Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Pond Boss Hunting/Trapping 2013-2014

he needs a much smaller knife with a gut hook. Oh, and also a much larger brain to go in his oversized head.

Had a big oh shxx today. First day of second muzzleloader season here and I was nice and comfortable in the redneck stand while it was snowing outside. Around 4 PM 2 does and 2 fawns came out to the brassica plot and started feeding. Figure I had time and took my time getting organized in the stand. Well after feeding for a minute or two they walked out of the brassica plot behind some switch grass and into a cut corn field. Now they where 100 yards to 120 yards and I decide to let them go and wait for something closer. Well it wasn't until just before 5 PM that 2 more deer entered the plot at about 75 yards away. Shooting closes at 5:06 so it was fairly dark. I saw the long nose thinner neck and believed the deer standing at 65 yards now was a doe. I put the binos on her and didn't see any antlers so I put the scope on her and pulled the trigger. After the smoke cleared I didn't see anything but about 5 seconds after the shot I thought I heard the deer crash. I packed up and walked across the clover plot to where I shot it. Found the tracks in the fresh snow but no blood. Weird I thought I heard the deer crash. I followed the tracks in the snow and after about 10 yards a couple of drops of blood, then more, and more and then after about 35 yards there HE is. Yes I shot a 1 1/2 year old 7 pointer. DAMM. You are only allow two bucks in IL so I am done for shooting bucks this year. I really thought the deer was a doe and was really happy to hit and find the deer but really disappointed that I shot a young buck and robbed myself of a potential great buck later. Oh well I have so good venison aging in the pole barn. Anyone want to come over for tenderloins?

Funny story is I passed this buck twice during archery season at 0 yards (right under the stand) and at 15 yards. No picture of the deer maybe I will get one in the morning before I process him.

Oh crap. Maybe it's time to upgrade to better glass?

Don't feel alone.

We're only allowed one buck per year here. But, they have late Archery, and a very late "antlerless" firearms season - it runs into January. I've shot bucks that have dropped their antlers 2x so far. I'm not happy about that, one had pretty large bases.

My first deer this year during bow turned out to be a button. It was only 25 feet from me when I shot it. Its knobs were so small you could not even see them when you were standing point blank. I did not know it was a button until I flipped it over. I have been real careful since then because I am trying to get the doe to buck ration down (which is hard when neighbors go by "if its brown its down). I have taken 4 more does, but at the end of bow I also shot a buck that was smaller than I thought (9pt but not as big as I thought). One more doe is allowed where I am, so I have been letting small does walk. Its snowing, so I'll be going out soon.

My son gets home tomorrow, going out with the muzzleloaders tomorrow night. It's 1 degree here now as I sit enjoying a coffee and we're supposed to get about a foot of snow this evening. It's going to be a cold one on stand tomorrow! Season ends for good on Tuesday and the landowner where we're hunting would like 3 & my son could use one. I'm kind of just going along for the ride as the 3 I've taken is all the venison I need. It's funny... when I was younger, I lived to deer hunt and it was an important staple for me to put up for the family as I wasn't making much then and the family liked eating it. It helped a lot with the food budget. Now- I'm really ready for the season to end so I can do the cutting I want to get in there to do to get ready for next summers projects, digging out a pond & using the fill to dam an adjacent gully for another dam/roadway combo.

Take your ML and get one for the landowner. PR is always important!

The way I look at it is that I'm hunting for the property owner, or shooting for the dog trainer - not for myself. What they say/want goes. I enjoy being outside, viewing wildlife and if I can help someone else, so much the better! That's why I typically donate a deer or 2 to hunters feeding the hungry. If the herd needs management, it does 2 things - helps the herd and helps put food on the table for someone else.

I've taken a buck that I typically wouldn't take (and used up my only buck tag) because the owner wanted "X" buck removed from the property. I feel that's a small price to pay for the opportunity of hunting on the property.

Sound like you are the kind of hunter every landowner wants to invite over. I also give most of my deer to the needy. We have folks right in our community that are struggling to put food on the table.

I only take does from this property, though the owner has said he doesn't mind if I take a buck... he hunts himself and I have my own land to hunt. A couple weeks ago on this property I had an 8 I'd have gladly taken from my place hang around for 15 minutes. Later I took a nice doe. I pretty much just help with management here & I'm happy to have the opportunity to help out. My goal for this season was that my Dad get his deer and he did at my place a couple weeks ago. I'll never pass up a chance to hunt with family- life's too short! Finding a place to hunt gets harder each year. One of the main reasons I bought land is so that I can leave something for my family- grandkids, et al... that gets harder to come by all the while. I want to set up a timber harvest program so that the place hopefully covers the taxes (NY is brutal on property tax) Sorry for the ramble Good luck with the rest of your season!

Indiana has a great program if you are willing to keep land in wildlife habitat forever and manage it properly. We have the Classified Forest and Wildlands Program, which I just put a small parcel in (15 acres) to get my feet wet and make sure that I understand it properly. The assessment on the land goes to $1 per acre. I was planning to put my whole place in the program when I retire, but an incompetent tax assessor reclassified the land as "excess residential". I will need to go to court for this years taxes, but it is really an open and shut case since nearly identical cases have recently gone through the courts with the landowners universally winning.

I have mixed feelings on selling timber. I've been there, and experienced it firsthand. I don't want to hijack this thread, so I would simply advise you to take several bids, and work the details out in advance.....how do you get paid? Up front? After the job is completed, or per load?

If the subject of timber stand improvement comes up, (TSI work), pay extra close attention. And check references.

Being in the Classified Forest Program in Indiana means that the District Forester must approve of any timber harvest and monitor it. No harvest is required though. I too have mixed feelings, but a proper and limited harvest might not be a bad thing. I do like big trees, but the woodland that I bought was raped of quality timber before I bought it. My kids and grand kids may enjoy big trees though. I do have one giant cottonwood on the place that I have owned for over 20 years (over 4' in diameter).

Just got back online guys, the 9 inches of snow we got over night filled the sat dish up. Head to go out and clear it out. Then had to plow the driveway. Your right Scott I going in for new glasses next month. But that said, I looked really hard and did not see antlers on him. That puts most of my deer hunting to an end for the year. Two deer in the freezer, don't think I need a third, but maybe I will go out tonight or tomorrow night and give it a try.

There are many snakes in the logging biz around here too. I plan to have the young men help me get what we cut ourselves & lay them out for bids by the road. I want the young guys to see how this works so they can go that route when I'm gone if they don't mind a little work for more cash... and more control of what goes & why.

I like that idea, but from watching and listening to the guy who cut the timber here, I wouldn't know a good log from a bad one. And consequently, wouldn't make much money.

I don't know what it cost to hire a forester to help you, but that might be one option?

When I was in school, the forestry proffesor said that we should mark both the trunk AND the stump with paint so the harvestors didn't cut more than they were supposed to. Without painting the stump (or root flare) there's no way to verify unless you are on site and watch every log taken out.

Large trees are very nice, but they can be left to grow too long for useable wood too. Check with the State, they might have a forester come out at no charge. I have a friend who's a retired forester, and he did some recommendations for me when he was here visiting. Learned some new things, and got my memory jogged for things that I forgot.

Scott,

That is standard operating procedure around here to mark both spots. I need to do a select harvest on 30 acres one of these winters (part of my forest management plan). The price of timber is so low my forester doesn't want to do it yet.

Second rut seems to be in based on activity last evening. Had 4 does bed down about 70 yards from me last night. I could see the biggest one but was not sure that it was a clear shot due to some brambles. Good thing that I did not shoot. When they got up after about an hour, the big one started chasing one of the does all over the place. He was a big deer with no antlers!

Wow... early drop. We got almost a foot of snow here- winds are supposed to be 15-30 mph later... planned on a hunt later but might switch it to Mon or Tues instead. Good luck!

I am just hunting does now, and already took 6 deer including our one allowed buck. I can be a wimp now. Good luck to you too!

lassig, due to the storms that went through the area last summer, there is still a glut of hardwood on the market. The wood is worth more as firewood than as timber. I called a few places and they said they'd pay a "few bucks" if I brought the wood to them.

Just how they expect me to move a 50" dia to mid 30" dia (in 34' of length) Red Oak to them is beyond me. (it was tipped over in the storm) Even cutting it down to 9' in length means it still weighs approx 7119 pounds at the butt end!

There is a shortage of Maple in the mills in the area, but here the trees get interior stains due to the mineral content of the soil, and the value drops. Go 15 miles East and the staining disappears.

RAH, bucks that are stressed lose their antlers earlier. I've seen bucks with no antlers now, and some still have them in early March.

It was worse last year, with all the large bucks losing antlers during the first rut. We have had two years of summer drought, but their body size and condition seems excellent.

A good friend of mine & my son hunted my place yesterday afternoon. My buddy filled a doe tag at dusk. It was near 0 with heavy snow & fog... weird conditions. I'm taking my son to a buddies place this afternoon for a last chance muzzleloader hunt... our season ends today. Warmer temps are forecast for later this week- should be perfect for getting in there with the chainsaw to open a few areas up a bit. This makes such a difference and has turned into one of my favorite winter activities. Some of what I'm clearing will be where the next ponds are going- it's so much easier to picture how it will go with the barren ground of winter clearing all vegetation- you can really see where waterlines would end up with different damming/digging scenario's. It's much easier to see the best options for where to put what you dug. The deer really appreciate the trimming this time of year too. Last winter I had some that would bed about 70 yards away from where I was running the saw just waiting for me to leave so they could get to the tops of what I'd cut that day. After 50 winters I've started to fantasize about wintering on the sand somewhere warm... but I think in the long run... I'd really miss the couple months of beauty winter offers. Of course, I say this on 12/17... I reserve the right to change my opinion in March!!!

I am planning some clearing in two different draws in my woods with pond plans as well. Did not see a thing in the stand last night, but the snow was loud and I only had an hour during shooting light.

On the topic of timber harvesting I would definitely recommend a forester...my district forester recommended a guy here in West Central IL that was outstanding. He marked every tree to go (trunk and base), put the project out for sealed bid ONLY to those loggers that would agree to my terms and had proper insurance based on my requirements, then supervised the removal. He was great. If there's anyone in Central IL that wants his info PM me.

Side note, I did my harvest purely to improve the health of my timber but it had a fairly significant side benefit...my 40 acres now (8 years post harvest) holds more deer than guys on either side of me with 3-4 times the acreage. I had the typical 'open timber' model on my ground pre-harvest...lots of mature hardwoods, full closed canopy, no underbrush. The forester took out every third or fourth mature tree, letting some underbrush come in. Consequently I have patches of bedding/cover all over my timber now. Strategic placement of stands so as to not bump the bedding areas and I have a phenomenal hunting area. In a year when IL kills were down almost 35% overall and most of my hunting buddies in the area didn't see hardly anything the entire bow/gun season combination, I had one of the best years I've ever had. 21 sits in for bow plus 9 for gun, and only 2 sits total did I not have the ability to harvest a deer. I had more 3 1/2 year old bucks in range this year than I ever have before. I have pictures taken from my stand of no less than 7 different bucks that are borderline shooters. I let them all go. I only had an encounter with a clear shooter-class buck once, and couldn't get a good shot with my bow. Had I seen him during gun season he would've been harvested.

My totals for the year are 4 deer in the freezer...3 taken the same morning before 9 AM. The weekend of Thanksgiving falls in between the 2 major gun seasons in IL. I traditionally don't bother bow hunting that weekend as in my experience the gun season really wreaks havoc with the herd. But this year was relatively quiet on first gun weekend so I decided to get a good sit in with my limb and stick that next Saturday. Long story short I had 11 different deer within bow range before 9 AM. I harvested 2 does and 1 small 7 pointer that someone had darn near shot the leg off of the previous weekend. He could barely walk, and was going to be coyote food very shortly. You can see the hole in his upper leg in the picture. I'm very particular about the bucks taken off of my ground but this guy wasn't going to make it.