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Firearm seson

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Forestryguy

Member
I am planning to hunt a firearm season this year, on private that should not have anyone else hunting it.

Which firearm season would you get a non-landowner either sex tag for?

My thoughts are kind of leaning towards late muzzy. Let everyone around hunt the shotgun seasons and give refuge for deer to hide on till then. Although I am sure deer will be moved onto property from other properties being pushed.
 
Hard to tell. If deer winter where you can hunt and have a food source late muzzy can be awesome. If they vacate the area to somewhere else to winter with a food source late muzzy can be brutal. If they don't winter there and neighbors stir deer around then the shotgun season can be fantastic for all day sits.
 
Farm I hunt I can have to myself second season or late muzzy bit of the corn is plowed it is terrible. No food, no daylight movement. I am going first season this year because without food best chance is first couple days bullets start flying.
 
If you can hunt it yourself 1st shotgun, I would do that, before a good portion of the bucks have been removed from the general area. Be there to catch them off guard opening day, gonna be perfect weather this year.:rolleyes:
 
I'm going 2nd just to give myself a few more days to play the weather then late muzzy with my bow if I don't fill it in the next couple wks

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In my area, or at least the places I hunt, the number of deer is about the same for 1st and 2nd shotgun, but they can be a little more skittish during 2nd. I've tried both, and always liked the additional days to hunt during 2nd. I've also done late muzzy which has even more days, but we don't usually have the food to hold most of the deer and that is a busy time with holidays and stuff.
 
bigbuckhunter88 said:
Hard to tell. If deer winter where you can hunt and have a food source late muzzy can be awesome. If they vacate the area to somewhere else to winter with a food source late muzzy can be brutal. If they don't winter there and neighbors stir deer around then the shotgun season can be fantastic for all day sits.
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I agree with this. If you have a food source, or even a transition area between food and bedding, late season is fantastic. Call me crazy, but I love hunting brutally cold/crappy weather and late season provides the best chance for that.
 
bigbuckhunter88 said:
Hard to tell. If deer winter where you can hunt and have a food source late muzzy can be awesome. If they vacate the area to somewhere else to winter with a food source late muzzy can be brutal. If they don't winter there and neighbors stir deer around then the shotgun season can be fantastic for all day sits.
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I'll agree. One of the places I hunt is far better during 1st shotgun because there are other hunters stirring the deer up around me. I hunt it some during late ML but just don't see the number of deer due it not being an area that holds a lot of deer.
 
The area that I am hunting has a large bedding area that the does stay in all year. There is hay and alfalfa near the bedding area. They did not get all the corn chiseled under. I am fairly certain that there are bucks worth hunting most seasons there, or at least coming to check for any remaining does that were not bred.
 
This may be hated upon. But me and my family hit the woods during 1st shotgun. Hunt and push a lot of timber. Some of which I bow hunt early. Which that really doesn't bother me. #orangearmy
 
Trapshooter1 said:
This may be hated upon. But me and my family hit the woods during 1st shotgun. Hunt and push a lot of timber. Some of which I bow hunt early. Which that really doesn't bother me. #orangearmy
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Does not really bother me. To each his own. I personally have had enough close calls in life that involved bullets coming at me. I understand the effectiveness of a drive.
 
I understand too we used to party hunt and it was always a great time.but now we try to manage deer on our farms and let them reach their full potential which is impossible to do while party hunting.
 
Forestryguy said:
The area that I am hunting has a large bedding area that the does stay in all year. There is hay and alfalfa near the bedding area. They did not get all the corn chiseled under. I am fairly certain that there are bucks worth hunting most seasons there, or at least coming to check for any remaining does that were not bred.
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Alfalfa is my favorite food source for late muzzleloader season.
 
chipterp said:
I understand too we used to party hunt and it was always a great time.but now we try to manage deer on our farms and let them reach their full potential which is impossible to do while party hunting.
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Only impossible if you have bad eggs in the bunch. We push/party hunt during shotgun, we just only push towards center of farm and not aggressive. It all depends on the buck, some just roam farther than others. I have trail cam pics of mature 160+ bucks almost a mile apart on consecutive nights
 
Hoffman said:
Only impossible if you have bad eggs in the bunch. We push/party hunt during shotgun, we just only push towards center of farm and not aggressive. It all depends on the buck, some just roam farther than others. I have trail cam pics of mature 160+ bucks almost a mile apart on consecutive nights
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Agree about certain bucks roaming. I personally do not want to push deer off the property. It is hunted with as little pressure as possible and I like for them to stay close as possible.
 
As stated earlier, if you have the food sources to hold deer and little to no pressure during shotgun I would choose late muzz. Even if there is some shotgun pressure, if you have the resources to hold deer they will calm down and you should still have decent hunting during late muzz. The years our fields get plowed are tough for sure but if I have a bean field that hasn't been turned then you will find me in between it and bedding. You could hunt the food source and have good luck but you'll have even better luck hunting in between bed and food since they tend to wait until the last minute to enter an open area. Shotgun 1 is always an option as well. Personally I love it when it's terribly cold and snow is on the ground because the urge to feed is much higher in the deer at that time and they tend to move a little earlier and be grouped up.
As for the deer drive conversation - I'll weigh in. I grew up pushing deer. I loved it. It was a great weekend with family and friends and we made a lot of memories. My particular group was not picky at all. That is one of the things that moved me away from group hunting. I like to try and target particular mature bucks. I wouldn't be opposed to hunting with the right group of people today but honestly since I started hunting late muzzleloader about ten years ago it would be hard to go back to deer drives. Safety is always a concern but to me the main thing is not pressuring deer to move off the property. Late muzz is very similar to bowhunting to me and that is my passion. Sneaking in and out, catching the deer moving on their own and beating them in their own living room without them noticing you in the corner. Where I hunt there is a group that shotgun hunts. They just make one pass through and they move on. So for me it is time better spent to let the deer calm down for a few weeks and go in with a muzzleloader. I won't knock the orange army. Everyone has their own preference and I know how much fun it can be. They are doing what they like and so am I. In the end we are all family so to each their own. Have fun and be safe.
 
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