Depressing Find

[cmac]

WE had been on this buck since early bow - Just found him in a ditch on our property. The guys combining the soybeans were shooting as they were working (til 9pm.) We had hoped that they were only popping off at does - we were wrong. They didn't even look for this guy as he was just off their field. It sucks!

[cmac]

http://images.snapfish.com/3455946%3B23232%7Ffp335%3Enu%3D3269%3E7%3B%3B%3E%3 A33%3EWSNRCG%3D32333476%3C%3B%3C4%3Anu0mrj

This was depressing to find in our ditch. He died right behind a stand off our field.

[pafisherman1]

[sad]That's the problem they let these guys get away with shooting past the shooting hours and they can shoot as many as they want. Sorry for the trophy being illegaly shot out from under ya. He would have been a wall hanger for someone!!!!!!!!

[Durado]

It is there livlyhood these deer are eating. So I do not feel like they are criminals. Not sure where that was shot, but in MD, the MDDNR is too restrictive on farmers and the deer problems. They (farmers, not average joes) should be able to problem deer accordingly without all the red tape, which is why so many do, beyond the law. I really feel bad for them, until I have to cut that check for that high lease to hunt they're land, or the big ole "NO" I get when I ask for permission to hunt....than I laugh as I watch they're crops and money get chewed to the ground. Sorry about the lose of that deer, he sure is a dandy!!! If anything, that should give us more fire against the Anti's. They can't do nothing about farmers and landowners, but that shows them what actually gets done and how much is wasted regardless of what the law says....Farmers don't care about the game warden, they shoot to kill when they want where they want. At least we utilize they game we take. Cmac, look at it this way, that opened the door now for an even bigger buck to come in your neighborhood, I hope you get em!!!
C.")

[kepone cats]

Go look for him.

[Marlin Time]

Hell, get a cape and get him remounted. You got a picture. Beautiful deer not to be on a wall.

Karl

[poon patrol]

What county was that buck killed in? Also, I come from a family with farmers and I am friends with a lot of farmers. Every farmer I know hates the deer and will shoot every Doe they can, they would never shoot a buck like that and leave it! My bet is someone shot that deer from the road and couldn't find it, or got nervous and took off. Just my thoughts. Poon

[MarkTakacs]

Too bad the nice buck was lost as it is the does and young groups that are putting the real hurt on the crops (beans). Until you have witnessed the damage and had the bills to go along with it.
For the first time we are using crop damage permits and we will continue to use them all year long.
It is hard to imagine that we have such a deer problem.
One of the problems between hunters and farmers/landowners is that many only shoot the nice bucks and leave the does/young population unharvested.

Mark

[mdram]

if te farmer wants to shoot him he has that right.
the farmer i hunt on has 1 rule
-if it walks by you you shoot it. nothing lives.
he wants the deer killed, way too many. i dont agree with strict trophy hunting anyway, im a meat hunter.

[jwica]

Maryland has their deer regs all screwed up. deer season should really be doe only. Buck season should be every third year or only january. doe only would really scale down the heard. too many only trophy hunting.

[mdram]

the regs for most of the state are

2 Antlered
10 Antlerless

bow - Unlimited Antlerless in Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Howard, Montgomery, and Prince George's counties

so they are trying, just need to make people harvest the does

[choptank]

When some families live off of deer meat and I for one look hard for a place to hunt and help out the farmers by harvesting does. I struggle to even find a place to hunt. So I have no pity on the farmer who shoots deer with rifles at will and does not let anybody hunt who asks (with in reason) . Most farmers are around food sources such as Beef, hogs and chickens so why would they want to eat a deer they just shot to preserve their crops. I dont get it so many people want the deer heard thinned and does harvested but no body will grant permission to hunt. For the farmers who try and allow hunting and atleast eat the deer or donate I sympathize and crops should be preseved for income. My 2 cents as most days I just stay at home because I have no place to hunt.

[done workin]

Some of these farmers could give more access to ethical hunters and restrict them to only does. I for one would love an opportunity like that especially if he limited me to only using a bow. Hell, summertime crop damage permits even work for me.

I've killed three so far this year and two have been with a bow. Don't need a rifle in the right places.

DNR needs to start making a strong effort to setting up farmers with hunters with a stringent set of qualification guidelines to even qualify for the program. Make the farmers feel comfortable with the hunter.

[flatduck]

Sounds to me like DNR should be fining some farmers for shooting past legal times. If they have a deer problem there are always clubs and individuals looking for property to hunt. Laws are laws!I've never read any thing in the Regulation book that makes farmers exempt! Look at what the cattle farmers have to put up with the bears around Yellowstone! Shoot one oif them your headed to JAIL.

[done workin]

Agreed, I know people that have lost $1000's inlandscaping due to deer. Do they also have the right to kill what walks into their yards whenever and however they want.

Didn't think so.

Farmers should play by the same rules as everybody else, otherwise they have NO RIGHT to complain when somebody breaks the rules and trespasses.

[Durado]

......I disagree. If it's on my property it's either mine or it's trespassing.......eitherway it's getting shot!!![smile]

[cmac]

The county is Caroline. they were using rifles - the report is different than a shotgun/ Muzzel loader. i think they were just taking shots at will. Both our field and their field are hidden and have no roads even within rifle range.
I still think it sucks!

[earlyriser]

I come from a family that farms in Virginia and I have personally have been involved in damage permits. Call the local game warden and they send someone out to investigate. If adequate damage is obvious they write a damage permit for a month, which can be renewed if damage does not cease. Sometimes this last two to three months, just dependent on when crops come out of the fields. We havent had to shoot any in the past couple of years but when we did, the permits read, ".....does only no visible antler deer. Spotlights are allowed and rifles allowed. Deer either dragged into the woods or butchered". Distances around 200 yards with a spotlight it is very difficult to determine doe or buck. Farming is a tough way to make a living. I have seen acres upon acres destroyed by deer so farmers have to do what they have to do.

[Danimal]

If it's brown knock it down.

[stripermd]

What a bunch of *******S!!! I would be so pissed!!

[RYASON]

Cmac

These guys are right. I found out this year the cost of crop destruction from a new farm i hunt and talking to an adjacent farmer. These men are considering fencing hundreds of acres in. What will that cost? Some will take there chances at taking night shots at anything in there fields with four legs. I dont agree at all with that, but that is there risk. I hate to see so many deer dead on the road, buck or doe, but i guess thats life. Keep up the hunt and stay safe out there. Maybe get a chance at his pappa.

[pafisherman1]

I know it's a tough call but if the farmers want to stop the damage have them place a hunt add and have them talk to the hunter and get a feel for some ethnical hunter to help them out.
being in the military it's hard for me to get home to Pa to hunt but when I do these days everything is posted or no tresspassing signs are up with more and more land that I use to hunt being shut down. I would love to help the farmers out and take a doe or buck meat is meat. Alot of guys I know hunt for horns.Ya can't eat them!!!! If ya need them taken I'll help out for the meat!!!!!

[GEORGE ZAHRADKA]

I'm a farmer from Balto co. I now 1st. hand what deer can do I had 23 acres of sweet corn off Allinder rd. and never got a ear of corn off that ground,it surrounded by gunpowder st park.DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH MONEY THAT TAKES ...
If the state sets the seasons,the bag limits, the time you can hunt, where you can hunt, with what you can hunt with.In my mind the deer belongs to the state therefore the state is RESPONSIBLE for what they damage I think the state profits off the deer while farmers continue to lose.As far as shooting deer if it is damaging my crops it dies permit or not a fawn or a buck, they all eat...This is my livlyhood the state is dealing with and i'm not going to sit back and watch it eatin away .If something was stealing your bottom line you would at least try to stop it
I now farm the Holly Neck area there was no deer there this summer now the @#%$#^& state turned lose 15 or 20,there nothing but long legget rats. And if the state has somthing to do with it you can bet it will be fowled up.

[RYASON]

Pa fish

Problem is you cant kill enough through hunting it seems. Mr.
George your right about the state, and I think we all agree about farmers having to do what they have to do, but I think the main point in the original post was the shooting until 9:00 pm. Two farmers I know are considering fencing in. Imagine that cost. We wish you the best.

[Choptank Rob]

I live in Carlonie County MD and am fortunate enough to have a good friend who is a produce farmer. For many years he allowed a group of "city hunters" to come in and hunt his property to keep the crop damage somewhat under control. The problem arose when this group of hunters started to "trophy" hunt only. His rules were simple, either kill every deer you see or you are gone and he then gets crop damage permits. Either way he didn't care until they stopped following his rules. Me and 2 of my friends have now been given exclusive rights to all his land to hunt with the same rules. We do shot does, yearlings and bucks. We manage the property so that certain times of the year we kill only does and yearlings and other times of the year we shoot all deer. this has worked for the last eight years and he wouldn't be happier and neither could we. Last year the 3 of use and a few select friends we invited killed 38 deer off that property including 4 8+ plus wall hangers and several smaller basket bucks.

One of the issues most farmers face is a fear of liability. They are uncertain of what could happen and who would be responsible should someone get injured on their land. this is a genuine concern. 10 years or so ago we hunted on a piece of ground that was litteraly over run with deer. But before we could hunt it, this guy had his attorney write up a "Release of liability" that each of us had to sign. We didn't mind and he had the "ease" of mind he wanted. The reason I bring this up is it might be worth your time to have a realese of liability form with you to show a farmer when you ask him if you can hunt. It could only help.

Good hunting to all and be safe!!!

[Butthead]

rt

I echo your comments. I am part of a lease that we are in jeopardy of losing because the guys on the lease with me, will only trophy hunt. There are some real bruisers walking around the farm, but the farmer is beginning to get very pissed at the lack of deer we are taking off the farm.

Too many people, have watched too many realtree videos and think that this is what hunting is all about. I watched a six pointer go by me Sunday on a drive in QA County. He ran past me and stopped. The landowner has an 8 or better rule, and outside the ears. When he stopped I could have plugged him good, but I wasn't allowed. He ran through a patch of woods to an adjacent farm, and they unloaded and killed him....Yeah, his 8 or better rule really worked.

The problem is that alot of deer around here, won't make it to true trophy class because of the proximity to people, other hunters, and most importantly, cars.

I do not sit in a tree stand for hours to watch deer go by. I hunt to be successful. I 'm certainly not going to let a goose go by because he wasn't 10 pounds or better. And I am not going to let a deer walk because his antlers aren't outside his ears. Trophy bucks get to be trophy bucks because they are smart and have good food sources. If you cull the small bucks, it takes alot of breeding pressure off of the larger bucks. If you cull the does, the larger bucks will have to move to find them. You are gretaly increasing your odds of killing a big buck if you eliminate a majority of your doe herd.

So, In Maryland I have a lease on a farm, in a county, where I can kill unlimited does. If a doe walks by, I whack her, and continue to hunt. I put a deer on my wall last year that I shot at 9:30 am. I had already shot 2 does that morning.

For the do gooders....I donate alot of deer meat to alot of people that don't get a chance to hunt. They love it, and I get to keep shooting.

[MarkTakacs]

Farmers will and should always take priority over these issues. The state and feds have made it known that farmland and farming is a practice to be saved from the ravegous of development and loss of jobs to the cities.

If the crops are being destroyed by deer....a simple application sent to the DNR allows anyone you want to break out the rifle and wack away almost year around.

You can insure the crops agains loss at an subsidized rate that the government issues to keep farmers in business.

Why, because this way of life is more important that than yours and mine (I can say this since I experience both sides).
When it is gone it is gone...........................................

Most people say that they are meat hunters but unless you butcher your own it can get costly and then when you get that buck fever........look out, all you thick about is horns.

As for liability, the hunting guide has has a release with the permission to hunt form for years. I might be nice to have a lawyer look it over if it still exists.

Mark

[REDNECKMAN]

MarkTakacs originally wrote:
Too bad the nice buck was lost as it is the does and young groups that are putting the real hurt on the crops (beans). Until you have witnessed the damage and had the bills to go along with it.
For the first time we are using crop damage permits and we will continue to use them all year long.
It is hard to imagine that we have such a deer problem.
One of the problems between hunters and farmers/landowners is that many only shoot the nice bucks and leave the does/young population unharvested.

Mark