That's an awfully big opinion you have of your opinion.. it reads to me as your someone that probably doesn't have ground to do so or not wanting to dedicate the time and money to do the work. My plantings are not just for deer but also many other animals including pollinators.

Sure the quail, rabbits, and deer will be fine and the bees will be just fine and there is zero benefit to building brush piles and other habit improvements .


You sound uneducated and/or small minded.

I can tell you just like trapping predators helps game populations and health it also helps keep the predator populations healthy.

Creating quality abundant food sources and habitat helps increase health game populations it also attracts and holds that game on my land for longer periods.

Probably should ban all hunting and trapping after all nature will take care of the overpopulation issue with starvation and disease. Hmm that last sentence sounds just plain dumb now doesn't it! And it the exactly how I read your enlightening comment.

Wanna Be I've hunted the same 2000 acres since 1983 in the pine plantations of South Arkansas. I could probably point out dang near every buck trail on the place. Deer hunting is no longer exciting because of that fact. No new ground to explore. Now more a deer observer than hunter.I'll leave it to my grandkids to do the hunting now.

I generally just go sit in a stand and shoot a deer. Nothing particularly complicated about it.

I've seen the Pennsylvania woods. They don't look like this. This is complicated.

Then you should truly understand. It’s not killing its learning at this point. Only been on this 2500ac for 7 years I think, may be 8. But I’ve walked every bit of it. Like you I thought I knew most of our deer. Every year we get surprised, lol.
Take this guy who we started getting in mid September, then disappeared Halloween Day, and has now returned. Young deer, but if he survives, we’re excited about what he could become.



Will he stick around or even call our place home? Who knows, but we’re gonna do our best to keep him around and fed to see.
I would think you’d also see the benefits and the work that goes into the habitat to keep it desirable to deer. I’m guessing y’all put in work on that acreage like we do. While most of the work done is for quail, deer and turkeys benefit. You of all people should know pouring out feed or even planting plots is not going to ensure you kill a mature deer. Now hunting those drains or bottoms he’s using to access those places will, if everything is perfect.
I will say this, after you pursue the buck of your dreams and you’re successful, feelings change. At least they did for me. I don’t have to shoot a trophy every year. I have shot several does this year and one nice 8 that we determined needed gone. Actually got a couple more that need deflated but quail season is here and deer hunting will be limited now. Could I have shot a bigger deer than I’ve ever shot in my life this year? Yes sir, riding just 2 weeks ago I spotted a giant. I shut the truck off and grabbed the optics. We have NO pics of this deer at all and no idea if he was just passing through or just elusive. But he made my deer last year look small, lol.

If this isn’t hunting I really don’t know what is? Can I go to another state on public and kill a deer, sure. Could I go and find sign and place a stand and wait for a mature deer, again sure. Didn’t mean I wouldn’t eat tag soup after a weekend of hunting. But, I could find the sign and necessary ingredients that would tell me one “should” be around if the hunter in the next bottom or hill hasn’t already killed him. I travel to other States every year and kill or have the opportunity to kill turkeys every year at the same distance I kill deer.

Overall I get your point, but a lot of work still goes in to how I hunt and the process that gets me that mature buck. My son and I have both killed “dream bucks” (anything over 160”) so we have decided no more rifles. Archery only…added a new twist, lol!

Same. Lots of deer in Missouri now. I could set in the open door of my shop and shoot deer about any evening. It wouldn't be deer hunting, just shooting.
I go to the national forest to hunt.

Depends where you are in PA. I'm sure big woods are different. Although evertime I've seen deer in the big woods they act dumber than our farm country deer. We do currently have a really big population.

That's an interesting observation. I've found big woods deer much less tolerant of human intrusion than their suburban cousins.

I would agree with you. But I also think deer that smell human scent on a regular basis can determine if it’s a passer by or they’re in the area and don’t stick around long to make that decision.
Sorta the same with coyotes and scent. I may get by on areas that have traffic and “scent” all around. I may get a little extra work out of one. But I’d imagine if I trapped an area with minimal human intrusion, I’d be pretty much screwed, lol.

This

Osky

There's a big difference in using cameras for managing (I f that's what you call it) and or using it for killing animals that are free range,
Managing for whitetails is more than killing a nice buck, you have to kill a large fraction of the doe as well.

Most public land hunters are not interested in wildlife or land management in any form. They are satisfied to walk in, sit down, and shoot a doe on land that they bought a license/permit to access. That's it.....no other effort expended. They're happy (read Keystonekiller's post above about his hunt). He is very satisfied.

I'm OK with public land folks. If that was all I had to hunt..I'd probably feel same way...or just go fishing...

We’re all private and we just hunt

When I reached that same point in my deer hunting career....that's when I shifted to locating and attempting to take the very best 1 or 2 bucks the property has to offer. This is my challenge today and I truly enjoy it. I love the locating part more than the killing part.

If you know that 2000 acres as you say then you are way ahead in the game. Use that knowledge to find the best buck using that 2000 acres and do not shoot any buck except for him. This is a fantastic and exciting challenge, but one that most folks can't pull off.

100% agree. Between two properties there are probably 150 does killed every year. We hunt bucks, we shoot does.

Well, I wasn't comparing suburban deer to big woods deer. We are definitely not in suburbia.

There are some of us that have been hunting deer HARD for years. We've shot piles of deer and we're in the " been there/ done that stage"

Some make/ have time to hunt the way that we want. Meat comes easy so we stretch out our season and try to kill older bucks.
But I'll guarantee, we still like shooting does if we have the tags to do it.


Gotta admit though, (at least around here) and from other states reports, our #s are dwindling.
Kinda sad to see such a tradition going away.
30 years ago, opening day and a few days before was just like electricity in the air.
Now, it's like a quiet fart.

I doubt I heard 30 shots in our 9 day season total.
Used to be common to hear 100_200 shots first 2 hours of opening day.

Swamp wolf sounds good, but rutting bucks are here today and gone tomorrow, they can shift several miles pre rut to rut to post rut, the Mo DNR tracked a mature buck from Western MO. To Eastern MO during MO firearm season he went there and back in a two week period with most of his travel during legal shooting hrs. So a big buck can show up and leave at any time.

.. I get that Swamp and good advice to Mr Staton..done it myself a few times

.. but now I’m at the stage where I target the buck with the most symmetrical testicles.. extremely challenging … especially in the pine thickets we have here

All depends on your goal, or what you’re after. To each their own, and to argue amongst ourselves will ruin us from the inside out.

Just want to fill the freezer? Sure, just go sit out back, and use the “ if it’s brown it’s down method “ Mission accomplished freezer filled.

If you think cameras/bait/plots are “cheating”, then don’t use them. Self satisfaction is key, hunt the “old fashioned way” and again, your mission is accomplished.

For those who want to manage a property, and really study the deer, cameras are a great tool. As are bait and food plots. We manage a large tract of property , family owned, with a goal of taking mature deer. We enjoy archery hunting too, and try to kill our bucks with archery gear. Getting to know the bucks using cameras really helps for when the time comes- often really quick with just seconds to decide whether you’re going to shoot or not shoot. For example, it’s Rut, doe comes trotting thru with a buck behind her. You stop him at 25 yards in a tight window. At full draw asking yourself , kill him or let him walk? If you have a history with him from watching him on camera, you’ll recognize him quick, and it makes the decision quick.

To some, like myself , deer hunting is more than a week long season. It’s a year round process. Food plots, baiting, and running multiple cameras is not easy, and it’s not cheap. It’s a lot of extra work but very rewarding when you see a difference in your deer herd over the years .