Doc

Lol .... If only it were that easy. But the fact is that I have seen bedded bucks in the area that you are describing, no more often than I have seen them in the thickets and creek-bottoms in the valleys. Over on our side of the road where the prevailing westerly winds hit the face of the hill directly, leeward takes on a different meaning and the deer have a different set of rules. In fact, depending on what time of year it is, protection from the elements may not really even be that big a consideration. Sometimes concealment is their biggest priority and that explains the bucks that I have pushed from their beds in the heavy muli-flora rose thickets. Other times vantage points with lots of visibility suits their fancy. That would be for the guys spending their days on the hillsides. And yes, I have seen a lot of bucks that took full advantage of thermals, particulary over the crest on top of the hill around the big ravines. To say that all the bucks are located 1/3 of the way down the hill simply does not align with the 50 years of observations that I have had on this particular hunting area. In fact, that is not the first place I would look for a buck. Yes, I have seen them there, just like I have seen them in other places. And like I have said, if there is any correlation to beds, it is with the food sources for that particular time of the year. In fact, when they are hot to feed on acorns, I have seen some huge bucks bedded right in the middle of the woods with absolutely no logical reason for them to be there other than food. I think another big fallicy is that bucks go to some specific spot when day-break arrives and simply sit there all day long until sunset. Big bucks do feed periodically through the day. They get up. They move around (to a limited extent). And there has been more than a few people who have shot them at mid-day while they munched up acorns. So while I appreciate general rules of thumb, and the wise words of the experts, I have seen enough deer behavior to understand that they often make up the rules as they go along. I have also noted that what they are doing when the snow flies has little to do with what they will be doing October 1st when bow season opens. I also understand that they are slaves to their food and that food changes dramatically as the seasons change and so their patterns change (including bedding locations). If anyone is so fortunate to live in a place where the bucks never change their patterns, then they are fortunate hunters indeed. But down our way that isn't the case. And that makes things a bit tougher.

Actually that would make more sense. Deer/motorcycle collisions really aren't big news. A bicycle/deer collision resulting in a fatality would really be some a unique news story.

Yes, in my previous reply I noted, we are in a non-farming valley area, and I also mentioned the fact that side hills are one of the favorites. However, that choice is not related to any particular "leeward" side of the valley because if they are going to claim that side of the valley as their home range, that hill faces right into the teeth of the predominant westerly winds. The sidehill location of beds do provide a vantage point that is nearly unapproachable without the deer knowing your presence and they know it. I believe that is a good part of the draw to that location. When weather is a bit on the vicious side, I generally can find some deer bedded up in a section of old-growth hemlock. The interesting part is that I will find some deer there, but will also find beds scattered all over the hill and down in the valley as well on the same day. They each have their own idea of where they want to ride out a storm. Just in temperature alone, I have seen 10 degrees difference from the thermometer at our cabin on top of the hill and the thermometers at the house in the valley bottom. Generally speaking, the thickets in the valley bottom provide protection from wind when winter gets a bit taxing. Another point of interest is that many of those so-called bedding areas are seasonal. As I said, the food sources are what puts deer in a specific area, and the bedding areas at any particular time of year are not really all that far away. In the dead of summer, there is almost no deer sign anywhere on the top of the hill. In the fall, when the acorns are popular the top and side of the hill are the hot-spots and you will find bedded deer there. Late winter, you will find the deer in the lower parts of the valley, with very few tracks or beds on the hill. every season has its own set of patterns. Again, it is all food related and in the winter there is a consideration of shelter as well. So, bedding area locations become a pretty complex subject when you have fairly heavily forested hill country. A lot of the standard farmland rules go in the dumper when you change habitat that dramatically. Deer are not relegated to this particular block of woods and that particular ag crop. So many competing motives for bedding selection come into play in all sorts of combinations that I find very few rules that can be 100% counted on. Just generalities that perhaps hold true...... some of the time.

We often talk about deer bedding areas like they have an exact spot staked out where they go everyday. I don't know whether there is a difference between hunting mature woods where I hunt vs. open-ish agricultural lands, but that has not been my experience. I find that deer have a whole lot of bedding areas that relate to what ever food is in season. When the acorns are the main souce of food, the beds are generally right out in the middle of the woods, usually in the middle of a blow-down or up against a fallen log, and generally a good area where the view of the surrounding area is best. Generally within a bound or two, they can be out of sight over an embankment or down into a ravine. About this time of year, when they are feeding primarily on green vegetation, they will sometimes bed up in the nastiest thickets that they can find (particularly if there is a lot of human pressure being put on them ... hikers, bikers, hunters, etc.). Other times you may find them half way up the hill in some tangle of vines or on some bluff that overlooks big areas below them. And I am not just talking about does. So, it is not always rut that causes them to choose where they will plop down, in fact for most of the time it is more related to food. Also, I have noted that most bedding activity is quite random. Yes they may have some general areas (big areas) that they use, but there has never been a time when I could count on a deer (any deer) being in a specific spot. This idea of laying down and chewing their cud is one major reason that deer flop down, and that usually is not all that far from where they just got done gorging themselves on something that they found to be tasty just a short time before. So when bedding areas are part of the hunting strategy (almost always), it generally is food dependant which means that it is also "time-of-year" dependant as well. I think the trick is to note the historical encounters and relate them to what the food choices were at the time. I have always found a correlation. Knowing what is on the menu, can often give a clue as to where this bedding to feeding pattern sets up. It's a constantly changing thing particularly from early bow season (late summer) to the end of bow season as the summer turns to fall which then takes on winter aspects. Food sources react to seasonal changes and the deer simply follow the food.

If deer can run into cars (and we know that they do), why is it surprising that deer can run into a motorcycle. I know a guy that stopped riding his bike at night because of the number of times he hit or nearly hit deer.

Well, if I were an anti-gunner, I would spin these numbers as meaning that the thousands of gun laws are finally having an effect on crime. And with just a few thousand more, they can make even more inroads into reducing crime stats. Be careful what buttons you push.

Did you bury an electric line from the box in the house out to the shop? I didn't see any overhead wires running in.

How come nobody has come up with a powder or something that could be broadcast across a lawn that would repel ticks? That seems like a product the market just needs.

I too have long ago sworn off the TV hunting shows and videos featuring the latest hunter-heroes and their home-grown "trophy deer". They simply are like watching incessant summer re-runs. Nothing ever changes. There is one exception to that which is that goofy show on The History Channel (Chasing Tail). That is just so stupid that it is funny. Also, there is no egos on parade, or people trying to fool us into thinking they are the most effective hunters to ever walk the planet. It's just good ol' fashion humor of hunters making fun of hunters.

What a wonderful system of government that can withstand so much incompetence for so long and still exist as basically the most free country in the world. It is almost human-proof.

We seem to see a lot of threads that take these hunter-heroes to task for the phoney hunting, and the staged scenes, and the unrealistic hunting arrangements. Here is what is needed.... Some outfit should be offering to air private hunting footage gathered from "everyday" amateur hunters across the country. With so many hunters videoing their hunts these days, I'll bet there are a lot of good hunts that would be fun to watch. Also, these guys that are self-proclaimed "experts" at deer hunting should be putting on more shows that focus on scouting, stand placement, blood trailing, and other aspects of hunting. Sure, we all consider ourselves somewhat well versed in that stuff, but who couldn't use a few different viewpoints on things that we take for granted. I personally would like to see an in-depth detailed discussion of thermals and features that impact the direction and intensity of wind. There are a lot of aspects that would make good programming about deer scenting ability and how scent is dispersed in different kinds of terrain, and how long scent maintains it's presence and over what distances. The point is, there are a lot of hunting subjects that are never talked about, and instead of trying to impress people and feed their own egos with bogus hunts, I think if these guys are half the experts that they have convinced themselves that they are, they should be sharing some of their knowledge and making some shows that are worth watching.

Probably new Owners. I can't remember the old man's name, but he is probably dead now anyway. And his kid's would have been the next in line and his name was Brandon and his wife I think was Cindy. But that was a lot of years ago .... lol. It was a great place with a bar/restaurant and some pretty basic cabins (that we only used for one night).

Come-on guys. Now you are beginning to sound a bit paranoid. So what if they do know you own a gun? There's already a dozen different ways to get at that info. Hell, when they get this ammo background check up and running, they'll not only know you own a gun, but they will know what caliber it is and how often you use it ..... lol. And, it's still useless information. If there was really something to worry over regarding this gun-safe proposal, the NRA would not be supporting it. They aren't exactly an organization that favors invasive information sharing....lol. As far as the deduction, I'll take it if offered, but it is not the kind of money that would convince me to buy a safe if I didn't already plan on buying one. It may wind up being not all that effective, but at least its a whole lot better line of thinking than the usual "let's ban guns" kind of thinking.

Yeah, when you get all done, it may not be worth the effort of keeping track of the paper-work. It certainly wouldn't convince me to buy a safe if I wasn't already convinced to get one.

Actually, the info would be of no use to anybody. Buying a safe means nothing.

The one big difference is that for the first time, I just might wind up on the receiving end of one of these freebies. Lord knows I've paid for enough of them for others all these years....lol.

Finally, a gun law that I can enthusiastically support.

Just to play devil's advocate a bit, I have to say that rifles will not make reckless hunters into safe hunters. I strongly suspect that those that engage in spray and pray techniques with shotguns, probably will shoot their rifles in the same way. Those that do not properly ID their targets with their shotguns probably won't begin doing so just because they are carrying a rifle. And those that take low percentage shots probably will continue to do so with rifles. What may happen that is positive, is that instead of being beat to death with every trigger squeeze, rifles may encourage hunters to practice with their weapons so that they are more likely to actually hit what they are aiming at. Perhaps a few flinches might be avoided too .... lol. There may also be other potential safety benefits with using rifles, but here's not a lot of them that are coming to mind at the moment. But I don't yet see a whole lot of guaranteed safety problems that are likely when picking up a rifle instead of a shotgun.

How can they leave a law on the books that forces requirements that cannot be done because of lack of program funding? Isn't that defacto banning of ammo?

Too much effort required. It's a lot easier to focus on the emotional issues and wage a war on an inanimate object, and look like a hero. That's good for votes and conceals ineptitude on the more vital issues.

Somehow, I really don't think that it took Mike his whole lifetime to accumulate these sources, but anyway, it looks like you have a pile of reading to do now.

That's a great idea for all back-ground checks including gun purchases. Why not tie the driver license system to the back-ground checking systems and cut out all the time wasting paperwork?

I think you are absolutely right. There's been some form of human interference here, and the deer was kept too long. Now what do you do?

There is a certain level of logic in what you are saying, and I have said the same things in the past. But, I have scoured all kinds of sources trying to find any numerical proof that rifle use causes more hunting mishaps, and I really haven't found a whole lot that indicates that a rifle was the sole reason for the accident and that they wouldn't have happened had a shotgun been used. When I couple that with the study that was performed that claimed that shotguns were more dangerous than rifles because the projectiles hold up intact for more distance in a ricochet situation, my attitude against rifles has softened considerably. I also have to factor in the increased accuracy with rifles such that hunters have a better chance of actually hitting what they are aiming at, and I am starting to actually get quite enthusiastic about allowing rifles in deer season. It's all guess work, and we need a bit of history before a good conclusion can be made. There is no clear-cut decision, and time will tell if rifles are right for these kinds of areas.

I've got the gun all sighted in and ready for action. I took the gamble early on because a pretty good source claimed it was in the bag. But, I'll bet they still have enough time to screw it up again ...... lol.