Buckstopshere

http://www.outdoorhub.com/stories/2016/02/10/10-massive-spike-bucks-that-deserve-to-be-mounted Some photos of big spike bucks!

Right, but not likely. It usually takes us to move heaven and earth for any game management changes. I am surprised a bit that the DEC was nimble enough to sht-can the doe only restriction in the Buffalo and Rochester DMUs for the first two weeks of bow season after just one year. And that is a good thing! But believe you me, there was a lot of work behind the scenes. Young people, without a lot of experience, tend to think that government changes in all dimensions of game management should be made hastily..."Hey, that sounds like a good idea...lets try it!"

On the DEC website, on the new Buck Management page they do address the issue of the 11 Units in New York that still have the MARs (Mandatory Antler Restrictions) in contrast to VARs (Voluntary Antler Restrictions.) There is light at the end of tunnel down there in Regions 3 and 4. "DEC does have Mandatory Antler Point Restrictions in 11 Wildlife Management Units in southeastern New York. This program will continue as DEC encourages hunters elsewhere to practice voluntary restraint. Over time, as more and more hunters in the broader region opt to pass on young bucks voluntarily, hunters in the units with mandatory restrictions may be interested in seeing the restrictions lifted." So that tells me that the writing is on the wall, so to speak.

What are the benefits of having a system that is agile? One that jumps from every game management fad and what is fashionable at the moment, to another "great idea?" Not me. I understand that there are a lot of other possible user-groups out there as you enumerated, but like it or not, deer season is king. And bow season is sacred to many of us.

Still at it in February. Another buck group.

Here's a couple of three-legged does, one missing part of a back leg, the other a front leg. Both had fawns, but as far as I know, neither one made it through the following hunting season. My two cents is that any doe or buck with an obvious different physical characteristic, I would let live so they could be identified. As far as shooting them goes, I wouldn't unless they were suffering.

Good points. But what happens when the population of yearling bucks, or spikes and forked two-year olds that don't grow big antlers equals or exceeds the doe population because of the tyranny of the notion that a everyone should pass on all small racked bucks? We have a high buck take...but in the past there was a certain consistency to the buck/doe ratio. As the ethos has changed over the last few years and those who shoot small racked bucks are looked down upon, the buck index has been skewed. I write a column in the NYON, but that is not why you should buy it. But because it is a good read and you get a lot of facts out of it. Ahemmm. In my column, I wrote about Junkyard bucks and how they are taking over two of my hunting spots. Nobody wants to shoot them and we are overrun. But what might even be crazier...where overpopulation is a DEC concern, like in the DMUs near Rochester and Buffalo, is it possible that the does there are getting a bad rap? Maybe it's the little junkyard bucks that have overpopulated and of course the two-week moratorium on shooting bucks would not solve the problem since it was focused on does. It wasn't just does... but antler-shed junkyard bucks too.

Dragging deer in Pa. was always a labor of love. Uphill was tougher, but always shorter. Downhill was easier, but always a long way back to the truck. Getting deer through a swamp is the toughest, especially when the water/mud is neck deep.

I don't think anything is set in stone yet on either proposal, at least there has been no formal announcement. But these reports show us the way the wind is blowing.

9X - one doe bow 9Y - one doe muzzleloader 9X - one buck rifle

It may be a bit off topic (topic being antlerless only) but it was reported in the last issue of the "New York Outdoor News" that the DEC is going to encourage hunters to pursue voluntary ARs instead of expanding the mandatory ARs this year, or for the next few years. And that the controversy will be put to bed for at least a number of years. Back to the antlerless only issue - it was also reported that the DEC is dropping the ill-conceived antlerless only first two week plan in at least some of the western units and all are under review. Remember the deadline for submitting your ideas is Valentine's Day.

Good idea. I will concentrate there, but I worry too much of my scent there will spook them away too. A few years ago at the end of muzzleloader season, just at dusk I watched a nice buck run out into a corn field while I was dragging out a doe. So I used the hill and corn for cover and got within shooting range of the buck. All of a sudden it shook its head and threw off an antler! I watched it spin through the air. That next morning it was below zero, bright sunshine. I looked and looked and finally found it. This is the photo I took. I got the other photo with the does framed in the bucks antlers the other day...thought it was pretty cool too.

I have history with the one-sided buck in the above photos. Here he is in late September at another zip-tied overhanging branch on the same property. I hope his "one-sidedness" was caused by an accident while he was in velvet or shortly after and not due to an accident on one side. He will be a nice buck next year.

I didn't get these guys sparring, but on another hunting property, another bachelor group showed up at the zip-tied overhanging branch.

Maybe so, but I have seen no evidence of rutting in this area (bucks trailing does, flehmening, lockdown, etc.) Buck sparring is simply bachelor group pecking order establishment and challenge. Interesting that often there is a spike buck, or a yearling toady, that is close too, sometimes even locking horns with its bigger brothers at the same time. A couple more photos of the skirmish.

Bucks back in their bachelor group, testing for dominance at the zip-tied overhanging branch.

Right you are Grow...I got this photo of foxes being "frisky" the other day...actually I have a small series of them.

Nope. They smell quite different to me. I used to trap and use fox lures and fox urine and skinned foxes. I cut my buck tarsals and doe tarsals...they smell differently. I always smell them and cut them off the back legs and put them in the freezer for next year. They all smell different to me, mink, beaver, muskrats, etc. But I always remember that psyc class in college when they cut an apple and a potato and let us bite the potato while putting an apple slice under our nose. We thought we were eating an apple and it was a potato! Try it. They say, "the nose knows,"... but I'm not so sure about that.

Some does are still cycling if they were not bred on the first or second estrus cycles they come into season again every 26 days or so. It will be interesting to see the photos, but the breeding party or what I call the Whitetail Breeding Nucleus (WBN) moves through the woods. The action, hence the smell, is not stuck in a static place. The action probably has moved on and like the scent,...the breeding pheromones that you smelled will quickly disperse. But as to crazy...who am I to say?

The third rut spike was right on time. A lot of the old does with one or two fawns finally cycled. The bucks that were left, whether spikes or better are having a good time. I still have a bunch of cameras out and it is interesting to see all the rutting action at the zip-tied scrapes. But it didn't really spike until about a week ago, just after the Full Moon.

I checked this camera this am. I should have been in this stand. This buck was at one of my zip-tied scrapes at 8:30! I was someplace else. ;0{ Too many stands! But they are on their feet in the daytime. Can't shoot them unless we are in a tree.

I keep the lower wheel on the bow on my thigh, with the bow balanced and the release attached to the string. Makes a minimum of movement that way. That being said, I always have a couple screw in hooks too on both sides of the trunk, usually to take the weight off when deer are under the stand and waiting for the right one to show up.

It's happening here in 9Y, just the beginning, but IMO, best time to be in a stand. Bucks....the big boys are on their feet in the daytime now. Here are two...but I wasn't on stand there. Somewhere else. Dates and times are accurate.

A couple dandy bucks ripped up the property last night, but they were loners, not on the does yet. Had a four-pointer trailing a doe. Here's a couple shots of them, but these two are still nocturnal and not on the does yet. Things are ready to pop here in 9Y.