LET EM GROW

I got a half dozen or so bear pics this summer. We haven't taken one on the hill in 3 years. And the year before that my neighbors took a 360# & 395# male bear. One archery, one thanksgiving morning.

We've had camp there for almost 25 years now. I love small town life, We currently live in Hornell. But are hoping to be buying a house soon. Trying to convince the wife to find the small town life in her heart lol. I love that little town.

Not to far away! pretty place to live!

I think a well organized drive with all like minded individuals is fun. It brings back the good ole days, a lot of laughs, good memories, fun times etc.. They do go against my theories in managing therefore i don't and wont do them anymore on land i manage. Unless a friend wants a hand on their own property or what not then i would. But i will say they were always fun and exciting, especially when they worked lol. I do miss putting drives on. cant say enough how much fun they were when i was younger. Post or push either way..

Avoca here. Thats neat! At first i was like woah hes got him too! lol

That buck looks like a couple i have on cam in Steuben County

All they need to do is break out the heavy equipment and manage these forests like they should, and like other states do with there state lands. Have them farmed, managed and timbered etc.. Look at Missouri, they farm there state owned lands... I did notice the Naples location picked up some disks and tractor and such for ground working. Why cant there be a lottery system or draw of some sort for farmers to work those fallow fields on state lands free of charge. Between timber work and growing crops, the quality of hunting would increase incredibly..

My wife and I only made it out 4x each this bow season, which is sad since its my favorite and the best time to be out. But my work, the wifes work and the kids and their book of events, prevented us from getting out much. Not a big deal at all, their only young once. My wife missed 2 doe and got busted drawing an a 3rd, she was pretty bummed. Ive got video of her miss, just trying to figure out how to upload it.. As for myself getting out 4x, and strategically picking where to sit based on winds and recent deer movement via trail cam, I saw deer each time, passed a handful of younger bucks (no shots on doe) and missing my #1 buck. I would say my season could have been much worse.. I'm safe, didnt wound any critters, and deer season is still open. First doe that comes by gets the hammer.. Mama wants venison! Good luck all!!

if your being legal and on your own land, screw them. Put an orange hat or something on top of it if you want, when your in it. Or for all season long. its none of their biz.

I think you have 2 different bucks here my friend. From looking at those brow tines and g2s and 3s.. and general mass. IMO you have 2 different nice bucks! Could just be me though...

It sure can be him! no doubt. I dont have the proof of it, but ive seen it through other peoples experiences.

Man this article makes me super impressed with how our land and deer herd are going. Truly amazing. And the majority of the land owners around me will shoot a good 2.5 yr old, and a few that hold out for a 3.5 or better like myself. It just goes to show how fast managing can positively effect the herd. From Late Summer, thru this week I've captured on trail cam over 8 local bucks i know for a fact are 4.5yrs+. And probably another half dozen that are 3.5yrs old. Some regulars some are not as frequent, but in the woods this time of year, we just never know..

The old school cuddeback still holding on..

With the rain predicted, probably my old mans 1st gen Mossberg 500 12ga with single bead. In his honor. Its taken a couple of deer in its day. Wanted to use my Omega 50cal but i dont want a misfire in a soaking rain.

2 years ago, I used Deer Search. But I did my part in tracking him, and not looking too far with no sign to go on or without ruining the scene, so the dog could come in and track him easier. Dog found him in 20mins I will say I'm a member of that club as well and agree with most you are saying. There i salot of it going on in that club this year. I stay in touch with the man who found my buck often and he gets upward sof 75 call per weekend... think about that one! But I think social media just makes it more visible than it ever was 10 or 20 years ago when social media hardly existed. We flat out just read it more, literally. We all know some people who just wing arrows through the woods, regardless of the yardage just to hope they get lucky, and connect. Or as I see more often than not.. they dont call at all knowing the deer is dead somewhere, just to leave it rot and give up. and go chase another.. Happened at my camp this weekend with one of our hit list bucks.. gut shot.. never tracked the deer per where the deer was hit... never found him and gave up.. Instead of calling in a dog in hopes to find it. Especially as big of a deer as this one was.. If it were my property i would call the dog and find it for myself.. its a flat out shame!

Great idea/Post! I do the same, but I must have been born to run a Circus Show or Ballerina, cause my balancing game is on key! lol

Do they have planted instrcuations for row spacing and spacig between each shrub? Think im going to chose some red dogwood to screen a roadside with. I know people say not to use deer food as a screen and in most cases i would, but here the traffic is very low. I hate planting things that are of no benefit to anything. As for the maple trees, thats when i try to cut them down as well. For bud foods, my plots are destroyed already so i will most certainly be knocking some trees down this mid/late winter. The ridge I plan to work on, has nothing growing on the forest floor, Just lea flitter. Same with the hillside below it. Its all mostly younger dying Ash and some Maple, the ash are dying and some maple as well. Needs to be almost clear cut I think and started over.. with my hard and soft mast orchard

One of my mature bucks had that on his leg 2 seasons ago too, Still alive and has the bulge there but he walks just fine.

Glad there ok! There has been 3 other deer hits that i know of right there. Thats our hill to the north of the exit, a lot of deer cross there where Kanona, 390 and 86 all intersect.

We have a ton of red oaks, they are literally everywhere on everyone. I"m liking the dogwood, as well as others. The lady that owned this piece before us planted just about anything and everything flowering, berries, fruits etc.. but they are all maturing and or dying. Trying to put names to some of these and get them replaced before the neighbors do. lol I hope DEC offers the same as they did for 2017, i see myself spending some money, on my piece as well as my neighbors to improve everything wildlife.

Awesome, thank you! im cleaning out and sprucing up a ridge on one side of the property and another wood lot on the other side. Need some sort of pine to help screen them in, then some trees for food / cover would be great as well.

I wish i could dump a bunch of money into broad heads to experiment with, that would be fun.. And also to have more opportunities for harvesting whitetails to test them on lol. Maybe someday

Ive only taken 3 deer with my hypos so far but neither have ruined or even slightly damaged a tip. One rage hypo buried in a spine as well, came out super sharp still, blades tip and all.. etc Cattcounty- I love the Rage Hypodermics! Especially the sharp "hypodermic" tip. Have heard a lot of good stories/reviews on the "China"dermics from Ebay as well.

I would like it to be shorter, just to give our bucks a better chance to survive! I think its from more of a management perspective and not just a "hunting pov". I would love to still bow hunt un pressured deer in late season, but that in most places is hard to do successfully after theyve been running from slugs for a month. Why not put ML in front of Rifle? what sense does that make?

I have been since Bow season opened! lol I already cant wait to do the work! Stand locations, tree plantings, tree/brush removal etc.. the labor is the fun part