dhuntley2

The numbers here in 6c were pretty good in the beginning of bow season, higher than last year anyway. And a much higher number of fawns, especially twins. Though because of so much mast, just like everyone else is saying, they do not have that far to go for food. Deer were still hitting the apples tonight.

I'm trying to get more cover on our hunting land. Has anyone had any luck creating cover and browse with TSI? This is my first experience with trying to create cover. In my area way up north there are hardly any oak trees. Right now I am releasing cherry trees so there will be some value growing still for future logging. Any opinions ? If you have done TSI work what do you do to maintain the regrowth say after 8-10 years when it is above browse height. Do you go through and thin again?

And I just called a farmer friend in parishville they got 50

And I just called a farmer friend in parishville they got 50

Yes they are crop damage permits.

Finally found the real name of the tags. They are Deer management assistance program permits or d maps.

Finally found the real name of the tags. They are Deer management assistance program permits or d maps.

Also I think they call the tags doe management tags and I know for a fact that farmers in canton have near 100 and farms all around have 50 or more . Web used to get 15 and they are doe management not nuisance permits. Sorry about the mix up.

Yes we split it up everyone in my family has 50 acres to claim for land owner. And I guess I worded my post badly about the ADKs I hunt in 6f which is in the ADKs the hunting on the farm is not. And like you say it is a completely different deer density but a lot of it is because it is all mature forest. Their is hardly any browse for the deer at all.

Everyone gets a land owner dmp so yes we get six. And we did stop getting the nuassense permits we did not fill out the paper work. Maybe they don't call them nuassense permits anymore buy the farmers get them and they get a lot. the reason arnt getting bigger deer is because our habitat sucks. It is all open woods. We are now doing habitat improvement to be able to hold more deer. Things like tsi hinge cutting and planting conifers.

Well unless it is a 450 acre wetland I am sure their is a lot of habitat improvement that could be done to hold a lot more deer on your land.

Yes I do realize that deer population varies with location. I hunt in the Adirondacks as well as on our farm in pierrepont, which is in the foothills of the ADKs. I have seen the biggest buck of my life while hunting in the ADKs so what should I realize about that ? I think you need to read through the posts again. I am NOT for ARs I just fear that we will have a statewide AR and one that will be the worst their is. I was just throwing out an alternative that I doubt many have thought about.

Don't take this personally but if you are only seeing 25 deer on 450 acres your habitat is in need of a major makeover. I never once said you should shoot button bucks so I don't know where you are getting that from. My whole point was if we are going to have a statewide AR, which I think we will, I would want the 5 point and up 1.5 year olds living to another year than to have the spike and crotch horns living to another year. And to all the guys that don't get dmps I do feel bad for you. In places like 6a where no or a few dmps were given out, yet the big dairy farms are still getting upwards of a 100 nuisance permits. That makes no sense to me, give one land owner 100 permits and make all the other hunters suffer. And on some of these farms guys pay to hunt and they can't come back if they do not fill all the tags, no wonder why the deer population is suffering. On our farm we used to get 15 nuisance permits and 6 dmps. Now we just get the dmps because we realized that taking that many does is just stupid. I agree that it should be a choice of hunters on what kind of deer they want to take. I used to shoot 1.5 year old bucks when I first started hunting when I was 12. And around where I hunt it was the norm to shoot whatever buck you saw, I was young and had no idea what a mature buck was. When I was 20, 5 year ago, I realized that shooting 1.5 and 2.5 year old bucks was not hard, actually it was really easy where I hunt. So we started a management program where the buck had to be an 8 point or better, and I personally made my choice to shoot 3.5 year olds or older. I have not shot a buck off our farm in 5 years, and I have learned a lot in these 5 years. Every year there will be roughly 15 to 20 1.5 year old bucks and about 5 to 8 2.5 year old bucks before the season starts. All of those 2.5 year old bucks get shot by neighbors guaranteed, and all but 5 to 8 1.5 year olds will bet shot. It has been the same pattern for 5 years. It is a choice that I make personally to try and hunt a more mature buck, and these last 5 years have been the best hunting that I have had.

You should still get a couple stands and hang them up, but don't hunt them on windy days it is not that fun and is dangerous. IMO being elevated off the ground has so many advantages than being on the ground. 1. You can see deer coming much further away. Even if it is through the timber and you don't have a shot you can still see deer farther away and know that they could be coming to a shooting lane. 2. Deer instinctively do not think predators are 20 ft up in a tree, unless they have experienced a it before. But deer think of danger on the ground level. 3. Even when you are set up perfectly downwind the wind does swirl, and when you are in a tree 20 ft up and have deer close, usually your scent will stay high above them and they do not know you are their. When the wind swirls and you are on the ground it goes right to their nose. I have shot a handful of deer from my stand where I had to stand up to turn to be able to draw my bow. The deer would just stare at me confused as to what the heck was up in that tree, they would not take off. Being up in a stand is great.

You can get a buck or a doe with last years unused regular season tag during early bow.

Two bucks during early bow season, one with last years bow tag and last years regular season. Which were both unfilled last year. One with this years bow tag and one with this years regular season.

Way too much people really need to learn to tell a button from a doe.

I agree 100% on the seasons and a one buck limit. This year I could have legally shot 4 bucks. NYS has a horrible management system now. I am not for ARs at all especially not the 3 pt on a side, just throwing out an alternative.

Again all I wanted to say is if we are going to have a statewide AR which I think we will, I would rather let the bigger 1.5 year olds live than the smaller ones. It seems that the 3 pts on a side is counterintuitive.

Well I thought we would have some common sense and know what a fawn is. And last time I checked a button buck had nuts does don't.

The doe that is a lot smaller than all the other does are in the inferior ones, so shoot that one. I live on a beef farm I know all about genetics and when a calf is born from a small cow its a small calf. And when a bull calf is big its first year its big its second year just like deer. All I'm saying is if we are going to have a statewide AR I rather protect the bigger 1.5 ye olds not the small ones.

Right you cannot tell a superior 1.5 year old but I would much rather have a 6 pt live to 2.5 than a spike. And ts not complicated at all, the buck has to have a spike or 4 pts in one side to be legal how hard is that ?

After all of this talk about ARs and how a state wide 3 pt rule might go into effect, I want to get opinions about this AR. First of all I want to say that I think the 3 pt rule makes no sense. It lets the superior 1.5 yr olds, ie 5 pts, 6pts, 7 pts and 8pts get shot. And lets the spikes to 4 pts live. This is my take, why not have an AR that you can shoot any buck that has a single point, ie a spike, 3 pt, or anything that has a single point on one side, or the buck has to have 4 pts or better on one side. This lets the superior 1.5 year olds live and takes out the "junk" bucks. This also lets all the "meat" hunters shoot the spikes. and lets a lot of 1.5 yr olds live. I would much rather have this kind of restriction than a 3pt restriction. Thoughts?