The Old Folks Home

[superchemicalgirl]

That's what I kept telling myself all weekend as I hiked through the woods and set in blinds willing a deer to roam within shooting range.

I swear we see deer all year. They eat our peaches off our tree not 100 feet from the house, they march all over the front yard, they show up on our game camera but let opening day roll around and they disappear in thin air.

Except the one doe I flushed on my last hike back to the woods Saturday evening. I swear she was flipping me the bird as she gave me the scenic side of her tail to look at and in three jumps was out of sight.

I think I'm going to have to rethink this hunting stuff. I hate being made to look like a fool by a deer.

Maybe they were back at home in your yard. BF has been out a few times this year and mostly he gets mocked by blue jays.

 

[Kusanar]

Quote:
Dad went out to my farm the other day, his friend and his son live on the next place over. Well, he saw a car stop in the road and was curious, then saw a big 8 point buck come across the road and go under the neighbors tree stand... he went over there and they came out of the woods, they were hunting! He asked them if they saw the buck and they said they hadn't seen a deer all day! So he told them about the big one that came across the road and walked under the tree stand!

A few years ago, before I got my place, he was hunting on their land, got there, there was a big herd in the front yard, he parked, loaded his gun, shot the one he wanted... they heard the gunfire and came out of the woods, they were hunting on the back of the property and the deer were 20 feet from the house!

 

[microchick]

Dad went out to my farm the other day, his friend and his son live on the next place over. Well, he saw a car stop in the road and was curious, then saw a big 8 point buck come across the road and go under the neighbors tree stand... he went over there and they came out of the woods, they were hunting! He asked them if they saw the buck and they said they hadn't seen a deer all day! So he told them about the big one that came across the road and walked under the tree stand!

A few years ago, before I got my place, he was hunting on their land, got there, there was a big herd in the front yard, he parked, loaded his gun, shot the one he wanted... they heard the gunfire and came out of the woods, they were hunting on the back of the property and the deer were 20 feet from the house!

Yes, the hunting pressure around here is pretty bad also but with are area, it's the Amish that really drain the deer population. They all have big families to feed and depend on the deer meat even though most have cattle in their pastures. I understand their logic. Shoot a deer or eat one of their steers? The steer can be sold for 12-15 hundred on the hoof and all the deer costs them is a bullet or arrow. One family we know and talk to has a son who hunts pretty religiously. He has already taken two deer with bow and arrow and was undoubtedly out over the weekend with a rifle. Plus we were looking at the county totals last night on the internet and the deer population in our area is definitely down. Mainly we think because they have had an outbreak of chronic wasting disease thanks to a hunting reserve in the next county over from us that brought in infected deer a few years back and they have been trying to drop the deer population in general in order to control and eradicate the spread of the disease.

The main reason we even hunt is an attempt to control the number of deer that visit our orchard or arbor every year. Without much luck admittedly. Not only do the Blue Jays mock us but so do the crows and the stupid grey squirrels.

I'll still wind up having to string fish line around the orchard next year to keep them away from the fruit and then there is that deer in the middle of the road that you always have to be on the look out for. Unfortunately we probably have a better chance of hitting one with our car than shooting one with a rifle. Anybody who says it's easy to hunt deer and the poor things are just helpless victims of human cruelty has never tried to hunt one of the blasted things. It is not as easy as it looks on Youtube.

Oh well, there is always next year.

 

[Peep_Show]

When I was in CA the hunting season was coordinated with the migration season, e.g., the season would open in certain areas sometime after the majority of deer had moved through. That way the stragglers or "slow" ones got picked out of the mix. Don't know if it's that way for other areas, but we had a lovely buck that had it figured out as he'd return year after year for a visit on his way to who-knows-where.

 

[microchick]

Around here the 'stragglers' and bucks with deformed antlers are usually passed over for the monster buck with a 10 or 12 point rack.

Several years ago I had a perfect shot at a mature buck with only one antler. There were 4 or 5 tines on that one antler but the other half of his rack was gone. He may have lost it during rut conflicts or it had never formed but otherwise he was a big, robust buck that would have gone straight to the butchers if only he hadn't be on the wrong side of the fence. I am sure he was still alive simply because of his imperfect rack. The guys next door who were hunting had obviously let him pass without taking a shot at him. Me? I'm in it for the meat.

DH pointed out yesterday that by the time you figure in cost to butcher, ammo, having to wait for the CWD testing to come back, it's probably cheaper to just buy 150 dollars worth of beef and stick it in the freezer.

I think he has a point.

 

[Kusanar]

Around here the 'stragglers' and bucks with deformed antlers are usually passed over for the monster buck with a 10 or 12 point rack.

Several years ago I had a perfect shot at a mature buck with only one antler. There were 4 or 5 tines on that one antler but the other half of his rack was gone. He may have lost it during rut conflicts or it had never formed but otherwise he was a big, robust buck that would have gone straight to the butchers if only he hadn't be on the wrong side of the fence. I am sure he was still alive simply because of his imperfect rack. The guys next door who were hunting had obviously let him pass without taking a shot at him. Me? I'm in it for the meat.

DH pointed out yesterday that by the time you figure in cost to butcher, ammo, having to wait for the CWD testing to come back, it's probably cheaper to just buy 150 dollars worth of beef and stick it in the freezer.

I think he has a point.

We process our own and don't do any testing on it. So, other than the time and the one bullet, it's free meat. I did request to dad that if at all possible to leave the big drop tine bucks alone, they're just cool, but the others are fair game. We actually prefer a doe over a buck, but we'll take whatever walks out in front of the gun.

 

[pennyJo1960]

I will be honest I have not hunted since leaving Alaska aound
here I would be more afraid of the other idiots with guns
bedsides I can call on flat unobstructed land

 

[microchick]

The problem if you want to consider it that around here is that they have hunted the deer population down to half of what it was back in 2012. Once again mostly due to the CWD outbreak and their desire to control the spread by controlling the deer population around us. Especially the young bucks. Back then we captured this guy on our game camera.


I saw him for 2 years and then he disappeared. Undoubtedly his head is hanging on somebody's wall.
I called him "Bullseye" What was funny was the one time that I saw him he was running away from me and even if he hadn't been I don't think I could have pulled the trigger. It was like trying for years to catch a legendary fish and when you finally do, you just turn it back loose again.

He was just so beautiful.

 

[Ravynscroft]

I actually may take you up on this. I sent a present home with a friend to give to his wife. After a week and a half of radio silence I sent her a message asking if she received it. 

I'm not looking for anything other than a thank you (really, I'm not) but I'd rather my projects go to someone that I know will appreciate them. 

This made me sad... you make such gorgeous pieces whether they're quilts or panels/runners, etc... and you are so generous with sharing them...

I would appreciate if someone had done what you did for me... and proud to have something so beautiful with so much thought and work in it...

 

[WVduckchick]

Around here the 'stragglers' and bucks with deformed antlers are usually passed over for the monster buck with a 10 or 12 point rack.

Several years ago I had a perfect shot at a mature buck with only one antler. There were 4 or 5 tines on that one antler but the other half of his rack was gone. He may have lost it during rut conflicts or it had never formed but otherwise he was a big, robust buck that would have gone straight to the butchers if only he hadn't be on the wrong side of the fence. I am sure he was still alive simply because of his imperfect rack. The guys next door who were hunting had obviously let him pass without taking a shot at him. Me? I'm in it for the meat.

DH pointed out yesterday that by the time you figure in cost to butcher, ammo, having to wait for the CWD testing to come back, it's probably cheaper to just buy 150 dollars worth of beef and stick it in the freezer.

I think he has a point.

Biggest deer I ever killed was a huge buck that had already dropped his antlers. When he came walking in, I thought "good grief, what a monster doe!" (ok, so that's the post-able version! lol) Then saw the spots on his head, still raw from recently shedding his antlers. (It was very late December). I tried comparing trail cam pics to figure out which one he was, but never did decide for sure. Meat hunter here also, not trophy hunter.