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Post by Satchmo on Dec 4, 2019 21:37:23 GMT -6
Now I completely understand the reasoning for guys staying off their hunting property as much as possible for weeks or even months prior to hunting season, but I’m looking at my own particular circumstances here. I have a large population of deer predators including bears, wolves, coyotes, and bobcat. I’ve noticed over the years that the more spring & summer activity we have, the better fawn survival I get. It seems to keep more of the predators in the tamarack swamp or in the fringes of the peninsula. As the does seek the high ground to avoid the fawn eaters, over the summer they seem to grow accustomed to us and are more tolerant of activity. This has resulted in calmer population of does and fawns come hunting season. I’m actually considering ramping up my activity levels for spring, summer, and early fall. What say you guys?
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Post by biglakebass on Dec 4, 2019 21:45:12 GMT -6
I thought for the last near 20 years, why is it that we spend so much time on the land that the deer dont just get used to it. We just didnt have deer living on our farm. They mainly lived on adjoining land, as every property is vacant for 360 days a year and thats no lie. I think the deer learned they could seek asylum on all that land and come eat the food we planted. the neighbors figured it out on a couple parcels and set up stands on pinch points coming to our land, and its worked for them.
The last 2 years we have not done much work of any kind. Last year I shot my first buck since 2004. This year I saw more deer than I have during rifle season in that same amount of time. granted it was a whopping 4 deer opening weekend and 6 deer second weekend. But for us to even see a deer after opening day is a miracle.
so for us, I am totally fine staying the hell out as much as we can.
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Post by MoBuckChaser on Dec 4, 2019 21:45:37 GMT -6
More Activity, More Doe's, More Fawns, No Bucks will be the outcome.
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Post by sd51555 on Dec 4, 2019 22:31:16 GMT -6
Now I completely understand the reasoning for guys staying off their hunting property as much as possible for weeks or even months prior to hunting season, but I’m looking at my own particular circumstances here. I have a large population of deer predators including bears, wolves, coyotes, and bobcat. I’ve noticed over the years that the more spring & summer activity we have, the better fawn survival I get. It seems to keep more of the predators in the tamarack swamp or in the fringes of the peninsula. As the does seek the high ground to avoid the fawn eaters, over the summer they seem to grow accustomed to us and are more tolerant of activity. This has resulted in calmer population of does and fawns come hunting season. I’m actually considering ramping up my activity levels for spring, summer, and early fall. What say you guys? What borders your property? Is it all neighbors, or some unhunted public? I think this is highly circumstantial. |
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Post by Satchmo on Dec 5, 2019 6:16:30 GMT -6
Now I completely understand the reasoning for guys staying off their hunting property as much as possible for weeks or even months prior to hunting season, but I’m looking at my own particular circumstances here. I have a large population of deer predators including bears, wolves, coyotes, and bobcat. I’ve noticed over the years that the more spring & summer activity we have, the better fawn survival I get. It seems to keep more of the predators in the tamarack swamp or in the fringes of the peninsula. As the does seek the high ground to avoid the fawn eaters, over the summer they seem to grow accustomed to us and are more tolerant of activity. This has resulted in calmer population of does and fawns come hunting season. I’m actually considering ramping up my activity levels for spring, summer, and early fall. What say you guys? What borders your property? Is it all neighbors, or some unhunted public? I think this is highly circumstantial. The shaded area is all either my land or unhunted public. Essentially we have the 300 acres of high ground peninsula and about 400 acres of Tamarack swamp buffer that surrounds it. One very quiet neighbor to the south. Privacy is not the issue, predators are. You’ve got me thinking a simpler solution with your meme on the other thread.  |
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Post by Catscratch on Dec 5, 2019 6:53:45 GMT -6
Satchmo, I'm a huge proponent of staying out while hunting. I'm obsessive and anal about it. I shot a deer this year while sitting on the rim of a bluff. Until I shot that deer and went to retrieve him, I had never stepped foot below that rim. No scouting, no trail cams, no nothing down there. The deer was standing on ground I had never been on. This was on another property, but I treat our own properties hunting spots the same during season.
With that said... we do tons of activities on our place not related to deer hunting. We duck hunt, rabbit hunt, fish, fix fence, run the skid steer, shed hunt, and mushroom hunt. The kids and their friends have the run of the place. It's not uncommon to have 6-10 teenagers having airsoft wars or camping and fishing. They make some racket! Hell, I bet the wife covers every square inch of the place during mushroom season looking for morels. I trap some each winter and a guy I know comes out and traps like crazy for the entire week of Thanksgiving (one of my favorite weeks to hunt).
Through all this we still have some decent bucks. Maybe they could be better if we didn't do other stuff on the place? I don't know. May never know.
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Post by terrifictom on Dec 5, 2019 7:01:45 GMT -6
My thought is you might get more does and fawns but mature bucks will avoid the area and will become nocturnal at best. Last 2 years I only had 1 trailcam on my property and did not go on property after planting brassicas in Mid July. Saw mature bucks while hunting. This year had 3 trail cams and had a Redneck blind installed on August 17th. I got a glimpse of only one mature buck at closing time while bow hunting. Lesson learned.
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Post by Satchmo on Dec 5, 2019 7:38:10 GMT -6
My thought is you might get more does and fawns but mature bucks will avoid the area and will become nocturnal at best. Last 2 years I only had 1 trailcam on my property and did not go on property after planting brassicas in Mid July. Saw mature bucks while hunting. This year had 3 trail cams and had a Redneck blind installed on August 17th. I got a glimpse of only one mature buck at closing time while bow hunting. Lesson learned. I know there are risks to more activity, but the last couple of years we have stayed out after mid August for the most part and I have not run trail cams. The result has been more wolf & coyote activity on the entire area and less deer presence and high fawn mortality. It's amazing for us to see a doe with twins and several mature does have no fawns at all. We still see deer, but they are far more skittish and many have seemed to migrate south to the pasture lands. I need some serious predator control and deterrent. |
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Post by terrifictom on Dec 5, 2019 7:44:57 GMT -6
My thought is you might get more does and fawns but mature bucks will avoid the area and will become nocturnal at best. Last 2 years I only had 1 trailcam on my property and did not go on property after planting brassicas in Mid July. Saw mature bucks while hunting. This year had 3 trail cams and had a Redneck blind installed on August 17th. I got a glimpse of only one mature buck at closing time while bow hunting. Lesson learned. I know there are risks to more activity, but the last couple of years we have stayed out after mid August for the most part and I have not run trail cams. The result has been more wolf & coyote activity on the entire area and less deer presence and high fawn mortality. It's amazing for us to see a doe with twins and several mature does have no fawns at all. We still see deer, but they are far more skittish and many have seemed to migrate south to the pasture lands. I need some serious predator control and deterrent. Can you do some trapping this winter? I learned a new trapping setup a couple years ago while trying to get my bobcat that is simple and makes catching yotes in winter easy. |
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Post by batman on Dec 5, 2019 7:47:05 GMT -6
My thought is you might get more does and fawns but mature bucks will avoid the area and will become nocturnal at best. Last 2 years I only had 1 trailcam on my property and did not go on property after planting brassicas in Mid July. Saw mature bucks while hunting. This year had 3 trail cams and had a Redneck blind installed on August 17th. I got a glimpse of only one mature buck at closing time while bow hunting. Lesson learned. I know there are risks to more activity, but the last couple of years we have stayed out after mid August for the most part and I have not run trail cams. The result has been more wolf & coyote activity on the entire area and less deer presence and high fawn mortality. It's amazing for us to see a doe with twins and several mature does have no fawns at all. We still see deer, but they are far more skittish and many have seemed to migrate south to the pasture lands. I need some serious predator control and deterrent. Guys I have worked with in wolf country often report the only fawn recruitment is close the house or farmstead. Lots of deer in town in northern MN as well for same reason. I have seen the same in Texas where smaller exotics only drop young near the lodge as the coyotes stay away or get shot. |
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Post by Sandbur on Dec 5, 2019 7:50:31 GMT -6
My thought is you might get more does and fawns but mature bucks will avoid the area and will become nocturnal at best. Last 2 years I only had 1 trailcam on my property and did not go on property after planting brassicas in Mid July. Saw mature bucks while hunting. This year had 3 trail cams and had a Redneck blind installed on August 17th. I got a glimpse of only one mature buck at closing time while bow hunting. Lesson learned. I know there are risks to more activity, but the last couple of years we have stayed out after mid August for the most part and I have not run trail cams. The result has been more wolf & coyote activity on the entire area and less deer presence and high fawn mortality. It's amazing for us to see a doe with twins and several mature does have no fawns at all. We still see deer, but they are far more skittish and many have seemed to migrate south to the pasture lands. I need some serious predator control and deterrent. An old article ( and my poor memory) said that each bear averages two fawn kills per year, each coyote about two deer per year, each bobcat at one or two per year, and each wolf around twenty deer. When I hunted far northern Itasca county, I would more often see dry adult does than further south. I suspect that when there was a good deer population, the spring flush of fawns allowed a higher percentage to escape predators. Less does and probably the predators took out more of the fawns. |
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Post by smsmith on Dec 5, 2019 7:52:46 GMT -6
I'd wager that I spend more time on my place throughout the year than most people. I've got more deer of all ages and sexes now than I did when I moved here.
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Post by Catscratch on Dec 5, 2019 8:36:55 GMT -6
I know there are risks to more activity, but the last couple of years we have stayed out after mid August for the most part and I have not run trail cams. The result has been more wolf & coyote activity on the entire area and less deer presence and high fawn mortality. It's amazing for us to see a doe with twins and several mature does have no fawns at all. We still see deer, but they are far more skittish and many have seemed to migrate south to the pasture lands. I need some serious predator control and deterrent. Can you do some trapping this winter? I learned a new trapping setup a couple years ago while trying to get my bobcat that is simple and makes catching yotes in winter easy. What's your setup? |
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Post by batman on Dec 5, 2019 8:41:52 GMT -6
I'd wager that I spend more time on my place throughout the year than most people. I've got more deer of all ages and sexes now than I did when I moved here. I know I have said it before but some of the easiest hunting I have seen is on places where the landowner intentionally pressured the deer until they accepted his presence. It was always in a food plot or feeder scenario. The deer were only okay with that individual though. If I tried hunting those spots the deer were not happy. |
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Post by Satchmo on Dec 5, 2019 8:41:53 GMT -6
I know there are risks to more activity, but the last couple of years we have stayed out after mid August for the most part and I have not run trail cams. The result has been more wolf & coyote activity on the entire area and less deer presence and high fawn mortality. It's amazing for us to see a doe with twins and several mature does have no fawns at all. We still see deer, but they are far more skittish and many have seemed to migrate south to the pasture lands. I need some serious predator control and deterrent. Can you do some trapping this winter? I learned a new trapping setup a couple years ago while trying to get my bobcat that is simple and makes catching yotes in winter easy. Do tell! |
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