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Post by jsthntn247 on Jan 29, 2015 11:23:08 GMT -5
Hi folks. I just got out of my deer camp here in Mississippi because too many young deer getting shot and people not respecting other members. I'm about to the point where it would be better to go on a one or two week hunt somewhere with a chance at a quality experience than fool with all the mess down here for a year. I used to make a trip to the Midwest to bow hunt every year but havn't the passed few seasons. I would appreciate if anybody has a suggestion on a reasonable outfitter to hunt with on a muzzleloader hunt or even a decent piece of public ground that allows out of state folks to muzz hunt. Also, if anyone on here was interested in a trade for an alligator or hog hunt, we have plenty down here and tags to do so.
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Post by sourdough44 on Feb 3, 2015 16:06:15 GMT -5
I talked to a guy the other month from here in WI. He went down to I think it was Kansas every Fall lately. If not Kansas it was right next door. He said they had an earlier M-L only deer season and he had a good record getting a place to hunt.
Do some net research if they have an early M-L hunt. I know M-L's are much more popular, and capable, than decades ago, but still less crowded than rifle hunts.
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Post by thunder53 on Feb 4, 2015 15:42:36 GMT -5
I'm sort of in the same boat and considering the same thing.
One thing you need to watch is that not all states regulations will consider a SML legal in their "regular" muzzleloader season.
Certain states are very specific regarding what kind of powder makes it legal as a muzzleloader and many do not consider "smokeless" powder legal as a "muzzleloader" season gun.
For example, you cannot use smokeless powder here in WI inour "muzzleloader only" season. It's OK in the "regular" rifle season though.
Kansas does have a muzzleloader only season, but I think it's in September and the chances of hot weather and minimum deer movement are strong.
I'm looking at Iowa and maybe Illinois, but don't have any good leads yet.
Good luck.
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ray
Button Buck
Posts: 16
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Post by ray on Feb 6, 2015 8:06:43 GMT -5
how about a bear hunt in Maine? I have a friend who has good baits and 4-5 0f us go the first week every year. Dale is very reasonable and we see bear. I have a camp, no electricity or plumbing you would be welcome to use. My son had a house in Sarah Ms, I had a ball down there. This is an honest offer so other hunters can experience Maine. Bring 4-5 guy's and save on fuel costs. Don't delay cause Dale fills up fast. You can bring me a piece of catfish,yummmm! Ray
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Post by hawghunter on Feb 15, 2015 9:46:19 GMT -5
If you don't score in Kansas during ML season your tag is good during the rifle season but you have to use a muzzleloader in lieu of a centerfire rifle. I don't see this as a hinderence.
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Post by mshm99 on Mar 11, 2015 23:04:21 GMT -5
I'd be sceptical about the mid west in general. ILL, MO, OH, MI, WI, have all seen herd collapse.Every day more states are reporting big drops in their harvest.(see NDA reports).I've owned a small acreage in Pike County IL. for twenty five years. I spent a lot of my youth there on a farm owned by my uncle near Pleasant Hill and learned to hunt there as a boy at a time when you saw a deer ,you pulled over in the car to watch because they were not that common a sight . My fondness, love and attachment to Pike County goes back to the 1950's. That said, I have some facts and some opinions that I will share , for what ever it is worth. In my opinion , great buck hunting can be had pretty much anywhere in this country if the deer have the food ,habitat and age.We have had great hunting for along time(see my wack em and stack em pic on the left) A local farmer I know leased his land for 10K for bow hunting( no gun hunting) to a couple of guys from North Carolina. I don't blame the farmer. Those guys did ok, but not 10K worth. They only lasted a couple years. Now a local guy leases it and sets up hunts for a group from Michigan.And contrary to what some outfitters tell you, there is not a 160 class buck behind every tree in Pike county. I went to the Illinois Deer Expo a couple weeks ago. I stopped and talked to a Pike County outfitter. I told him I observed a collapse in the deer population. I told him I hunted the gun seasons and heard less than thirty shots total. We just did not see many deer.My farm was less than twenty miles from their leases and he said they had all kinds of trophy deer. I told him I would not have expected him to say otherwise. I just wanted to see if he could say it with a straight face. The money thing has just gotten stupid. And these guys got used to making good money, and they want to keep it that way. I would find it hard to believe if someone said we got lots of deer. The reasonable money thing is gone. Locals have been pushed off by the outfitters. I'm telling you we are seeing only a few deer, where we used to see 30-40 feeding in an 30 acre alfalfa field every evening. It might be different 20 miles down the road, but I bet real money it's not.
I don't want to be the bearer of bad news , but it's pretty bad. So you guys who plunk down ridiculous sums of money to hunt in these mid west trophy areas, especially Illinois, save you money for a while till things recover. You can't say nobody told you.
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Post by mrbuck on Mar 15, 2015 13:15:21 GMT -5
This Sunday mornings paper had the reported harvest from Pennsylvania's 2014/2015 deer seasons ... down 14%. And the herd is a fraction of what it was back in the late 70's. Maybe all the new , young hunters can be fooled but the older hunters with experience see what has happened. Collapse is the perfect word to describe what has happened . In New York State hunting Chenango County in the late 70's opening day of Buck Season you would see 25 to 35 deer ... today maybe you might see 3 or maybe none ! You are not the bearer of bad news. You just tellin' it like it is !! Your observations on outfitters and the outrageous fees to lease land are right on the ( excuse the pun ) money . Chris
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Post by mshm99 on Apr 19, 2015 8:41:54 GMT -5
Here's a link from antler geek.com ,of states they consider the best bet for deer hunting. Their selection should speak volumes about the mid west deer herd.
www.antlergeeks.com/thursday-thought/the-11-best-states-for-deer/
I can't speak to any of the selected destinations, but they seem to be a better choice than the mid west
Mike in Illinois.
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Post by mrbuck on Apr 19, 2015 11:35:01 GMT -5
Maybe I'm just a skeptic , however seriously question the numbers of deer in the Realtree Nation's data in the link at the bottom of the list of the the best deer hunting states . If there are 200,000 deer in the state of New Jersey I would like to know where they are hiding ! Only been actively deer hunting in my home state of New Jersey since 1962 in the four best Northwestern counties of the state , so I may have some credibility in my observations . The great deer hunting state of Pennsylvania's herd is a fraction of what it was in the 70's . The liberal shooting of antlerless deer has taken a terrible toll in all the great deer hunting states . But as long as there is money to be made .... Chris
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Post by mshm99 on Apr 19, 2015 14:02:12 GMT -5
I've collected some information about what people are saying about the deer herd. I think when you read what Paul Shelton of the IL DNR has to say you can understand why hunters in our state have reason to be concerned. He's just worried about the money it brings in. So don't feel alone.
Ohio's deer harvest has fallen from a record 261,260 in 2009-2010 to about 170,000 this year. Hunters registered 191,550 deer in the 2014 Wisconsin gun deer season, a 15% decrease from 2013 and the lowest kill in more than 30 years, according to a preliminary report.
From the Chicago Sun-Times
From the prism of individual views came the biggest story in Illinois outdoors in 2014: ‘‘What the hell is wrong with the deer?’’ The historic collapse of the number of deer harvested by Illinois hunters in the 2013-14 seasons looks as though it will be nearly mirrored in the 2014-15 seasons. In the 2013-14 seasons, hunters harvested 148,569 deer, down 17.8 percent from 180,811 in 2012-13. There was a 25.3 percent drop in firearm harvest, from 99,546 in 2012 to 74,318 in 2013. Many factors swirled into the perfect storm. Back-to-back drought summers in 2012 and 2013 brought outbreaks of epizootic hemorrhagic disease (likely higher than the official counts of several thousand dead deer). Then came the historic winter of 2013-14, which limited hunter effort. More needs to be known about predation, especially by coyotes on fawns. The most changeable factor is the hunting effort sanctioned by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources after the decision by the Joint Legislative Task Force on Deer Population Control in 2008 to reduce the deer herd. The IDNR tweaked a few regulations for the 2014-15 seasons: Late-winter antlerless-only deer season is closed in 20 additional counties, either-sex permits were reduced by 4,925 and antlerless-only permits were cut by 6,375. Harvest numbers remain off so far. Firearm harvest rose slightly, from 74,318 in 2013 to 76,547 this year. Muzzleloader harvest was down slightly, from 3,485 last year to 3,444 this year. Illinois bowhunters had harvested 51,530 deer through last Sunday, compared with 52,888 at the same time in 2013. This fall, forest wildlife program manager Paul Shelton said he expected overall harvest ‘‘between last year and some of the higher harvests before then.’’ He projected a total harvest between 160,000 and 170,000 for the 2014-15 seasons. It might reach that. The Illinois deer harvest peaked in 2005 (201,209) and ranged between 180,000 and 200,000 in the years after that until the collapse of 2013-14. A point to note here: The deer herd isn’t in trouble; the debate is about hunter expectations for deer. Illinois’ deer herd concerns me more as a citizen than as a hunter. Deer have significant economic value and value in the overall perception of Illinois as a destination (the drop in trophy bucks might have a long-term impact), but that is nowhere near the top of my concerns for the IDNR or the state.
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Post by mrbuck on Apr 19, 2015 15:37:01 GMT -5
I'm glad that there are other people that recognize that " things just ain't the way they used to be " ! I think much of today's deer hunting success can be attributed to the accelerated learning curve from videos , professional hunters ( ? ) giving seminars , TV , etc . and the super advancements in shotgun and slug technology , muzzleloader and component advancements , The new high tech hunting clothing keeps hunters in the woods longer today . And let's not forget the modern archery equipment which now includes crossbows ! Chris
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