Opinions on the best MZ hunt in the lower 48?

If I recall correctly, however, one had better plan WELL in advance because I think for non-residents (maybe residents too) that's pretty much an "apply and draw" situation unless one plans to hunt on a private ranch in the "Ranching for Wildlife" program in

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Yes, that is mostly correct. All deer licenses in CO are by draw and all ML season tags are by draw. They have to be applied for by April 3rd this year, so all that planning has to be done in the next few months! Buying a voucher from a landowner is another possiblity. They charge huge fees and don't always offer much of an opportunity. The regs were just published yesterday and there is a link to them below.


2012 CO regs

It is very different hunting a hardwood timber vs. some of the brush in Texas, and other places. I believe some places need bait to successfully take the number of animals that need to be taken. I feel sort of spoiled hunting Illinois.

I think the arguments about baiting when you have all these people from different areas of the U.S. is they don't know the landscape of each area. Western Illinois. We are mostly fields, I'd say 75% of our land is in fields which almost all of that is in corn or soybeans with some hayfields and CRP. With big fields like that it's hard to concentrate the deer so my food plots concentrate them to an area of the field to come out and do a little feeding. With all the barbedwire fences(we got fences but no cattle) that have an impact on deer movement where I put a food plot, I cut the fence there and make an opening to make movement easier and I mow trails through the grass giving the deer a path to get to and from the plot. The deer like to usually take the path of least resistance. Some will say this is baiting and unsporting but it really isn't. It requires much more work and hours of planning to make this plan work. Some people just want to hunt when the season comes, I like to think of ways to improve habitat and the possibilities for hunting on the property.

Unless that barbwire fence is over 8 foot high, deer laugh at such Louie. No need whatsoever to cut normal barbwire fences for deer. If theres something on the other side of the fence deer want, they will jump it with ease. Ever see apple orchards near high deer populations? Every one I know of was ringed by a 10' tall linked fence.

I hear you Swampy I've see em' go over,under and through barb wire fences. :wink:

Yep, they can go over barbed wire fences for stuff the REALLY want. But we've seen it time after time again. That if they can get to where they wanna go with more ease, they'll do it. Before we put the food plot in, there's an old cattle gate that was shut there. So we put up a trail cam over the gate way and every deer coming out of that area used the gate. Whenever I hunt that stand, I have never seen a deer jump over the fence on that 300 yard stretch on the edge of the field it looks over. They always work through the funnel. I got the idea from a hunting article in Bowhunter saying to use funnels that make deer travel easier. They work. Hands down. And no, they don't laugh at it because deer work smart, not hard.

Ain't hard for a deer to jump a normal fence at all.

No, but it's a heck of a lot easier to walk through a gateway rather than jumping fence every 100 yards.

There's only one sensible way to solve this. You fly me over to research the matter thoroughly and I'll get back to you with some suggestions and photographic evidence to support them.

The best ML hunt in the lower 48 is the one you're on at the time!! :rotf:

Mike Brines said:

The best ML hunt in the lower 48 is the one you're on at the time!! :rotf:

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EXACTLY!!!!!! :thumbsup:

that it is the reason they call it hunting not killing!

If you're equating numbers with opportunity, go to the various state regs and look at bag limits and season duration.

If you're mixing in a tape measure, check the record books for frequency of listings.

Swampy said:

Unless that barbwire fence is over 8 foot high, deer laugh at such Louie. No need whatsoever to cut normal barbwire fences for deer. If theres something on the other side of the fence deer want, they will jump it with ease.

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Luie is 100% correct that this works.
Deer are lazy just like people. If there is an easier way to get where they want to go they will quickly find it and use it.
As a matter of fact it isn't even necessary to cut the fence. Just tie the strands together. Most barbed wire fences around here are 4-strand. If you tie the top 2 strands together as tight as you can get them it will lower the top strand and raise the 2nd strand. Then tie the 2 lowest strands together. Now there is a larger "hole" in the middle.
All else being equal, just doing that will soon change the deer's travel pattern to get them to cross the fence where you would like them to. It's easier to jump the lower point in the top of the fence or dive thru the middle where the strands are separated.
Also it's less likely to tick off the farmer than cutting fence wire. :wink:

I've done it and it works.

And to the OP,
I agree with those that said the best ML hunt is the one you are on. :thumbsup:
I also agree that percentage statistics are nothing to pay too much attention to. Either that or I am an incredibly good deer hunter. :haha:

Deer are lazy just like people.

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I never think of animals as "lazy." They are just very smart at energy conservation since their very survival depends on it.

All of us on this website do things the "hard" way...I wonder what a deer would call that!!!!! :hmm: :wink:

Good points Spikebuck. :surrender:

Swampy said:

Ain't hard for a deer to jump a normal fence at all.

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BTW, Swampy is also 100% right about this. Deer can JUMP! And they do! I once saw a deer standing right next to an 8-foot chainlink fence just hop right over it like it was nothin'. No running start either. Just BLOOP over to the other side.

All this fence talk is way off topic tho. Maybe we should start another thread... Deer VS Fences???

Rhode Island. Yep, definitely Rhode Island. I'd go go there and bring as many people with me as I could. Rhode Island.:blah: Bill

SWEEEET! You guys wouldn't be the first ones to push deer right into my lap. :rotf:

its not that wildlife are lazy, Jim. Its known as the Law of Conservation of Energy. Only mankind is so separated from his roots as an animal, that he no longer understands, nor thinks in terms of Conservation of Energy when he is outdoors, and in a survival situation. Lack of education and practice in this important principal kills people every year.

Wildlife take the easiest path to where they want to go to save energy, stored in body fat, and the food they eat. The food they eat is selected for the amount of carbohydrates and protein it contains.