be possible only the Alpha male breeds but he breeds each and every female in his pack when they come into heat. It is just plain stupid to think other wise. Some where it was written:::: *" it takes 20 deer a year to feed one wolf." The DNR says there are 600 some odd wolves on the U.P. They've been saying that for five years. That's 20,000 deer a year out of the gene pool.
*

this year they* DNR *Even discussed totally closing deer season in the UP. Near my camp there are a bunch from Ohio with camps they own and several that camp on federal land and hunt. What a strain that would make on the UP ecomeny if they did that? Then they discussed just closing the archery season same results a ecomeny disaster.
Finally settled on the one buck only rule and no doe permits. 

Still isn't going to help much with out habitat improvements in the winter yarding areas killing off a whole bunch of wolves and even 3 whole bunches of coyotes. That season needs to be open during deer season. So what some kills a wolf by mistake.

 Al


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## Riverdale (Jan 20, 2008)

alleyyooper said:


> Funny thing in Michigan the DNR claim only 600 wolves in the main land UP. that 600 has remained a number given since about 2010. To think as many wolves die each year as are born is just plain dumb thinking even for *CITY FOLKS* who don't know how many pups are in a litter normally more than two. It may also be possible only the Alpha male breeds but he breeds each and every female in his pack when they come into heat. It is just plain stupid to think other wise. Some where it was written:::: *" it takes 20 deer a year to feed one wolf." The DNR says there are 600 some odd wolves on the U.P. They've been saying that for five years. That's 20,000 deer a year out of the gene pool.
> *
> 
> this year they* DNR *Even discussed totally closing deer season in the UP. Near my camp there are a bunch from Ohio with camps they own and several that camp on federal land and hunt. What a strain that would make on the UP ecomeny if they did that? Then they discussed just closing the archery season same results a ecomeny disaster.
> ...


Hey Al, The tree rats are plentiful here (middle of the mitten, oak trees and black walnuts help!  ).

We pop a few a week (might have to get more, cuz the boy is getting bigger, and hungier  ).

Heard about the DNR proposal, and I believe they are full of poo. The wolf "re-introduction" caused as much , if not more of a deer herd reduction as the winters.

No 'yotes around here, but a meteric ton of turkeys. Had 50 walking the back property line this morning.


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## JJ Grandits (Nov 10, 2002)

JJ , I would think if they went to one deer either sex on the license and then sold the extra tags if people wanted to buy them as extras they would have the best of both worlds , income and the buck shooters going after bucks the meat hunters filling their freezers , I see EAB earn a buck as not a very good idea[/QUOTE]

In New York your big game lic. is for Bucks only. You have to pay for an antlerless deer tag. After all, this is New York. Some WMU's have gone to earn a buck for archery. 
The key thing is habitat. That is why the suburbs are so crazy with deer. I see more road kill in the city then I do out my way.


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

We can buy a fire arm deer license for a single buck with at least a 3 inch spike, or spend a bit more and get a combo tag so you can get two bucks one with at least 4 points on one side and the other at least a 3 inch spike. In my area if you wish you can buy 5 doe tags a day every day over the counter. 
In the middle of the state where my brother lives the bucks any have to have at least 3 points to a side and you have to apply to a drawing for a doe permit, Brother got one this year cost $20.00 said last one he will ever apply for.
You can buy a archery licensee, single buck but then your finished except any doe permits you can get. Or buy a combo but if you get a buck you are restricted to what every buck tag is left when fire arm season opens.

 Al


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

Lotta deer in the burbs a friend that works for the DNR just got certified as a sharp shooter so she can take deer with a suppressed 308 in suburban areas under some sort of special permit , I asked if I could get certified she seemed to think I could but I didn't get any more details , I haven't got the cash to buy a suppressor right now any way


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

Been seeing a few buck rubs for a while now but not like last year. ran across my first scrape yesterday complete with a licking branch above. Is beside the trail me and the pups walk daily and it was not there on Monday.

Turkeys are heavy in the autumn olive cleaning up the berries. 

Have finally had a couple killing frost nights and the leaves have changed quickly. Most I expect will be down by the end of the day with winds forecast to be in the 20 MPH range with gust as high as 50MPH today.

 Al


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## Fishindude (May 19, 2015)

We finally got about 10 hours of much needed rain, weather cooling down and starting to feel like fall. Deer hunting will be great from now till about Thanksgiving, bucks are on their feet rutting and breeding usually starts around Nov 5th.

I plan on spending a lot of time in the woods over the next several weeks.


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## Rime (Nov 10, 2014)

Wow, limits are much better elsewhere. We get 1 buck over 3 inches, period. Doe permits are usually a lottery, but they didn't issue any for our zones this year. 

Very common to go days without seeing anything. 

Our primary issue is hard winters and not enough tree cover. Pulp and biomass industry has logged a lot of the old deer yards, and cut more frequently since trees can be smaller. Without mature softwoods, deer are easy targets for coyotes. So coyote season runs year-round, but doesn't seem to make a difference.

We have a much healthier bear population. Maybe I should switch to that.

Busy this year anyway. Probably won't get out more than two weekends.


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## Fishindude (May 19, 2015)

I can kill one buck and six does in my home county (never do) with regular over the counter tags. Could kill a bunch more does if I hunted other counties also.


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

One of the biggest problems with coyote numbers is not enough people hunting them. 
Ya a few will shot one if they see one while deer hunting but most won't go out just to hunt coyotes. We never see others nor do many at the sports mans club talk about going out.
Most hunters wouldn't eat one if they killed it and don't know where to sell the hides or researched it.

Our hide buyer will take the whole carcass, fresh skinned hides and the stretched dried and sewn hides how ever we want to deal with them. I guess hunter just have a problem with just leaving a carcass in the woods/field so don't target the coyotes.

I see guys all the time at the sportsman clubs rifle range shooting just about every week. They could be out shooting coyotes.

 Al


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## tamarackreg (Mar 13, 2006)

alleyyooper said:


> They could be out shooting coyotes.
> 
> Al


It's much easier to play keyboard commando and / or legislate others into compliance so that they can shoot the biggest buck in the world.

<sarc>


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## Nimrod (Jun 8, 2010)

Took the pup out grouse hunting day before yesterday. He booted one up into a tree. Shooting a grouse out of a tree is not sporting so I thought I would wait until it flew. When it took off, it flew right at me and was so close I wouldn't shoot because, if I had hit it, it wouldn't be worth eating. LOL He flushed another one but I never saw it.

Deer here are at a low population level, probably because they logged off the 1200 acres north of my place last winter. The deer will come back as the area grows up again.

I love the spin put on wolf conservation. In MN they are endangered or some such nonsense so no hunting them. Gray wolfs are not endangered at all. There are hundreds of thousands of them in Canada. There is no danger of gray wolves going extinct. The only reason I can see for the endangered label is to fool the uninformed. It also gives the gooberment more control over your land.


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

Deer in the UP of Michigan are in a real sorry state. they had talked about just plain closing the season there but so many residents who hunt and the business who rely on hunters who travel up there to hunt they just closed all the doe hunting. 
I have had my deer camp up there since 1991 and I stopped deer hunting there in 2007 for a couple reasons. One big reason my last hunting partner passed away in 2005 so I was hunting there alone. Biggest reason was the lack of deer sightings. I have kept a journal every year of hunting there and when I first started hunting the area we were seeing 10 deer a day average by 2007 sightings was down to 3 and 4 per day average.
I blames the wolves for the most part of course those in the government and tree huggers who allowed the wolves to flourish.

 Al


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## Fishindude (May 19, 2015)

I'm heading out bow hunting within the hour !


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## tamarackreg (Mar 13, 2006)

alleyyooper said:


> Deer in the UP of Michigan are in a real sorry state. they had talked about just plain closing the season there but so many residents who hunt and the business who rely on hunters who travel up there to hunt they just closed all the doe hunting.
> I have had my deer camp up there since 1991 and I stopped deer hunting there in 2007 for a couple reasons. One big reason my last hunting partner passed away in 2005 so I was hunting there alone. Biggest reason was the lack of deer sightings. I have kept a journal every year of hunting there and when I first started hunting the area we were seeing 10 deer a day average by 2007 sightings was down to 3 and 4 per day average.
> I blames the wolves for the most part of course those in the government and tree huggers who allowed the wolves to flourish.
> 
> Al


I recently spent a week and a half riding my horse in the U.P., Hiawatha National Forest and surrounding area.

Saw 1 deer.

Control the food and you control the people.


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## mustangglp (Jul 7, 2015)

California revisited the ban on wolf hunting this year as last year they have been seen in north eastern California . Should be interesting when they start eating the environmentalist in San Francisco .


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

Some where it was written:::: *" it takes 20 deer a year to feed one wolf." The DNR says there are 600 some odd wolves on the U.P. They've been saying that for five years. That's 20,000 deer a year out of the gene pool.
*
Some day I am hoping people will stop electing rich city people starting with local offices. Plain ordinary people who have to work hard for a living and are running for office to change some of the crap heaped on country folks by all the rich city people who haven't a clue what we have to contend with.

My UP deer camp is surround by the Hiawatha National Forest on 3 sides and Big Bay DeNoc on the 4th side.

 Al


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## JJ Grandits (Nov 10, 2002)

Our gun season starts the Saturday before Thanksgiving. Will be taking my great nephew out for his first Deer hunt. We have our share of Coyotes here but so far they have not had much impact on the Deer population. At least in my area. With all the deer road kill they don't have to hunt to hard. Around here we have an environment that is very well suited for making Deer. I don't think you could plan it better. If we have the mild winter they are predicting the population will jump again.


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## Vahomesteaders (Jun 4, 2014)

We have had a banner year in va. Already scoring 4 deer with my son getting a nice high 130s 9 point. I seen a giant last but just to far for the old smoke pole. Getting ready to head out now. It takes is about 6 to 8 deer for year round meat. Last year i couldn't tag out. Not sure what changed, but deer are everywhere this year.


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## Fishindude (May 19, 2015)

I've got an elk from Utah and a deer from Illinois in the freezer.
We ate an elk and two deer last year and that worked out about right. My kids and sister want some too, so I may shoot a couple more.

Tomorrow is our firearms opener in Indiana, so will be hitting it hard all weekend. I'll hold out for a big buck, or shoot a doe for meat. The rut is going strong and bucks are running around crazy right now.


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

44f right now at almost 5:30AM days high some place in the 50's. I will be heading to my deer blind in about an hour for opening day of fire arm deer season. 
Looking forward to it been seeing a dandy 8 point for the last two weeks and a nice 4 pt was hanging around down by the creek all day yesterday even when I had the nosy chipper shredder going full tilt.

 Al


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