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Post by fowlhunter on Dec 7, 2016 21:08:34 GMT -5
This is my 28th deer season. I wish I had kept a journal but since I didn't I have no idea how many deer I have killed but I do know it's over 100.
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Post by bill9068 on Dec 7, 2016 21:27:08 GMT -5
When I retired in 2013 I started a journal on my samsung tablet, all I fill in is where I hunted, what I saw and morning or evening hunt. Suprisinly its really the same for year to year, I kill almost always on Sept 15 and the week before gun season give a day or two.
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Post by jackryan on Dec 8, 2016 0:54:24 GMT -5
I have considered that myself in the past, but I read a recent article somewhere that stated that it would not increase acorn production. Any experience? Nothing I'd call scientific but it's been enough to convince me it's worth it when I need it. It's not my go to plan any more but I've used it before when I was not so "hunting spot" fortunate. I've always probably gone a little light of what you can get away with just because I'd feel bad about it for years if it ever killed a big tree. I try to duplicate what they recommend for lawn grass in amount of square footage covered by the crown of the tree and then a little less. I try to always use it in an area likely to get plenty of water and I never did it to the same tree more than once. I've used it to promote production in persimmons and white oak and felt like I got results. It don't have to be the best possible production any scientist can come up with. It just has to produce more, bigger, sweeter than the competition around it. How can more sun, more water, and better soil conditions not enhance that? You can pick the first two and help the third with fertilizer or with lime depending on what it needs. Can't say they wouldn't have produced heavy that year any way but it seemed to enhance the odds at least. I never felt disappointed in the effort. I raked the leaves away in Feb. spread fertilizer and then spread the leaves back over. It's not likely to get a lot of traffic in public land that time of year so you aren't just benefiting every hill billy who might see you setting up a sweet spot in bow season or mushroom season. Gives the tree a lot of time to get a head start on every "one" else. That's my theory any way.
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Post by M4Madness on Dec 8, 2016 8:53:32 GMT -5
I've got an area of white oaks getting hammered by a large group of deer right now. What's sad is that I'd like one more deer for the year, but don't want to kill any more from that farm. I'm restricted to hunting harder spots to fill one more tag. Lol!
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Post by greghopper on Dec 8, 2016 9:14:04 GMT -5
I've got an area of white oaks getting hammered by a large group of deer right now. What's sad is that I'd like one more deer for the year, but don't want to kill any more from that farm. I'm restricted to hunting harder spots to fill one more tag. Lol! Don't need it don't shot it... IMO
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Post by throbak on Dec 8, 2016 10:15:01 GMT -5
This time of year those Deer are from a lot more places than just that farm or the resident deer would have had those oaks cleaned up long time ago IMO
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Post by beermanbrian on Dec 8, 2016 11:53:13 GMT -5
Been seriously hunting for 15 years. Started hunting when I was younger but that was mainly a couple weekends a year. Have harvested 11 bucks and 14 does.
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Post by Jamie Brooks 1John5:13 on Dec 8, 2016 11:59:11 GMT -5
This time of year those Deer are from a lot more places than just that farm or the resident deer would have had those oaks cleaned up long time ago IMO That throbak knows stuff. I need to find out if he knows how to make a good cup of coffee.
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Post by esshup on Dec 8, 2016 14:31:33 GMT -5
Like I said earlier, I have no idea how many deer I have taken. The knife on the bottom was purchased in 1976. It's ONLY used to field dress deer, and I had a 10 year stretch when I lived in Ca. that I only hunted one year, and took one deer. Also, in the time frame from 1976 to 1987, (especially in the '70's) the limit on deer here in Indiana wasn't as liberal as today. I touch up the knife after every field dressing job, so maybe someone with more smarts than I can tell how many times it's been sharpened? FWIW, it's a Kabar 1224 Knife. The one on the top is brand new, never used.
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Post by throbak on Dec 8, 2016 17:31:22 GMT -5
On fertilizer Throw it on the weeds Deer are Browzers Make your weed patch look better than the surroundings that works I know will boost your lifetime harvest too
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Post by M4Madness on Dec 8, 2016 18:41:05 GMT -5
I've got an area of white oaks getting hammered by a large group of deer right now. What's sad is that I'd like one more deer for the year, but don't want to kill any more from that farm. I'm restricted to hunting harder spots to fill one more tag. Lol! Don't need it don't shoot it... IMO Oh, I could use it. I help stock my brother's freezer every year, as he's always working a lot of hours, and has only killed one deer in his life anyway. Lol! He and his family have every last bit ground into burger, and don't even save the tenderloins. I haven't even put one into my own freezer yet this year.
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Post by M4Madness on Dec 8, 2016 18:52:45 GMT -5
This time of year those Deer are from a lot more places than just that farm or the resident deer would have had those oaks cleaned up long time ago IMO Those deer have been there since late summer (actually year round). There are tons of white oak trees in that particular area, and it was a sea of acorns back in early archery. I assume that there are still acorns there, but haven't actually looked to see. My stand is over a ways from the main concentration of trees. It's also a southwest-facing hill where the deer bed a lot, so that could also be some of the reason for them being right there. Here's just a small portion of deer that live in that one area:
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Post by Jamie Brooks 1John5:13 on Dec 8, 2016 19:07:00 GMT -5
I sure do like to see those baby making machines.
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Post by M4Madness on Dec 8, 2016 19:17:09 GMT -5
I sure do like to see those baby making machines. Obviously I haven't been counting, but I reckon there are probably 50-100 deer in the square mile I hunt.
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Post by greghopper on Dec 8, 2016 21:19:38 GMT -5
This time of year those Deer are from a lot more places than just that farm or the resident deer would have had those oaks cleaned up long time ago IMO Those deer have been there since late summer (actually year round). There are tons of white oak trees in that particular area, and it was a sea of acorns back in early archery. I assume that there are still acorns there, but haven't actually looked to see. My stand is over a ways from the main concentration of trees. It's also a southwest-facing hill where the deer bed a lot, so that could also be some of the reason for them being right there. Here's just a small portion of deer that live in that one area: The one on right looking dead at us has got your brother name on it ... I was always taught charity starts at home !
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Post by apibowhunter on Dec 8, 2016 21:54:14 GMT -5
I sure do like to see those baby making machines. Obviously I haven't been counting, but I reckon there are probably 50-100 deer in the square mile I hunt. I think a healthy number is like 25 per square mile. Might be best to thin that herd.
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Post by bill9068 on Dec 8, 2016 22:50:03 GMT -5
You have a great looking place there madness.
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Post by M4Madness on Dec 9, 2016 6:09:02 GMT -5
Obviously I haven't been counting, but I reckon there are probably 50-100 deer in the square mile I hunt. I think a healthy number is like 25 per square mile. Might be best to thin that herd. The farm that the photo was taken on is 325 acres. I've seen over 10 in a group on a morning hunt on the east side, then seen a similar group the same day on the west end across the creek on an evening hunt, coming from different directions. I'm pretty confident that they are not the same deer. And that's not even counting all the bucks I've seen in there, and I'm smart enough to realize that I've not seen anywhere near all the deer there. Cross the road, and you have a horse farm crawling with deer that can be seen browsing in the open on many evenings. Then there's the 250 acres beside/behind that where I usually spend a lot of time hunting. I normally get over a dozen bucks on a single camera in a 2-week period in August. Again, I have no idea what the real population is in the square mile section of my township I live and hunt in, but it is a great herd with no signs of overbrowsing. Still, there are many days when I don't see a deer while on stand.
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Post by firstwd on Dec 10, 2016 10:03:20 GMT -5
This is the part that so many people do not understand. Just because you do not personally see them does not mean they are not there.
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Post by M4Madness on Dec 10, 2016 10:15:47 GMT -5
It only takes a hundred yards to make or break a hunt. I hunted Big Oaks one year with "fullrut" and it turns out that we were only about 100 yards apart in that tiny area we were hunting -- I figured that out when he shot the first time. Lol! He was covered up in deer and shot TWO nice bucks, and I was sitting there with my thumb up my butt wondering where all the deer were. Lol!
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