Deer Hunting Rant

[JB]

Re: Deer Hunting Rant

I watch a lot of what goes on around The Hideout.

Coyotes are the top predator here if you discount the occasional stray red wolf. They probably kill a hundred rats and mice for each rabbit, rarely a cat or small dog. In 20 years I have seen one fawn kill and no other deer. They also eat a lot of reptiles. . .snakes and lizards. . .and the occasional squirrel or bobwhite. I have seen no evidence of a coyote killing a turkey. I have seen them spend hours hunting grasshoppers.

Bobcats are next, but they are pretty rare. They do kill turkeys and fawns as well as rabbits and everything else a coyote eats.

Hawks and falcons are small game and rodent eaters. Falcons take a lot of birds on the wing and a big red tail will kill bob kittens and coyote pups.

Finally, snakes. Rodent killers supreme.

What's a varmint?? It is probably a critter that helps keep your ecology in balance if you leave it be and causes problems if you don't.

 

[cheburashka]

Re: Deer Hunting Rant

Coyotes are like crows, or foxes, you can shoot them any time of they year, when ever you see one. They are just not good for anything. . .

. . .

We are over run with deer here too. . .

There's the problem as I see it. Of course, I live in a different part of the country, but here we're overrun with deer because there aren't enough predators to keep them in check. That's what coyotes are good for. Keeping populations in check. It's what they've done since before White folks walked this continent.

I just don't get this attitude--saying a particular animal is "not good for anything" when it's obvious that it does a lot of good. People tend to be short-sighted when it comes to protecting their own game animals, and will do their best to kill off another species that makes it more difficult for them to bag a buck.

I couldn't find anything on the new regulations to protect coyotes in VT so I can't say what regulators have in mind, but from what I've read the problem in VT isn't coyotes. It's hard winters weakening and killing off the deer.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Deer Hunting Rant

It is a bill in the Legislature S.113 at the State level elimination of organized coyote hunting competition.

 

[fishrdan]

Re: Deer Hunting Rant

Same here in CT. In some parts of the state they even allow baiting to help hunters lower the population.

You gotta be kidding me I might just have to give up fishing and become a hunter.

So what's the preferred gear for baiting a deer; Penn International 80s, 200# spectra, 7' marlin stick and a 12/0 circle hook sunk into a cob of corn

 

[SS MAYFLOAT]

Re: Deer Hunting Rant

You gotta be kidding me I might just have to give up fishing and become a hunter.

So what's the preferred gear for baiting a deer; Penn International 80s, 200# spectra, 7' marlin stick, 12/0 circle hook sunk into a cob of corn

A quiet truck with a brush guard works for me. My license tag is right there in plan view Its good for 12 months year round

 

[QC]

Re: Deer Hunting Rant

Coyotes are the top predator here if you discount the occasional stray red wolf. They probably kill a hundred rats and mice for each rabbit, rarely a cat or small dog.

The Coyotes here love cat meat and even small dogs. Cats don't last long if they don't stay inside almost all of the time. We have even had a few human attacks. We are smack dab in the middle of 10 million people with a little bit of open land around us. Our Coyotes are extremely brazen, they love dog food, trash, parks, they even climb trees and eat those little red berry things that nobody knows what they are. I've seen one leap from a standstill onto a six foot block wall, jump into the yard and eat dog food left out by my neighbor. I wish they took care of our bunny population, but they leave them to me . . .

 

[BoatBuoy]

Re: Deer Hunting Rant

I'm surprised that the DNR would attempt to protect a species that is neither desirable nor indigenous.

That's what coyotes are good for. Keeping populations in check. It's what they've done since before White folks walked this continent.

There were no coyotes here before White folks walked this continent. At least, here east of the Mississippi. That's why they have a Spanish name "coyote" - prairie wolf.

 

[avenger79]

Re: Deer Hunting Rant

A quiet truck with a brush guard works for me. My license tag is right there in plan view Its good for 12 months year round

I've gotten good at getting them with the side of the fender rather then the front. Hate to lose my headlights and those pesky airbags kind of scare me.

 

[bowman316]

Re: Deer Hunting Rant

we have been baiting deer for years down here in MD. But deer are the only animals you can bait.

We use a lot of corn, and salt licks. But our problem is there is a 3 month bow season from sept to dec, and then shotgun season starts. the problem is the bow hunters spook a lot of deer, and don't kill them, just injure them.

if they want to thin the heard out let the shotgun guys go in first, then let the bow hunters have their fun later.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Deer Hunting Rant

No baiting here at all...... if you get caught shooting at an animal near a "feed" pile of corn or apples your license is at risk. Absolutely no salt permitted at all.

 

[Mark_VTfisherman]

Re: Deer Hunting Rant

....the problem is the bow hunters spook a lot of deer, and don't kill them, just injure them....

That is irritating. A humane and decent kill is good sportsmanship. Yes, sometimes deer get lost, but the guys I know who bowhunt don't lose deer. They take good shots or pass.

For one thing, you leave a wounded or even dead deer in the woods for a few hours, and the COYOTES are on it. After dark forget it: the yotes will be right there with you within the beam of your flashlight. I don't bowhunt but know plenty of guys who do, and could retell a bunch of "This Happened To Me" stories. Huh- you know, one of them never even hunts in Vermont- not enough deer density. He gets his one or two in New York at a family member's place.

 

[xxxflhrci]

Re: Deer Hunting Rant

There's no shortage of deer in my part of Virginia. There are so many that more than more than one local gov't has eradication programs where they snipe them at night in an effort to cut back on deer/auto crashes.

There's no shortage of coyote's, either. My dad has snared 6 since the beginning of the year at our family farm.

We have too many deer and not enough hunters. Personally, I think every hunter that buys a license, which isn't cheap, should be entitled to at least one deer regardless of how he kills it or what sex it is.

 

[Mark_VTfisherman]

Re: Deer Hunting Rant

...There's no shortage of coyote's, either. My dad has snared 6....We have too many deer and not enough hunters. Personally, I think every hunter that buys a license, which isn't cheap, should be entitled to at least one deer regardless of how he kills it or what sex it is.

Snares are illegal in Vermont. Other than a neck snare, which can grab non-target species and offers no chance of release, I am not too keen on snares in a non-survival situation. A nicely laid foothold trap is humane and not a risk to non-target species.

In VA if they are killing deer carte blanche for control, I agree with you: every tag should have a deer- to a point.

Wildlife Biologists should come up with a target number for the deer heard, and sell "x" number of shoot-a-deer-any-way doe and buck permits to hunters for a period of time after the close of deer season. Only charge enough for the "post-season tickets" to cover the cost of managing it, and offer a program whereby if a hunter donates the meat, they get 1/2 the post season ticket price refunded with a voucher for next year's hunting license. That would be great use of a healthy renewable resource. You have to raise some money to do it, but I think if they allowed out-of-state hunters in for cheap in a post-season opportunity, that would be a benefit to all.

 

[mthieme]

Re: Deer Hunting Rant

Okay so VT passed a hunting regulation change 2 years ago that a buck must have 3 or more total points.

Yesterday the Fish and Wildlife announced that even though the deer kill has been reduced ...... the deer population is up to standards that were set and the population is strong.

Now for the next phase...... now they are considering a change again to 3 or more points per side

The winter season kill (from hard weather) has increased.....

Now the most recent piece of legistlation is to limit coyote hunting to help the coyote population?

Limit Coyote hunting..... change the deer hunting standards..... so now the coyotes will be the best fed in the country!!!!

What are they thinking?

Nothing is so broke that the government can't make it worse.
Sounds like you should petition your DNR. I've done this here a couple times. It's not a hard process, but you need to commit to it.

Also, you can't eat the horns.

 

[bowman316]

Re: Deer Hunting Rant

how are you supposed to count the horns before you shoot it?
what if it is running towards you?
a lot of times you only have a few seconds after seeing a deer to shoot it.

the deer are very spooked around here, they don't just stand there

 

[SS MAYFLOAT]

Re: Deer Hunting Rant

To help with coyotes, come up with some recipes on cooking them. No doubt someone will actually think they are good to eat......Who knows, maybe they do taste good?

 

[Mark_VTfisherman]

Re: Deer Hunting Rant

how are you supposed to count the horns before you shoot it?what if it is running towards you?a lot of times you only have a few seconds after seeing a deer to shoot it. the deer are very spooked around here, they don't just stand there

Well, if I hadn't had the scope on 7 power I would have confirmed the two-points-on-one-side but my mistake and I didn't take the shot at the deer. Needed it down on two with a decent field of view.

If he had stood still it wouldn't have been a big deal...

It makes it harder, but then again I like a challenge. The deer quality has gone up

 

[mthieme]

Re: Deer Hunting Rant

3 or more points is going to extend well beyond the ears. If you can't see that, please don't go out in the woods with a loaded high power rifle.

 

[bouttime007]

Re: Deer Hunting Rant

I havent hunted in years, but I think the bucks need to have a three inch spike to not be considered "antlerless" up here in Maine. Vermont sounds like they are making things a little hard for you guys.

The coyotes do a number on the deer up here, especially in the swamps when the ice is thin and the deer break through. I hear them behind the house with a kill almost every night at the beginning of the winters. I never pass on a shot at bumper hunting one of those rancid baaaastids.

There are plenty of avid hunters up here, but there's a ton of land to cover too. Some places are pretty under hunted due to the size and orneryness of the forests. Id say this winter took its toll on the deer herd though, two nasty ones back to back thinned it out a bit.

 

[Mark_VTfisherman]

Re: Deer Hunting Rant

3 or more points is going to extend well beyond the ears. If you can't see that, please don't go out in the woods with a loaded high power rifle.

"Three or more total points" That means one on one side and two on the other, and deer don't just walk up to you, tilt their head and say, "here, take a look."