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Legacy- 2018 Deer Season


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Had an interesting experience when checking our 4 trail cameras last weekend.  The first location, the camera was missing from the tree.  Upon closer inspection we noticed claw marks on the bark of the tree, so we started searching around the area.  A few minutes later i found the camera 25 ft away from the tree it was on, with the plastic buckle snapped off.  Sure enough, lots of pictures and videos of bear on that camera (notice the two cubs in the background of the first picture - one on the ground and one in the tree).  On our way to check the 3rd camera, we were riding the fourwheeler up through a mowed path through the berry briers and 50 yards away from where the camera was we had 3 decent size cubs run across the trail about 20 ft in front of us....no idea where momma was, but i was not sticking around to find out!  Put the fourwheeler in reverse and back down the hill!  Skipped that camera and went to check the last camera on the top of our property.  Saw the sow and all 3 cubs again as they made their way up the hill.  Had bear on 3 of the 4 cameras, and more bear pictures than deer pictures in the last few weeks.

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Edited by Guppy35
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Well the boat is on the hard. Fishing season is officially over for 2018. For me the fishing season and deer season, without any lull, blend right into each other. It seems to be impossible to fish during deer season or do anything hunting related during the fishing season. I think I need to retire... In less than two days, like a flick of a switch, I will be in full hunting mode! I told my wife that I would see her again around Christmas time. HA!

As for the season, I am as ready as I am gonna be. I am itching to pull card from cameras but I refuse to make special trips. If I could drive and retrieve cards that would be different but until crops get harvested I simply cant do that. Sweet corn, and squash are being harvested here locally along with some soy beans. Everything I hunt locally is ag land. Apples, sweet corn, field corn, squash, winter wheat, cabbage, and soybeans are the major crops here in DMU 8A. There isnt any intensive fertilizing done so crop rotation plays a huge role in deer activity. Cabbage is awful and sweet corn isnt all that far behind. Give me field corn and soybeans please or a late season field of squash, and ill bet that is where the action is at. Its tough to beat field corn. Deer get to enjoy the food source well into November sometime and they love the additional cover. From a visual stand point I always seem to want the field harvested but once it is, I wish hadnt been. 

Some guys might not like the early season but these first couple of weeks can offer a great opportunity at a buck still in that summer pattern. Ill take the first two weeks of October over the last two weeks any time. Although I have not put a tag on one that early yet, the early season will produce for me at some point. Looking back through journals, the first 10-14 days of October have produced some great buck sightings. In 2017 I had 7 big buck sightings in the first 14 days of the season. Whether its a train of bachelor bucks in the am or a pm field sighting, they always seem to show early in the season without much fear.

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I am looking for some accurate knowledge of nuisance tags. I did my last round of camera checks last night with my 2 young boys. As we wrapped up in the woods and cam out around the orchard I was startled by a “hunter” posted up with a rifle pointing down the lane way. I know he was legal in his was but the safety of him shooting down the hill where I just came from was a big concern. How are nuisance tags handed out? Quantity, legal hours and dates of use? Can they use lights at night? Does the hunter need to be registered on the permit? Doe only? Any info is welcome.


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31 minutes ago, Tboo said:

I am looking for some accurate knowledge of nuisance tags. I did my last round of camera checks last night with my 2 young boys. As we wrapped up in the woods and cam out around the orchard I was startled by a “hunter” posted up with a rifle pointing down the lane way. I know he was legal in his was but the safety of him shooting down the hill where I just came from was a big concern. How are nuisance tags handed out? Quantity, legal hours and dates of use? Can they use lights at night? Does the hunter need to be registered on the permit? Doe only? Any info is welcome.


Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United

 

I guess there is no cut and dry answer to this. Every landowner that applies for permits may request something different depending on what level of population control is needed. Actual "tags" are handed out on an as needed basis and from what I have seen they would easily issue more permits than deer population. 

In the situations I have seen.... rifles are allowed, you must shoot deer in crops, antlerless only, dawn to dusk, july-september "season".

 

This is the best thing I could find on the NYSDEC website

https://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/104956.html

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I pulled the SD cards yesterday after having put my cameras up in mid-September. True to form, there were a bunch of doe and yearlings, a couple of scrub bucks, and predators including coons and coyote. I usually see the first shooters show up ~October 15th. I suspect that the bachelor groups are hanging closer to the ag and fruit. I was surprised not to have any turkey in the pictures, given that we've had multiple flocks call the property home over the past few years, but the coyotes may have something to do with that. I also have several doe that look emaciated with ribs showing and a button buck that appears to have mange with tufts of hair coming off his haunches. That's concerning.

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