Hunting Season 2020

[Deadeye]

It's that time of year again when many folks start turning their thoughts back towards Hunting.

I'm no different.

Went up last weekend to check the Property and disc up some new Food Plots. Didn't take a bunch of pics but here are a few.

Wind And Storm Damage.









Mine held up good, the SIL's not so much.

Loaded up and ready to work.





First Plot before and after







The system I use is made up of a GroundHog Max disc and Wood Ramps.
I back up onto the Ramps which raises the ATV 4" and allows the disc to be put on. I can adjust the disc height up if needed.

I usually set it at 4" to disc then 1" to cover the seed. Drag a screen over if needed.






Headed back up in a week or so to move Stands and clear Shooting Lanes.

Ah, 2020 Season has begun.


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[fishballer06]

Good luck this season. Hopefully all your hard work pays off.

[Wizard]

St. Louis County, Mo is overrun with deer.  We have yotes, dillos and turkeys. Possibly big cat tracks and  a photo of a black bear along Mattisse creek in S. County. Mattisse creek is the back boundary of my property. All the intrusions have occurred in the last quarter century.

Wizard

[Oldfart9999]

we're overrun with deer here along with other assorted forms of wildlife, don't need a gun or license, bump them with you car, the cops shoot them and you can have the meat along with a new front end.
Rodney

[Deadeye]

Well Florida is over run with Deer in certain areas, but ours is not one of them.

Florida is a very Diverse State, it changes Greatly from the Panhandle to the Everglades. Season in South Florida starts in July and Starts in October in the Panhandle. The Bucks Rut also changes. In SF it is in August and moves as it goes North until it ends in February in the PH.

You Could Hunt from July until February if you were willing to Drive to do it.

For years the season in Central Florida started in mid September with Archery and ran until January when Gun  Ended. You were allowed to take 2-Bucks a Day through the entire season. During Doe Days Weekends and Archery you could take 2-Doe, or 1-Doe & 1-Buck, or 2-Bucks.

That was insane to many but Prefect to many others. It was common to hear tales of 1 Guy shooting 20+ Deer "to feed my family" when they actually only ate 3-4 and he gave the rest away to "those that needed some".

In other words they were addicted to killing and wouldn't stop until the Season did.

It was a Battle for a year or more but finally the State went to a 5-Deer a Year Season Limit. 2 of which can be Does, or you can shoot any combination of Bucks up to 5 or subtract a Buck for every Doe up to 2-Doe MAX. 5 Deer Total.

That sparked lots of fighting between Hunter Groups as those that still wanted Unlimited Shooting didn't want to stop at 5.

They had an awkward system to check in each deer (no Tags here) but this year Greatly Improved that by tying it into their FWC App that holds your License and lots of other info and now the Deer Havest Report App. All you need to do is fill out the Form before you move the Deer and your good. Even if you have no signal it files the Report and sends it when there is signal. Don't have a Smart Phone? No Problem, you can fill out a Paper Form and mail it in at the end of the Season.

This will be Year 2 with the New Regs. It will be something to see how the Deer Population changes over the next 3-5 years.

[Oldfart9999]

The DEC hands out permits for extra deer, it's done on a lottery system, I'm sure now but just a few years ago it was possible for some to harvest up 12 deer a year. The problem is caused by a combination of more habitat and fewer hunters.
Rodney

[Deadeye]

We went up and moved one of our stands a few hundred yards, but what a difference it will make.

3rd year on this property. Last year I did a couple All Day Sits at one spot we both thought would be great, open lane cut right along the edge of a swamp and the trail/road in at a corner, but it never worked out. Saw a few deer there, but most were crossing a trail just at the end of our sight line.

When I went looking for a better spot I found they were using the little field I had opened up and there was a Major Crossing the Deer had beat down through the thick brush row. Also then found that perfect spot where we can see right into that Y Field, straight to the Crossing Cut, left onto the old trail in that the Deer are using, and behind us on the main road down into the bottom.

We set up the Quad Pod then put the blind back on and I added some black screen over the openings for some cover. The SIL cut out shooting lanes while I did that. Then after I went over to cut down to chest height some of the brush row so we can see over it.

Also all the seeding I did last month is working! First time we have actually had some good growth showing in 3 weeks.

Pics of the crossing, the stand from that crossing, and a few of the different food plots.













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[Deadeye]

Back from another working trip.
Some plots had Great growth for it being bird seed. The ones that had been lined in the past did the best.

This trip I overseeded with a oats/wheat/rye grain/clover mix. Also limed and fertilizer to all plots old and new.

As they sat.








Some new plots.






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[Deadeye]

Got up here yesterday for several days of hunting.

The first food plot is looking great and it seems the deer like it.









2nd Plot is not as good, but better then we've ever had here before.

At the far end it seems to be getting more sunlight and growing better. Not much I can do about that. Lease the land don't own it.

The cam went to crap but did get a few pics before it stopped working.







Plan to sit here all day.

Check the other Stands over the upcoming days.


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[Deadeye]

Oh boy another First!!

And not a good one either.










This camera will get replaced. It constantly resets itself to Jan 2018 and then takes rapid fire pics for a day or so.

6500 pics. Maybe 100 were worth something.

These were actually taken from October 7-24 2020.


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[Deadeye]

Oh hunting had sucked. Seen one at dusk crossing a lane and that is it so far


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[caddyjoe77]

a black bear in Florida?

[Wizard]

Seems to be, Joe. I thought they were a myth like the Skunk Ape.  I don't think a Skunk Ape has been seen since George "the animal" Steele died.

Wizard

[Lee Smith]

we have them here too Joe, don't see them very often but they are here.  This summer someone hit one on the road at 2AM about 15 miles from the house 

[Capt. BassinLou]

a black bear in Florida?

Yes, we have black bears in FL. I saw one once in the Everglades, as we were driving along once along  Alligator Alley around the Big Cypress Area.

[Deadeye]

We not only have them, we are being over run with them.

Florida had them on the Endangered List for years until it was just silly to try and keep that going. I do seem to remember the Feds had something to do with that.

Anyway a few years back the first Bear Hunt in years for Florida took place. You had to submit an application and pay a fee for a Bear Permit. The hunt was expected to last three days and to harvest 300 bears.

The plan was each of the permit holders had to call in each day to see if the hunt would extend into the next day or not.

They (FWC) had over 300 kills reported by mid day the first day. So the hunt was canceled.

Public pressure to Stop the Bear Hunt was put on then Governor Rick Scott during an election year and he ordered the FWC to end the hunts and never hold one again.

It has only gotten worse for reporting Bear attacks on people and pets.


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[Wizard]

They are spreading quickly into old habitats. Cougars and Bears are using the streams to move in Missouri. They're within a night's walk of St. Louis.

Wizard

[Lee Smith]

Can't hunt them here! 

A quick story on how the Government thinks: The Bogue Chitto Swamp runs 60 miles close to my mothers house.  Back in the 60's a flood came and washed the creek clean, which in turn dried up the swamp. The smart people in Washington decided to put in beavers as at that time there was very few here and they will help clog up the creek and help the swamp back to life.  Fast pace 10 or so years and of course, beavers are in every pond around and the swamp is full of them, bring in the gators to help weed them out...

Bears came in the late 80's, brought to us by the good ole US government and was installed to, wait for it..........eat the gator eggs which will 'cut' down on their population.

Yep, now we have Beavers, Gators and Bears roaming around and the only one we can touch is the Beavers...smh 

[Wizard]

I hardly ever turn down a Beaver. I've always liked a little tail.

Wizard

[FlatsNBay]

Deadeye, what county is your lease? Does it have any turkeys on it?

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[Deadeye]

Washington and only seen Turkeys one time on cam.

I did manage to take this broken up 6-point now 5-point on my last chance trip up.





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