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Post by lugnutz on Jan 24, 2009 18:12:58 GMT -5
Why is it that you seldom hear of a "monster" coming from a big wood lot, or national forest? Making my weekly trip through HNF, got me thinking about it.
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Post by hoosier on Jan 24, 2009 23:10:55 GMT -5
My opinion....Because they are harder to hunt than farmland bucks!
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Post by Decatur on Jan 24, 2009 23:26:36 GMT -5
Definately gotta be harder to hunt, very few edges, plust the edges that are present are more subtle.
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Post by freedomhunter on Jan 25, 2009 9:28:38 GMT -5
Probably because the guys that hunt public ground like Hoosier National guard spots that produce mature bucks. I would say farmland bucks are just as difficult to hunt, though. Killing firearm pressured older bucks in Indiana is all about the rut and funnels, doesn't much matter big woods or farmland.
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Post by schall53 on Jan 25, 2009 11:57:51 GMT -5
Farmland has alot higher quality feed.
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Post by trapperdave on Jan 25, 2009 13:01:03 GMT -5
its in the odds,,,,we aint got much "big woods" left  When 90% of the land is farm ground, only goes to figure 90% of the big ones come from farmland  That and better nutrition |
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Post by Decatur on Jan 25, 2009 13:38:47 GMT -5
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Post by huxbux on Jan 25, 2009 14:39:34 GMT -5
The deer I've hunted in the HNF have no problem finding crops to graze on. Examining several deer I've taken a mile or more from crops, reveals they regularly travel that far to feed. IMO, to find a deer herd existing in Indiana that doesn't visit crops at least occasionally, would be nearly impossible. After reading several related studies, considering my first hand observations and perusing a soil types map of Indiana, I'm more inclined to believe that the soil types in areas of Indiana with contiguous woodlands has more to do with the antler growth of the local deer herd than diet does.
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Post by discgolf94 on Jan 25, 2009 15:36:50 GMT -5
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Post by DEERTRACKS on Jan 26, 2009 7:24:34 GMT -5
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Post by Ahawkeye on Jan 26, 2009 13:09:29 GMT -5
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Post by steiny on Jan 26, 2009 21:14:41 GMT -5
The Benoit boys in Main and New Hampshire kill big woods bruisers every year.
I think you'd be hard pressed to call anything in Indiana "big woods". Aren't many places it is more than two miles between roads.
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Post by Decatur on Jan 26, 2009 21:22:44 GMT -5
The Benoit boys in Main and New Hampshire kill big woods bruisers every year. I think you'd be hard pressed to call anything in Indiana "big woods". Aren't many places it is more than two miles between roads.  ! |
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Post by lugnutz on Jan 27, 2009 13:53:39 GMT -5
Yeah i'd like to see the Benoits try to track deer in the HNF like they do in Maine. They get more snow in a week than we get in an entire year. The Benoits are probably the best hunters in their area, in that type of terrain.
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Post by ff1126 on Jan 29, 2009 21:55:01 GMT -5
Here's a buck that was killed on the HNF a couple of years ago. I took this young man hunting, and this was his first buck ever.  |
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Post by schall53 on Jan 30, 2009 9:31:25 GMT -5
That proves they are there, what did he score?
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bzeb
Full Member
Posts: 59
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Post by bzeb on Jan 31, 2009 21:17:04 GMT -5
Hey lugnutz read a book about the Benoits, one of the boys I think it's Shane is an expert tracker without snow, tney kill big deer every year in country with such low deer densities most midwest hunters would just give for lack of sightings.
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Post by mbogo on Feb 1, 2009 6:41:42 GMT -5
Most of the "big woods" in Indiana are public ground in the southern part of the state. The HNF definitely holds some big bucks, but the hunting pressure these spots recieve is one of the biggest reasons you don't see many big bucks killed on public land. Most public land bucks don't live long enough to get big and those that do are extremely hard to kill, especially on purpose. Also many public properties are simply not large enough to contain the entire home range of big bucks, so the big ones that live on public land also spend a lot of time on adjoining private property which is often where they are killed.
Another major reason that you see fewer monster bucks from the big woods is that it is simply much harder to hunt deer in large forested areas than in small woodlots. Having a few 5 acre woodlots completely surrounded by thousands of acres of crop fields narrows down the list of places where you can hunt and kill deer significantly.
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When 90% of the land is farm ground, only goes to figure 90% of the big ones come from farmland 
That and better nutrition 
