sampotter

Yes, sorry- a kiddie wading pool.

So its likely that some guys don't think they hit a deer because it didn't drop on the spot? Should've paid more attention in hunter's ed. Cool find for you I guess, although I'm sure you wish that buck was still riunning around.

Lookd like the tail is wagging the dog.

Glad to see nobody supporting hunting inside a fence, although it takes the fireworks out of the thread. I swear I read somewhere about a guy that entered farmed-buck in a big buck contest, won, was exposed, then faced charges of fraud and violations of the Lacey Act, although I couldn't find it on the internet. Its one thing to shoot one behind a fence and acknowledge that is where you got it; but another to say you killed it fair chase.

Tell you what- shooting some massive, gnarly, drop-tined, bleach-antlered, top-heavy, pedigree-bred, pellet-fed, artificially-inseminated, ear-tagged, drug-doped, no-license-needed, trophy-fee, named and numbered, farm-raised, domesticated, medicated whitetail buck has the allure and mystique of snorkeling for cultured pearls.

To be honest- I assumed orange was required in the Southern Zone until this year. I grew up in CT where it is required and have lived in NY for 5 years. I saw several guys without it this year and reread the hunting regs. It should be required in SZ. There are so many small parcels with hunting neighbors. I want them to know where I am and I want to know where they are. It certainly doesn't spook deer. If you are worried about how you look in orange then maybe you are worried about getting mud on your boots too. Safety is the #1 priority. The Gov't is not just trying to impose more rules because they can- they are trying to possibly save your life or mine. Nothing will bring more Gov't into the eqaution than 9 yr old kids getting shot in the guts.

This may be a post for a new topic. Isn't that place a High-Fence operation? How hard is it to find a wounded deer inside a fence? There are only so many places to hide. After looking at the website I would wager they have a lot of deer they need to follow up on judging by the Yahoos this type of operation attracts. Yes hunters are not true hunters if they don't follow up on a shot, but hunters are also not true hunters if they shoot something inside a fence; they are just shooters, and if their aim is true or lucky it makes them killers, neither of which should be confused with hunters, most of which would appreciate not being associated with those that shoot at farm-raised animals. Gives us a bad name.

yeah, unfortunately

I've kind of used the DVD info and winged it at the same time. I started by doing short retrieves with small antlers. After awhile I started tossing the antlers into tall grass where she couldn't see them and had to use her nose. It has progressed to me placing antlers. Today I put out sheds in an open hayfield I had never used before and used rubber gloves as well. We went out and I gave her the "Search" command. She found the 2 that were fresher no problem. The 3rd was a little bleached and I had to work her in closer to find it. After that I threw them as far as I could while holding her. She knows at this point what general direction they are in, but still has to use her nose to find them. I spend about 1/2 hour every single day doing this.

Bushnell Trophy Cam. Used buck and doe estrus urine

You may have heard of mock scrapes- but how about a mock rub? I read about this in a hunting mag this fall. Decided to try it. Works, just no big bucks.

Thanks guys. I have no doubt she'll find some this spring even though she'll only be 6 months old. Her drive is amazing. The antlers are the easy part, being a good girl around the house is another. She really likes to chew...

Here is Fleur, my 3.5 month old black lab. I got her specifically for shed antler hunting. So far training has gone really well. I started by just tossing an antler 10 feet or so and have now progressed to placing antlers ahead of time or throwing them when she is busy finding a different one, thereby forcing her to find them with her nose. Its amazing to watch her work in a big zig-zag pattern across the wind and then Wham!, she smells the antler and follows the scent trail right to them and then brings them back to me. Can't wait for the real thing.

Nice job finding them barley peeking out of the snow.

I tried that argument for AR's in the AR thread a few months ago. makes sense, but I was bombarded with "elitist" labels and accused of using safety as a way to twist ARs, but I'm pretty sure most 9year-old boys don't have 3pts on one side... Deer drives suck by the way. I have a friend north of me that lets me hunt his 300 acres. On opening day of shotgun I watched 20 deer trickle into a 5 acre patch of brush. I hunted them lightly from the fringes all season. They stayed put the whole time. I went up there last weekend with my dad and a friend to find that some neighbors had begged to be able to drive the property- and were allowed to, with the exception that they were supposed to stay out of that particular spot. They drove it anyway- pushing out 7-10 deer. Blood trails and gut piles everywhere. Hell of a way to end my season. These were the same guys that had pushed all of the deer off of their property on opening day. My friend saw one of the guys standing in the 2-lane state road lining up on a deer as it crossed. He regret s letting those a-holes in there now. And hunters that do drives wonder why they stop seeing deer after opening day...

Bucks disperse as yearlings. It doesn't matter either way- the buck faws born on your property are not going to stay- so there is no way to manage genetics unless you have a fence. The cited article above unfortunately does not follow spike bucks through maturity- it just assumes that spikes are gentically inferior. Read Kroll's article; www.petersenshunting.com/content/shooting-spike-bucks www.petersenshunting.com/content/shooting-spike-bucks/2

The length of the season doesn't have much to do woth number of deer killed. Nearly 50% of the gun harvest is on opening weekend. The reason you see less deer as the season progresses is the sheer amount of hunter stank in the woods. In my area of 7h all the locals do deer drives on opening day- pushing some deer out of areas for the rest of the season. The deer that do stay won't move during daylight. Deer numbers are fine in my area, but the reason for not seeing deer is hunting pressure and lazy hunting style.

I don't know- I do believe that it grosses over 200, but probably including the 3 non-typ points. 13 point typical frame though. It is a legit NY buck for sure. These pics have been passed along through the dairy farmer grapevine. The deer was shot on ******* farm.

Those pics are fom the campus golf course. Its nothing to see 10-15 deer in a backyard in Cayuga Heights. I followed a really big 8pt around the Vet school parking lot one night. The problem, is that Ithaca is populated with birkenstock wearing hippies who would rather trap and sterilize deer than kill them (true- they spay does at the vet school)

My grandfather shot a big 8 in CT that was like that- thought it was from the buck rubbing his tines on his back? Not uncommon though

That deer was killed last year or the year before. The other antler is actually growing from its eye. It is not from another deer. The blood is actually the same type of thing you see on a lot of droptines where gravity causes the hanging bone to be soft and spongy. Still very strange.

beautiful

I can't wait. I just hope the deer aren't too screwed up from all the added hunter activity.

WNYBuckhunter- funny how it seems, isn't it?

1st shot saturday was 6:27 am. I heard hundreds of shots up in Cato, NY. Saw 20 deer- nearly all of them on the run from the drives that started at around 9am, including 10 does and fawns that went by single file. Only 2 small crotch horn bucks. Some random guys showed up at our farm and pushed out a small patch of woods, shot a big 12 point and left. Thanks for doing deer drives on opening day- really makes the hunting good for the rest of the season. Saw 18 more does and fawns yesterday- all on the run. Had a slug whistle through the top of the tree I was in to boot. I really do not enjoy gun season in my part of the state- deer shut down for the rest of the season and every jackass that thinks they are a hunter is out in the woods- firing off 5 shots at running fawns and not hitting anything but trees and their uncles. (true- nephew shot and killed his uncle in Cortland County on saturday).