Doc

Yes, I too have seen some freak reactions (or non-reactions) of deer to gunfire. That doesn't mean that someone blasting away is exactly putting the deer at ease. Whether the deer will ignore the gunshots or not most likely depends on the individual deer. I certainly wouldn't expect a seasoned old buck who has gone through a few gun seasons to ignore anything like that. My thought is that if a club has rules and makes them known to all members, then the thing to do is to abide by those rules or get out. That guy was definitely out of line.

As far as the effect of human activity, I have a camera that watches a trail that comes into our front yard. Yeah, being sealed off 1000' off the highway and surrounded by woods and thicket, our yard makes a preferred food plot .... lol. But anyway, there is the constant normal activity that you would find around any home-site. So the deer are very accustomed to human activity and human placed objects. It's funny that the deer still find their way out into the lawn, but have all but abandoned that traditional trail that is chopped down into the dirt from years of use. This was another one those camera set-ups that started out with several pictures each and every night and then slowly tapered off to a point where a picture per week is more the norm. And yet the deer activity in the yard is unchanged. To me, that is some pretty clear evidence that there is something about that camera that they don't like. I really believe that there is a lot to be learned about the art of using trail cams. We all run around placing these things around the woods without really knowing what the effects of doing that really are. I think there is a science to using trail cams and we haven't even scratched the surface in terms of learning all the little nuances and special details and considerations that we should be thinking about when placing these cameras.

Nope! I'm not falling for it this morning. Wind is already howling. It was raining when I poked my nose out early this morning. I've been suckered into it every drippy windy day since the season started. I've been soaked up a few times already, and I have only seen a couple deer and they had their hooves dug into the ground trying to keep the wind from blowing them away. I guess I am about ready for a break. Think I'll go bowling ...... lol.

Sometimes a good point, such as opposition to drinking while hunting, is better made by having the absurdity of the discussion continue.

Over the mere two years that I have been experimenting with trail cams, I have been wondering just what effects they may have on deer activity ....... if any. I have watched some locations start off with many pictures, every night for a period of time only to see the frequency of pictures seem to drop over time. I have also noted that the deer seem to be well aware of the cameras, to the point where most of the pictures have the deer looking straight at the camera. I have used only infra-red style cameras. I will admit that these observations could really be coincidence, or perhaps caused by other un-related happenings, and so I am not ready to say that placing a camera along a well used trail will eventually have deer moving around that spot. Also, I only have 3 cameras, so it's not like any of the evidence is over-whelming. However, I really would like to design an experiment that might give more concrete results one way or another. In other words, I would like to try to come up with a way to figure out primarily whether trail-cams disrupt deer patterns. If that can be proved, it would be interesting to learn a bit more about how to improve camera use to minimize disruptions. So here is the question for you all: If you had to figure out a practical way to absolutely prove that trail cams did or did not impact deer activity in the camera site, how would you all go about doing that? Maybe there is no practical way that a guy with limited time, money, and cameras can really do such an experiment, and I sure haven't had much luck thinking up a way by myself. So I thought I would just bounce it off our brain-trust here and see if anyone had any slick ideas. Just a thought.

So, has he set out a trapline yet? Any luck?

I did a little study on my trail-cam database (392 entries) and found an almost even split between daylight pictures and dark-time pictures. I haven't made a morning/afternoon check yet. Sounds like something that will be interesting to check out. That's what's nice about these cameras. You can do little studies such as this and answer questions that you could only guess at before.

Here's a thought. You said that initially the 4-point was with some does. Perhaps the blowing that you heard was one of the does and not the buck at all.

I know we are all assuming that everything in this 5-year management plan is now destined to become law, but there is some wording that I keep running across that makes me wonder if they have actually control all that they are proposing. I keep seeing phrases like "DEC recommends" and "DEC supports". I think some of this stuff may be controlled by the legislative bodies of state and local governments.

I think I would be really surprised if any state in the US can manage the herd in a pure QDM fashion. It's just not the sort of thing that any government agency can control when just about all of each state if privately owned. Plus just the scope and size of the acreage involved, makes it not very impractical for micro management. And then if you add in the current financial situations of NYS and many other states, it keeps them in pretty much of a survival mode. Of course they will never admit that, but it kind of stands to reason. Do they really have a handle on carrying capacity? ....... Probably not.

Looks like some pretty good eating there. Way to git 'er done!

Things are looking pretty dismal here so far. I'm going to have to check the cameras just so I can say I saw a deer....lol. This was another tricky weather day. It started off pretty darn good and then all of a sudden I realized that the wind had snuck up again. Then the sun disappeared and it started drizzling. I bailed out about 11:00. The wind died down pretty good and the rain tapered off to a very light sprinkle, so I headed out to see what I could see this afternoon. The wind behaved, but this ugly heavy drizzle set in and soaked me up pretty good. Being a bit stubborn, I made it through til almost quitting time and then headed for home. I didn't hear any details, and I'm not really sure exactly where all they were talking about, but the weatherman mentioned something about high wind warnings tomorrow in counties just west of us. So it sounds like tomorrow will be blowing away too. The only day this week that is supposed to be dry is going to blow the deer under cover. Can't catch a break with this stinking weather this year.

It seems like anything that's put on here in a light-hearted vane is something that you get all torqued out of shape over. I've got to tell you that there is no "crap to end" on my part. I really don't intend to stop kidding around......sorry. You just need to try not being so damn sensitive over every little joke that's put on here. You seriously got all bent out of shape over the "gutting" joke???? That's crazy!

Drinking and hunting is one thing that no one ever needs to worry about with me. A whole bunch of years ago, I woke up one morning with a pounding headache, and a crappy taste in my mouth like I had spent the night with a sweaty sock in my mouth. Stomach did a couple of flops, and I felt like the on-set of flu. Looked in my wallet and found most of the money missing and realized that I actually spent good money to feel like that. I just hope I had a good time.....lol. That was the end of my drinking ...... anywhere. I haven't had a drink since. I never became a campaigner trying to stamp out alcohol, but there are two places where I don't want to see it. One is in the car and the other is with people carrying guns or other weapons. I'll generally avoid being anywhere near those combinations and I'm not real bashful about explaining why..

You could have fooled me with that reply.

Now there's something we seem to quite often lose sight of on this site.....eh?

I never heard of this one. It's not on my calendar, so it doesn't count....lol.

Well, how about that. I thought I was being a bit funny, but apparently this is not a subject that some people can joke about. We do have some that just sit around here in a pissed off, spring-loaded position just looking for something to do battle about. Apparently I found one. Try to lighten up a bit. These things aren't really as serious as you apparently take them.

Well, I was convinced that the weatherman was just kidding. We got .01" of rain all last night, and the moon was shining like crazy when I got up. There was almost no wind at all. So I suited up and hoofed it up the hill. Got on stand and it was still dark. The wind was blowing a bit harder than down in the valley, but still not too bad. By the time it started to get light, the sky was full of clouds, and the wind was starting to move the tree-tops a bit. Within an hour, it was starting to shower a bit and the wind was really blowing. About 10:00, things were starting to get out of control, so I figured it was time to leave. Not really a very good opener for me.

Actually, I usually hold out for the bucks that have a deep sway in the back, and one that you can count all the ribs. It's also good if I can ascertain that he no longer has a tooth in his head. I generally watch him eat an apple and if he appears to be just sucking on it instead of chewing, chances would be good that he's starting to get to the age where a harvest should be considered. Also a pronounced wide bow in the legs is a good indicator of proper maturity. Heavily defined, bulging hip bones also indicate a buck's readiness for harvest. Also, the fact that this buck is still able to hold its head up indicates that he is not ready yet for harvest. Another good indicator is if he walks with a noticeable limp from arthritic joints and can't walk too many strides without laying down to rest. A little lost hair and stubby, drooping antlers is also a good sign that the buck has finally reached maturity and is ready for harvest. This buck has none of those features and it would be a real shame to harvest this youngster before it's time.

So maybe the weatherman is an anti-hunter and is just lying about the weather and trying to discourage bowhunters. That's possible, isn't it?

There ya go! Stick 'em right in the nose.... .

I'm not assuming anything, I am simply responding to your reply. Try to keep up .... lol.

Here's a bit of encouragement: I just saw 2 deer in the middle of an alfalfa field eating in the driving rain ...... 2:00pm. However, no screaming winds like they're calling for tomorrow (and now for Sunday as well). I have to admit that even if the weather is half as bad tomorrow as it is today, I won't be going out. I got a slight taste of what a real drenching thing a downpour is like, and I really doubt that even with my best raingear on that I could stay even close to dry. Not only that, but if I had even a real good blood trail, the kind of rain that I just saw would wash it away inside of a few minutes. So, better go for the spine hits tomorrow ..... lol.