Observations from deer season...

Broomd

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Deer season is over around here :D .....Just a few observations from this year around the farm, purely anecdotal....

Deer numbers were down this year to start the season, last year's Winter was tough. I'd say 35-40% of our local herd was lost--again, my observation. There were deer around though, and I was surprised to see more deer keeping to heavy cover, I think it really helped them in the long run. I heard very few shots as opposed to most years. The rutting deer seem to know where safety is more than ever and they seem to be fawning in more 'human' areas too to avoid predation.
We had about five bucks around/on the place, four for sure per the trail cams....we took one. My wife passed on a fine 2.5 y/o 4x5 that I saw with the buck I killed.. Our freezer is tight, and she figured she'd pass. I'm proud of her. I think he lived, I jumped two bucks/some does a couple days ago grabbing the trail cams and he was likely one of them, it was thick.
We had some very cool deer activity, lots of grunting, rattling/fighting bucks were common; most years we never hear that other than the still of night. My neighbor rattled up three bucks this year but passed on all of them. Dunno if he finally found one he wanted.

Road hunters were still awful. This is the first year (and can say this with 100% honesty) that I actually looked at license plates as trucks crept down the road. This forum has made me so much more aware of the issue. The majority of the scourge was from Washington, followed by Oregon and then California. We had some local Idaho idiots but they were mostly Thanksgiving weekend warriors. My wife and I were in our truck heading to town when a Boise truck swerved in front of us and immediate bounced off-road and parked (on private property!) We figure the fool spotted a buck and didn't g.a.s. where or what else was going on around his vehicle. His barrel was hanging out the d.s. window. I sat up the road from him watching as to preclude him from illegally shooting from the vehicle. He finally left when the deer he was anticipating didn't appear. This was all literally 300 yards from our house front door. We recently fenced more for cattle and that seems to have helped with guys shooting/trespassing onto our place.
Overall, I suspect that guys had a tougher year than normal, it seemed quieter than most years with the shooting, and like I mentioned, thankfully the deer were a bit more wary and cover-oriented. Some years the does are running all over. And when the numbers are down, those does are so important to the herd.
Weather was tough for much of the season, high winds, rain, fog....The rare shots heard were when things cleared for a spell.
I spoke with our local sporting goods store gal when I was picking up my deer tag. She was pretty pissed (I was surprised, she's low key) I asked her why she was upset and she railed on about non-residents buying nothing from the store but licenses/tags, particularly WA guys. When she ran out of non-res tags, they were total jerks to her. Her words not mine! I have WA friends here and they are good guys.
I'm anxious to read what the state harvest was overall and how it compared with other years. We had planned a muley hunt but didn't go with the low numbers and '16 Winter kill.

I'll add here: it's a blessing to have a place/property to hunt and for us, it took a lifetime to get it. Work hard guys, nothing like a place to call your own to hunt or fish.
Some fellas want $70,000 F150's and $20K UTVs, there are loftier and more intrinsic goals, imho.
 
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vanish

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Its funny, wherever I've hunted it was often the locals who were the road hunters. Roll out from the house and maybe shoot something.

The guys from out of state had traveled a long ways to hunt and were going to get out and do just that.
 

Fire_9

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Call me crazy but I don't ever leave for a hunting trip thinking I'm going to stop by the sporting goods store to get what I need. She would get zero sympathy from me about people only buying licenses. Just sounds like another disgruntled resident complaining about non resident hunters

We all like to complain about road hunters but none of us can deny it's effectiveness during the rut when deer are moving. Not my preferred method to hunt but there are a lot of big deer killed from the road
 

Randle

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Interesting, 35 -40%, is this based on finding carcasses. are you South of I 90?
We have found numbers down, in some places but for the most part I think it was blue tongue.
Other places it seems they faired ok, Pm if you want
 

deerlick

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I never saw an idaho resident hunting that wasn't on a utv or in their truck where I was at for whitetail. So blame the road hunting on whom you like.
 
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Broomd

Broomd

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Call me crazy but I don't ever leave for a hunting trip thinking I'm going to stop by the sporting goods store to get what I need. She would get zero sympathy from me about people only buying licenses. Just sounds like another disgruntled resident complaining about non resident hunters

We all like to complain about road hunters but none of us can deny it's effectiveness during the rut when deer are moving. Not my preferred method to hunt but there are a lot of big deer killed from the road
Lame ass way to hunt; sounds like you know it well.

And if I'm heading to another state to hunt I'm buying something from the local sporting goods store other than my license, even if it's a frigging can of Coke. She could have cared less if they killed deer or not, she's trying to make a living. Several Washington guys laid into her when she had run out of tags. I encouraged her to just let it go, she was stressed out as hell when I walked in there.

Its funny, wherever I've hunted it was often the locals who were the road hunters. Roll out from the house and maybe shoot something.
The guys from out of state had traveled a long ways to hunt and were going to get out and do just that.
We had some locals road hunting, I alluded to that. I personally don't know anyone around here who hunts other than by foot. We had one guy who moved; he road hunted, but he was very old. The people I saw were from the states I alluded to.
Interesting, 35 -40%, is this based on finding carcasses. are you South of I 90?
We have found numbers down, in some places but for the most part I think it was blue tongue.
Other places it seems they fared ok, Pm if you want
Yep, south of I90....and based on what we've found dead in the Spring (winter kill) along with deer sightings based on 10 years of living here. Anecdotal, but makes sense. The elk did okay, but last year's deep snow was hard on deer here.
 

Fire_9

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Lame ass way to hunt; sounds like you know it well.

And if I'm heading to another state to hunt I'm buying something from the local sporting goods store other than my license, even if it's a frigging can of Coke. She could have cared less if they killed deer or not, she's trying to make a living. Several Washington guys laid into her when she had run out of tags. I encouraged her to just let it go, she was stressed out as hell when I walked in there.

Settle down guy. What makes you think I'm a road hunter? Just because I present a valid point you think I'm a road hunter? I didn't say it wasn't a lame way to hunt. I just said it can be effective, which is the truth. And just to be clear, I'm not the one that posted a picture of a buck on the back of a 4 wheeler this year...

I'm not saying the woman you mentioned doesn't have a right to be upset with the guys that pitched her some crap for selling out of licenses. I don't condone that at all and those guys were out of line. But I don't think people should feel obligated to guy a coke when they hunt out of state. Should I feel like an asshole even more if I camp and pack my own meals too instead of supporting the local motels and diners? Where does it stop? Do these small businesses not get any kind of cut of the licenses they sell?
 

Lawnboi

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As a respectful, non road hunting, non res hunter in the west, Please don't paint all non res hunters as Jagoffs.

I fully agree with you on the land deal. I envy people who have private land to hunt, especially in my home state, where public is pounded, and relatively limited. Some just don't know how lucky they have it. My one goal before having children is to get some land, so my kids have a place to spend time outside.
 
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Broomd

Broomd

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Settle down guy. What makes you think I'm a road hunter? Just because I present a valid point you think I'm a road hunter? I didn't say it wasn't a lame way to hunt. I just said it can be effective, which is the truth. And just to be clear, I'm not the one that posted a picture of a buck on the back of a 4 wheeler this year...

I'm not saying the woman you mentioned doesn't have a right to be upset with the guys that pitched her some crap for selling out of licenses. I don't condone that at all and those guys were out of line. But I don't think people should feel obligated to guy a coke when they hunt out of state. Should I feel like an asshole even more if I camp and pack my own meals too instead of supporting the local motels and diners? Where does it stop? Do these small businesses not get any kind of cut of the licenses they sell?
No worries here. I just happen to see very little merit or ethics in shooting deer from the road--it is illegal FROM THE ROAD in our state, and that is done constantly.
Some folks have no choice but to drive around looking for quarry, bad backs, old age....it is what it is.
The road hunter concern is fact of life for us so deep in deer country here, specifically when we have livestock and a home tucked in the woods just off the roads.
I can say I've never road hunted deer or elk in my life and don't plan on it. As for the deer in the wheeler, I guess I could have dragged it across my place for thirty acres...the buck was killed on our property like 90% of any deer we take.
And regarding the sporting goods store discussion, my point is that we're in a day and age where everything is available online, and cheaply. I'm a cheap ass, I don't want to give away my kwan any more than anyone else, but showing one's appreciate for the mere presence of that store and the convenience it offers in getting licenses and tags is worth a simple purchase. That's a no-brainer for anyone that is old school. Guys have forgotten what it means to show appreciation. Those stores don't make shYte from tag sales.
Your alluding to camp and food is spot on, the store gal asked a couple of fellas where they were staying and they flat out said, not here, we bought our own camp and stuff. They made it clear that they had no intentions of patronizing our state or town for anything but a deer or elk.
And people wonder why there is such bad blood with non-residents.

To be clear, it isn't everyone. I made a lifelong friend in a guy from Texas who drew bull moose here in 2009 as a non-res. He got a trophy bull and we all shared great times for the month he was here. I helped him dress the beast in the field, we packed the meat out. He got to know many people here; he spent a few bucks. All would consider him a dear friend. He knew how to kindly deal with folks, obviously a forgotten art.
 

FreeRange

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I had a lot of similar observations about deer populations, a lackluster rut and road hunters etc in Idaho on my whitetail hunt this year. I've always felt and said that I appreciate that 75% of my "competition" out there is driving around in a truck or on an ATV, makes it that much easier for me to know where the pressure is and where to go to get away from pressure. I sure don't like the negative image their actions create, but I'll use that to my advantage all day long.

I met a lot of nice folks on my hunt, most all of the nice ones were from idaho, stayed in a few motels, supported a lot of local food joints, left good tips, got a few free beers from locals and had plenty of them willingly talk deer hunting with me. I always begrudgingly admit I'm from California but am always happy when the response I get is one of genuine surprise that I'm from California and not a genuine ass-hat. I completely understand their surprise, that's why I get out of state every chance I get.
 

Fire_9

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Those stores don't make shYte from tag sales.
Your alluding to camp and food is spot on, the store gal asked a couple of fellas where they were staying and they flat out said, not here, we bought our own camp and stuff. They made it clear that they had no intentions of patronizing our state or town for anything but a deer or elk.
And people wonder why there is such bad blood with non-residents.

.

But the stores to make something on tag sales correct? Probably about as much as the coke you buy.

Let me see if I have this right. If I travel to Idaho and spend the $4-500 on a deer license in a store in the middle of no where and don't by anything else and camp on national forest and eat my own food, I'm an unappreciative a-hole?

Have you ever thought that some of us that pound the hills don't want to sleep on a shitty bed or eat a greasy café burger? Or we don't want to travel back to town to do either of those because we hunt from dawn to dusk?

Don't get me wrong. I understand what you're trying to say. But I get so tired of people jumping on these forums and bashing the noresident hunters who are paying 10x the cost to hunt the same deer or elk the residents get to hunt. And honestly I'm met more asshole resident hunters than I've met non resident hunters
 
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Broomd

Broomd

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I had a lot of similar observations about deer populations, a lackluster rut and road hunters etc in Idaho on my whitetail hunt this year. I've always felt and said that I appreciate that 75% of my "competition" out there is driving around in a truck or on an ATV, makes it that much easier for me to know where the pressure is and where to go to get away from pressure. I sure don't like the negative image their actions create, but I'll use that to my advantage all day long.

I met a lot of nice folks on my hunt, most all of the nice ones were from idaho, stayed in a few motels, supported a lot of local food joints, left good tips, got a few free beers from locals and had plenty of them willingly talk deer hunting with me. I always begrudgingly admit I'm from California but am always happy when the response I get is one of genuine surprise that I'm from California and not a genuine ass-hat. I completely understand their surprise, that's why I get out of state every chance I get.
+1! Good on ya and glad you experienced the best of this amazing state! And if you return here the same small town motels and folks will likely remember you and your generosity.
 
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Broomd

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But the stores to make something on tag sales correct? Probably about as much as the coke you buy.

Let me see if I have this right. If I travel to Idaho and spend the $4-500 on a deer license in a store in the middle of no where and don't by anything else and camp on national forest and eat my own food, I'm an unappreciative a-hole?

Have you ever thought that some of us that pound the hills don't want to sleep on a shitty bed or eat a greasy café burger? Or we don't want to travel back to town to do either of those because we hunt from dawn to dusk?

Don't get me wrong. I understand what you're trying to say. But I get so tired of people jumping on these forums and bashing the noresident hunters who are paying 10x the cost to hunt the same deer or elk the residents get to hunt. And honestly I'm met more asshole resident hunters than I've met non resident hunters
Dude, you are overreaching. And you're obviously missing the 'coke' point.
I get it man, I do. I have a small camper myself. It's about moderation...compromise. Give...take. And as far as I'm concerned the resource is priceless. What's a hard fought successful elk hunt worth? Guys spend $800 on rain gear and then bitch about an elk tag costing $350?! Seriously?
Yes, you should plop your ass down and enjoy a greasy burger at the local cafe once in awhile. Or practice any other innumerable financial acts of kindness one could do whilst hunting out of state.
Freerange posted above with some outstanding insights. And as a Californian I guarantee everyone that met him went away with a better opinion of that state and its visiting hunters than they had prior! That's what it's all about.
 

Fire_9

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You are totally right that people like FreeRange help the image of nonresident hunters. There is no denying that. But what I'm trying to say is don't begrudge the people that don't stay in motels or eat in the restaurants or even drive the forest service roads from clear cut to clear cut looking for a deer. Who are we to judge what people do as long as it's legal? I agree that there needs to be a certain level of respect when you hunt out of state but I personally don't believe that respect comes from buying things from local businesses. That respect comes from keeping a clean and quiet camp, now crowding other hunters, and following the game and travel laws of the area you're hunting. To me, that's all I expect of non resident hunters.

Did you inform the woman at the store that even though the out of state hunters she helped may not have bought anything from her, that they may have bought something from the place down the road or somewhere else in the state? Did you tell her that most state's Fish and Wildlife services are heavily supported by non resident hunters? Did you tell her that she would likely have to pay much much higher resident fees without non resident hunters?

I'm trying to say that we, as resident hunters, need to help educate other resident hunters in our state on the value or non resident hunters instead of fueling the hatred towards them. We need to realize that just by buying an out of state license they are, in my opinion, doing their part to help the state as a whole. I had a conversation with a guy last night about this same issue. His exact words were 'I hate non resident hunters' and couldn't provide me with a good reason why. I explained some of the things I mentioned above and he seemed to be more receptive to the idea of non residents because he never looked at it from that angle before.

I apologize for throwing your post off track but I just don't like seeing hunters bashing other hunters. That may not have been your intention but that's how I took it
 
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Broomd

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Moving on....
There are good and bad res and non-res hunters.
We should all use every opportunity to shine a great light on our passion--hunting, fishing, shed hunting... etc. Spend a few bucks, be kind to others.
And road hunting, while a necessity for a rare few, is a scourge on hunters overall. Get out, get off and get afield, fellas.

My 2 cents and hopefully worth the price...
 

vanish

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By the way Fire_9, I don't think stores make any money off tag sales. The idea is because they're able to sell tags, people come into the store, and by being in the store one is more likely to buy something in the store.
 

SWOHTR

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I only know of one other individual who shot a deer around here (Moscow). I was fortunate enough to take mine on my first day out.

Come to think of it, I haven't seen as many does around as I have the last two years...
 
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Broomd

Broomd

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SW, dunno how the Winter kill hit Moscow for '16, but I do know the road kill on the main north/south highway from you to me is fierce.

Perusing these threads lately....One can't read these forums without hunters plying others for Idaho info for deer, elk, bear....the state has game and opportunity, but there is a limit to the quality of the experience and that is diminishing due to these forums.
You guys that are posting info/units etc. on an open forum are NUTS. It's kind, granted, but you'll regret it. Your wilderness experience will deteriorate. It's a matter of time.

I don't worry as much with private property to fall back on, but you others? Cripes.
 
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