NYBowhunter

I hunt in Otsego county, right near the Deleware county line. We have always done good up there and the deer tend to be fairly large. Where you are looking is a little north of me. If you want I'll keep my eyes open. By me land unfortunately is getting quite expensive, I lucked out and got a great deal. However near me you can expect to pay 3-4 thousand an acre. But there are deals out there if you keep looking . Go online or call Country Boy Realty they have some nice land for sale that are priced fair (I ended up using them). When I was looking I tended to stay away from Timberland properties as thier prices seem to be top dollar per acre. Let me know if you need any help.

Great pictures bubba....now that is what hunting is all about...great memories with family and friends..Love those ole time pictures.

Thanks all, I think I will give the Daikon's a try.

Hey Shender, The soil test, seed , lime, fertilizer are a minimal expense when compared to clearing the land, what will cost you the most is to clear and level your plot. You can go to Eklund (they are a Massey Fergussen Dealer) on route 23 in Stamford and either rent a dozer or rent the dozer and use on of thier guys to operate the dozer. I spoke with them recently and they get about 600-700 for 2 days (they get $500 for a one day rental so it pays to get the 2 day rental) on the dozer rental and you have to figure another few hundred for the driver. So to clear a one acre or less would cost you about one grand. It would probably save you time if you first fell the trees that are where the plot is and then just get the dozer to take the stumps out and level everything. Now dont forget if you rent the dozer and you drive it and you wreck it you will be responsible. However if you rent the dozer with a driver they have thier own insurance and basically you have no worries. Note that the prices I indicated includes fuel and transport of dozer to your site, I think these prices should also hold true for you being your not that far from stamford. If you give them a call ask to speak with Billy, he is real nice and works with you. I was fortunate to have two fields when I bought my property and never had to get a dozer, however I called them last week and found out these prices as I might consider putting in another plot this spring? Also I think one acre maybe a little too big. I have a 1/2 acre of ladino clover plot that the deer can never ever eat down to the ground, as many deer that eat at that 1/2 acre plot I still need to cut it every 2 -3 weeks during the warmer months. I think you would do just fine with a 1/2 acre plot. Let me know how it works out.

Inspite of how well the purple top turnips have performed this year, I'm looking to plant something different for my fall plot. I was looking at the Daikon Raddish as a choice. From what I have read unlike other Brassicas the tops of the Daikon will resprout when browsed. Another great point of the Daikon is that the protien levels in both tops and roots exceed 20 %...wow... I was wondering if anyone planted them and how did deer react to them? Let me know. Thanks..

Yes without a doubt, atleast then I could go with them. But not only did they not ask, they left the gutpile right in the middle of my trail and then proceeded to drag the deer on one of my trails the entire length of my property.

Sorry but I'm not familiar with Seneca's layout however I will go out on a limb and say there is vast acreage there and its fenced? So if it is fenced then in MY opinion I would not consider that hunting and harvesting a white deer really doesn't get me excited. I just cant see hunting in a fenced area irregardless of its size, because I know the fence is there its just something about it that doesnt sit well with me.

Just looking at that picture gets me upset....stuff like that really gets me hot under the collar...I would be better off if I didnt come across a tresspasser as I dont know what I would do. This year I had a guy shoot a deer above my property (not on my property) and a minute later a see two deer run past me, one was a doe and the other I saw was running real fast and headed for my pines. What i didnt know at the time was that the deer that went under the pines was on a death run. I came back the next morning to find a gut pile on my property and they had the nerve to drag the deer out through my property. I was so upset that my uncle and dad had to calm me down........C'mon for real we work the property, pay taxes etc...and then these $cumbags come and trespass.....

10 acres, 10,000 or 20,000 acres for me theres no difference, if its fenced I dont consider that hunting....period. How can anyone try to justify hunting on a fenced property just because its larger in acreage, I just dont get it????

I saw that...very nice crop for next year...looks like you are doing good ...What town, unit in region 4.

Please guys enlighten me because I'm lost.....maybe some can explain to me why someone would hunt at a place like this?? I know this might ruffle someones feathers...but even if I could not see a fence for miles however I knew there were fences somewhere it would really bother me to walk in a ranch that was fenced let alone hunt it . What is the challenge if the deer are not free ranging? To each thier own and I guess bragging rights are thier main priority not hunting, but these people should not be classified as hunters. I guess these sorts of high fence operations with thousands of acres are an accepted practice in states like texas.....and the justification is that these ranches want to manage thier own deer herd. I just cant come to even remotely tolerate high fence operations irregardless of it size. Just look at those deer in these high fence operations....they look genetically minipulated..Yeah the racks are nice, but I couldnt hang something like that in my cabin knowing where it came from.

Sorry for your loss, good to see you took her son out to enjoy the great outdoors. Lets us know how it went.

I would have to agree with you in that most in our area are primarily meat hunters and then scattered about there are the few that will let younger bucks pass. I'm also seeing that some hunters now a days in our area are either researching food plots or have put in food plots. But yeah the majority are meat hunters first.

Thanks, he turned out to be a 4 1/2 yr. old buck (he was aged by the taxidermist and a game biologist). Yep Harpersfield is off of 23, right after Stamford heading west on 23 and before Davenport. Hello Neighbor.

Not far from you at all, I hunt in Harpersfield and also in East Worcester. How was the East Worcester season? Hear of any nice deer shot there? I really dont speak with much people locally,I spoke with one fellow that hunts a 1,000 acres of private land and they hunted that piece twice and came out with 2 does (atleast thats what he told me), I also spoke with a couple of locals that I know very well in Harpersfield that were having a hard time connecting with a buck. My family did fairly well on my property in East Worcester, we took 2 eight pointers, 2 three pointers and a doe. Attached is a picture of the eight I took.

It was purchased before this hunting season, my parents got me a lifetime supersportsman hunting licence (one less bill I dont have to worry about each year ). My wife and kids got me a coffee mug that has a picture imposed on it of me and the big 8ptr. buck I took this year and I also got a video collection of hunter Buck McNeely (never heard of him??) that came in a nice metal box of 5 DVD's along with a book regarding the history of conservation.

Thats one cool looking cake....Happy Birthday.

Very nice buck indeed, Congrats

what you have growing there that the deer are digging?

I have to disagree, in that its easy to discredit the rut if the deer are not rutting on your property. In my case the deer were rutting on my property and on that one magic day my uncle and dad an hour apart took two nice buck, one of which was a nice 8 pointer, however I will agree that the rut was very short lived and after that one magical day things seemed to slow down. However we did continue to see deer all the way through the ML season. Shender, I think you are onto something ........the food plots are great in that they will attract deer and more importantly atleast for me they help the local deer herd going into the winter. The food plots will attract deer but more importantly they keep the females close by, well you know if you keep the does happy.....they will come (the horny bucks that is ). More amazing about food plots is that you can expect to see deer even in the late season and ML season. Dont get me wrong if done correctly food plots can be a very hard task, but for me thay are very rewarding. Also in our area of 4F the main local crop is corn, so if you can plant both a clover plot and also a Brassica plot you will be able to provide lots of forage for deer after all the corn are harvested.

Not far from you at all, I hunt in Harpersfield and also in East Worcester.

I cant complain, my family has always done well in 4f. One of us usually score. This year was exceptional, I took a 3 ptr. with bow and an 8ptr. with rifle, my uncle took an 8 ptr. with rifle, my dad took a 3 ptr. with rifle and my friend took a doe with ML. In between we saw some other bucks and lots of does. My cousin on another property that was close by took an 8 ptr.

I had the same problem last year when I planted Pasja Turnips which have large tops but the problem is they have no bottoms, the tops were gone before the rifle season and I had no late season plot for the deer. This year I made my brassica plot larger and used purple top turnips, this so far has worked out much better. The tops were eaten well before the rifle season, however as you can see they are still getting at the turnips. I feel much better knowing the deer have a food source to carry them through some of the harsh winter.

I use an Ithaca single shot 410 some of the times, but mostly I use my Fausti O/U 12 gauge. I use the 12 gauge more as we have plenty of grouse which calls for fast shooting and the occasional snowshoe rabbit. As for shells I like to use #6 express.

Here are some recent pictures of deer eating turnips under the snow. They are also clearing away snow and eating the clover plots. My friend took a doe with ML on Monday afternoon on the food plot.