nyslowhand

So... I'm no farmer or food plotter, but still have to ask the obvious question. Isn't the drag the 3rd step in prepping for planting, plow, disc & then drag? How deep will a drag on hard packed ground penetrate? I've used one of those 4'x4' "chain-link" style drags and even with a lot of weight added it never penetrated the un-plowed ground with its' spiked teeth very deep. Was better at clearing paths of debris than scratching the ground for seeding. Last dumb-a$$ question, isn't the drag you have designed for the frame to float on the ground surface, while spring teeth break-up the dirt? At least w/o a 3pt hitch's downward pressure. Guess it all depends on how deep you need to disturb the soil for what you'll be planting, yes-no...!?!

JMO, but this discussion should consider the intrusion factor. If you only go onto a hunting property 2-3X during the off season and then hunt it in Oct & beyond, I believe the deer sense a strange smell and are nervously aware of it as a potential danger. Conversely, if you check cams, ride ATVs, have work details, etc a couple times a month during the summer, the deer become more accustomed to those smells and DO NOT perceive them as a threat or danger. Sort of goes along the same lines as putting up a new stand. Deer will be very wary of it at 1st, until they recognize it as a "non threat", when they'll leisurely walk past it. Obviously, I'm not going to be able to walk up & feed or pet a deer!!! I've watched their reaction to my frequent intrusions as they basically are bounding off to a safe distance and watching my travel direction. I'm a frequent intruder, but common sense tells me to try and eliminate/mask/minimize my "carried-in" odors, at least while hunting.

Used to laugh at the bow hunters decades ago that were OCD about scent control. AND ... now I'm one, to a certain $$ level. If I'm going to wash my hunting clothing, keep it seperated from household odors and take my morning shower anyways, why not use soaps that "might" help w/o breaking the bank?? JMO, my only extravagance is the additional pre-hunt spray-down. Got into this mode ~15yrs ago when I began hunting a property that was difficult to hunt the wind due to the size, shape, orientation & historic deer movement around it. Does it help, maybe!?! Gives me the confidence to hunt where & when I want and to some extent a degree of success. Will I be carrying an Ozonics on each hunt - NO!!! Do I get sucked-in to all the marketing of new scent-free products - NO!! Attractants - No longer spend any money on them. Wish I had all the $$ in hand I've squandered on them over the years. More power to those that have had success using scent attractants!!!

You can get some neat videos of unique wildlife situations that would never be recorded with photo bursts. Not to mention a better way to evaluate up & coming bucks in the summertime when you get head movement & different angles to see their rack growth. Also can get a better idea of travel routes as opposed to the simple photo burst of a deer in front of the cam. Mentioned this before, but video mode does come at a cost - battery life, the need for larger SD cards, added storage space on PC and the extra time needed while viewing vids to edit/delete all the coon, squirrel, etc ones. It's not for everyone...!

... is a concept we all know, just hard for me to watch! Thankfully the yote came back thru 4-5min later, w/o dinner. https://photos.app.goo.gl/7xet8pULsqncG8vJ8

First time you load a deer onto your new ATV & dump trailer, you'll wonder how you ever did w/o them! As you'll find out (hopefully!) there's a technique to putting a decent sized deer onto a dump cart and getting it latched for transporting. I used to relocate ladder stands with my ATV & trailer/cart. Convenient, fer sure!!!

Setting up a trail cam to take videos is the way to go! Get many more "looks" at deer & other critters compared to photo bursts. Downside is battery usage and you really have to only save vids that are important onto your PC. Can quickly eat up storage space. Also can get some really interesting vids you wouldn't have gotten by taking photos. Trade-offs...!

Size does NOT always matter...! Yeah, still talking about ATVs. It's not necessarily about the CCs, it's a combo of engine size, torque produced, tire patterns, what you expect from your ATV and budget restraints. Don't believe there are many ATVs available that will "do it all", for every situation w/o breaking the bank. Kia-esque ATVs have a set functionality determined by the mfger, as do the BWM/Vette-esque models. Choose your poison!?!

Nice!! All I've even gotten are videos of BBs strolling past a stand I was in earlier in the day or a stand I'd contemplated sitting in, but decided not to!

Yeah, IRC most homeowner's &/or theft or property damage types of insurance on your hunting property exclude an ATV. Also (IRC) if your ATV & trailer are connected to your vehicle and anything happens, it goes onto your auto insurance claim. Another little quirk in ATV regulations &/or licensing, is if your ATV is trailered & on a public highway, it is suppose to be licensed. Anyone know if this is correct. Obviously, not every ATV is licensed if it never leaves private property.

Yeah, those Traxters were geared for pulling and not speed. Once I got a better hitch on mine, I could pull ~1000# (gravel) in a plastic dump trailer. Granted it took quite a bit more throttle, but try that with a Sportsman...! Moog... did the dealer (??) give any reason for not using rear axle for tie-downs???? Not like you'd bend or distort the axle tube with the amount of tension needed using ratchet strap to simply keep ATV from moving side to side or frt to back on the trailer.... Baffling to me!??!

^^^ or the tell-tale pile of flat rocks stacked against the base of a big tree that could recount some hunting tales. Oh yeah, gotta have a comfy seat with good back support or my hunts are limited to a couple hours max, after fidgeting the 2nd hour! Worst are those 2-man ladder stands. Most uncomfortable seats of ALL stands!! Ground or blind hunting - Check along the curb-sides as you drive around, esp in "ritzy" neighborhoods. People throw away those plastic deck chairs all the time after they begin to fade. Most are beat-up, but occasionally you can find good ones. Hardware stores sell spray cans of paint for specifically plastic items, just in case you need to tone down a pink, yellow, blue, etc freebie chair. Carry in a dry foam seat pad and tie the chair to a tree so it doesn't blow away. Even if it finds a new owner, you're out nothing.

FYI - A couple HD ratchet straps around rear axle to trailer tie-downs are easier than how you've rigged yours. Same for front! I had a Bombardier (CanAM) 500cc CVT Traxter for 11yrs and never had a problem with it... that I didn't cause myself! Typically put more hours than miles on mine each year. Changing oil & filter (on mine!) was a breeze, once you get the 2X special sockets (metric & Torx) and over the $$ of the synthetic engine/CVT oil. Another special tool I needed, a very thin walled spark plug socket. Most shop labor rates for ATVs, small engines, etc are comparable to dealership car shops.. ~$90/hr. I had to learn this the hard & $$ way, read & understand the owner's manual. Buried within my manual's text, it mentioned to NOT use a pressurized wash for cleaning the ATV. Mine had a pretty deep well the spark plug was at the bottom of and if it got water in the well - you literally were F'ed until water was removed & plug changed. Your beast may be different, but see what manual says! Never got mine stuck, other than in deep (12-15") of snow on top of unfrozen/wet ground. Depending on ATV's ground clearance, the skid plate underneath could bottom out and wheels won't get any traction, regardless of how aggressive the tire treads are!!! Winch time! Here's a couple accessories I always carried and highly recommend to you! An ATV winch accessory kit (or one similar) and during deer season add a 50' roll of HD rope to extend the winching distance. As you know, deer don't always pick the most accessible spots to lie down & die!!

Let's have a "******** *****" with chicks and guns and firetrucks and hookers and drugs and booze! Yeah, Yeah, Yeah! All the things that make life worth living!

I've seen rubs when bucks are in velvet. Never aggressive, just simply an "itching" rubs barely scaring the tree. Definitely not peeling back all the bark as shown by OP! Like Doc mentioned, their racks are growing, full of blood vessels and assuming nerves, so they're probably somewhat tender to be doing any typical rubbing.

This is kind of a strange story. Read awhile ago where whitetails are the only mammals that will not protect their young.

Where I hunt there's no grain crops, so by about the 3rd week of July the bucks display pretty much what they'll be in October. Of course, less a few inches, some girth or bonus points/stickers. May be a different story if they're eating soybeans during July & August. IDK!??! Can generally tell if a buck is going to be phenomenal if he has excessive above average growth during early stages of velvet, ie; May & June time-frame. You'll know when you see it!!!!! Lets see some more photos later in July!

Jarts, camping and alcohol - Never a good combo!

No offense, dude, but ~8K forum members and this missing "n" bothers only you.. ? Kidding...!! Spell check was greatest innovation, ever! Auto correct is worst!! I'm more PO'ed having to look-up acronyms, compressed words with missing letters, etc than misspelled words. Texting & social media both have their own language(s) with an appropriate dictionary.

^^^ this is a little over the top, don't you think??? You may be onto something, but JMO you've way over rating their intelligence. What you're suggesting is a whitetail could complete the "square peg and round hole" test...? Survival instinct and cognitive intelligence are different functions of any mammal's brain. Granted, deer have fine tuned their instincts over the millennia, but conversely, they continue to do dumb-a$$ things that defy reason.

Whatever you prefer to call it.. conditioned, instinctual, hereditary trails, perception of danger.. whitetails have adapted well and you might even call it evolved to some new environments. This is very evident in the difference in deer living around suburban areas or places with frequent human traffic compared to deer living in isolated or large brush lot/wooded habitats. ^^^^ yeah, it's about how they perceive danger! I have putted along on an ATV in my hunting area and passed within 20' of deer curiously watching me, numerous times. As long as I don't stop or make any hand movements! Completely different story or reaction when I'm on foot along the same paths. Be lucky to see the white flags bounding away in the distance. AND then just when you think you have them figured out, you realize you have no clue...! lol

For many years I'd thought I'd like to hunt an American Bison/Buffalo, a majestic beast. More of a romanticizing about reliving the mountain man or wild west era! After seeing many TV shows about hunting them, seems to be more like shooting ducks in a barrel than anything requiring any particular hunting skills. JMO, that'd be one of those "anti-climatic" hunts. To each his/her own, but for me I'm more into the up-close-n-personal type of hunting. So anything requiring sniper skills wouldn't be on my top 10 big game bucket list. Also, I'd probably not enjoy hunting any big game with a bow that could possibly eat or harm me...ie; griz, lions, etc.

Granted, it was decades ago when I visited Bar Harbor. At that time there were numerous roadside stands along the roads selling cooked lobsters. Basically a wood fire, huge kettle of boiling water, pick out your lobster, thrown in to cook and served on a paper plate with butter and consumed while sitting at a picnic table. IRC, they were ~$5, so I had to make many stops while up there. Are those places still around? The drive time was the only reason I never returned to that beautiful place. IRC, it was in the neighborhood of a 12-14hr drive, esp if you went up the coastline.

Pretty naive, thought that stuff only happened in the backwoods of Georgia while banjo music was playing..... ala Deliverance! My vote is for a mid-60s Ford Falcon or Mercury Comet out in the woods.

Hard to tell since most of my BB photos/vids are in the summer when the racks are still growing, somewhat. Does seem to be an annual cuzin period of some strange bucks around the Halloween time frame. Most of the time it's actually hard to confirm if one I'd shot was same one caught on cam. Not really something I'm thinking about during the "moment of truth", sort of an after thought or curiosity thing. Have to say a large majority of bucks I've harvested, I'd not gotten on cams that same year.