MarkDarvin
Well-Known Member
What is everyone baiting with, and for how long?
How do you all determine - Doe Harvest?
- Thread starter buckhunter10
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farmhunter
Well-Known Member
I get what you mean about having an obligation to take does. I see how i and others have worded our thoughts gives that impression.
Some part of me does feel that way when winter kill is likely. But I think for us anyhow, taking ample does, maybe even surplus does let’s all of our hunters participate in the hunt and we protect most of the young bucks.
We still value our family and friends hunting experience - and most Everyone is happy to take a doe over a young buck- so we don’t mind that the neighbors don’t take too many.
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Some part of me does feel that way when winter kill is likely. But I think for us anyhow, taking ample does, maybe even surplus does let’s all of our hunters participate in the hunt and we protect most of the young bucks.
We still value our family and friends hunting experience - and most Everyone is happy to take a doe over a young buck- so we don’t mind that the neighbors don’t take too many.
Sent from my iPhone using Deer Hunter Forum
shaman
Member
If all you have is a hammer, then all you see is nails.
That's kind of how I see it. I've got 200 acres in KY. It's in the middle of one of the more heavily hunted areas of Zone 1, which means deer outnumber people until The Opener, and then it's WWIII.
Neighbors plant plots. Neighbors bait. It's a never-ending escalation. Folks lose sight of what they're doing. The truth is, what they're doing is increasing the carrying capacity of the land in general. In the long run, that means more deer, but none of this work makes hunting dead-nuts certain. It doesn't guarantee deer on the property
What I've learned over the past 17 seasons is that outdoing the neighbors never works. Learn to new strategies and putting them to work. Take this link as an example:
https://fw.ky.gov/Wildlife/Pages/Habitat-How-To's.aspx
I know the guy that wrote most of the site. Wes Maddox is our local wildlife biologist. This site has gobs of strategies that are low-cost or no-cost solutions for attracting deer to the property. I don't bait. It's not that I'm against it. I just know all my neighbors bait. I do other things. My neighbor on the north side, Wally, used to freely admit that for the $800 in corn he was putting out, mostly all he was doing was feeding my deer. My neighbor on the south has food plots. Mostly he's feeding my deer as well.
Things that are no cost, like edge-feathering, sometimes work as well or better than expensive baiting and planting. Some, like strip-disking and hinge-cutting, are low-cost alternatives.
All this QDM stuff is written for big time operations by folks who manage bit time operations. If all you have is a few hundred acres, your deer are going to be moving on and off your property and going to be heavily influenced by what your neighbors are doing. My advice is to counter-program. If your neighbors are baiting and doing plots, do something else.
So shaman, what's your best trick?
Strip-disking did it for me. I've got 40 acres of pasture. A lot of it is deadlocked in fescue. However, a number of years ago, I had a guy come in and plow up some of that pasture. That broke the stranglehold of the fescue and let natural forbs get a grip again. One of those weeds, and I'll be deuced to tell you which one, was the magic bullet. Whatever, it is, the deer keep coming back to it year after year and browsing on it just in time for the Rifle Opener.
One other thing: Don't piss off your doe. I know everyone is big on managing their herd with doe harvests. I'm bit of a contrarian on that issue as well. Yes, our camp all take a doe or two every season, but we try not to take out the matriarchs, and try to limit our impact on the doe groups as well. I've made the mistake of taking the big doe at the front of the line, and had it screw up a particularly good stand for 5 years. Remember, that doe are your best bait for big bucks. They're the best confidence decoys. They're what make or break your season.
This past season, I had a doe come up and stick her head in the blind, before wandering out into the pasture. 5 minutes later, I heard what sounded like a buck raking a bush close to the blind, and shortly thereafter, a buck came by and looked in. I shot him at about 20 yards while the doe looked on.
That's kind of how I see it. I've got 200 acres in KY. It's in the middle of one of the more heavily hunted areas of Zone 1, which means deer outnumber people until The Opener, and then it's WWIII.
Neighbors plant plots. Neighbors bait. It's a never-ending escalation. Folks lose sight of what they're doing. The truth is, what they're doing is increasing the carrying capacity of the land in general. In the long run, that means more deer, but none of this work makes hunting dead-nuts certain. It doesn't guarantee deer on the property
What I've learned over the past 17 seasons is that outdoing the neighbors never works. Learn to new strategies and putting them to work. Take this link as an example:
https://fw.ky.gov/Wildlife/Pages/Habitat-How-To's.aspx
I know the guy that wrote most of the site. Wes Maddox is our local wildlife biologist. This site has gobs of strategies that are low-cost or no-cost solutions for attracting deer to the property. I don't bait. It's not that I'm against it. I just know all my neighbors bait. I do other things. My neighbor on the north side, Wally, used to freely admit that for the $800 in corn he was putting out, mostly all he was doing was feeding my deer. My neighbor on the south has food plots. Mostly he's feeding my deer as well.
Things that are no cost, like edge-feathering, sometimes work as well or better than expensive baiting and planting. Some, like strip-disking and hinge-cutting, are low-cost alternatives.
All this QDM stuff is written for big time operations by folks who manage bit time operations. If all you have is a few hundred acres, your deer are going to be moving on and off your property and going to be heavily influenced by what your neighbors are doing. My advice is to counter-program. If your neighbors are baiting and doing plots, do something else.
So shaman, what's your best trick?
Strip-disking did it for me. I've got 40 acres of pasture. A lot of it is deadlocked in fescue. However, a number of years ago, I had a guy come in and plow up some of that pasture. That broke the stranglehold of the fescue and let natural forbs get a grip again. One of those weeds, and I'll be deuced to tell you which one, was the magic bullet. Whatever, it is, the deer keep coming back to it year after year and browsing on it just in time for the Rifle Opener.
One other thing: Don't piss off your doe. I know everyone is big on managing their herd with doe harvests. I'm bit of a contrarian on that issue as well. Yes, our camp all take a doe or two every season, but we try not to take out the matriarchs, and try to limit our impact on the doe groups as well. I've made the mistake of taking the big doe at the front of the line, and had it screw up a particularly good stand for 5 years. Remember, that doe are your best bait for big bucks. They're the best confidence decoys. They're what make or break your season.
This past season, I had a doe come up and stick her head in the blind, before wandering out into the pasture. 5 minutes later, I heard what sounded like a buck raking a bush close to the blind, and shortly thereafter, a buck came by and looked in. I shot him at about 20 yards while the doe looked on.
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