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Post by xhunterx on Apr 6, 2008 14:05:17 GMT -5
Just started putting in tags last year for state park and military hunts. Went to one we got drawn for and had fun. Only problem is we cant find any information on these parks. Wonder if any of you guys would be willing to let the cat out of the bag on which one of these places are holding the big bruisers?
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Post by LawrenceCoBowhunter on Apr 6, 2008 14:21:57 GMT -5
I've seen some pretty big ones in Springmill.
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Post by Old Ironsights on Apr 7, 2008 8:14:00 GMT -5
State Park hunts are NOT there to look for "big bruisers". Theye are for culling the herd... i.e. shooting DOES - as many and as quickly as practical/allowed.
If you are trying to get a State Park Draw to find a "big bruiser" you are doing the Park/DNR a disservice.
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Post by xhunterx on Apr 7, 2008 8:57:49 GMT -5
I thought that the tags I had last year wanted me to kill 2 bucks as well as does. I must have been wrong. Thanks for the lesson in morality.
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Post by hornharvester on Apr 7, 2008 9:02:45 GMT -5
The park hunts are for two doe and one buck or three doe. All of the parks that are hunted have been hunted now for several years now and most of the bruisers are gone. The best park is the one closest to you. h.h.
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Post by Old Ironsights on Apr 7, 2008 11:23:44 GMT -5
Has nothing to do with "morals" and everything to do with the reason the tags are given out.
That's why I said looking for "bruisers" is doing a disservice. I'ts not "wrong" but it's not what the DNR intended either.
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Post by dbd870 on Apr 7, 2008 11:36:46 GMT -5
The information packet you get when drawn clearly states they want you to take the first animals you see in accordance with the numbers hh has posted (at least the ones I've recieved did). These hunts exist for population control.
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Post by xhunterx on Apr 7, 2008 16:07:05 GMT -5
I wouldnt have asked the question if I knew I would have had to listen to a lecture.
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Post by Old Ironsights on Apr 7, 2008 16:37:22 GMT -5
What were you expecting? Look at the regs and think about what you are asking.
The rules are there for a reason, so asking a question that seems dismissive of the reasoning for those rules is cause for a "lecture" on those rules.
On these SP hunts, you are not even allowed to put up your stand more than a couple of days in advance and the hunt itself is only a couple of days long... so all of the "normal" techniques used to hunt trophy animals goes right out the window anyway.
So really, who knows how many "bruisers" are hiding out there? It's not like you can sit on stand and watch for/pattern them.
Get a draw, and go have fun. Shoot some deer. If a "bruiser" walks by, by all means, shoot it, but State Park Bruisers are not somthing you can really go looking for.
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Post by old3arrows on Apr 7, 2008 20:26:45 GMT -5
I've been on several park hunts and every hunt meet a bunch of great Hoosiers! I agree, go and have fun. Shoot the first three deer that walk by you and don't worry about horns. The key is to do a little preseason scouting after you are drawn, put up a stand, climber, or ground hunt and stay put!!!!!!!! Guys will get bored and start moving and will push deer to you. Versailles is my favorite, but the park manager has said that there will not be a reduction hunt there this year, so I will be putting in for Charlestown.
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Post by deerman on Apr 7, 2008 20:30:30 GMT -5
What were you expecting? Look at the regs and think about what you are asking. The rules are there for a reason, so asking a question that seems dismissive of the reasoning for those rules is cause for a "lecture" on those rules. On these SP hunts, you are not even allowed to put up your stand more than a couple of days in advance and the hunt itself is only a couple of days long... so all of the "normal" techniques used to hunt trophy animals goes right out the window anyway. So really, who knows how many "bruisers" are hiding out there? It's not like you can sit on stand and watch for/pattern them. Get a draw, and go have fun. Shoot some deer. If a "bruiser" walks by, by all means, shoot it, but State Park Bruisers are not somthing you can really go looking for. He was asking which park gives a hunter the best chance to kill a big buck. Everyones job in those hunts is to kill three deer, but why not have a hope to shot a big buck with one of your three tags. I think you where off base by assuming that he only has intentions on killing a big buck and nothing else. I dont believe he said anything about trophy only.
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Post by Old Ironsights on Apr 7, 2008 21:34:14 GMT -5
Because the chance to kill a big buck on a Park Hunt is irrelevant.
#1 There is no practical way to pattern/scout for big bucks on a Park Property. #2 The rules discourage waiting for/looking for big bucks on Park Properties. #3 If you ask about Big Bucks, then your primary focus is on Big Bucks... which is irrelevant to State Prk Hunts.
Let me put it this way: At the Pre Hunt Breifing at Dunes State Park the DNR reiterated "brown & down" 3 or 4 times within the 15 minute breifing.
I dropped 2 120lb does on Dunes State Park within 20 feet of each other and within 25 minutes of the opening of legal shooting time.
The DNR folks were estatic and I was done hunting for the day before noon. Not Ideal for me, but Ideal for THEM... which is why I was there.
On a park cull, if your focus is not "brown & down" you are NOT participating in the spirit of the hunt on that property. Shoot a big buck if it walks by, but you are there to help the Park/DNR, not bag a trophy.
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Post by deerman on Apr 7, 2008 23:52:58 GMT -5
Because the chance to kill a big buck on a Park Hunt is irrelevant. #1 There is no practical way to pattern/scout for big bucks on a Park Property. #2 The rules discourage waiting for/looking for big bucks on Park Properties. #3 If you ask about Big Bucks, then your primary focus is on Big Bucks... which is irrelevant to State Prk Hunts. On a park cull, if your focus is not "brown & down" you are NOT participating in the spirit of the hunt on that property. Shoot a big buck if it walks by, but you are there to help the Park/DNR, not bag a trophy. I understand that the hunts are brown & down. Are you saying that if a person shoots the first 3 deer he sees and one of them is a trophy buck, then he is not participating in the "spirit of the hunt". The guy never said anything about passing on smaller bucks and does for a chance at a trophy deer. He simply asked which park would give him the best chance to shot a trophy buck. Im not sure why you insist on making the question out to be somthing it isnt. What if he had posted the question as this. I would like to hunt a state park this year. Im going to shoot the first 3 deer I see no matter what they are doe or buck, but I was wondering in which park do you guys think I would have the best chance to shoot a trophy buck in the in the first three deer I see? What is wrong with that question? His was not as detailed as that, but still it never insinuated that he is only thophy hunting. Who are you to make assumtions and accuse him of having a agenda other that what his post states. Also the rules do not discourage waiting for and looking for trophy bucks. They only discourage passing on any deer period.
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Post by dbd870 on Apr 8, 2008 1:11:21 GMT -5
Waiting for a trophy buck implies passing on deer. I don't get that one.
As for why some of us didn't like the question, he already answered that: That about covers it.
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Post by Ahawkeye on Apr 8, 2008 7:41:02 GMT -5
If you shoot 3 deer what differance does it make if you take a couple of does and wait on a big one if he doesn't walk by kill another doe in the last half day 3 deer = 3 deer you're there to kill em but come on if some body knows theirs a big one I wouldn't blame them at all for holding out on the last tag as long as he makes a genuine effort to kill the last doe in the last 3- 4 hours.
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Post by js2397 on Apr 8, 2008 9:40:48 GMT -5
The problem is if people start using these as buck hunts then they will stop allowing you to keep the antlers.
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Post by Old Ironsights on Apr 8, 2008 10:07:28 GMT -5
Sigh.
I did say that "if you see a big buck, by all means shoot it" - but nobody should be going into these hunts thinking about big bucks at all.
Mindset affects performance. If you are thinking about big bucks, antlerless deer seem to fall off the radar. That's not good.
If you are thinking "brown & down" then you will do what the DNR wants you to do and still have as many opportunities for that bruiser to wander by as anyone else on the park.
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Post by xhunterx on Apr 8, 2008 19:08:30 GMT -5
What were you expecting? Look at the regs and think about what you are asking. The rules are there for a reason, so asking a question that seems dismissive of the reasoning for those rules is cause for a "lecture" on those rules. On these SP hunts, you are not even allowed to put up your stand more than a couple of days in advance and the hunt itself is only a couple of days long... so all of the "normal" techniques used to hunt trophy animals goes right out the window anyway. So really, who knows how many "bruisers" are hiding out there? It's not like you can sit on stand and watch for/pattern them. Get a draw, and go have fun. Shoot some deer. If a "bruiser" walks by, by all means, shoot it, but State Park Bruisers are not somthing you can really go looking for. He was asking which park gives a hunter the best chance to kill a big buck. Everyones job in those hunts is to kill three deer, but why not have a hope to shot a big buck with one of your three tags. I think you where off base by assuming that he only has intentions on killing a big buck and nothing else. I dont believe he said anything about trophy only. Thank you you hit the nail right on the head. I had every intention of killing the first thing I saw. I did have a bad experence with my first one last year it was Versales and I shot a 5 point which was my first buck it ran a couple yards and another hunter shot. I walked over and asked him if he hit it he said yes, saw him dragging it out later and it only had one hole in it. I followed blood over to where he was so.. .
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Post by xhunterx on Apr 8, 2008 19:10:14 GMT -5
Because the chance to kill a big buck on a Park Hunt is irrelevant. #1 There is no practical way to pattern/scout for big bucks on a Park Property. #2 The rules discourage waiting for/looking for big bucks on Park Properties. #3 If you ask about Big Bucks, then your primary focus is on Big Bucks... which is irrelevant to State Prk Hunts. Let me put it this way: At the Pre Hunt Breifing at Dunes State Park the DNR reiterated "brown & down" 3 or 4 times within the 15 minute breifing. I dropped 2 120lb does on Dunes State Park within 20 feet of each other and within 25 minutes of the opening of legal shooting time. The DNR folks were estatic and I was done hunting for the day before noon. Not Ideal for me, but Ideal for THEM... which is why I was there. On a park cull, if your focus is not "brown & down" you are NOT participating in the spirit of the hunt on that property. Shoot a big buck if it walks by, but you are there to help the Park/DNR, not bag a trophy. You had no reason to jump at me like that. Theres no rule that states I HAVE to shoot anything. And me and my dad bothed planned to kill as many as possible. We discussed it before the hunt and his exact words were "They are begging you to kill them." But seeing as I hunt public ground only I havent had the chance at a lot of big bucks I want to know which park has the most. Dunes was my first choice I put in for the draw. It looks like a unique place to kill whitetail.
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Post by shootsa410 on Apr 9, 2008 7:36:48 GMT -5
This was from my first park hunt. He and a doe came by my stand and he was the first to step into the open and give me a good shot. After I shot the doe moved into the open but I couldn't get my ML loaded fast enough for a shot at her before she ran off. All my deer killed on park hunts since then have been does.
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