WNYBuckHunter

Its the warm weather. The group I hunt with were doing some drives this weekend, and the deer do not move unless you literally kick them out of their beds. They cannot sweat like us, and its hard for them to cool down with their thick, winter coats, so they just dont move. The only time they are moving is after dark, when the sun isnt beating on them. On opening day of gun, it was cold, normal temps out and I had 3 different bucks go by my stand before 11am. They are there, just wait till the weather cools down and they will be on the move again.

Congrats to your uncle, thats a deer of a lifetime for anyone.

Cool find. One of the guys I was hunting with last week found a buck skull as well, not as big as that one though.

Thanks for the info genesee_mohican.

If you look at the info for applying for tags there, you can get the info on the DMAPs. http://nysparks.state.ny.us/parks/79/permits-applications.aspx

The DEC is already involved in Letchworth. They have and hand out DMAPs to people that hunt there if they need them.

I understand where you are coming from but, the farmers along the outside of the park should be getting damage permits with deer density that high. After all, they make their living off of the crops that the deer are destroying. The farmers also receive aid from the government, which means all of the tax payers. They should get first crack. Do I think the DEC should set up a program to prompt farmers to allow hunters on their land, yes, but thats not the way it is at this point. As far as the deer traveling, of course they do, but if you have a few square miles at each end with 100 deer per square mile, then add in the deer that normally live toward the middle, you are still way over ideal density. Do I think more than just lowering the desity needs to be done? Yes. Too much of the park has become mature forest with little to no undergrowth, the canopy needs to be thinned out. Antler restrictions and other more stringent rules for hunting in the park are just tighter regs than what the DEC has in place for 8M. They cant open special seasons beyond what 8M already has, meaning allowing guns in bow season or extending seasons without DEC changing the laws for the park. They make more money from the campgrounds in the weeks surrounding the 4th of July than they do in all of hunting season from the cabins. Besides, if guys that have been regulars dont rent the cabins, Id put money on other people renting them. Youll just see a new crowd in there. Just my opinion though. BTW, from what I am seeing and hearing this season from all over the place, Letchworth isnt the only place thats been slow so far. Just my thoughts on what I have heard and seen.

Congrats on a great buck!

Great slick, congrats!

Congrats!

With all due respect, if the hunters arent getting the job done now, another week or two isnt going to do much. Regardless, they cannot allow hunting outside of the regular seasons and guidelines unless the DEC changes the season dates for that area. The park cannot do that on its own. All they can do is further restrict the laws already on the books (make their own rules). Letchworth is not its own entity, it is managed by the NYS parks dept, and an extra few thousand dollars is not going to be more than a drop in the bucket when it comes to that budget gap.

Yes, I have hunted the park, as well as camped hiked, etc in it all my life. I know where the deer congregate in the exclusion zones. That is where they said they did the sharp shooting/culling. Sorry, but 100 deer per square mile is a recipe for bad things to happen. Disease, starvation and other things come to mind. Like I said, they could do something like other areas have been looking into, and introduce contraception to the area. Id rather have some deer culled by use of sharp shooters and have the meat made use of rather than birth control for deer. Wouldnt you?

Read the article posted.

Who knows what the story is behind it, but we dont have any deer like that in Ontario county. The guy has to be lying.

Rigor doesnt last that long before the muscles relax again.

I used to use a bottle, but after learning about guys peeing in scrapes and seeing the trail cam footage to prove that it doesnt bother the deer, I just let it fly out of the stand. Ive had a couple of deer in this year right after I peed.

A deer that is upwind of you is not going to be able to smell the cig smoke. I smoked for the entire time I hunted up until the year before last, and I shot a ton of deer before that. I smoked in my stand all the time. If you smoke, you just need to worry about playing the wind more. Quitting smoking was the best thing I ever did.

They are saying that the counts came up with roughly 100 deer per square mile in certain areas of the park. If hunting alone isnt getting things under control, then what are they supposed to do? If they let in more hunters, everyone is going to complain that there are too many, or that its become too dangerous, etc. Whats wrong with them using sharp shooters and who is to say those guys arent deer hunters to begin with? They put the meat into the same venison donation program that many of us utilize as well, whats wrong with that? Its not like they are digging trenches and stacking deer in them like cord wood. Maybe you guys would rather them introduce deer contraception in the park? You know, eventually do away with hunting there so they dont have to hear from little old ladies complaining about blood soaked dirt?

Well, we at least saw a few deer tonight, none of them following the game plan. Not hunting in the morning, will give it another shot tomorrow afternoon.

Heading out to try some drives.

I never called you lazy. I said that your idea of adding apples under apple trees after all of the naturally growing ones were gone is illegal. I said that baiters are lazy, which is my opinion, so if you dont do it, what are you getting so uppity about? Ive never claimed to know everything, but youd better bet your ass I know what the laws are concerning something before I do it. BTW, sounds to me like you should take your own advice.

You must be reading Charlies prediction from last year. His prediction for this year put the main chase phase a week to week and a half before the gun opener, and peak breeding right now. Ive been seeing groups of does, but all at night for the most part. This warm weather has them in their bedding areas, and not moving. If the forecast holds true, all heck is gonna break loose in my area next week. Highs in the 30s and snow a couple of days.

Theres an easy way to find out if its true or not, just contact the DEC Region 8 office and ask rather than listen to rumors. They would have been involved in such a thing and can give you information about it or say if it even happened in the first place. Id be willing to bet you are hearing nothing more than a rumor. 1000 deer for 2 years in a row? Im highly doubtful, but if they took that many, then there was a serious over population problem. I spend quite a bit of time in the park camping and hiking each year, and have seen good numbers of deer there, but never anything like youd expect to see in an area that had to have 2000 deer in 2 years removed. The total deer take for 2010 in unit 8M (where Letchworth is) was 2400 deer, which means if that rumor is true, they shot almost half as many deer just in the park as hunters did in the whole WMU, which covers over 300 square miles. Doesnt add up IMO.

Got too warm for me here, back at the house till this evening.

Just saw a doe go bounding across the edge of the tree line 2 fields away.