Blog Entries from the WeHuntSC.com blogging crew
We met up with Derrick at 5:30 in the morning. I thought that was a little early, but I had forgotten to budget in the time necessary to let Derrick bend our ears a little before heading out. After our ears got warm we headed out.
Derrick and I were hunting out of a tall tower stand overlooking a food plot bordered by a cutover on one side and some woods on the other. The sun reflected off the ice that covered the trees, plants, and underbrush that surrounded us below. We watched the sun rise while we scanned the field below for movement. At a certain point the sun was shining directly in our eyes, the stand was facing east. For about 20 minutes I could only look left and right out of the sides of the stand avoiding the front of the stand where the brightness of the sun shined through. Eventually the sun got high enough to where we could see out of all directions of the stand easily. It felt like it was time for something to happen.
We surveyed the field looking for any movement. I would zoom in with the camera looking around the edges of the field while Derrick looked through his binoculars. Around 8:20 a hawk appeared out in front of us at about 80 yards and perched on a tree branch. The hawk would swoop down as if to catch something and then return to the branch. It did this several times so I decided to turn the camera on to hopefully get the hawk catching something on camera. I turned the camera on and got the hawk flying off and returning to the branch one time. Just a few seconds after the hawk returned Derrick said ?look at those deer?. Sure enough two does had walked out in a shooting lane to our left while this hawk was chasing his breakfast. I rotated the camera over to film the deer as Derrick slid down from his chair into shooting position.
At first we weren?t sure if the does were going to be big enough to validate taking a shot. After looking at them closely we decided that the first one was decent enough size to make a shot. I had the camera in place and Derrick was ready to make the shot. As I looked through the camera I heard Derrick say ?Are you ready? and I whispered back ?yes?. A millisecond after I said yes the deer was laying on the ground. Derrick wasted no time pulling the trigger after hearing that I was ready. The smaller doe scurried off with the loud booming sound of the shot. There was no doubt on this one. Derrick had a made good shot.
We sat in the stand for a bit to let the nerves settle a little and then we got down out of the stand. Getting down out of that tall stand is a process for me because I don?t like being up that high in the first place. I made a point to go slowly and after I got down I filmed Derrick as he got down from the stand as well to show the height of the stand. We went over to the deer and loaded her up. Derrick says that he aimed at the base of her neck. I?m not so sure about that, but whatever the case is?he hit the deer at the base of the neck. The doe weighed 113lbs and we had another good morning in the woods.
Derrick came through again and I got my fair share of entertainment.
Regards,
Clint
It?s evident that managing game on one's land can have long-term benefits for hunting. In this blog series we're looking at the concept of Game Management. So far in the journey we've discussed Food Plots, Selective Harvest, & Herd Balance and with this entry we're going to look into the concept of deer surveying.
Deer surveying is exactly what is sounds like, surveying the deer on your land. Recent technology has made surveying deer (and any species of game) a whole lot easier, mainly via the creation of the game camera. The invention of the game camera has undeniably changed the way we hunt. Game cameras give hunters an advantage by providing valuable information about the deer in our area. Obviously game camera pics don't give an outdoorsman a 100% accurate read on the deer in a given area, but they do give way more insight about the deer herd than if we didn't have game cameras.
Game cameras are the most common (and affordable) way to survey one's deer herd. Though, there are more scientific and expensive methods of surveying deer. I heard one speaker at a conference say that in some locations they were flying airplanes over tracks of land taking thermal imagery to survey the game on the land. I imagine thermal imagery is more accurate and way more expensive too! I also know that DNR uses some more advanced, scientific techniques for surveying deer population & growth. These are all neat methods that provide more accurate data, but any method besides a game camera falls out of my financial range. Nevertheless the importance of having a feel for the game on your land is the main point to be noted.
Why is having knowledge of the deer in an area important for game management? If you are herd balance conscientious then surveying deer can give you a feel for the ratio of bucks to does on your property. Sure it's not accurate down to a finite percentage, but it does allow more informed decisions to be made about the herd in a given area. From this insight a hunter can help determine which deer he or she should or shouldn't harvest based on numbers. Essentially a hunter can get a feel for the herd balance in the area they are hunting through surveying the game on their land. You'll find that die-hard hunters survey deer year round and move their game cameras around a few times a year. Surveying deer, like game management, is a year round process.
Surveying the game in a hunter's allotted hunting area also helps one determine the age class of deer in the region. Viewing the size of deer in a game camera's pictures can help hunters determine the age of bucks based on body size, rack size, and other traits of mature bucks. Along with viewing the different age class of bucks any recent fawns, yearlings, and does can be observed as well. Viewing the deer in your area helps you get a feel for the health of deer as well.
Knowledge of the game in a track of land is a must in any effective game management strategy. Whether you survey deer through more expensive techniques or simply through a game camera, surveying deer pays dividends and helps hunters make informed decisions. Surveying deer allows hunters to watch deer mature over time and gives insight toward the herd balance ratios. If you haven't already, start learning about the deer in your area and you'll be a better hunter because of it.
This past week I received an email from a friend that really got my attention and so I wanted to share it with everyone here. These pictures were taken in Mississippi, but this scenario can easily happen anywhere coyotes exist. If you're a deer and/or turkey hunter and you wonder what the big fuss about coyotes is about...see below. This is why the sport of predator hunting is on the rise and is one of the reasons we're hosting the Predator Competition.
Yellow Cape Communications is a communications firm based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Yellow Cape specializes in television production, multi-media for web, still photography, communications consulting, marketing communications services and all things web. You've seen Yellow Cape?s work before when you first come to the site and see the girls in camo introducing our site. You may also have seen the 2010 Central Eagles State Championship Documentary or the Chesterfield County Career and Technology Education video. I also had Jason produce a DotNetNuke SuperFan Video for me and it turned out really good!
Jason Fararooei and his team at Yellow Cape Communications create top notch multi-media communications - so if you work for an organization that may need multi-media creation, photography or communications consulting services, give Jason a shout http://www.YellowCapeCommunications.com.
Yellow Cape Communications has partnered with WeHuntSC.com on 5 quick-tip video segments to promote the basics in hunting and outdoor safety. Over the course of this deer hunting season we will be releasing the videos in this blog series. I can already tell you that the last segment in this series is by far the best! The below is the third in the series.
The notion of herd balance is one that not all deer hunters consider. The term "herd balance" most commonly refers to the ratio of bucks to does in a given area, but it is also related to a deer's habitat. The overarching goal of herd balance is to have a quality deer herd. A quality deer herd means that the population of deer is in balance with the available forage and cover. A balanced herd has deer that are healthy, well nourished, and the herd has a well-balanced ratio of bucks to does. A balanced herd will produce healthy fawns that survive winter and will also have an even distribution of deer age classes.
A significant number of hunters prefer to harvest antlered deer in comparison to antlerless deer, which leads to unbalanced sex ratios in the population. Dr. Dave Guynn, professor in the Department of Forestry, Clemson University and a member of the QDMA's Executive Board posted a great article on herd balance on QDMA's web site. In his article he asked the question "Why should we concern ourselves with maintaining a natural social balance in a managed deer herd? Because, to survive as long as they have, deer long ago developed social rules or mechanisms that would keep deer herds and their individual members fit and competitive. However, when harvest regulations allow hunters to deplete certain social classes (with deer, this is usually most or all bucks 1.5 years old or older) in an unscientific, haphazard manner, the herd's social mechanisms can become stressed". As hunters harvesting deer every year we should keep the concept of these social classes in mind. If we only harvest the largest bucks we see then we?re causing an imbalance in the herd that can have longer-term effects on the quality of deer in a given area.
In this blog series we're looking at concepts, practices, and approaches that can aid in managing game in a hunter's area. "Game management" in our approach stems from the perspective of "the everyday hunter" rather than someone who owns a ranch and is managing game as a business. We've looked at food plots in depth already in this series and in this entry we?ll look into the concept of "Selective Harvest".
As you would imagine, "selective harvest" simply means what you would expect, being selective about the deer that you shoot. This concept goes against the grain for some hunters because it means not shooting every deer that you see. Given a normal scenario, in order to have mature deer with good genetics on your land, a hunter simply can't shoot every deer he/she sees and expect to see a lot of "Monster Bucks" on the same land. Letting young bucks walk is critical in order to get mature bucks to hold on your land. I have been surprised at the number of bucks we're seeing now simply from practicing selective harvest on our hunting land for a few years.
Jason Fararooei and his team at Yellow Cape Communications create top notch multi-media communications - so if you work for an organization that may need multi-media creation, photography or communications consulting services, check Jason out www.YellowCapeCommunications.com
Yellow Cape Communications has partnered with WeHuntSC.com on 5 quick-tip video segments to promote the basics in hunting and outdoor safety. Over the course of this deer hunting season we will be releasing the videos in this blog series. The below video, Buddy Stand Benefits is the 2nd video of the series.
Just wanted to make sure you knew about Schofield's Duck Hunter Extravaganza that's going on this weekend. If you're into waterfowl hunting, and you like good deals, then you'll want to check this out.
