deer finding some warmth

[mattdavis11]

Anthrax wipes deer out. Happens naturally.

[Jeff Higgins]

We have never enjoyed much of a deer population here in Washington. Nor elk. Our climate, lack of mast crops, and other factors contribute to our notable lack of ungulates in general. Even Lewis and Clarke made note of this situation after they crossed the Snake River, putting the expedition on starvation rations at one point for a lack of game.

As a hunter, this lack of game in my home state has made things rather inconvenient. I've pretty much given up on hunting my own state, choosing instead to travel to where the rest of you folks are having problems with them. Our general deer seasons are only two weeks long, elk maybe ten days. Our hunter success runs at about 20% on deer and 8% on elk. We only get one each per year. I've hunted other states where the seasons run three months or more, and the limit is more like our fishing limits - seven deer per day, for a three month season, is the most generous I can recall. That is simply unfathomable here in Washington. But, I guess they are a "real and present danger" elsewhere. Just not here.

[stevej37]

In MI, our limit is 10 deer per hunter, I believe.
Even with that many, the population seems to increase every year.

My yard has deer tracks in the snow over every part of it and any arborvitae is stripped up to 6 or 7 feet up. I noticed yesterday, tracks all around the cars in the drive.

[KFC911]

Deer have simply defoliated the woods behind my house over the past few years. They jump my back fence too and I've seen them sampling leaves from trees in my front yard before. Rarely see bucks, but their mates and offspring live in those woods ... here in the suburbs. I live in an urban county now (was my rural boy scout camp back then), and they were never seen here years ago. Now estimated to be 1 deer per square mile and they are out and about 24 x 7, all year long, not just at dawn & dusk, or during rut anymore. Cars kill a bunch and hunting doesn't happen in this area any more. My buddy used to have a house outside of Richmond ... lots of woods, etc. He HAD a patch of ivy covering most of his front lawn. A doe and her fawn would visit the ivy buffet at 5 pm most days and casually eat while cars passed by just a few feet away.

[Aurel]

Originally Posted by red-beard

Cats warming on a Satellite dish

Or are they phoning home?

You need to use CAT5 cables and connectors to that dish for best performance!

[mjohnson]

Originally Posted by stevej37

In MI, our limit is 10 deer per hunter, I believe.
Even with that many, the population seems to increase every year.

My yard has deer tracks in the snow over every part of it and any arborvitae is stripped up to 6 or 7 feet up. I noticed yesterday, tracks all around the cars in the drive.

I'm amazed when we visit fam in SW and NW Michigan that, especially in the boundary areas between fields and woods there isn't a single leaf below 6'. It's as if you had an upside down lawnmower...

I love to see the resurgence of the wild turkeys - we sure never saw them much in the '80s as a kid even in the TC-Petoskey corridor. The deer? Not so much. I don't like the destruction of people's plants or windscreens.

My nearest family never hunted so I wasn't really brought up with it. I do however know which is the pointy end of a rifle (OK scattergun for you southerners) and I'd take it up if I were there. Not sure about the "official" food safety guidelines but that lean venison would make for some awesome slabs of cured things like Bambi-bresoloa. Heck, I bet Corned Bambi would be tasty as well, and fully cooked.

[cabmandone]

Last day of the Season in Ohio today. Gonna be in my stand this afternoon if it doesn't get too windy. Wind is coming from the southeast which helps me in virtually every stand I have in the woods.
They herd up this time of year. Last few times I've been in my stand I've watched a herd of twenty go right around me about 75 yards away.

[Jolly Amaranto]

With growing up in northern Wisconsin during my first years, I was no stranger to hunting. I was just 3 years old when this photo was taken and I remember having to pose for it. A fresh deer carcass has a very distinct smell to it. I still flash back to that event whenever I smell it.

[stevej37]

^^^ Nice pic...I remember my father having pics from UP MI deer hunting camps.
Rows of bucks hanging.
They look large in your pic.

[cabmandone]

Slap one of those suckers in the back of your Subaru wagon and drive 40 miles home with it. Yeah that'll never happen again.

BTW.. I'm planning another trip up to Manistee the second weekend in March. I think we're running I75 up then cutting over to Clare to grab some fishing supplies. I might try to link up when we're on our way back down south.

[Jolly Amaranto]

Originally Posted by stevej37

They look large in your pic.

That was in our garage. I think they put me way up on the step ladder next to them for size perspective. Those big Wisconsin white tails seemed much larger that the little ones down here in Texas. Even if I was a little tyke back then and everything seemed much bigger.

[stevej37]

Originally Posted by cabmando

BTW.. I'm planning another trip up to Manistee the second weekend in March. I think we're running I75 up then cutting over to Clare to grab some fishing supplies. I might try to link up when we're on our way back down south.

Cool...just give me a call. Clare and Evart are both on the Pere Marquette bike trail.
I've taken that a few times.
It links with the White Pine that goes from Grand Rapids to Cadillac.

[stevej37]

from Evart, MI

It's a shortened version. The full length one tells how they included their friends, relatives, and neighbors in the 'plan'. They almost all ended up millionaires before the state fixed the problem with the lottery game.

[sc_rufctr]

Originally Posted by Crowbob

Huh.

I did not know deer could climb trees. More evidence of their evility.

WT^F Dude... Why don't you like Bambi? lol

[Crowbob]

Originally Posted by sc_rufctr

WT^F Dude... Why don't you like Bambi? lol

HA!

I will admit, in my innocent yoot, I bawled like a baby when I watched Bambi. That despicable piece of propaganda stuck with me for years. It tainted my whole life until I saw the light.

An epiphany!

[Seahawk]

Steve,

You want me to move the post?

Neat story!

Originally Posted by stevej37

from Evart, MI

It's a shortened version. The full length one tells how they included their friends, relatives, and neighbors in the 'plan'. They almost all ended up millionaires before the state fixed the problem with the lottery game.

[stevej37]

^^^ Nah...it's fine with me there.
The story is three years old now...I'm doubting they make it into a movie. (I wish they would)

[GH85Carrera]

My brother is a avid deer hunter in Alabama. Alabama has more deer than humans. Their "limit" is one of each sex in possession, per day. It is however 100% legal to go out, get a buck and a doe, field dress them, get back to civilization and drop off the carcass at the meat processing guys, and go out and harvest one of each again on the same day.

My brothers record is 18 in one year. Mostly with bow and arrow. He does use primitive arms on the days when that is all that is allowed. And their season is long.

[stevej37]

My sister, who moved to SC a few years back, asked one of the locals why she never sees adult deer.
They told her that she was seeing adult deer...they never get any bigger.

About half the size of northern deer...they don't do near the car damage.

[GH85Carrera]

These are "Key Deer" that live only on a few of the Florida Keys. They are little tiny deer. Not much to eat on the keys, and surviving a hurricane must be a real challenge for them. They are all federally protected, so no hunting them. They are pretty tame as humans are no threat, and often a source for food. We threw out a banana peel and it was gobbled right up.