Yard Deer

We have a late whitetail season open for a couple months in November and December. Usually, after the first or second good snow, they funnel through our yard and Miss Lisa and I usually tip over a couple of small ones. This year, we have all six freezers already full of elk, pronghorn, muleys, and a whitetail that was gifted to us. We thought we'd not need another. Like normal, we're just settled in to Thanksgiving dinner when the procession starts. one doe (which must've smelled really fine) came sauntering through, followed by at least 4 different small bucks, at least two of which had recently-broken tines. Even with full freezers and lots of jarred meat, it was somewhat painful to just watch them saunter through. They all came within 15 yards of our back porch, standing around asking to be whacked.

Jack

I enjoy watching them as much as I like shooting and eating them. Critters on the front 40 here are safe and I won't shoot them here.

Its only painful when you're hunting for your meat deer and you've already filled your buck tag and a bigger buck, or like last year for me 2 bigger bucks pop first hour of opening day of gun season after I killed my buck,

I get that here too Jack. Lots of bucks, mostly young ones. Elk too. The occasional moose. I even have three feral rabbits who showed up from somewhere, that I've befriended, giving them rabbit food so they hang out here and I pet them as I feed them. In case of a time I may need them for meat, I keep telling myself Diva, the female and two of her mostly grown kiddos, who are a matched set of black, I call them my slippers .

Nice to see them all on the estate. It's ok, Jack. Just consider them all as "standing wood" for future firewood harvest.

I've always admired the "extra white" throat patches western whitetails seem to have.

My front yard use to be an archery range when I hunted. My yard deer would scatter my targets all over the yard.
They like the acorns around my shop also.

That's Awesome thinking...

That is how i treat them here. Have them in the yard year around and the small patches of trees close to the house is their refuge.

Yeah I watched a buck out my window the other morning, but my freezer is full. Was going to go freezer shopping because I need another one, but I still don't think I need to put a deer in it right away.

Speaking of good smelling does, took a 12 year old out a couple days ago. Walked up over a hill and was glassing some reprod when I spotted a doe, told him we would just sit there and watch a few minutes and see if anything else came out. In a bit I could hear a buck grunting. In a few minutes a forked horn/spike came out and him and the doe started nuzzling and licking each other, the boy tried to shoot the buck and missed, hit a limb on a jack fir probably 30 yards in front of us. Doe spooked for a few feet but then came back, moved the boy to another stump for a rest at a different angle, and then a three point came out and the two started fighting, he shot the three point. I was gutting it out while he packed stuff back to the truck and got his sister; and here came a big buck, tracking that doe. He came within thirty feet of me gutting the deer, kinda spooked and ran off to 40-50 yards and stopped and looked back at me. I was packing my 44 and I pulled it out and aimed at him, but it wasn't a great pistol shot and I didn't need the meat so I let him walk.

Spread is outside the ears,,thats a shooter.

In another month, we'll have elk a'plenty around the yard. They get a pass. If we get a good snow year, we'll also have a few moose. The pronghorns rarely spend time in the yard, but are on the surrounding hills.

Jack

As usual, great photos!
A very nice yard!
We have a similar situation, but only with whitetails. Those others are not in this state.

I am watching a whitetail doe out the slider right now. We get whitetails,elk,moose,black bear, coyotes and tracks of cougar(though we have never seen one) and turkeys,turkeys,turkeys. We also have a few ruffed grouse and this year for the first time a handful of ringnecked pheasants. I love living at the end of road in north Idaho. Nice pictures Gulo, how come your grounds not white?

I don't shoot the yard deer. We have a deal.

300 yards away, different story.

Great pics.

They used to give extended whitetail seasons in some of the west in an attempt to slow down their spread and take some pressure off the mulies. Is that still a thing?

I think you're exactly right drasselt. Idaho thinks highly of muleys, and they seem to treat whitetails in the southern half of the state with a certain amount of indifference. I'd much rather hunt and eat whitetails. Whitetails are a relative newcomer where I live, and muleys still outnumber them most places hereabouts.

Jack

Elk, deer, and moose passing through your yard?! Antelope nearby. Sounds pretty cool. Do you see any predators following along?

I've shot black bears in the yard. Mtn. lions are on my game camera pretty consistently. Wolves are close, my wife tells me when she hears 'em (I'm basically deaf). We're seeing about 50:50 with muley's and white-tails on the deer. A few years ago, had a crippled mountain goat show up on our place. He was unable to go uphill. No bighorns immediately in the yard, but rarely visible from the house on mountains 400 yards above us. Have trapped coyotes, red foxes, coons, striped skunks, bobcats, mink, and marten in the yard. Have quail (Gambel's), pheasants, chukars, huns, ruffed grouse, blue grouse in the yard, with sage grouse nearby. Yeah, pretty neat place to have a homestead, to my way of thinking.


Wildfire up on the Continental Divide behind the place.

Yard deer

Night yard deer

Yard elk

Yard bull

Yard turkeys

Yard bear

Yard buck

Yard bull

Yard elk and bear at same time

Big yard bull

Yard bull

Kevin -

Thanks for contributing. I'd say you got a pretty fascinating place for wildlife. You got me on the turkeys, man. IDF&G has transplanted them locally, and I've seen them close by, but never, thus far, in the yard. Too, we've not got the big numbers of whitetails. Here, it's usually 1-4 at any one time.

Jack

Had elk yesterday. Turkeys every day. They can be an pain, scratch up the ground, but they taste good.

I just can't figure out exactly where you are at but I have likely fought fire in your backyard sometime in the last 32 years. Idaho holds a special place in my heart.

Just Amazing

Beautiful!

Jack....

The most beautiful home in the world......is yours.

beautiful place you have , thanks for sharing

Jack that sure is a beautiful place, with an abundance of wildlife from the sounds of it! I traveled to Wyoming in September for an antelope hunt, and absolutely loved it out there. We were at the foothills of the Bighorns and saw so much game from the porch where we were staying!

We have wt deer, fox, squirrels, turkey and lots of waterfowl. Live on the chincoteague bay and enjoy watching ( and hunting of course ) the duck migrations . So far the black ducks and mallards have showed up, as well as lots of buffleheads. The scaup should be here soon, followed by the colored ducks ( widgeon pintail gadwall teal ) . Love this time of year!

I enjoy your posts Gulo, thanks for sharing.

John

Really Nice

Royal

Here is my best back yard buck this year .I have seen some that where much bigger

West Side -

We get lots of deer, but the photo you put up is bigger than most that we have seen in our "yard". Nice photo, man!

Jack

That buck is about 65 yards from my back door I have several pecan trees and also a few Japanese variety persimmon trees planted there .My street has houses on both sides of the road .But it is only a single row of homes .There is a 50 foot right away between my house and the neighbor's house to the south of me .And it is a major travel way for all manner of critters Red &Gray fox coyote raccoon and turkey cross in the area as it is more open between the houses than at most of the other homes . On the east side of the road that runs in front of my house is about 50 acres of fields that have been in a State Wildlife Conservation Reserve program Here it is called CREP.And that 50 acres is surrounded by extensive cropped farm fields . In back of my house is a large wooded area that has just recently been logged That of course means very thick undergrowth . . Most properties have a very limited amount of hunting pressure So some deer are not dealing with to much pressure from hunters They face more danger from cars .Beyond that woods of about 30 acres is an additional several hundred acres of more of mostly corn and soybeans . With some pressure the deer start laying behind the house and only move after dark .It is a man made sanctuary So the buck are able to get some age and the doe live almost in the backyards where hunting is either not legal or only hunted on a small basis A couple of years ago I had a great looking 10 point go waddling through my yard at 7:30 Am in the middle of Nov He did not seem to be concerned about anything other than the doe he was certainly scent trailing .A large part of the reason I live where I do is because it is very near to the area I hunt Less than a mile from my house And even though the deer travel to and from my hunting area I have never killed a buck this nice A VERY FEW HAVE COME CLOSE And I have seen a very few that are bigger than this one

Here is another pic from 2/19/16 The camera is facing a different direction .And the deer is also at a poor angle to see the antlers real well .But only about 15 feet from when the deer was standing on the previous pic .It looks like it may be bigger than the one from just 2 weeks ago Those kind of deer not not the normal anywhere But there are always a few hiding and keeping a low profile in general .However they are out there and I f you are also out there you have a
chance .

Here is a smaller 8 pt take at the same spot this fall A nice even rack that if it makes it through a few more de
er season will be a fine buck in a few more years .