Survival and Emergency Preparedness

Bmyers wrote: ↑Tue Sep 19, 2023 8:08 am One of our work trucks just got the first deer of the season yesterday morning. A little over $10,000 in damage.

OUCH!

Just saw some stats that say that last year in Michigan there were 59,000 car/deer accidents. And those are just the ones reported. Get north of Detroit and the roadsides are littered with dead deer just about all year long.

Deer population has exploded in MI in the last 20 years and the DNR (dept of natural resources) is encouraging hunters to take as many doe as they can.Not only car/deer accidents have gone up but crop damage to farmer's fields has increased. One of the reasons the population has exploded is because hunting has decreased. The number of deer hunters has gone from 800,000 to just over 400,000 since 2000. At one point (1970s) there were over 1 million deer hunters in MI. So a lot more deer and a lot less hunters. I guess people would rather sit home on their computers/phones than go out hunting.

Antlerless/doe have been legal to take for about 10 years but the hunting mentality hasn't changed much. Hunters still shoot bucks (even small bucks) 5 times more than they shoot doe.

6 hunters took 2 doe and 1 small buck last year on my property. Just about everybody saw doe but passed on shooting one. This year I'm encouraging taking a doe first then a buck. 3 of us cross bow hunt so there should be enough opportunity to take a doe since the bow season runs from Oct 1 until Nov 14. Then rifle season runs Nov 15-30. Not that I would pass on one of those big bucks in the trail cam pics but putting meat on the table is a good thing.

The license I have is two bucks or a doe and buck but one has to have 4 pts on one side. You can also buy as many additional doe/anterless permits as you want.

My personal goal this year is 2 doe. One during bow and one during rifle season and one of those big bucks either with rifle or bow. I will pass on a buck under an 8 point.

Took this week off from going up to the woods house. Only the second weekend we haven't been at the house since March. Went over to Grand Rapids on Sat for my daughter in law's baby shower. She's due the end of Oct.

Will be going north again on Thurs. Bow season starts next Sun Oct 1.

Talking to different ones here at work, the deer hunters are anxiously awaiting the opening day. Mid-November is the opening of shotgun season with bow season opening October 1st for most counties.

Wily coyote at the other end of the field

And at the south end, though this may be a fox

A nice 8pt

And a 7pt

Come to visit the road plot

A small 7pt

Pepe LaPew

The adventures of Nubby

First saw Nubby back in August at the north end of the field


Something's up!


Being picked on by the neighborhood bully
Mutant spike horn (upper left corner) keeping an eye on Nubby


Mutant Spike Horn to the rescue


Nubby needs to sit down after that close call


Mutant spike horn getting back to business

Mac66 wrote: ↑Sat Sep 30, 2023 9:16 am The adventures of Nubby

First saw Nubby back in August at the north end of the field

That picture reminds of those of bigfoot

Bmyers wrote: ↑Mon Oct 02, 2023 7:36 am

Mac66 wrote: ↑Sat Sep 30, 2023 9:16 am The adventures of Nubby

First saw Nubby back in August at the north end of the field

That picture reminds of those of bigfoot

Yeah, you would think that with the millions of trail cameras out there, someone, somewhere would have gotten a picture of that big boy.

I just realized I started that Nubby post and never finished it. So back at it.

Finally got around to the camera down by the beaver pond