I’m in a NY state of mind

[Nomad]

So as not to pollute the live from the woods anymore , I’ll start a new post , to try to explain my thoughts and feelings about deer hunting for me today . I’ll skip past my first 13 years, and start 31 years ago, as that’s when I began hunting the spot I hunt today as well as being my first year bow hunting . Well I bought my first tree stand because I figured I’d need one for bow, most gun hunters I knew didn’t use them much as we didn’t stay in one place to, long , we went after the deer , but for first and last light leaning on a tree or sitting on a log worked just fine in gun it seemed .

I had 3 others that hunted with me , but typically had just two or three of us total,at a time  we sat till 9 often on the ground , then joined up with another 8 or 10 locals and drove till 3 when we’d then go sit again . Driving was fun and very productive ,many of those guys have done them for years and knew where the deer bedded and where they’d run to , the team work and camaraderie was unmatched ! So was the work ,we drove farm wood lots in the middle of large muddy crop fields, just walking to them was work, always stopping to scrape a few pounds of mud off your boots or trying  to pull a boot free of the muds hold. I came home covered in mud from the knee down ,and exhausted . But my fondest hunting memories revolve around dropping running deer at pretty far distances , then the work to get them out , those deer were more satisfying then almost any other , Ive since took  .

If we didn’t feel like the big drives we’d stay on my side and do 2-3 man pushes , we’d walk ditches, hedgerows , sunny edges of thickets, creek beds, jump a deer and drop it as it ran , or it ran to a guy we placed on its escape route , which we knew well . Great fun! Teamwork ,knowledge of the deer habits , and just plain hard work , difficult walking and dragging deer did make the evenings meal more satisfying too !

About IDk ten years ago, I got placed under the farms rules ,one of which is no driving or walking around . My one friend asked me what the “ hell are we going to do all day ? “ sitting in a tree all day never really occurred to him ,or appealed I guess as he stopped hunting  a couple years after . So now we sit in stands longer, go to lunch in town, nap in the truck , and go back in earlier. Not near as fun, but I’m adapting, and at least hunting today doesn’t tire you out , not sure what my daughters learning by hunting that way though .

I long for the days of the past , boots on the ground , hard work, we got wet , cold , sweated bad on drives ,then froze on stand .

Today many around me drive their atv right to their blind, sit  and drive home , that’s  just not satisfying to me , the buck I shot with my rifle OD was ho hum .... a broadside buck just standing there for minutes while I decided if I was going to kill it . I much preferred  when it felt like  I was more a hunter and less of a  hunter who sits  , but loss of neighboring lands, farm rules , removal of hedgerows and brushy creek bottoms , along with aging took much of that away . 

I may be forced to sit on my a$$ and shoot some stationary deer while he eats , but I’ll still drag that MF’er out by his horns , it’s about all I’ve got left of the good old days .

[turkeyfeathers]

Good read Larry

[phade]

Time is the ultimate change agent.

[UpStateRedNeck]

Sitting tires me out more than walking to be honest.  Sitting still in cold weather really takes it out of you.

Killed my first good buck ever on a walk and stalk.  I was 19, it was Thanksgiving morning.  I clipped him across the gut and the femoral artery, and immediately started chasing him!  Chased him all the way from the south end of the property to the north, down the side of the hill.  He eventually ran out of blood and died in heap in some nasty brush.  Even at that age, dragging him up 2 ledges to the access road was no damn fun!  All worth it though.  Still enjoy a good walk and stalk during gun, if opening day doesn't pan out.  I'm very fortunate in that I have terrain that it pays to do both in.

[NockednLoaded]

Larry may I ask why the farm changed the rule to no walking or driving?

[Fletch]

Good read and I started the same way up in the Dacks and in big state land in 7M. Sit in the am and pm for at most 2 hours. Do drives or sneak and peak during the days. I lost weight back in those days during hunting season. Now I have lost so many hunting spots the few local I have we do not want to hog up and the close public gets slammed. We still get a few days out using the boots more but not like 30+ years ago.

[BizCT]

1 hour ago, Nomad said:

So as not to pollute the live from the woods anymore , I’ll start a new post , to try to explain my thoughts and feelings about deer hunting for me today . I’ll skip past my first 13 years, and start 31 years ago, as that’s when I began hunting the spot I hunt today as well as being my first year bow hunting . Well I bought my first tree stand because I figured I’d need one for bow, most gun hunters I knew didn’t use them much as we didn’t stay in one place to, long , we went after the deer , but for first and last light leaning on a tree or sitting on a log worked just fine in gun it seemed .

I had 3 others that hunted with me , but typically had just two or three of us total,at a time  we sat till 9 often on the ground , then joined up with another 8 or 10 locals and drove till 3 when we’d then go sit again . Driving was fun and very productive ,many of those guys have done them for years and knew where the deer bedded and where they’d run to , the team work and camaraderie was unmatched ! So was the work ,we drove farm wood lots in the middle of large muddy crop fields, just walking to them was work, always stopping to scrape a few pounds of mud off your boots or trying  to pull a boot free of the muds hold. I came home covered in mud from the knee down ,and exhausted . But my fondest hunting memories revolve around dropping running deer at pretty far distances , then the work to get them out , those deer were more satisfying then almost any other , Ive since took  .

If we didn’t feel like the big drives we’d stay on my side and do 2-3 man pushes , we’d walk ditches, hedgerows , sunny edges of thickets, creek beds, jump a deer and drop it as it ran , or it ran to a guy we placed on its escape route , which we knew well . Great fun! Teamwork ,knowledge of the deer habits , and just plain hard work , difficult walking and dragging deer did make the evenings meal more satisfying too !

About IDk ten years ago, I got placed under the farms rules ,one of which is no driving or walking around . My one friend asked me what the “ hell are we going to do all day ? “ sitting in a tree all day never really occurred to him ,or appealed I guess as he stopped hunting  a couple years after . So now we sit in stands longer, go to lunch in town, nap in the truck , and go back in earlier. Not near as fun, but I’m adapting, and at least hunting today doesn’t tire you out , not sure what my daughters learning by hunting that way though .

I long for the days of the past , boots on the ground , hard work, we got wet , cold , sweated bad on drives ,then froze on stand .

Today many around me drive their atv right to their blind, sit  and drive home , that’s  just not satisfying to me , the buck I shot with my rifle OD was ho hum .... a broadside buck just standing there for minutes while I decided if I was going to kill it . I much preferred  when it felt like  I was more a hunter and less of a  hunter who sits  , but loss of neighboring lands, farm rules , removal of hedgerows and brushy creek bottoms , along with aging took much of that away . 

I may be forced to sit on my a$$ and shoot some stationary deer while he eats , but I’ll still drag that MF’er out by his horns , it’s about all I’ve got left of the good old days .

You would like hunting 3N with me! I've never done a deer drive, but gun hunting is sitting morning and night and still hunting midday. My Dad bought an atv when he finally bought his own land but we only used it once out of the 6 bucks we killed in the past few years. We just gut and start dragging up steep hills and over rocks. If we are working together, we can get out of the woods faster than driving back to the house loaded atv and driving back. 

Many years ago when we hunted the catskills mountains stateland, it was the same thing. Hike 45-60min. into your spot and then hunt sitting or still hunting all day and hike back out after dark. if you got one, it was an all day drag out.

I mentioned this in that other thread where you started to talk about this- Something about dragging and stopping and dragging and stopping really allows me to cherish the buck that I just killed. Moreso, when it's going on the wall and I have to keep the neck and shoulders above the rocks.

[crappyice]

For the first time this year I was alone for the entire process - scouting, harvesting(or catching as some might say), blood tracking, field dressing, dragging, skinning, butchering, but not eating-that will be shared.
And while I love hunting with my partners, there was something truly enjoyable about doing it solo.



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[cdbing]

Good read Nomad. My hunting background and stat of mind is very different. Started hunting in my 30s mostly solo and on public ground with a slug gun. Chose the biggest tracks of ground walked as far back as I could get and made a ton of rookie mistakes. Mostly I got cold, tired and frustrated at my lack of success year after year. I never gave a thought to what it would take to drag a deer the miles I would have had to....however due to my lack of success that never became an issue.

A few years later I picked up bow hunting from treestands. Saw lots more critters, hunted more and in warmer weather. Still made rookie mistakes, but was no where as discouraged and eventually I was successful.

Fast forward 25 yrs or so, now I rarely pick up a slug gun or rifle, rarely walk more than 1 mile and enjoy hunting. Most deer have fallen within half mile of my truck. It helps to hunt in a target rich environment like LI no doubt, and I don't have to go far and beyond. There is a satisfaction that comes from dragging a deer, but enjoyment is not a word I would use.

Just my perspective.

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[dbHunterNY]

honestly the biggest appeal of a deer drive was you drove a section of woods and didn't know what was going to run out. with trail cams now you have a pretty good idea of what's around. also if you knew something was around why would you clear the woods out and take a guaranteed chance it'll be somewhere else. also monday opener had hunting parties and get togethers the weekend prior now it's work straight to game time. not to mention the general population of hunters is getting older and can't really do it for each other as well.

i'll throw out one more, that happens to be a molotov cocktail to deer drives. more often than not deer drives bent the conservation laws hard. i know of more trespassing infractions and inappropriately tagged game from deer drives than otherwise. not to say i think they're bad. they have their place and i've done them.

[BowmanMike]

I only started hunting 8 or so years ago in my late thirties. I learned a lot from a friend who suggested spots for me and my climber. He also took me along with his family and friends to do drives. These guys have been hunting a long time and know the area well. That was a lot of fun. I like to change it up sit some,move some. when i started bow hunting a 4 or 5 years ago that really became my focus. That season is so much more enjoyable to me. Gun season is a bit of a let down. I am looking forward to doing some drives this weekend with friends on a new to me property,or properties really. My buddy who got me started is busy,so we didn't make it out together much this year.

It seems like everything in life,my goals and joys of hunting change from year to year.

[DirtTime]

That was a nice read.

 

But....

I'll take a "Ho-Hum" buck or does over nothing.

 

Go hunt the Dacks or even the Catskills, get some tracking/stalking on. If you are bored shooting great bucks like the one you got then go challenge yourself in some big woods.

[grampy]

Great post Larry. You and I are close in age. I too remember the deer drives in the early years of my hunting. Put on by old masters, who knew the land and the deer we hunted very well. Rarely was a standing deer shot. And we were all using smoothbore shotguns, with the lead pumpkin, foster slugs. At that time no one had a designated "deer gun". It was usually the same one used for small game, birds, varmints, and deer! But you knew that gun like family. And us youngsters happily dragged the deer for the old guys!

When those old guys passed on, the deer drives never were the same for me. Oh we still did them! And quite successfully too!  But without the old guys it just wasn't as much fun to me anymore. Then in the early 80s I found bow hunting. And that changed everything for me and my lifelong hunting partner. 

Now the game was to get CLOSE to deer, without them knowing you were there! And we caught on pretty quick. And the thrill was increased by seeing how close you could get, by stalking them! This was the period where I became a hunter. I learned so much from the deer themselves in those days. I was younger and stronger. Could hold motionless with a foot in the air, for as long as it took when caught moving. We didn't care how far we had to drag the deer, as long as we GOT the deer! We could draw and shoot our bows in one fluid movement. And we killed a bunch of deer in those years. Not many since have been as satisfying. Even though we killed bigger deer in the preceding years. 

As we got a little older, and had slightly more money to spend on hunting. We got rifled barreled shotguns, warmer camo clothing, and hang on tree stands. And we used all that to our advantage sure! But we still got on the ground and got our share of deer too. And sometimes even used a tractor to get a deer out, because it was faster. Because there was somewhere else we had to be, for work or family! As that had to take priority over hunting at times. Just as it is now for hunters with growing families.

Then, about fifteen years ago we bought the first ATV. It was a huge help on the farm! And was great for putting up, and moving all those cheap new ladder stands for hunting too! Man we killed a bunch of our best bucks from those things! But I never really felt comfortable in them. Always felt better from the ground. I felt more connected to the deer I hunted from the ground. That thrill of being on their level, is most satisfying to me. It's when I enjoy hunting most.

These last few years the injuries, and health issues came. I'm not ashamed to use a wheeler to help get a deer out and hung up. I may even use one to get up in the back, park it and walk, or stalk the last few hundred yards to my natural brush blind. Where I can still kill deer!

It's all really just a natural progression. Nothing stays the same. I even stepped out of my comfort zone to do something different this year. Made a long cut in a bedding area that I knew would be the farthest shot I'd take on a deer. Made it work. And it felt great! I've learned to accept new things in hunting, while holding on to old ones. And still enjoying every minute of it all. We only have so many seasons in our lifetimes. Make the most of every one of em.