Dear Glew22 and everyone else

I don't dislike my grandpa for hunting, and I guess my views on all hunters have been based on an ex-friend of mine who hunted and trapped. He would kill just for the sake of killing, and wouldn't go after his wounded game. He also wouldn't check his traps every day.

So sorry if I'm being sterotypical and I do thank all you here that have given me a warm welcome and lots of help.

All is forgiven Veg

As for your ex friend, he wasn't a hunter by any means

Glad to see you checked back in. I just want to say good luck with getting you animals in. Whether you're a hunter or not, seeing the animals in close and maybe getting video or photos of them is still very neat and exciting. So have fun! And remember, most hunters care more about these animals and do more for them than the average nonhunter.

So I had some of my friends over after school to hang out, we wandered around the backyard and then went to go pick some rubarb, while we were walking, this buck jumps in front of us on the path (wasn't very big, only a year old, wasn't even a 4 point ((unless they're still growing their antlers out? I'm not sure, you guys would know more about this than I would))) and then jumped further into the forest and stopped, and then another buck comes out, and stops in the middle of the path, just staring at us (also wasn't a very big buck), the first deer starts making this loud huffing sound, and after a couple of moments they both ran off.

Needless to say the trip back to the house was pretty much: "That was SO COOL!" and "That's the closest I've ever been to anything wild!" and "I wish I had my shotgun..." (the last one was from a friend of mine who hunts, and he actually looks for his wounded game and things like that)

So that was pretty cool, we were about 150 or so feet away from the bucks.

So are they still growing out their antlers, or were these two just yearling bucks?

His antlers are still growing. The fact that he has 4 points already, he is probably gonna be a pretty good buck. By late july the antlers will be pretty good sized and in september they should start to loose their velvet. Then they will loose the antlers sometime in from late january to early march depending on the part of the country. Then it starts all over again. From October till they loose the antlers is when they are the biggest and look the best, without the velvet and are all polished up.

Veg,

It is good to see a non-hunter with an open-mind to hunting. Killing an animal may seem cruel to some, but something that the guys on here didn't touch on is the fact that it is now needed. With land development and people moving into wild animals habitat every day, our beautiful animals are being crammed into smaller pieces of land. What this does is put pressure on the deer from less food and cover per animal. Every year a group of educated men and women in each state evaluates the amount of animals living their opposed to how much sustainable habitat they have, they then issue hunting liscenes and tags to get the number of animals to a optimum level where there is still an abundant population without animals starving due to a lack of food.

Also, alot of people don't realize how since hunting seasons and bag limits have been established, the amount of animals throughout the country has gone up. Before designated hunting seasons were in place, all the animals throughout the country were being over-harvested. Turkey, deer, buffalo, antelope, bear, ect.... these are all animals that would have been driven to extinction if it weren't for hunters like myself the other wonderful guys on this board.

As far as helping out the animals around your house, there are several more productive things than just feeders. I personally have planted close to a dozen food plots on my property and the other properties that I hunt. One foodplot (in my back yard) has a gravity feeder set-up in it which I routinely fill with corn. It is not like some will describe and it hasn't become a "main course" for the deer. Actually, it is pretty much the opposite, it has become their browse. The deer feed in my food-plot and really don't care too much about the corn. My feeder holds 200 pounds of corn and I only fill it 4 times a year. Mineral licks are another good idea, but you must watch what you put out. Alot of mineral licks are pretty much just salt, it may attract deer but it really doesn't help them out. Look for a mineral lick mix that has a low sodium content. Trees are another option you can go with that will be there longer than a food plot, feeder, or mineral lick. Deer absolutely love apples along with acorns from oak trees and persimmons. Planting several apple trees (and fertilizing them properly every year) will ensure a good crop of apples which all the wildlife will enjoy. Another thing that I havn't seen touched on is a waterhole. If there isn't a stream or pond nearby, digging a small water-hole is a great way to attract animals of all kinds!

jepcho was dead on about the bucks still growing their antlers. This is the time of year that the deer in your area will really benefit from the work you put in. Taking care of bucks at this time of year will ensure that they grow impressive antlers which they will use in the late fall to fight with other bucks for breeding rights of doe. The extra nutrtion that the doe are getting will be used to create milk for the fawns that were born this past month or so.

I think that you will find that pretty much all the guys on here really deeply care for all wildlife. Yes, we may kill an occassional critter every year, but we are all contributing money to research and development of solid game management plans that are constructed to give all the wildlife in their area a good habitat to live in. Alot of guys on here, including myself, spend more money on just helping out the wildlife in their area than any anti-hunter would. Anti-hunters look at hunting and just see the small part of killing instead of looking at the whole picture which includes the management practices that give all the wildlife a better life.

Finally, another thing that I didn't see touched on about hunting was that it is a great way to bond with your family. My father and I pretty much don't have anything in common, but several years ago when he still hunted (doesn't have time to now) he and I could spend hours together just enjoying nature. We really didn't care too much if we were successful or not, that was just a added bonus, what we really cared about was being with each other spending time in the outdoors. The bond between hunters in un-real. I don't think that you will find any group of guys like hunters that can sit back and talk about their passion and treat each other with such welcome arms. Like others have said, their are some bad seeds in the bunch, but don't get these guys confused with hunters!

How did I miss this one for so long. GOOD STUFF

Veg, are you stating that you are a vegan or a vegitarian, just curious. You should check the MI laws on baiting out of season, I dont think it is leagle. Also just so you know I shoot my bow at least 3 time a week, so by hunting season I will make a great shot. If you want to join a group that saves aimals by the hundreds of thousands try, Ducks Unlimited, Trout Unlimited, or any of the other great organizations hunters have started. We dont save single animals we save whole ecosystems.

Veg, buy a digital game camera it will save you money in the long run. www.archeryexperts.com has the cheapest digital starting at $130.00 for the moultrie. I have this camera and had no problems with it yet.

I din;t know a lot about the subject, but I have some thoughts. First, corn seems to work if all you care about is seeing deer. If you're also concerned about caring for the deer, there is more to consider. Common sense tells me this: find out what the deer in your region eat naturally, and provide that as a source.

Veg, glad to see you returned. Im also very happy that you decided to plant food. You already have the animals returning. Doesnt take them long does it?

Just so you know, you dont want to spook them too much or they will become nocturnal, (especially the bucks). They will get used to you if you spend time near the plot while they are feeding though, and eventually you will be able to get pretty close and take pics etc. I wouldnt roam through where they are bedding behind your yard though, or they wont show themselves much during daylight.

That loud blowing noise you heard was an alarm that deer use called a "snort". It accomplishes a few things; It alerts surrounding deer to danger. If the deer are unsure of what the danger is it also can scare the danger into revealing itself. Deer will also snort at each other when they can hear another deer, but not see it. Kind of like saying, "hey Im a deer over here, if you're a deer too, snort back" (but those snorts arent nearly as loud.)

The more time you spend around deer, the more noises you're going to learn. They have pretty complex vocal communications, and if you learn some of them, maybe you can impress your friends.

Fawns are being born now too, and you will soon hear them bleating to their mothers,(it almost sounds like a baby crying, bwaaaaahhh bwaaaaahh) and their mothers will bleat and grunt (grunt=almost like a pig grunts, sound like a girlie burp). These are locator calls, and content feeding calls.

Bucks also grunt, but its usually much deeper. Grunts vary, and can mean so many different things. From locator, to aggression.
Extremely Aggressive bucks will "grunt-snort-wheeze".
It sounds like a deep belch followed quickly by a brief snort and then a drawn out wheezing sound. This noise almost exclusively occurs during the breeding season, October-December (depending upon geographical location) (even later down south). It is usually right before two bucks try and kick each others butt for breeding rights.

There are more noises, and noises that we dont yet understand, but that should give you a slightly better understanding of the noises they make.

One last thing. Fawns (baby deer) are very VERY impressionable in thier first couple months of life. They are very curious, and may actually attach to you. Try to watch fawns from a distance and never try to approach them or befriend them. You may find fawns bedded alone, this is normal. The mother leaves them alone for their own safety, they have no scent, and predators cant locate them. As cute and adorable as they are, and I know its going to be tempting to try and bring them in close for a better look. Its just not whats best for the animal. It needs to imprint on its mother, and not you.

Seeing how you are very interested in wildlife, I guess my best advice to you would be to try and impact it as little as possible. Take out some books from your public or school library and read up on the animals you are watching. Who knows, maybe someday you will be a wildlife biologist.

Two great authors for learning about white-tail deer are;
Leonard Lee Rue III and Charles Alsheimer. If you get a chance to read their work, do so.

Have a good one---Matt