Earn a buck Il style

[bullwinkle]

Opening up my land to a lot of people works but mainly it chases the deer off my land. I did this one year and we shot 18. Had fun with some buddies but didn't do well on bucks at all. Obviously I want to keep the bucks on my land, I just want the right deer to be harvested and the right balance. We have developed some hunting practices to make sure we don't spook deer and it works. Sanctuaries, choosing what type of does we take and when and where we shoot them, no walking to stands, no 4 wheelers, huge scent control techniques, always hunt the wind, well hidden tree stands and numerous ones (don't want to hunt a stand more than a couple of times per year) and trying to hunt the field edges and trails to stay out of the woods. This is very hard to have assurances it happens all the time with guests. I surely don't want people on my land without me (except my family). I bought the land with the purpose to develop it into awesome deer territory and have fun with my family. Chasing the deer off kind of defeats the purpose. I do allow kids on and let them shoot away youth weekend. This year I have 3 young men all pumped up to fill some tags. Last year 3 kids took 6 deer - pretty good - 2 bucks. Assuming the weather is ok, I will put them in stands that will have deer piling in (assuming it rains and my food plots grow). Last year I had 8 guest hunters - guys I know will respect and hunt well.

If you really think about it, the DNR should want landowners like me. I want a balance and some rules where I can control how the deer are kept in balance. That is all. I struggle seeing why I am not getting more support on this forum. You are not offering any reasonable solutions to controlling the deer population for private landowners who want to work on serious QDM - come on guys don't you read D&DH - I am doing the stuff they write about.

By the way, I am not rich. I just have been buying property (instead of stocks) since I got out of college years ago. I am what you call land poor but very happy. Wouldn't change a thing. I don't have as big a 401K as most of you guys but the money I do have is channelled into a passion I enjoy.

All I want is more doe tags and not to have to register does. That is all. I promise I will not waste the does and will give them to people who need it or will enjoy it

Still praying for rain

[Jslotter]

Bullw, I think there is nothing wrong with your style of hunting. Most property owners I know of are beginning to practice some form of QDM. Thats fine and dandy. The issues I see in all that is the lack of effort, unrealistic expectations, or lack of property they can effectively control for proper QDM. I kinda have an idea how you practice QDM by reading your post above, but those things I mentioned are essential for successful QDM. If you need to slay some does, thats cool. I kinda envy you because I really wish I would start seeing more antlerless. The last two seasons have been MOSTLY buck encounters for me. I agree for more power to the landowners too.

[Ostermann]

Bullwinkle - Registering deer physically is part of the hunting. Like I said, I enjoy it because you see other hunters and can see what deer were shot. I know it can be a pain in the rump especially if you get one late at night. Also, you have to keep hunters honest. I have come across 5 deer on or near my property before season. 2 with antlers off, 3 were hides. I have had heard of guys registering the same doe over and over to get buck tags during EAB. That's why they notch them now in the ear so the same deer isn't re-registered.

What do you want to do with your land or what is your ideal hunting experience? I'm glad you have the property and put in the effort. Why don't you put in strict rules for guests? I hunted in Waupaca county, twice, with my in-laws. The first year my wife got a small doe (I missed several....) and the following year I got a nice doe. We had seen close to 40 or 50 deer the last weekend of gun season, including a few bucks.
The rules were simple:
Wife - she could shoot a buck of any size.
Me - any big buck that was at least out to the ears.
Both - no button bucks. Does were fair game.

My wife got her first deer. She shot it with her youth model 20 gauge (open sights), dropped it, went up to it and put her orange vest on it, went to the farm with our cousin and got the 4-wheeler. She did this by herself without me there guiding her every step of the way.
That following year when I got my doe, the cousin bagged her first deer (button buck) that morning.

To me, great land, great experiences even though we didn't shoot a buck.

[bullwinkle]

I hear what you all are say. Just love the game

It is raining in Marion by the way - great day

[Ostermann]

I've got relatives out that way. Live in Dupont township. Hunted there a couple times, saw a few deer. My Dad got a doe with bow. Made the Marion Advertiser when they used to put the names of successful hunters in. Seems like ages but was around 87 or 88. Our cousin got a big doe (162# dressed!!!) and took second place.

I will be heading back in July. Hope to get out to the woods and take care of a few pet projects.

[willypete]

My problem is young deer. I just dont understand the population on my 80 acres. Maybe someone could give me some kind of hint to what is going on.

4 years ago the population wasent very good across the board. Then some young bucks started to appear and the last 2 years the population exploded. Deer are everywhere, but not a lot of old ones. Last year i could probably note 2 old does on the land and maybe 4 older bucks. But ATLEAST 10 very little deer probably that years or last years crop. (There were more deer but they were kind of in the middle.)

Is it just a phase of the growing population? Will it start to slowly age in the coming years?

[bullwinkle]

Warm, and short winters, combined with the elimination of. EAB and lack of interest in a lot of hunters to shoot does - expect more

Most of the does I see this year have 2 fawns vs a number with 3 last year. Stil looks like a healthy recruitment year

[beaverman05]

I finally read this topic ( only took me an hour lol)

Seems like we did a lot of talkin about wisconsin deer management instead of FIB hunting laws lol and thats ok with me.

I'm kinda jelous of bullwinkle. I wish I had my own land and by the sounds of it a good hunk of it. But thanks to a not so good credit score I don't think I would be able to purchase some land. That is a dream of mine though. If i won the powerball tomorrow the first thing I would buy is land!!!!

I agree with bullwinkle hear guys ( except maybe on the whole poching thing. That is never ok in my opinion!). He is managing his land exactly the same way I would if I had some. Harvesting does is much more important than harvesting bucks when it comes to managing land. and he understands this. problem is he has too many and he is taking the exact approach he needs to in order to keep the numbers down. and besides hunting is all about the experience and by harvesting does he is keeping his buck to doe ratio as close to 1:1 as possible creating an better atmosphere for an exciting hunt which is what it is all about!

Plus he is trying to go a step farther by culling out some bad genetics in his bucks! I applaud that and hope the legislation allows for that to happen for you! It sounds like you really know how to manage a deer herd!

And keep allowing kids the opportunity to hunt!

[Jslotter]

My problem is young deer. I just dont understand the population on my 80 acres. Maybe someone could give me some kind of hint to what is going on.

4 years ago the population wasent very good across the board. Then some young bucks started to appear and the last 2 years the population exploded. Deer are everywhere, but not a lot of old ones. Last year i could probably note 2 old does on the land and maybe 4 older bucks. But ATLEAST 10 very little deer probably that years or last years crop. (There were more deer but they were kind of in the middle.)

Is it just a phase of the growing population? Will it start to slowly age in the coming years?

Well, Im no expert at this but here is my thoughts. I don't know how the land you hunt is laid out. Does your 80 acres have what deer need? Cover, food, water? I had a similar situation on 180 acres of private land I used to live and hunt on a few years ago. The Neighbors to the east had a giant corn field and was left uncut thru bow season. I didn't see squat for deer that season mostly because they sat in the corn field all season. It was good cover and food for them. The day the neighbor cut that corn field, the deer suddenly appeared. They didn't go far, but they did bed on my side of the fence and fed on their's. The only thing the land I hunted had was old alfalfa and some CRP which the deer hit real good one year. The alfalfa kinda went unattended for at least a year which is why it probably became unattractive, then the years after they left it alone knowing the neighbor had a huge corn field to feed on instead. I guess my suggestion is to find out what the neighbor's got going on.