Our base biologist/environmental guy that runs the hunting program on base has asked for feedback on this years hunting season. From what I seen the base in is need of QDM bad. I'd like to get some of ya'll opinions on what is working best for you on your leases and personal land. Right off the bat what came to my mind is an "earn a buck" and "management buck" programs. There are way to many does and young bucks with bad genitic's runing around passing on thier poor traits. We need good quality food plots also. A few of my hunting buddies and I have been talking about how we'd even like to see them go above and beyond the zone 10 3pt. rule and go to a 4pt rule. Please post your 2 cents! I'm going to put together an email tonight when I go into work and sent it his way. Hopefully next year will be a better year.
Let me come over and get a couple does before bow season is over that would be a start.:thumb: If your seeing bucks with inferior genetics does it really make sence to have a 3pt rule? I would think a slot would be better, like shoot anything but a 6-8 point at least 5 points on one side or less than 6 total points. This would allow you to take out the inferior bucks and let some decent one grow another year. I think letting me come over there and take a few does would work the best.:cross:
DO THE 4X4 SLOT LIKE AT SOME WMA'S, OR LIKE MY DEER CAMP AN 8/14 RULE, AT LEAST 8 POINTS AND A 14 INCH SPREAD. tHEN DEFINITELY AN EARN A BUCK WITH A DOE PROGRAM AND HAVE A BONUS DOE DEER PROGRAM. i THINK THE BIG SOUTH ZONE, ZONE 12 SHOULD HAVE MORE LIBERAL RULES ON KILLING DOES WITH FIREARMS.
I hunt LRAFB exclusively & the # 1 need is food plots Food plots to draw deer away from the airfield. Sweeney said it right, the real answer there is a fence around the airfield itself. But there needs to be better management on base and QDM is the best start. There are some very nice bucks on base, I've seen them (at EOD range) and I've missed one this year! (dang it!) But Col. Ross's "deer club" attitude was wrong for the deer management on base. I too like a 4 pt rule and the need for thinning the doe herd.
A couple of guys and myself talked about this for a few hours last night. The base gets doe tags from the game and fish and can get QDM buck tags also but doesn't. We were thinking the first deer you shoot has to be a doe, use one of your personal tags on it. By shooting that doe you earn a base QDM buck tag to shoot a "management buck." After that you still have your two personal buck tags left to use on a 4x4 slot and maybe add a size rule in like 14" or 15".
I like to call them Jacksonville bucks, they have a nice left side of there horn with 3 or 4 points. The right side is a crab claw.. I've seen atleast half a dozen or more of these little suckers..
I always figured that the problem with the Jacksonville bucks is not genetics, but lingerings of Vertac.:smack: :biggrin:
I have never hunted the base but i am very leary of culling bucks. Most bucks with a little age will grow a good set of antlers. it is very rare that a buck will be 4 0r 5 and still have inferior anhtlers. I would suspect that the bucks just are not getting old enough. There is always an exception to this. I think cull bucks are just a hunters ezxcuse to shoot a young deer and not feel bad about it
thats the problem nobody is shooting the bucks with the crab claws because they claim to have "big" bucks around, and then end up shooting a young 6 or 8 point. if they would let those young 6 and 8 points walk so they can grow, and go ahead and get rid of the bucks with the crab claws it would be a step in the right direction. also alot of the guys that hunt on base won't shoot a doe the first weekend of gun season cuz they're afraid to spoke away the big bucks... i can count on my fingures the number of 130"+ bucks that have been killed on base in the last 8 years.. yes there are big bucks on base but they aren't stupid, and half the people hunting on base don't have the "know how" to hunt those big bucks. i've personally had it with the base, next year i probably won't even hunt here. my friend and i are probably going to start scouting camp robinson after turkey season and get a game plan together for next fall.
"Young" and "cull" when speaking of an individual free roaming whitetail buck is an oxymoron, just the same as it would be if one was referring to an individual doe. Most use "young" to indicate a "yearling" deer. The two words should not ever be used in conjunction with each other. You will be incorrect about 98% of the time. Start judging the headgear potential of a buck at about 3.5 years of age....if that must be attempted at all.
They have WAY TOO MANY does on base. I had one run right smack into the side of my Trailblazer 2 weeks ago right at the MPF. Too bad the base won't pay for the damage.
Some of the land I hunt borders the Air Base and them buck deers like that are all over the Jacksonville/Cato/Gravel Ridge area. Bunch of fence jumpers I guess. I have a box full of 2x4's, 2x5's, 3x5's, 3x6's and one big 2x6 in my garage from that land. Over the past 8 or 10 years, I've killed 1 that was a 4x4 and 1 3x3 from that land. Everything else was unbalanced. I've seen only 4 or 5 others that were balanced. They are all healthy and have good mass though.
