Prepping for 2011 deer season

[gjones77]

Since I got my license late and didn't really have time to properly plan a hunting season I didn't do as well I would of liked, so this year I'm starting early to prepare.

What I would like to know is what others do ahead of time, do any of you plant feed in an area in hopes of attracting deer and getting them use to feeding in a certain spot all year so when deer season rolls around you know where they'll be?

Do you pick out and area and scout it out through spring and summer with field cams?

Mind you I'm doing this all on public land (WMAs) so I'm still looking into what local laws allow, but I also know that anything I do can be used by other hunters if they get to my spot before me.

I appreciate any help or input, I want to be ready this season to bag a few deer.

 

[M1911]

You can't plant anything on public land -- it isn't yours.

 

[boxerjake77]

I hunted from the ground last year. This year I have a few tree stands, so my main goal is to practice all summer shooting my bow at different distances out of my stands. Learning to bend at the knees to take a awkward shot, not the arms/shoulders. I don't want to miss!!

 

[arlow]

#1 is buy your hunting license online now and while you are on the site apply for you doe permit and purchase your archery and muzzleloader stamps before you check out . Nothing to forget to mail in later, no real stamps to stick to the back of the license and forget to sign properly...

#2 get in the woods during the winter and really learn the land. Follow the deer trails and learn where they move, where they bed down etc... Great time to pick out preliminary stand sites while your at it.

#3 practice shooting as much as you can. Especially archery.

 

[gjones77]

#1 is buy your hunting license online now and while you are on the site apply for you doe permit and purchase your archery and muzzleloader stamps before you check out . Nothing to forget to mail in later, no real stamps to stick to the back of the license and forget to sign properly...

#2 get in the woods during the winter and really learn the land. Follow the deer trails and learn where they move, where they bed down etc... Great time to pick out preliminary stand sites while your at it.

#3 practice shooting as much as you can. Especially archery.

I'm actually going to get my licenses this week with all the stamps and already have a spot picked out that I plan to scout around from now till deer season so I know where they're at and when.

I actually have to buy a bow, which I plan to do once I learn more about them, and practice with that and my shot gun, I'm actually going to pickup a new 20ga slug gun for deer season, good ballistics for a kill show at 100 yards and less weight than a 12ga.

And as for not being able to plant anything in the woods, I can't help it if the clover seed just happens to fall out of my backpack while I'm scouting an area.

 

[M1911]

Gjones, are you going to be a responsible hunter and follow the laws or not?

While I disagree with many laws, I do my best to obey them.

 

[gjones77]

I'm only kidding, I always follow the law, just joking around

 

[M1911]

I'm only kidding, I always follow the law, just joking around

Good. Sorry for being touchy there, but I've seen too many hunters break the laws concerning baiting deer, and it makes me lose all respect for them. Also, IIRC, a conviction for breaking some of the game laws can be a lifetime disqualifier. So aside from the moral aspect, it just isn't worth the risk.

 

[gjones77]

I thought it's only illegal if you bait from 10 days before the start of the season till the season ends in Massachusetts from my understanding.

 

[M1911]

I thought it's only illegal if you bait from 10 days before the start of the season till the season ends in Massachusetts from my understanding.

If you hunt over clover that you planted specifically to attract deer, I believe that is baiting.

 

[Fixxah]

I have a left handed compound for sale if interested.

 

[gjones77]

I have a left handed compound for sale if interested.

I'm love but I'm right handed, I appreciate it though!

 

[gjones77]

If you hunt over clover that you planted specifically to attract deer, I believe that is baiting.

I can go with that.

 

[arlow]

If you hunt over clover that you planted specifically to attract deer, I believe that is baiting.

No it is not. By definition "Bait" is food or mineral that has been placed or put on the ground, not planted. Food plots and hunting over them are legal in Mass although I do not know the specific legal wrinkles of planting seed on state owned land. It may be illegal or it is a good chance that it may not be even regulated.

 

[Daniel Boone]

I'm kind of confused here.
In Pennsylvania a hunting license is good from about July 1 of this calendar year to June 30 of the next year.

So why someone would buy a hunting license now - to go hunting next fall / winter is beyond me.

Furthermore - baiting where I live is unethical.

Food plots are legal - but why would someone want to concern themselves now about what to do to attract deer next fall.
If there is deer in the area - they will fend for themselves and the most you should have to do is some pre season scouting - making sure not to disturb the area too much in the meantime - or you might scare out what you are trying to attract.

 

[tpd5]

In MA the license is good from Jan 1 to December 31. So the license he buys now will be good for deer season 2011.

 

[Coyote33]

Good idea on using the snow we have now to your advantage. Won't have that available again until deer season is here again, if then.

In MA the license is good from Jan 1 to December 31. So the license he buys now will be good for deer season 2011.

Plus a lot of people get the "Sporting" license which includes the fishing license, which can be used now for ice fishing and the rest of the year. Besides, there are other things to hunt besides deer during the year.

 

[arlow]

I'm kind of confused here.
In Pennsylvania a hunting license is good from about July 1 of this calendar year to June 30 of the next year.

NY is retarded like that too, their license runs from Oct 1st to Sept 30th....

 

[twogunwilly]

It's good to plan early. I would not scout for deer in the deep snow, they are most likely yarded up now and the extra stress of having to avoid you is bad for them. If you must venture into the woods follow the coyote tracks right to the den and shoot a few. That will help the deer and your next season.

 

[NFD9]

NY is retarded like that too, their license runs from Oct 1st to Sept 30th....

This is not retarded. Their archery season in the northern zone starts on or about Sept 27, so any un-used deer tags from the previous fall season can be filled in the northern zone early archery season, before the new lic year starts. It's a four day last chance to fill a tag.

I find this to be a good thing, better than Mass.

Especially considering a non-res super sportsman license cost $340.00, with the $50 bear tag and $10 doe permit app.

 

[NFD9]

Furthermore - baiting where I live is unethical.

I'ts called feeding your family.

The hunter, who's only concern is to put venison in the freezer for his table, could care less about "ethics where you live".

To be clear, I do not bait but I don't disagree with it either.

 

[OPM]

It’s called feeding your family.

The hunter, who's only concern is to put venison in the freezer for his table, could care less about "ethics where you live".

C’Mere Deer and other baiting techniques are unethical. Just because you want something it does not make it ethical. I might want money – would burglary be ethical because I want/need your money to feed my family?

And as for not being able to plant anything in the woods, I can't help it if the clover seed just happens to fall out of my backpack while I'm scouting an area.

That is hilarious. Do you know how many “backpacks” full of seeds you’d need to plant an area sufficient to attract and sustain deer? Not to mention fertilizer, water and farm equipment. Assuming that after you dump your backpack seeds they are not all eaten by birds, chipmunks, etc., and a patch of clover grows, and deer actually find it – it might last them a meal or two.

The statewide harvest success is under 35%. Read books, hire a guide, spend time in the woods, learn to shoot and may be, just may be your average will be higher. There are no shortcuts.

 

[Daniel Boone]

If you have to plant food plots and bait deer to get a deer - that is a pretty expensive deer.

Please let me explain.
For about $150.00 - you could buy a non resident PA hunting license.
For a additional $6.50 - you could buy doe tags.
Lets say 4 people goes together on this hunt.
You could rent a motel room for 4 days - each person paying $50.00 to stay and maybe eating $100.00 of food.

So for say $300.00 + fuel - you could hunt in Pennsylvania from the first day of small game season until the last day of Turkey season for about $165.00 for the license - which allows you one buck deer, two turkeys and all the small game you can legally take - even as a non resident.

As a comparison - a bag of Imperial Whitetail Clover might cost you $142.99 - enough to cover about 2 acres.
Add another $200 for a farmer to plow the field for you - if you own the land and can legally plant it in your area.
Another $200 for lime to condition the soil
Another $100 for fertilizer to season the soil to make the clover seed grow.
That is about $700 to plant two acres and even if you were able to do it on public land - how would you keep others from hunting on your food plot?

Like others are saying - maybe what you are thinking about is throwing out a couple of bushel of corn and sitting above the pile or buying a couple of jugs of Come ere deer like Ted Nugent and hoping to attract some deer to your area.

But the problem with trying to do that is that you would need to meter the food source, so that the deer could only get to the food during the daytime hours to eat it. That would almost mean that you would have to tend to the bait area every day for about 2 months before the season started.
Trying to train the deer like barnyard animals to come when the feeder goes off and removing all uneaten food before it got dark.
That is almost impossible.

A resident license here costs like $20.00
We have like 750,000 hunters and more deer then hunters and a person that applies themselves and buys 2 doe permits - can almost fill their freezer for about $70.00 and that includes bullets too!

So it wouldn't make much sense to me to try to feed a couple of deer just so I could shoot them in season so I could fill my freezer.
You can buy a heck of a lot of BEEF for $700.00

 

[NFD9]

C’Mere Deer and other baiting techniques are unethical.

And a traditionalists will tell you hunting with anything but a long bow is unethical.........Whats your point?

would burglary be ethical because I want/need your money to feed my family?

Comparing burglary to feeding deer.......now there's a stellar point! You really are clueless aren't you.

Peolpe like you who try to impose there opinions (such as ethics) on others is why this county is in such trouble right now.

 

[basso]

Peolpe like you who try to impose there opinions (such as ethics) on others is why this county is in such trouble right now.

It's people who think ethics don't matter who have us heading to hell in a handbasket.

 

[Harleynut]

What the deer are doing now and feeding on will be completely different then during hunting season. I have noticed a big change in even a month or so. It's not unusual to see deer in certain areas lots during the summer and after that food is gone and the acorns start dropping some where else they move on to them.

 

[NFD9]

It's people who think ethics don't matter who have us heading to hell in a handbasket.

Agreed but, I think your missing my point........ whose ethics are you talking about, yours, mine or the hunter who legally hunts over food in Texas?
If you or I dislike the fact that a hunter can hunt over bait or a food plot (where it is perfectly legal) than tuff sh*t to us. We don't get the right to judge someone hunting in Texas or somewhere else were baiting is legal. We may not agree with it, but it doesn't make it unethical.

Is baiting coyote unethical?.......If you think not, ask yourself why.

Anyways, I'm done, I've taken this off topic. Sorry!

 

[NFD9]

What the deer are doing now and feeding on will be completely different then during hunting season.

Now that's a correct statement! I've even seen a big change in movement just between the end of archery and the beginning of gun season.

 

[arlow]

What the deer are doing now and feeding on will be completely different then during hunting season. I have noticed a big change in even a month or so. It's not unusual to see deer in certain areas lots during the summer and after that food is gone and the acorns start dropping some where else they move on to them.

This year yes. Normally we dont have this much snow. There still were plenty of acorns on the ground at the end of muzz season too. If this was a normal snow year they would still be in the same places eating acorns. They would still be bedding in same covers they prefer during hunting season. They would still be moving around on the same trails they used earlier in the year.

This year is different. The rediculous amount of snow very likey may have moved them into the thick pines, on south facing slopes or both if they can find them.

 

[OPM]

RE: 69hdfl

Despite a direct insult, I’ll address your points with respect.

1. I have not said that feeding deer = burglary? What I said, was that wanting something does not in itself makes the act of obtaining it ethical. Furthermore, all hunters want something – venison, antlers, rawhide, etc.

2. There are number of acts that were/are legal, yet totally unethical. I can offer countless examples, but if you think for just a second you’ll come up with a bunch on your own. No, slavery does not count – it is just too easy, so think harder.

3. Coyote hunts are extermination hunts. As with other varmint, the goal is population reduction. I would not call putting cheese in a mouse trap unethical and neither would I blame someone for baiting a coyote. In the areas where there is overpopulation of deer and wildlife officers prudently determined that harvest via any method is necessary to keep the population healthy, it might be ethical to harvest old or weak or otherwise undesired deer over bait. However, my original comments were based on the OPs scenario, which would indeed result in unethical act.

4. Lastly, contrary to your assertion, I strongly believe that it is everyone’s duty to speak up when something immoral is proposed.