How Y'all Feel About...?

The new age corn and cell camera combo? Personally, it's very frustrating to me, especially when the neighbors use this very strategy to shoot the 2-year-old 120" 11 point you beg them not to shoot. Also, the impressive 4-year-old that was passed multiple times.

Seems to me like this is gonna be the newfangled way that all the young bucks with the most potential start dying at record highs.

120" two year olds? Wish I was your neighbor....

People have been killing deer over corn for way longer than it’s been legal and cell cameras aren’t going to cause many more deer to die than the regular game cameras that have been around for many years.

The real problem is that people are to worried about what their neighbors are doing to enjoy hunting for themselves.

With that being said, I don’t hunt over corn mainly because I don’t want to attract hogs and my cell cameras are on mineral stumps and I pull them out of the woods shortly after bow season starts because my property floods in the winter.

Eh, it’s Alabama. What did you expect.

Per the hunter survey, buck harvest increased somewhere in the 35-40% range after baiting was legalized. Mediocre hunting is going to get more mediocrerer

Y’all already know my legitimate concerns with it so I’ll just sit back and watch 😉

Yep.

Most all my good bucks i let go disappear every year and i didn't shoot em 😀 - pretty sure all my good bucks gone from last year - they disappeared before season went out last year and i hunted less than ever in my best spot

Wish i had a 120 5 year old and i can guarantee u i dont hav any 120 three or 4 year olds and i dont shoot lot on my big lease and i did not even shoot at my best lease last year

I’d like to see a 120” 2 year old in Alabama. That’s pretty much a unicorn

Most potential I've ever seen in a North Alabama buck.

Corn was all over before they legalized it. It was amazing how much feed we spotted flying all over MS and AL in the helo before it became legal

Exactly! Even worse, what percentage of that extra 35-40% were mature bucks?

Likely less than 10% if I were guessing.

It's not so much the corn that bothers me. I mean, if it's your private property, I'm going to ere on the side of freedom and private property rights.

It just frustrates me that every John Doe in Alabama can do absolutely nothing other than fill their corn feeder up, sit at home watching TV, and wait until he gets an instant notification of a promising young buck at the feeder behind the house and shoot it out his back window. Fair chase has gotta come into play at some point, but I don't know how you can balance it all out and I know the GWs are gonna have an impossible time enforcing any change to what most feel entitled to now that it's been legal for a couple years.

Last year we had what we thought was a 3-year-old 12 with a lot of character and an awesome 3-year-old 9 that had been an 8 the previous year as a 2-year-old. My brother let both walk in early November and realized then that the 12 was most likely four. Haven't seen either on camera this summer so I figure they both went the way of the corn pile/cell cam too.

Not any mature bucks so far this year that will get me excited so probably gonna be a season of a lot of habitat work and not so much hunting. We do have a 3-year-old 10 and a new 2-year-old 8 this year so were hoping they make it through.

Devils advocate but what if those younger bucks got the other people on the other land excited. What if that was a trophy to them. What if that’s the biggest deer they ever saw. What if they enjoy hunting for something other than an age class/ horn measurement. Are they wrong and should they be regulated

I say no. I am very much in favor of people hunting how they want to and not being mandated into a state regulated trophy management mindset. The cell cam and corn combination has made it very easy to kill deer. There’s less deer making it into the older age classes because of it.

I like shooting big bucks as much as the next person. But to worry about how much corn my neighbors have out or cell cameras or rather if they limit out on 2.5 year olds is not my concern. Cant control it. So why worry about it. I'm gonna sit there and enjoy my time in the woods and think about the glory days of dog hunting. Man what a blast it was

Afraid i gone be frustrated to SEWoods

One of my good friends in Choctaw county raised a stud - at 4 he was mid to high130s easy w split brows. He asked everyone to let it walk - he was a great deer - neighbor killed him over corn pile

I will hav to get lucky to kill a mounter amd corn has gotten so expensive

May need to rethink and go pay $$ to go to iowa every year for 5 days - seriously

I agree Matt. I think cell cams and corn are getting more mature bucks killed because people are holding out for specific bucks thus killing more of the most mature deer.

What I’m seeing is the opposite. They’re not holding out for the more mature deer. They’re holding out for every buck with 8 or more points regardless of age. They’re high grading them to death.

A 35-40% increase in buck harvest does not point toward "more people holding out"

I see what you’re saying. Most of the guys I know have held out for a few specific deer (older age) and now they don’t seem to have the older deer that they used too. Lots of 3-4 year olds but less 5+. Most of these guys have small tracts as well if that matters.

I don’t trust any numbers put out by any gov agency. Especially if they are getting numbers from game check.

I’m sure your “belief” that bucks are being saved is much more accurate.

Never said I felt like bucks were being saved. I honestly don’t think much has changed from the days of shooting 1 buck per day. I’ve definitely not seen major improvements. I said most of the people that I associate with only shoot the top 1 or 2 deer they have on their individual places and I don’t see any improvement in their success year in and year out.

I am very much anti-government so the way I feel about it and the way I often phrase my thoughts regarding any potential regulation is "Education is more effective than legislation".

Buck harvest is definitely trending towards an average age higher than in times passed, largely because of all the education that has been put out over the years through groups such as the QDMA (NDA).

In the meantime, I'm just saying that it's very frustrating when we put so much time, effort, and money into growing an impressive upper age class of bucks and the neighbors are just shooting them as babies over a corn pile and cell cam.

Believe man. We agree on most things you’ve posted. I was just playing devils advocate. It sucks to put a bunch of time in a buck with potential that somebody else shoots. But I’ve come to realize it’s not my deer till I put my hands on it.

Last impressive buck that was killed on our place was a good looking 4-year-old 8 point likely in the low to mid 120s. We didn't see him as a four-year-old, but it was agreed upon that he would get a pass assuming somebody did see him.

He was killed as a 5-year-old in the upper 140's or low 150's, I can't remember exactly.

Sometimes I think more quality deer were killed when dog hunting was legal. And I’m not talking about deer the dogs ran. We hunted a small place in the middle of several big dog clubs and there were some big big deer that got killed a day or so after a big drive.

I understand completely. The neighbors are good guys and we're on good terms by all means. I'm not going to ruin a relationship over a pine goat no matter how frustrating it gets sometimes.

With my above thoughts on regulation, I'm not necessarily a proponent of strict regulation like some states have, but I will recognize that a select few changes could make a world of difference for making Alabama a better state for producing impressive bucks. I'm not advocating for them, but at the same time I wouldn't be complaining if they shortened rifle season and tightened down on the antlered deer regulations.

Of course there were. When killing deer was a random occurrence instead of a targeted assassination like it is today, more bucks reached older age classes, and some of them were super stars. Most ALL of the BIG bucks killed 20-50 years ago were 6-8 years old. We had higher scoring deer before game cameras. Now every 3-4 year old is a target on someone’s camera, if not on multiple cameras over multiple properties. There’s no chance for deer to live old enough to hit 150”+. I know of places that could eliminate 90+% of any age class of buck if they wanted to do it. They’re not hard to kill. The only deer making it to 4-5 or older are the ones we, as hunters, allow to live. Hardly no one is passing deer that could be really great deer at 6-7. The bucks that are living to be that age are ones nobody wants to waste a spot on their harvest record.

Agreed.

Disclaimer - I know genetics, forage, and natural minerals make a huge differrence.

Texas has been slinging corn for decades, and I have seen more good deer in a single hunt in Texas than a typical year in Alabama

Yep

I love the fair chase argument lol. We have a 3 month long gun season, Archery equipment is a lot more advanced than it was 10 years ago. We use scent killer sprays, Doe estrus, Buck Urine and other scents to try and attract deer/ eliminate human scent. We all use camouflage, blinds, and Tree stands to hide from deer. We use calls to sound like deer to attract them. We plant food plots and fruit trees to try and attract deer.

All of that is considered fair chase but cell cameras and corn is where we draw the line and only corn that comes from a bag, if you plant the corn yourself that’s fair chase.

Be careful with the fair chase argument.

Just hunt how you want to and let others hunt how they want, it really is that simple.

I see better and more bucks now than I ever did back in the “good ol’ days.” The hunting just seems to keep getting better every year.

👽

At least the state is making more money...

It aint hard to pick out Chuck's buddies on here.

I must be in the minority. 90% of the area I hunt doesn’t get a cell signal.

I remember seeing right before an outdoors show come on a herd of big antler deer come running through the woods with about 50 deer in the group. Thinking at the time how nice it would be to take one of the big ones, a little later I realized a lot of the shows are fake and that very few average joe's can see 150" deer in Alabama on a regular basis. For the most part a lot of hunters would be happy with a deer of their choosing. A trophy is in the eyes of the beholder. No telling how many deer I have let walk over the years, just killing deer is just not for me. I've never shot more than two deer a year. We are not a state that only allows one 140+ buck a year. We don't have 140+ deer running all around eating our shrubs up. I could hunt a place and hold out for a 150+ deer, but most hunters just don't have the trigger restraint nor the deer to do that here.
Deer are like cattle, but not penned in most cases, you grow them and someone else is going to shoot them. If you are not in a large area with controlled access trying to grow large deer may not be worth the time or the money.

I sit back and listen too a few on here bashing Chuckie and friends for pushing their rules on us but if the same few had their way it was be them pushing the rules. Hunt the way you want on your land and leave everybody else alone. I let deer walk every year that get whacked next land over. Kids first deer, wifes first buck, girlfriends first buck. I've heard it all. Thing is I always end up mounting it for them so it's not not bad!

I saw more deer back in the late 80's and early 90's then I see now.

I also didn't experience the big bucks on my property coming into corn during shootable light. I usually saw them during the rut. On camera.

Corn makes alot of people lazy hunters. We had that issue on our lease, with one guy in particular. He would bait up a couple area's and then camp out on them. Constantly going in and out to check his camera and put more corn out. He probably fed more coons than deer.

Most of my cell cams are on food plots. I try to see what's using them. What I am really looking for is to see if the "no shooting a doe off a green field" is pulling bucks out in them during shooting hours.

We can't do corn on a timber co lease, and I am not bothered by it. You would have to have some deep pockets to do it where my lease is, because there about 5 timber co hunting leases out there. I invest in planting greens in the fall, because no matter who is feeding them corn, a deer can't survive on corn and hard mast, it has to have some greens, and if you have the best greens in the neighborhood, you should see plenty of deer. Thats what I think anyway.

Spot on Mbrock.
I hate the corn and baiting thing. Grrenfieds and habitat mgnmt. are enough in My Opinion. I actually quit putting bait out last year in bowhunting areas and only use cell cams to limit going into good spots. Friends still want corn on the property so it's there.
But every 3-4 yr old they get a picture of gets shot and once it's on the ground they realize it's not that good of a deer and aren't going to mount it.
Use the old saying he'd been a good one in another year or two. Fellows sorry to tell you this but dead deer don't grow no mo. It's what you got now!

Sensitive subject to me fer sure. And I'm goign to hurt someone's feelign now that I'm on a rant......but we have the YouTubers, Dan Moultrie's and Jackie Bushman's to thank for exploiting this and any outdoor sport. Oh yeah, don't forget a Conservation dept that promotes whatever it takes to shoot more deer and bring more revenue into the state that's in bed with the insurance companies that want them all shot by having the most liberal bag limits and seasons. And yes I know we need to control the numbers so don't throw that in my face.

Who's gonna start a thread this thread on fishing thread? Can't enjoy that on Sat. either do to all the tournament fishermen with their 100k dollar bassboats and little outfits running all over the place.

Rant over have good day!

Yep, sold to the public under the ruse of…. “Freedom for everyone to hunt how they choose!” ….. What will the peasants do when they have no deer left to kill any way they choose?.....Eat cake?

No deer left? Heck, I see more deer now than back in the 80s and 90s. 🤷‍♂️

I hate that things are terrible where y’all hunt.

I started hunting, like really hunting about 2005. I would venture to say that deer density has continually decreased since 2007. I’m sure the state has some studies where they’ve counted deer in a small population and extrapolated that data but I know what I’ve seen.

Luckily, my experience over the years across several properties hasn’t been as crappy as yours.

Corn has always been hunted over but not like now. Now every single small land parcel has a feeder on it and no one cares about what they shoot because they just pulled it across the line from some other piece of property. Cell cameras are not the same as other cameras. I know a lot of instances where a buck moves into an area for a couple days because of a hot doe. Few years ago most people would not have known that buck had been there until they pulled the card on weekend.....now, camera goes off and said person is on the way and usually can kill that deer. Not breaking any laws but it is making a big difference.

I cringe every time I read stupid azz posts like this. Yall are gonna keep it up until they have added even more laws to a highly regulated hobby. Burns me up

They will do it again this year, be ready.

OK, I'll ask...SEWoodsWhitetail. Do you currently have out on any properties either corn and/or a cell cam?

[/quote]

Luckily, my experience over the years across several properties hasn’t been as crappy as yours. [/quote]
I think in the time since ag really died out in Alabama the late 90’s early 00’s were the best times for deer population.

I got a bunch of corn and a bunch of cell cameras. There more fun to me than the hunting itself. Greenfield isn't anything but bait either but it's always been accepted.

I have one cell cam currently and have had others in the past. They have run security detail on the gate probably 90% or more of the time. Haven’t put out a kernel of corn in I don’t know how many years.

It’s not that I have a problem directly with the cell cams or corn because I don’t. Really it just frustrates me when people are shooting the young stud bucks whether it’s over a corn/cell cam combo or not. I just think it’s happening a whole lot more with the onslaught of baiting and cell cams.

I genuinely would not lose any sleep or be frustrated over a neighbor shooting a mature buck; even with having used a cell cam or corn. The frustration comes from those deer that have the most potential getting shot at 2-3 years old.

Why do you have a problem with somebody shooting a young buck on their own property? I'd like to see all my deer make it to 5 or 6 too but I'm not losing sleep over it. I'd bet I spend more on deer every year than most on here but I'm also not gonna piss and moan about my neighbors kid killing a 2 yr old. Control your own land if you have any and let it gomat that. I manage over 6000 acres for one owner and I control what gets shot the best I can but unless you have a high fence all this other talk is what it is, just talk.

Its frustrating if u try to raise them amd manage hurd - he saying w corn - u dont see em mature much anymore - killed early so he is pissing in the wind 😀

I hav lost lot of my best deer over last few years that i was wanting to get older

One of my fav ways to use cell is on road for security also SE Woods - also catch bucks n roads on camera

Social media created deer shaming (it’s like a woke version of deer hunting), not deer cameras and corn.

So many bucks die to fighting and everyone always blames there neighbor now days if a small buck disappears because the death has to be at the hands of someone that doesn’t agree with their management philosophy (dominate bucks aren’t always nice during the rut)

Heck - if someone hammers down on a 2-1/2 or 3-1/2 year buck that they think is a trophy, then don’t pee in their punch bowl if they are your neighbor and harvested it legally. It was your choice to pass.

Good luck to all this season

This will probably make some people mad, but I'm not one to filter the truth or my feelings on things and I'm not one to leave doubt about where I stand on a matter. Sure, everybody is at a different stage in their deer hunting. I'm not gonna get frustrated if a kid shoots a young buck as their first couple of deer or even an adult.

However, there comes a time when people have to examine themselves and realize that at some point you have to grow out of shooting every little basket rack baby buck you see and work towards the next level. I know people who used to shoot 25+ bucks a year when we had the 1 buck per day limit... at some point these people should've stopped only asking the question of "Does this make me happy?" and started asking the question of "Am I being a good steward of the resource?". This goes for everything in life. There needs to be a progression in knowledge, ability, practice, etc. Unfortunately, most are apathetic in most matters of life. Again, it's their private property and I respect that, but I feel completely justified in being frustrated with those who keep killing young bucks and never progress. Everybody wants to kill big bucks, but nobody wants to do what it takes to kill big bucks.

Milk to meat.

Corn..corn..the magical fruit…the more you feedit..the more you shoot…go on an patent tha tfor me whild bill….tm

Good stuff SEWoods

Everybody can hunt like they want and shoot what they want. But if u at a place where u will never grow a big buck cause everybody shoots what they want when they want - its frustrating. Still gone try to enjoy the process - if good bucks show up it will b more exciting. For me personally - not mad at neighbors - just wish there were some good bucks to shoot. May b hard to grow big where i at - we will see what shows up this year - gone enjoy planting fields and trapping and try to leave it bettr than i found it

So the cliff notes are: people should hunt like you think they should and not how they may want to. Gotcha

Bingo… I personally know of three 5 year old deer that were killed last year that were killed with the six of corn and cell cams. Every buck was worn down from the rut and showed up at a corn pile in the morning. The guys monitoring the corn piles made arrangements to get off early (if they were working that day) and went that afternoon and killed him. Like you say, had it been a traditional camera they likely wouldn’t have killed any of them.

Confuscious says…. “More money…mow betuh deeyuh huntahhh…eye yahhhhhh”….in your best uncle roger voice

Why does everyone have to have the same goals as you? I don’t get that. Grow out of shooting young bucks? Some people just go hunt and shoot what they want to for whatever reason they want. Why should your goals be forced on others? I personally use corn and cell cams and choose not to shoot young bucks. Didn’t shoot a buck last season. You’re also lumping all hunters that use corn and cell cams into the same category of hunters.

I personally think cell cameras have saved alot of young deer.

Amen, I would consider the philosophy of big racks a stage in hunting. Same thing with the fastest car or fastest bow. It’s a human nature mindset. All the ole timers I know have grown out of that. They’d rather shoot the first thing that steps out to head back to camp to crack a cold one and grill steaks. Everybody has different agendas and plans or cares. If big racks is all you care about your starting the foundation in the wrong state. That doesn’t mean you can’t kill big deer in bama. You definitely can.

lol , back when i started we threw the racks away with the guts . when rattling got strated and a big thing here i sold mine .

I know a bunch of people that hunt and kill whatever makes them happy and they don’t care what anyone thinks.

As it should be.

Far as corn goes and cell cameras, no doubt they’re a few hanging on my wall that cameras helped kill but corn played no role in it. Not even legal where I hunt anyway.

I think people should be able to shoot what they want to shoot. They will always be good stewards of the resources, just like bison, and passenger pigeons, and deer before the 70's. Come on gotta have faith in your brother ! And have your freedom!

I live in the CWD Zone in Lauderdale County, so feeding/baiting is not legal here at this time. Apparently, I am one of the few people who know this, because I hear people all the time openly talking about feeding their deer and using bait for cameras. Game warden could have a field day around here!

.......That's funny......

What were the state regulations back in those days, refresh me?

Shoot what you want and have fun.

That's how it should be. Unfortunately there's too much chit and ego.

Nobody hunts just “how they want to” anymore or according to “what makes them happy”….That stopped when we wiped out all of the deer and they had to be restocked…..Now we ALL hunt according to agreed upon rules…..Lets not pretend like we’re all free to do as we choose.

Like I said in a previous statement…..that idea of everybody doing whatever they want is just a ruse designed and preached by special interests to get all the “little guys” to blast the chit out of the deer population and keep it low across most areas while only the high rollers have any real decent hunting. Its all just a bunch of bullchitting that’s going on. It’s no wonder the public has lost trust in believing what they’re told. The guy with 6000 acres says that everyone should just do what makes them happy, wow imagine that. When everyone stops falling for the BS we’ll all have better hunting. Given enough incentive to do so, these special interests will eventually figure out other solutions.

Shoot what you want and have fun, we're the regulations, government actually gave bounties for bison!

People in the 50's needed to kill all them deer to feed their families. Shot em till they wiped completely out. That's what caused all those people to starve to death in alabama during the 60s. Alabama was like Ethiopia until the state restocked in the 70s. And the starvation slowed down, to the point we're at now of over population of the deer heard!

Killing every deer you see to survive is a wee bit different than someone shooting a 4 pt or two every year.

Again, I don't have a direct issue with cell cams or corn or the people that use them, rather it's with people continually shooting the stud young bucks and never progressing. It's not about forcing my goals on others; it's about being a good steward of the resource. For the same reason nobody on here wants someone shooting 15 gobblers a year or 25 bucks a year, I don't want people shooting all the stud young bucks year after year in perpetuity because said things are bad stewardship of the resource we all share whether it's on your own property said things occur on or not. And it's not even about trophy hunting/big racks as some young deer have just that. It's about progressing to the challenge of killing a mature buck and having a better age structure, among other things, on the landscape that results in healthier herds. Big racks are icing on the cake of older age class management.

It's not always about what you want to do; sometimes it has to be about what you should do. As one person mentioned, the early English settlers WANTED to shoot all the Bison, but at some point, it should've become about what they SHOULD'VE done rather than what they wanted to do. Many loggers and timber buyers WANT to cut through every single perennial creek in AL. It's their timber/their land what does it matter to you?! Same concept here as said practice effects all of those around you therefore you should begin to consider what is good for the resource in addition to what you want.

I know this makes people mad, but I'm not one to filter my thoughts on a matter for the sake of not hurting feelings.

Deer hunting has become a pitiful sight, corn dumpers are the norm, very few can read deer sign worth a shucks, much less be able to track a blood trail. High fence losers with no skills thumping their chests over the penned up buck they shot, and dudes paying big $ to outfitters to scout, hang their stand for em and tell them which deer to shoot.

A dead 2 yr old is the same as a dead 5 yr old. DEAD! It's not the same as killingb15 turkeys, it's 1 deer. I want my bunch to progress evertime rhe kill the next deer but that has nothing to-do with anybody else. There's a little to be said about minding your own bussiness!

This is what’s wrong with deer hunting. It’s gotta be my way or you’re doing it wrong. I personally would prefer to shoot older age class deer. But I could care less what anyone else shot. Everybody has different goals. Being a good steward of the land has zero to do with age class. I can kill 1 spike a year for the rest of my life and still be a good steward. Being a bad steward is shooting every deer you see in my opinion.

Deer hunters are worse than 13 year old girls. It's always some drama. Someone above said it above, try minding your own business. I have deer hunted my whole life and had a real good time. There is nothing like it. But the last 10 years or so has seen an influx of "know it all deer managers" that try to shame people into not shooting bucks because they are _ fill in the blank as to reason why.

^^^

I got my own place and it more enjoyable - lot less drama

I would lov to be able to kill big deer but u got to hav em first - i hav lost several solid deer on camera - but not huge deal - if it like that every year or it got to where i never had good deer - i can do something else - lot of the fun would b gone. W that said - i will likely never hav many 130 inch deer. My good deer r lot diff than some of the studs that show up on this site

I said leave it bettr than u found it earlier because that a good thing - but really not about the heart of what being talked about here - i said it cause thats a good thing to remember - what everybody does and how they do it is on them and there biz

An environment of apathy is what breeds such a negative response to a higher standard of practice.

"Everybody wants to kill big bucks, but nobody wants to do what it takes to kill big bucks"

Who told you everybody wants to kill big bucks? I mount a pile of deer every year and most are 120 inch or less. All of them were happy or they wouldn't have mounted them. Maybe you want everybody to pass up deer so you can kill them yourself later!

That’s the silliest argument I’ve ever heard Triple J. Did they let a 150” deer walk and chose to shoot the smaller 120”?

If not, then they shot the 120” deer because they felt like it was their best chance to shoot a buck they consider big enough to mount. All he is saying is, Alabama can have bigger bucks over all if people stop killing young 120” deer. Everyone who has ever learned anything about deer management would agree with that.

I think it’s pretty widely recognized that’s most people’s end goal… Maybe you want everybody to be happy killing the babies so there will be more deer to mount!

All these accusations that I just want people to do it my way followed up by the same people saying I should just do it their way and not care about anything nor have a desire to strive for anything greater than mediocrity.

A post that originated in a statement of opinion on a concern of the over harvest of young bucks turns into people getting mad that I think hunters should progess in knowledge and practice beyond the norm. A concept that should apply to every facet of life

True words SE, it doesn't matter if people agree with you. As long as you speak the truth, your good with me!

I never mentioned anything about passing up a 150 inch deer. 90 percent of all alabama deer won't see 150 no matter the age.

If the state would cancel deer season for 3 yrs it would all be fixed.

An individual shooting ANY deer they choose doesn't make them a bad steward of resources LMAO. Your OPINION of what someone shoots doesn't mean squat unless it's on your personal property. That young stud eats as good as any young forky lol. You ain't been hungry enough

Keep on beating that 🐎

Appreciate it! Some people are satisfied with the same ole same ole, and I’m unapologetically not one of those.

To kinda play on a saying from Saban, you’re either working towards making the deer herd better, or you’re working towards making the deer herd worse. There’s no staying the same.

Lol who defines what is better . There are more than one way to manage deer herds

Scientific fact. More balanced sex ratios and age structures are better for hunters and herds.

Very little deer hunting anymore. Let it get dark and tracking goes out the window. I advocate shooting what you want with a mind towards shoot a young buck over a doe(she might be a twin fawn dropper).

Party fowl…whats a forky🧐

Heck yeh i tripped the 3rd page..call me clutch🇺🇸

damn , i remember back when the ratio was 10:1 or more , deer was pretty healthy to me .

I think some of y'all just like to argue.

I was finally able to buy my piece of hunting property. It's only 220 acres and some neighbors are line hunters so I doubt anything I do on my small tract will have much of an effect. I did buy with the intent to enjoy myself and at 60+ I don't have time to get hung up managing. I'm not planning to shoot a buck I wouldn't mount but I may mount a nice 3 year old. Haven't seen any old deer on camera so I think 3-4 may be tops for the area. Had a great year last year and didn't shoot anything.

Social media has killed a ton of young bucks. Gotta get that picture on there for self-validation. " I know he isn't the biggest, but I just thank God for the meat and the ability to feed my family".

^^^^
I dont post my pic w the deer/turkey so i make it more about the animal now - only place i ever posted was here - most my friends dont see bucks i shoot - too much attention can b bad thing

I use to think i was worlds greatest turkey hunter back n 90s killing quickly and often and i loved taking pics for the scrap book and bragging. As the years went on amd i got on several tuff tracks where u hardly heard turkeys - i realized i had pretty good spots back n 90s. I did tag out on wmas in 2000s - but they had turkeys and i knew land like back of my hand

Aint none of us gone win any awards - just glad i still lov to hunt. May hunt up north more n future if good deer are not even on camera. Without good deer and i not talking 130s - i never hav those - it not near as fun. Hopefully i at least hav a couple of mature

of course we do . lol

About the same thing every three months!! Let talk about changing the seasons next week!

That’s the funniest and most ironic post on this forum I’ve ever seen

Coming from the guy who argues with himself. 😂😂

I love it.

I don't see it as a argument myself . If I was drinking a beer with any one in here it'd be that same way .

Corn

Might be in the minority here, but I think cell cameras have saved more deer than they have killed on my place. I guarantee there have been some bucks that we would have shot and probably been a little disappointed in had we not recognized them from camera pics and known that we wanted to let them go another year.

Same here