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Post by nhunt46051 on Nov 2, 2012 9:03:05 GMT -5
Why is Big Oaks still considered a Military Hunt, allowing you to shoot another buck? It's a National Wildlife Refuge. Hunting in there has become pretty tough and it surely does not need a population reduction. Just thinking out load after spending a weekend in a tree in there and not seeing a deer.
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Post by boonechaser on Nov 2, 2012 9:08:15 GMT -5
It's kinda like state park hunt's anymore. They are the last place's i would choose to hunt as they OVER HUNT them. IMO
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Post by kirch86 on Nov 2, 2012 9:10:55 GMT -5
I am not sure why they do it that way, but refuge draw hunts are also allowed to harvest an extra buck. If you look at the license it says military/refuge
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Post by mkfrench on Nov 2, 2012 15:14:02 GMT -5
Why is Big Oaks still considered a Military Hunt, allowing you to shoot another buck? It's a National Wildlife Refuge. Hunting in there has become pretty tough and it surely does not need a population reduction. Just thinking out load after spending a weekend in a tree in there and not seeing a deer. I like seeing post like this. This means you wont go back right? I can only hope. State park hunts are terrible too. There isn't a deer behind every tree in them either. Avoid them at all cost!
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DFINN
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Post by DFINN on Nov 2, 2012 18:01:20 GMT -5
You know what, the numbers speak for themselves over 1000 deer taken last year. and 2011 was a low / off year !
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Post by throbak on Nov 2, 2012 18:03:09 GMT -5
maybe they have the population where it should be and want to keep it there Best hunting and Ideal population are not always the same
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Post by mkfrench on Nov 2, 2012 18:15:10 GMT -5
Why is Big Oaks still considered a Military Hunt, allowing you to shoot another buck? It's a National Wildlife Refuge. Hunting in there has become pretty tough and it surely does not need a population reduction. Just thinking out load after spending a weekend in a tree in there and not seeing a deer. I like seeing post like this. This means you wont go back right? I can only hope. State park hunts are terrible too. There isn't a deer behind every tree in them either. Avoid them at all cost! Just to clarify, this post of mine is FULL of sarcasm
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Post by Sasquatch on Nov 2, 2012 18:20:02 GMT -5
We need to remember that the place is over 50,000 acres. There are many areas with mature trees, and some with crops. Infinite choices in cover to choose from... The deer can go anywhere they want. There might be "forty-eleven" deer in one area and nothing in the next. It isn't like on the outside, where if it's a woods or a briar patch it's perhaps the ONLY cover.
And do we really want the OBR to cover MR hunts???
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Post by ukwil on Nov 2, 2012 18:31:45 GMT -5
Its a hunt, not a shoot.
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Post by boonechaser on Nov 2, 2012 22:53:39 GMT -5
I've been to Big Oaks twice. I have to many good place's to hunt then to mess with it. If you need public ground, then it's a good place. There are a few big deer killed each year.
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Post by elmo on Nov 3, 2012 8:15:14 GMT -5
Yeah, just ask fullrut!!!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 3, 2012 8:51:41 GMT -5
Back in the 1990's back when Big Oaks was Jefferson Proving Ground, there were thousands of Deer. You could drive up East Perimeter Road and count 40 to 60 deer almost every evening. And a lot of people we knew would often see 10 to 20 deer per day from the stand. I remember back around 2002, or 2003 talking to two guys we know, who hunted 2 days and saw 45 Deer between the two of them. They both shot Bucks. Now those guys hunt that same area and are lucky to see 3 or 4 deer on a 2 day hunt. Back then there were probably 3 times more deer than there is now on the property. When the USFWS started managing the hunts, their goal was to shoot as many Does as possible. Most people think way too many Does were shot. There is still some great hunting at Big Oaks if you find the right places. Why is Big Oaks still considered a Military Hunt, allowing you to shoot another buck? It's a National Wildlife Refuge. Hunting in there has become pretty tough and it surely does not need a population reduction. Just thinking out load after spending a weekend in a tree in there and not seeing a deer.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 3, 2012 8:53:46 GMT -5
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DFINN
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Post by DFINN on Nov 3, 2012 11:08:07 GMT -5
KL thats the archery count go to BO web page they give gun and archery results. You are right the numbers are dowm
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Post by fullrut on Nov 3, 2012 12:02:55 GMT -5
The reason I go there is because you COULD see a deer of a very old age class. I once killed a buck in there that was more than 8.5 years old. I beleive that can happen out here on private ground but highly unlikely. I see very few deer in there but I have seen several hawgs in, a few now hang in my basement.
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Post by ukwil on Nov 3, 2012 12:46:26 GMT -5
Finn, Kentucky is right on this one. Archery hunts have a low harvest rate and low success rate. They only killed around 400 last year. Most killed in the last 12 years was 800+, not over 1000. Your mixing the charts up. I'm with Fullrut, its a place You can kill an older deer for sure. 3 of us lucked out and took 6 deer out of there last year. Buck and doe with a bow along with 3 bucks and a doe with a shot gun. 2 of the bucks were OLD. Its a hunt now, not a shoot like it was 10-12 years ago.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 3, 2012 20:42:10 GMT -5
I think this is the Gun and Bow Harvest results from the last 11 years. KL thats the archery count go to BO web page they give gun and archery results. You are right the numbers are dowm
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 3, 2012 20:53:59 GMT -5
Big Oaks is a great place still, it just does not have the high deer numbers it once did.
The Area south of the Main Gate around the old military buildings is amazing.
I once counted 14 Bucks standing in a soybean field about half a mile east of Building 125 (Big Oaks check station/office). It was during July.
That area around Builiding 125 and the old military buildings literally holds dozens of Bucks over 160 inches, maybe even a few Bucks in the 200 inch range.
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Post by elmo on Nov 5, 2012 5:16:52 GMT -5
I hear that hunting around the south side will cost 3-4 grand. I don't know I haven't asked the "owner" my self.
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Post by Boilermaker on Nov 5, 2012 8:48:00 GMT -5
They had the youth only draw hunt this weekend I guess. A co-workers son went Saturday and battled the weather. There were 175 youth that went...13 deer checked in. Maybe the weather had something to do with it?
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