Supplimental feeding

[nyantler]

What I don't understand is if you all love hunting so much and aren't seeing deer.. why wouldn't you try someplace else.. there is a lot of state land to hunt... not to mention .. everyone complains about the lack of deer, yet all of those complaining will continue to do what ever they can to fill every tag they can get their hands on... from the same area.. year after year... I am all for guys hunting where and when and how they want.. but if you are going to continue to complain and still do the same things over and over, expecting different results.. then you get what you get...

[Doc]

Doc,

The story you are referring to was near Tupper Lake, actually seavey corners about 8 miles south of Tupper.  She had been feeding deer for a long time.  There was a local ordinance to stop feeding which was passed because she was causing problems with deer crossing State rt 3 and 56 getting hit in a high number. She was warned to stop several time before they actually ticketed her. She lived at the intersection of two state highways with lots of traffic.  Her problems were because of a township ordinance that was passed. I live aboutr 45 miutes from there and I remember when I was younget going up there on a sat afternoon to see the deer.  There would be 75-100 deer in her feeding area.

OK, that sounds more like it. So that was a local ordinance. That was a long time ago, and the details escaped me. However, I guess my memory isn't completely shot .... just partly ... ;D . Thanks for the info. I was already resigned to the fact that I must have simply imagined the whole thing .... lol.

[Doc]

I've got to admit that I have grown attachments to the land. I hunt where I grew up and to me, the land, the surroundings and the hunting are all inter-linked. Every foot of that acreage has memories of family and friends that hunted there.

For a while, I experimented with hunting in other places, but the experience isn't quite the same. For one thing, every place that I tried to hunt years ago had some house spring up or some posted signs, or some other interference that rendered all my knowledge there instantly unuseable. I finally got tired of that game and came back to the roots of my hunting where I know the land use is stable. I also have to admit that I really don't miss that getting up in the wee hours of the morning so I can spend an hour or two on the road to get where I want to hunt. I own acreage, and live next to 600+ acres of public land. So I have developed the philosophy that I will hunt the herd as I find it, scarce or plenty. If they are scarce, I look at it as an extra challenge. If the deer are plentiful, that's good news too. And even when I am not successful because the numbers are a bit low, I am still spending some quality time surrounded by a woods that reminds me of hundreds of hunts that span my entire lifetime, no matter what part of it I'm in. Another benefit of that kind of intense familiarity with your hunting area is that you really do understand what the herd condition and numbers are on that particular bunch of acres. Others may try to tell you about what's going on across the state, but no one is going to credibly tell you about what things are like where you are hunting when you have 5 or 6 decades of experience there day in and day out.

I'm not sure that explains why I and perhaps others are reluctant to chase the big herds. I suppose others have their own personal reasons for hunting where they do. I also suppose that's probably up to them and I wouldn't try to tell them they are wrong. Lot's of deer ..... darn few deer, that is not always the sole criteria for picking a spot to hunt. Not an easy concept for everyone to understand, but for some of us that's just the way it is. 

[Dave]

I've got to admit that I have grown attachments to the land. I hunt where I grew up and to me, the land, the surroundings and the hunting are all inter-linked. Every foot of that acreage has memories of family and friends that hunted there.

For a while, I experimented with hunting in other places, but the experience isn't quite the same. For one thing, every place that I tried to hunt years ago had some house spring up or some posted signs, or some other interference that rendered all my knowledge there instantly unuseable. I finally got tired of that game and came back to the roots of my hunting where I know the land use is stable. I also have to admit that I really don't miss that getting up in the wee hours of the morning so I can spend an hour or two on the road to get where I want to hunt. I own acreage, and live next to 600+ acres of public land. So I have developed the philosophy that I will hunt the herd as I find it, scarce or plenty. If they are scarce, I look at it as an extra challenge. If the deer are plentiful, that's good news too. And even when I am not successful because the numbers are a bit low, I am still spending some quality time surrounded by a woods that reminds me of hundreds of hunts that span my entire lifetime, no matter what part of it I'm in. Another benefit of that kind of intense familiarity with your hunting area is that you really do understand what the herd condition and numbers are on that particular bunch of acres. Others may try to tell you about what's going on across the state, but no one is going to credibly tell you about what things are like where you are hunting when you have 5 or 6 decades of experience there day in and day out.

I'm not sure that explains why I and perhaps others are reluctant to chase the big herds. I suppose others have their own personal reasons for hunting where they do. I also suppose that's probably up to them and I wouldn't try to tell them they are wrong. Lot's of deer ..... darn few deer, that is not always the sole criteria for picking a spot to hunt. Not an easy concept for everyone to understand, but for some of us that's just the way it is.

Doc, that's the way I feel about it. Especially if you own land, you don't abandon it. Yes I see fewer deer but I do see deer and that is what counts. Plus that special attachment you have to the land that you don't always have to public land. Especially if you find someone hunting in a spot you have been hunting for year. Is is what it is. I whole heartedly agree with your logic.

Dave

[nyantler]

I understand totally...

[G-Man]

Well since the states management units are vast in size, they cant and don't know what the local herd populations are. micro manage you own area, just because the state gives out doe tags doesn't mean you need to fill every tag they issue you. if your not seeing deer pass the doe it only takes a year or two and the population will triple, enjoy the hunt and take the 65 or so dollars that they charge to cut up a deer and buy some meat from the local store. If the population is that large that you feel you have to supplemental feed so they will survive maybe it time you shoot some doe....

[hang fyre]

Doc I agree wholeheartedly with you.  I do most of my hunting on public lands near my home.  I concentrate on bow season when pressure is lighter.  when rifle starts, I try to hunt mid-week and off times.  I see deer, the numbers go up and down with the health of the herd.  I do not believe in baiting or feeding during deer season or spring/ summer.  But when the snow gets deep here as it does (3 to 4 feet), I have helped out the herd by cutting hemlocks/ cedars.  There is no corn fields here so I know putting that out would just harm them.  I have put out blocks/ sweet stuff by my bird feeders when I noticed lots of deer tracks in the snow under them.  Every year when my friends and I shoot deer we see corn in their stomachs  so people are feeding them corn during season.  The deer love it but it gives them no nutrition and I wish these guys knew that. 

[arrow nocker]

i get like 4 ft of snow constantly every year here in Volney/Oswego.I see deer in the spring summer and fall.Winter,they adapt.It is bread into them.They survive.The week die.But that is nature.The strong does teach the young.There is good gene pool here.Verry few corn feilds.Not like one within 3 miles.The slob hunters are the real herd killers.If they would practice some more qdm and not shoot everything they can and not fill out tags and bang two bucks bow and two gun then there would be more.Can't fix what you can't controll.Feeding won't bring up the ammount of deer.

[wooly]

What about some chow in front of a cam. I'm not talking about 100lbs of your preferred deer feed dumped in a pile, more like a 3-5lb pile at a time. Not really enough to be concidered "supplimental" but rather more of an attractant to get a better look at what's in the area as they pass by. I think if location is thought out well, this could be beneficial to the non yarding herd to hold them over durring times of tough travel to the primary feeding sites.

I suppose on the other hand, predation needs to be taken into concideration whenever you have a congragation of whitetail in an isolated area. Would think that might be a bigger killer of the herd than disease or digestion problems but more likely on a grander scale in wintering locations.

I guess it's pretty simple to understand here by most of the replys that most believe "feeding" is really not beneficial to the herds overall health. Most folks enjoy watching deer period. This time of year that can be tough to do without a bit of persuasion. :-\

[growalot]

I would like to, but my concern is that if the deer congregate near my  food and we get heavy winter accumulation, they may not be in the area  they should be (for shelter, water, natural food, etc) and I could do  more harm than good. We should not be a substitute for what old mother  nature intended.

Ya know I said all bow season and most of late summer...there aren't the doe around like there use to be...ppl have got to open their  eyes...hey they are the buck producers...I still feel that way and in my management I Usually only take one doe here at home and as many as I can get tags legally for down at camp...Well during gun I found out why I wasn't seeing them...as they traveled 15-16 doe and fawn out of my neighbors swamp just before dark..to feed in my plots...hhhmm now I'm on the land daily so I see whats whatand we have deer but I had no idea just how many so close...point is ppl can't go on what they see all the time....I took 2 doe this year off our place...and have plenty more on cam this january ...hitting those plots

I'd rather they have natural browse and the plots to feed from...I do all tree trimming in late jan thru Febuary into March...the toughest time for them...

[Paulie]

Grow, if u need help trimming the herd, I can be available! Ha

Orion, I don't think I saw, what zone do you hunt? Maybe others from that zone can share what they are seeing?

[wztirem]

•   Winter feeding is not the key to deer survival in the northeast ...  You can only imagine what that many deer do to the natural habitat around a ... Information sheet on deer feeding regulations - New York State Department of ...
  www.whitetailstewards.com/.../deerhabitatmanagement/winterfeeding.htm - Cached - Similar
  
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  The attached link is an interesting read and provides a wealth of available information concerning supplemental deer feeding.