G-Man

Well i guess i need to learn how to hunt bear as they are becoming much more common in my area. I had 2 bear i believe were 2yr old cubs decide to eat my 3d archery targets,several time this fall. And have had a large bear tear up a blind.. As well as trail cams pics of at least 2 others. So baiting is not legal here and thats all i seem to find info on. As well as spring season hunting over bait. So How do you hunt bears in the fall!!! Any and all Advice would be appreciated!

I don't wear orange during archery, but wear a vest during gun, and a hat and or vest during muzzleloader, i do this on my own property if i am hunting by myself or with friends. I'm not concerend with the people that i hunt with identifying their own target but tresspassers/neighbor's guests or the occasional "lost hunter" not knowing where i am. Its a matter of me wanting to make it to the next hunting season!!!!

I am on the north end of the lake ! small world!!

I think that 6 is only 2.5.. Some nice ones!!

This one bear knocked down my blind.and looks back as if did i do that?.. And a few more...

and a few from the cornfield ..

Nice !! these are some of the best i had on camera...from an apple orchard 50 yrds behind my house

Well tracking a deer is a dying art for two reasons..1st its tough!!! it requires learned skill and patience and enough access to continious land. Second the hunting industry can't make a $ off it so why advertise it!! much easier to show what scent/treestand/accessories you need to kill a deer like on this tv show!! lol ;D

Well i agree with larry its supose to be fun! And I also agree its tough to kill a big buck if you filled your tag with a smaller one. A great example is from this year's archery season. I run 5 trail cams on my property year round and had 3 large 8 2 10pts and lots of smaller bucks on camera. My frind mike comes down for the bow opener and fills his tag with a nice fat spike opening morning(happy as a clam with a smile in the picture from ear to ear!!) the following weekend he comes back hoping to get a shot a doe. with 15 min left he decides he's done for the day and is lowering his bow to the ground when one on the big 8pt walks down the logging road not 5yards from him!! He was so excites he saw it but more dissapointed he didn't have a tag to try to put it on..Said next year he wasn't shooting 1st deer he saw and actually carried that attitude in to gun season passing up several spikes and four points that normally would of ended up in his freezer!

Well lets just say everyone can identify a year and a half old buck...its now made it thru at least 2 hunting seasons.. your chances of seeing it as a 2 and a half drop dramaticaly its learned to survive,give it another year or two and it might have even learned to become nocturnal giving you 0 chance of a legal harvest. Look its a personal choice to pass up a smaller buck or not some years i do some years i don't fact is i enjoy hunting and do like to harvest game. I have eight guys in my camp with a few daughters and sons almost ready to join in. I want them to experiance hunting, and harvesting game and growing as a hunter themselves not being dictated to by its not big enough. Yes i do practice a form of deer management on my property but its not mandated to the hunter what they can or can't shoot! we simply provide the best habitat/food/cover that we can and the deer seem to be there year in and out. Yes we have taken some big bucks but we have also taken a lot of 1 and 1/2 year olds as well has many doe. I personal like to wait for a better buck and would like to see my friends hold out for one as well, i just nudge them that way by sharing trail cam pics from the summer and early fall to let them know what is hanging around the area. Some are passing smaller bucks after years of 1 1-2 year olds other shoot the 1st buck they see. i do not fault either method the only rule i have is you can shoot whatever is legal but don't complain if someone gets a bigger one! Just be Glad your out there hunting!!!

Well guys, i won a fenced boar hunt all expences paid for 3 days for 2 people..an friend and i went we were there a total of 2 hrs and both had boars..I was told by the "guide/owner" that he had never seen 2 guys shoot so well ...i by no means considered this a hunt, it was a good opportunity to get some delicious pork in the freezer.. neither of use mounted our "Trophy" and yes i would go back if i won another pig hunt i mean free meat is free meat!! Whats the difference if i win a ham at the supermarket or kill it myself.. I would not brag i killed a boar in a fenced area nor even say i hunted it. It is a strictly harvest situation for food. As for a deer hunt in a fenced area...I wouldn't pay to hunt deer out of state or in a fenced area..we have some great deer in this state and i enjoy the challange of getting a "good" buck.

I don't see a need to have mandated ar's by the state. I can make my own decision on what i wish to shoot. Yes i expect to hear well if i pass it up the neighbor down the road will shoot it..maybe maybe not.. I feel iif a person is happy with what they shoot so be it. I am sick of people screaming for ar's or wanting to start some qdm group with 8 points outside it's ears minimum ..only to see that person or persons involved killin 6pts forks spikes and continuing to hear them call for ar's. I starts with you!!! Look yearlings are inexperianced or dumb if you will. A two year old is two because its learned to aviod hunters a mature 3 ,4, or 5 plus are even smarter!!! there are big deer out there on public/private land but the average hunter is not going to see them or maybe not even know that they exist hunting 2-3 days a year! You don't believe me.. take a month and hunt everyday i will bet you will see more deer than you think are there! Hunting will never (at least i hope it never comes to) be go out see every 120 plus buck in the woods just strolling along and you pick the one you want and shoot it! If you insist that there are no big deer in your area....find another place to hunt!! almost 1/4 of the state is public land and most hunters only go less than 1/2 mile from a road. What you mean make you work to get your trophy!!! Yes and along the way enjoy the comrodery,friendships, sight and sounds of a true hunting experiance!! For those of you that think there will be a big buck around every tree if we have ar's.. ask yourself this..would you hunt deer if they didn't have horns at all ...if you wouldn't maybe your hunting for the wrong reasons..

Well i'll put in my 2 cents.. While corn my work for the 1st year your plot is pretty small and a few racoons will take care of it fast before it gets a chance to dry down(or dent) which is what you want for deer, second its clost to a pond..geese love to pull young emerging corn plants and eat them. I suggest a good white clover, it will be used all year, is easy to maintain and plant (no tilling nessary) just use the roundup to kill the ferns (very tough to kill you will need a few applications) do your soil test. Use a stiff lawn rake or wide lawnscaping rake to remove the surface trash,you can use lawn pellitized lime as it will break down just like in your lawn.(remember lime takes time to be incorperated into the soil. Sow your seed (its very small and you only need a little bit for the area you wish to plant) over seeding will only hurt your growth rate,follow the planting directions on amount to use what ever seed you buy!! I've use genaric seed ,biologic, and whitetail institute seed(i've seen the best results with the whitetail institute, drawing deer past my other clover plots) This planting will last you 3-5 years with proper mowing(helps keep the weeds out) or if you use herbacides to kill off the unwanted weeds. I do like corn but my own experiance tells me your plot is to small i plant minimum of 2-3 acre plots for corn and soybeans if i plan on hunting over them. 5 acres or more if i want to provide supplemental nutrition thru the winter.....well best of luck to you!!!

I like hybrid chestnuts as they produce fast 3-5 years and don't flower till july thus avoiding the frosts that have plagued my oaks and apples for the last 2 years. my oldest chestnuts are now 30ft plus and make almost a bushel of nuts a year! I still buy some every year but have made it a point to plant some of the nuts the last 5 years or so.. I forget where i've planted a lot(maybe old age creeping up on me) but seem to find them growing when i walk thru where i know i planted some..and i find some that i know must be from squirls relocating some nuts themselves. Going to plant some new spruce/fir trees this year as my pines no longer provide the winter cover that i am looking to provide.

Best fall plot i have found for turkey are oats, you just have to plant them later so they don't head out untill october. About middle of june works for me. Spring ?? well if you have a standing cornfield left with any corn left in it chop it(brushhog it). This also works in fall if you chop(brushhog) a few outside rows. You must have a high predator population or are lacking nesting cover if you not getting a good hatch. If you have all this has your land use changed..I had a nice neighbor who decided she would walk her dog on my logging roads since they were dry in the spring. I couldn't understand how a 15 year consistant roost are had just stop being used! that is until i say her one morning comming down the edge of the field with her dog. I politely asked her not to walk her dog there in april or may but was free to do so all summer till end of sept-dec hunting seasons. the birds returned in a few weeks and have been there ever since. And i still get along well with the neighbor. The one thing i have learned is that turkeys like undisturbed woods for roosting in. Just imagine if you got kicked out of your bedroom every morning..i'm sure you'ld find another place to sleep.

He broke about half the droptine off as well as an eleventh point..but who cares!!!

And my gun buck...only one that went out that am as no one wanted to walk thru 2ft.plus of snow. I strapped on my antique snow shoe and took a walk.. Alway better to be lucky than good!!

Here is my bow buck..had 12 trail cam pics of him before i was given a chance at him. Taken at 15 yards while still hunting me way into my stand.

Why shorten it?? The state should look into splitting the gun and bow into several seasons. Start bow oct 1st run for 2 weeks, then close it for 2 weeks run it for a week and close it again, same for gun run a 10 day 1st season close it for a week and re open it for 5 or 7 days. The majority of deer are taken in the opening 2 days of hte season, you want to manage numbers effeciently several opening days with "cool down" periods in between. are very effective as you keep getting a chance at undisturbed deer. Look at a lot of the big buck states. iowa even has late seasons after the holidays. Hate to say it but if you hunt in a big buck area (canada,mid west) you don't see huge numbers of deer..but you stand a chance of seeing quality when you do!