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Post by smsmith on Nov 18, 2017 8:47:11 GMT -6
I like the idea of walking across my yard and getting on a deer stand that is heated, with s roof , and windows. Even a quarter mile walk to a ladder stand is ok at this age. Many of us put too much emphasis on antlers. I was going to say racks. Fun to look at and talk about and not the whole story. I think that's opinion, not fact. How many deer hunters would continue to hunt if they knew before heading out that they had zero chance of seeing a big buck?
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Post by Foggy on Nov 18, 2017 8:48:22 GMT -6
I really like the idea of land in MO......and the great hunting it provides. I'd have to change my whole lifestyle to do what you do tho MO......and I think my wife (of 48 years) would leave me along the side of the road. Thing is.....I like golf and fishing and going out for an evening cruise on the lake, going to OZ in the winter.....and playing on my deer property. It's called "balance". Grin. To each his own. FORE! OH!......and keep those pics coming. We all like watching your adventures in trophy hunting.....even if we are living a different life at the time. Your enjoying the hell out of those hunts......GOOD ON YOU!
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Post by coop on Nov 18, 2017 8:50:20 GMT -6
I like the idea of walking across my yard and getting on a deer stand that is heated, with s roof , and windows. Even a quarter mile walk to a ladder stand is ok at this age. Many of us put too much emphasis on antlers. I was going to say racks. Fun to look at and talk about and not the whole story. I’ve enjoyed looking at, talking about, & thinking about big racks since i was about ten yrs old. Big bucks are cool too.
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Post by wklman on Nov 18, 2017 8:52:12 GMT -6
To be honest I kind of like the challenge of hunting Minnesota. I'm lucky enough that not every neighbor shoots the shit out of the deer herd and a few get threw to 3 years old. I don't expect a nice one every year but getting them on cam and knowing they're around makes the hunt that much more fun.
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Post by Sandbur on Nov 18, 2017 9:00:58 GMT -6
Mo- I would love to have hunting like you have, but I don’t want to drive that far to do it. And for right now I do not want to move.
And when it comes down to it, it doesn’t matter if my biggest buck scores 167 or 185 in my final days. I still have stories to tell either way. Most important to me is young venison to eat every year.
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Post by Sandbur on Nov 18, 2017 9:04:02 GMT -6
Keep the pictures coming. I love to look at different habitat and learn how the deer use it. I would like to see that Missouri deer country and also would like to visit Carl’s place. Not necessarily to hunt, but just to look around at Habitat.
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Post by Foggy on Nov 18, 2017 9:34:34 GMT -6
I like seeing the big racks you post...and like seeing pics of a few bucks too!
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Post by biglakebass on Nov 18, 2017 9:43:36 GMT -6
I like the idea of walking across my yard and getting on a deer stand that is heated, with s roof , and windows. Even a quarter mile walk to a ladder stand is ok at this age. Many of us put too much emphasis on antlers. I was going to say racks. Fun to look at and talk about and not the whole story. I dont put too much emphasis on antlers. I put the right amount of emphasis on antlers. - I get zero pride in shooting any fawn, ever. Its as challenging as going out into a farmyard and shooting a free range chicken. - I get next to zero pride in shooting a doe. the reason we have any deer is because of does and we all know densities suck ass in most of the state already so why compound the problem. In the right location, its obviously ok to harvest some does. Where my parents live there are lots of deer. We could take a doe safely, but I prefer to keep the numbers high, and better yet maybe more to see next year. - I get zero pride in shooting a young buck. Thats just me. So that leaves a buck with age. Thats my goal. Nothing else. I dont have to shoot a deer to be happy. But seeing some deer is a success in many ways. Sad to say that seeing just one deer in a sit seems like an accomplishment in much of MN. I surely dont need venison to survive so that helps support my end goals as well.
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Post by westbranch on Nov 18, 2017 10:04:02 GMT -6
0 deer and elk within shooting range for me this year. I haven't really been hunting too smart, covering too much ground too quickly. Spooked up critters without getting good looks at them. Rare to have visibility of more that 20-30 yards in this country. Have seen a lot of sign and did find a little fork whitetail shed. Started a new job in Sept so was only able to do day hunts. I have a couple days of deer gun season left and couple days of archery elk in Dec.
Last year in MN I bow hunted only, 7 days in the stand and 4 were all day sits. Had 7 different 1.5 YOs in bow range. Saw 3 older bucks from 70-300+ yards. Deer "sightings" (including repeats) varied from 1-30 a day.
Went from a damn good situation in MN to hunting thick, steep public land that has only has a couple deer and elk per sq mile. It has been fun so far.
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Post by Foggy on Nov 18, 2017 10:20:35 GMT -6
0 deer and elk within shooting range for me this year. I haven't really been hunting too smart, covering too much ground too quickly. Spooked up critters without getting good looks at them. Rare to have visibility of more that 20-30 yards in this country. Have seen a lot of sign and did find a little fork whitetail shed. Started a new job in Sept so was only able to do day hunts. I have a couple days of deer gun season left and couple days of archery elk in Dec. Last year in MN I bow hunted only, 7 days in the stand and 4 were all day sits. Had 7 different 1.5 YOs in bow range. Saw 3 older bucks from 70-300+ yards. Deer "sightings" (including repeats) varied from 1-30 a day. Went from a damn good situation in MN to hunting thick, steep public land that has only has a couple deer and elk per sq mile. It has been fun so far. I hunted Idaho years back and understand what your saying about cover One thing I found successful was to s l o w l y still hunt Take three quiet steps and watch Three more.... focus....more Etc Very difficult to hunt like that as you don’t cover large areas...but also can be very successful if you do it right. Not for everyone
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Post by smsmith on Nov 18, 2017 10:45:31 GMT -6
I like the idea of walking across my yard and getting on a deer stand that is heated, with s roof , and windows. Even a quarter mile walk to a ladder stand is ok at this age. Many of us put too much emphasis on antlers. I was going to say racks. Fun to look at and talk about and not the whole story. I dont put too much emphasis on antlers. I put the right amount of emphasis on antlers. - I get zero pride in shooting any fawn, ever. Its as challenging as going out into a farmyard and shooting a free range chicken. - I get next to zero pride in shooting a doe. the reason we have any deer is because of does and we all know densities suck ass in most of the state already so why compound the problem. In the right location, its obviously ok to harvest some does. Where my parents live there are lots of deer. We could take a doe safely, but I prefer to keep the numbers high, and better yet maybe more to see next year. - I get zero pride in shooting a young buck. Thats just me.
So that leaves a buck with age. Thats my goal. Nothing else. I dont have to shoot a deer to be happy. But seeing some deer is a success in many ways. Sad to say that seeing just one deer in a sit seems like an accomplishment in much of MN.I surely dont need venison to survive so that helps support my end goals as well. Sad indeed. Bob's brother was here to hunt gun opener and didn't see a deer from Saturday through Monday a.m. Not exactly a quality experience. Your other points pretty much are identical to my line of thought.
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Post by westbranch on Nov 18, 2017 11:09:17 GMT -6
0 deer and elk within shooting range for me this year. I haven't really been hunting too smart, covering too much ground too quickly. Spooked up critters without getting good looks at them. Rare to have visibility of more that 20-30 yards in this country. Have seen a lot of sign and did find a little fork whitetail shed. Started a new job in Sept so was only able to do day hunts. I have a couple days of deer gun season left and couple days of archery elk in Dec. Last year in MN I bow hunted only, 7 days in the stand and 4 were all day sits. Had 7 different 1.5 YOs in bow range. Saw 3 older bucks from 70-300+ yards. Deer "sightings" (including repeats) varied from 1-30 a day. Went from a damn good situation in MN to hunting thick, steep public land that has only has a couple deer and elk per sq mile. It has been fun so far. I hunted Idaho years back and understand what your saying about cover One thing I found successful was to s l o w l y still hunt Take three quiet steps and watch Three more.... focus....more Etc Very difficult to hunt like that as you don’t cover large areas...but also can be very successful if you do it right. Not for everyone Yup, it is something I know I should be doing but keep thinking about what is over the next ridge and want to take a look. I had some good experiences still hunting in MN as a teenager. Not sure if the steepness is worse than the brush in N ID, a lot of 50%-60% grades, ridges and canyon bottoms are narrow. Hardly any meadows, bowls, etc around here. The thick brush does make it hard to sidehill or switchback. Did a ton of hiking this past summer and I am in the best shape I have been in for 5+ years, but legs would still be in rough shape after a day of hunting/scouting. I have seen people talk about covering 8-12 miles a day elk hunting when they are doing spot and stalk mixed with calling, not something you would do in this area. But I have covered a lot of different ground, and have a better idea of where to focus next year. There are some large industrial timberland (Potlatch, clearwater paper, etc.) areas about 2-3 hrs drive south that are supposed to be good whitetail hunting. Calling is supposed to be effective this time of year, but unfortunately could not make it down there this year. Working on planning some longer hunts next year.
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Post by Foggy on Nov 18, 2017 11:23:38 GMT -6
^ Was elk hunting in Idaho panhandle and using the slow still hunt method above. After several hours found myself a bit too low on a somewhat open point of grassland. moved slowly up the mountain....and got within 30 feet of a HUGE bull. First saw his antler tips waving in the grass behind a slight rise.....and then his head came up. Damn near swallowed my tongue. The biggest bull you would have wanted to find. And just like that some cows spotted me and they were off. Never got a shot at that bull..... - kinda too long of a story on why......but it still pains me to this day. Had to be one of the biggest royal bulls in the Rockies.....and I blew the opportunity. Tough hunting out there!
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Post by batman on Nov 18, 2017 12:43:30 GMT -6
I like the idea of walking across my yard and getting on a deer stand that is heated, with s roof , and windows. Even a quarter mile walk to a ladder stand is ok at this age. Many of us put too much emphasis on antlers. I was going to say racks. Fun to look at and talk about and not the whole story. Trophy bucks are awesome. Most everybody dreams or hopes for a big buck to wander within range.
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Post by Catscratch on Nov 20, 2017 6:34:24 GMT -6
I like the idea of walking across my yard and getting on a deer stand that is heated, with s roof , and windows. Even a quarter mile walk to a ladder stand is ok at this age. Many of us put too much emphasis on antlers. I was going to say racks. Fun to look at and talk about and not the whole story. I've spent a ton of hours in stands with books and papers in my lap. Wind got in my way a lot but I still shot some nice deer while working from the stand. Now if I have work that has to get done I tend to stay at the house to do it (and miss a hunt). The idea of having a weather proof stand within wifi distance sounds pretty damn good!
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