2017 Deer Hunting

[punkey71]

Ok, bow season opens in a couple weeks at my in-laws farm on NC. I only hunt NC despite living in NOVA/Central VA.

I called up my FIL and asked him to pull the card on one of our trail cams on a mineral site we've been using for 2+ years.

He saw about 5-7 does, 3-4 fawns and the bucks shown below. He put the cam up mid July so I'm fairly optimistic about the upcoming season.

I'd like some daytime trail cam shots of these guys to get a better age estimate and see what the mass of the racks are before I decide if I will give them another season or not.

Anyone else getting ready? Trail cams getting you excited? New strategies? Old faithful sites/plans?

I'm going to give some mock scrapes a try this season as well.

** My FIL couldn't figure out how to save and email the trail cam pic so that's literally an Iphone pic of his computer screen that he texted me - a little grainy but it's clear enough to get the idea! :-)




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[ACP230]

I did some rifle practice with deer season in mind last week. Used a .22 rifle that mimics my deer
gun. Shot 20 shots offhand and 10 off a rest.

Deer hunting doesn't start here till later in the fall, so I am mostly getting ready for grouse season.

[Matt O]

Skipped the county program this year to finish up school, but I hope to get a couple hunts in. I only hunted 3x last year and passed on a couple bucks to give them a chance to grow and thus the freezer went empty. Won't be making that mistake again this year.

[PNWTO]

Shooting 10 arrows/day, with BH practice on weekends. Running a mix of mech and fixed this year and upped my draw to about 77#. Also have my pack up to 60# and have been hitting laps on a nearby hilly cross country route. Due to life my scouting was shitty so I'll make up for it in savagery. Same summer events also kept me from my usual frequent bear chasing in the high country.

Did a 2 night backpack into the mid-Cascades for bear two weekends ago and saw the elk starting to drift in. Current plan is two separate humps for 3 nights apiece. Rifle season is pockmarked by weddings and a family event so I doubt that will be eventful. I like bows better so it is all good.

2018 I'll hopefully (knock on wood) being doing archery in WA, OR, and ID so hopefully I can scout more aggressively in the spring.

[Casual Friday]

Shooting 10 arrows/day, with BH practice on weekends. Running a mix of mech and fixed this year and upped my draw to about 77#. Also have my pack up to 60# and have been hitting laps on a nearby hilly cross country route. Due to life my scouting was shitty so I'll make up for it in savagery. Same summer events also kept me from my usual frequent bear chasing in the high country.

Did a 2 night backpack into the mid-Cascades for bear two weekends ago and saw the elk starting to drift in. Current plan is two separate humps for 3 nights apiece. Rifle season is pockmarked by weddings and a family event so I doubt that will be eventful. I like bows better so it is all good.

2018 I'll hopefully (knock on wood) being doing archery in WA, OR, and ID so hopefully I can scout more aggressively in the spring.

Yeah my scouting has been zero this summer. I have been shooting a lot though. Heading to Winthrop/Twisp to try to kill a big Muley with my recurve.

[BJXDS]

It looks like you have some decent deer there. I use to enjoy the scouting, trail cam and stand setup almost as much as hunting. I never thought I would say this but, I have lost interest the last several years. When it starts cooling down I will probably hit the woods, but I don't start as early as before and don't get as excited either. I have killed them with rifle, pistol and bow but the real work starts when the deer hits the ground. When I am hunting now I find myself thinking more about fishing. So I will probably do a little hunting and more fishing.

[punkey71]

I'm really enjoying the management of the deer that we've been trying the last couple years.

Cameras, food plots, mineral etc.

For me, half the fun is watching the quality of our deer improve over the last couple years.

The property was over-hunted for decades by distant family members of my in-laws.

Since my in-laws moved to the the property about 5 years ago, they've limited the hunting to my FIL and I and the lack of pressure and our efforts to grow deer seem to be paying off.

We're going for a sustainable, healthy herd that stay as close to his 100 acres as possible.

Knowing what's out there let's us be more selective and get excited about the hunt and much as the shot.

We are really enjoying the entire process.


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[mtnbkr]

Deer hunting will be incidental to my main effort of bear hunting this year. I've already scouted a pair of bears (mom and adolescent judging by sizes) in Fauquier County that are haunting an area that sees a lot of bear activity.

Chris

[Matt O]

I'm really enjoying the management of the deer that we've been trying the last couple years.

Cameras, food plots, mineral etc.

For me, half the fun is watching the quality of our deer improve over the last couple years.

The property was over-hunted for decades by distant family members of my in-laws.

Since my in-laws moved to the the property about 5 years ago, they've limited the hunting to my FIL and I and the lack of pressure and our efforts to grow deer seem to be paying off.

We're going for a sustainable, healthy herd that stay as close to his 100 acres as possible.

Knowing what's out there let's us be more selective and get excited about the hunt and much as the shot.

We are really enjoying the entire process.


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I'd be interested in hearing a bit more about your land management approaches outside of direct hunting pressure that you think contributed to the increased herd. I plan to have my own parcel of land within the next 4-5 years and I'd like to ensure I have a healthy herd of annual "free-range" food sources available.

[Grey]

Pretty sure I won't be able to start up hunting this year (total novice that wants to get started), I will hang around for your stories