Found the Holy Grail!!!!!!!!
 

Hey guys,

Today my best friend and I decided to go out and do some small game hunting (which sucked). We walked all around the usual areas which are areas that usually hold deer. We spent about 2 hours walking around trying to find rabbits, and we had only cut a few deer tracks. We figured that it was pretty much normal because the deer numbers are REALLY low around here after this past hunting season, plus the weather has kept the deer down. Well, we were working our way on a hillside, there was a cornfield above the hill and woods at the bottom of the field. This "field" is made of multi-floral rose bush and golden rods. Well, we are walking along and find a bunch of pheasent tracks (well kind of, they were more like holes in the ground with wind tips on each side). Well, we kept working on and a ringneck flew up. My friend pulled up his shotgun and shot, but he missed. We watched the pheasent fly into a huge multi-floral thicket that has a clearing in the center. Well, we head over to that area and when we looked in the center, there was hardly any snow. This was "odd" to say the least because we have close to 2 feet of snow everywhere. Well, we head into the center of this clearing and about 8 turkey take off running and a group of 4 gobblers fly up. One was very nice and had a 8"+ beard. Well, the center of this clearing was nothing but deer beds. There was more der "poo" in that area than I thought physically possible. We followed the trail which lead into the cornfield. We followed the other trail and it led into a pine thicket and a TON of deer jumped up. I am guessing that there was close to 20 in this little patch of pines. Well, they took off and we slowly eased our way over there. There wasn't any trail after that, just beds under the pines. These deer seem to be just moving between this corn field, this clearing in the multifloral rose and the pines. Not only that, but the clearing was packed with turkey droppings, pheasent tracks and rabbit tracks. The multi-floral rose bushes had all the bark stripped off the bottom from the rabbits, and most of the berries had been stripped off the bushes. The deer had stripped the buds off the rose bushes (not a good sign).

Well, I think that I am gonna put my camera up in that area sometime this week and see what kinda pics I can get.

P.S. This year was the first time that I really noticed browse lines. The deer herd was knocked down really low this year, but the weather hasn't gave them much food. The corn and other crops were planted late and picked very early. The acorn crop was non-exsistant this year. These deer have virtually no food. As far as the snow goes, well, it starts with a layer of snow about 8" deep, then there is a layer of ice about 1/2" thick, then another 2" of snow, another layer of ice about 1/4" thick, and then a layer of snow around 12-14" deep. What food is on the ground is very hard for the deer to get to. The temps have been in the single digits with strong winds, the lowest we have got so far was -13 degrees without wind-chill. For some reason, I think that this is gonna be the first year I find winter kills [:'(][:'(][:'(][:'(]

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RE: Found the Holy Grail!!!!!!!!
 

Bow,

The greatest thing about this spot is that there is a perfect tree on the edge of the woods, which is about 25 yards from this clearing. If I am in that tree I should be able to peak right down into that clearing. If I get in there early next fall, and they are still bedding there, I should be able to get up in my tree and wait for the deer to move out of the fields and into that clearing.

It was great finding a spot with alot of deer:D, but I was disappointed to see the amount of browse line that is starting! [:'(]

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RE: Found the Holy Grail!!!!!!!!
 

Bow,

Trust me, I know not to mess with bedding areas too much. I will probablly scout the area from a distance this late summer/early fall and see if the deer are stilling moving in that area. I already have an idea of how to get to this area without spooking deer. There is a large gaswell pump station that is always on, and it is about 70 yards from this bedding. This thing makes lot of noise so that isn't too much of a problem. Also, the wind is usually from the west and the tree I saw today would be perfect. The wind would be in my face and blowing my scent away from the field. Also, if the deer are there and I do decide to hunt that area next fall, I will be getting into that stand atleast an hour before daylight and there is a trail that leads to withing 10 yards of this tree. This trail was a spot where the landowner took a brush hog a few years ago and it has stayed clear. This lane connects to a dirt road which is easilly accessed from the road I live on. I guess I am just gonna have to wait till the end of summer and see what time the deer are moving in this area. I would think that they move out of the field in the morning and use this trail to bed down for the mid-day.

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RE: Found the Holy Grail!!!!!!!!
 

Buck, can you legally feed the deer, such as alfalfa pellets or some type of protein supplement to help the deer keep up with their energy levels till the snow levels subside.

RE: Found the Holy Grail!!!!!!!!
 

Robin,

Yep. I am going to be calling the local Agway on Monday to see what they got and prices. The snow/ice mix makes it almost impossible for deer for the deer to find any of the little remaining food.

RE: Found the Holy Grail!!!!!!!!
 

Good luck, and hope you can save at least some of them, cause I know once the deer reach a certain point of starvation, its tough to bring them back around even if you try to feed them.

RE: Found the Holy Grail!!!!!!!!
 

Hey BM. I live in Idaho now but grew up and spent many years in northern NY. The snows would get deep most years. I used to come upon large congregations of deer like that. The deer there could not escape the snows like they do out here. The area in which you described is called a "yarding" area. It is an area with the best browse around. The deer will not travel far from that area with the snows being that deep. I used to hunt these types of areas if we got large amounts of snow. The deer will hang tight and conserve every bit of energy that they have. My guess is that they will probably move out when the snows melt, to better food plots. I would tuck this in the back of your head so you know where to go if the conditions permit. Not to bust your bubble but I don't think that you will find them there when the snow is off. This place sounds like last chance survival. Send us some pics though. I would like to see the hardwoods and goldenrod again. Even if it is 2,300 miles away. Do the deer a favor and don't push them out of there. From what my dad , who lives back there says , Things are pretty bad.