prepping for my State Park hunt... questions...

[magnumwheelman]

I know the Park Manager, so I'm guessing I'm going to have to look him up for sure, before my hunt... but I have some general questions concerning hunting in the state park...

my buddies who have gone before, say a ladder stand is better than a climber ( I have a climbing stand ) but guessing the park doesn't want any branches stripped, or the bark gouged out on the trees...

the other day I thought of this... do you think I need to bag up the gut pile??? if 50 people are hunting there, I'm guessing even though there are critters there to eat them... 50 gut piles might not be popular to be seen by animal loving park visitors... this is an antler-less only, special muzzleloader season...

I know most of you are in other states, but any other quirky park hunt rules you've encountered in your states, that I might need to think about???

I think we get to put our stands up early... need to find out when ( to get an early choice of locations ) thinking I'll need a cable lock for security

[JM]

I've heard non-hunters complain about finding gut piles while out hiking. Mostly women.

Probably a good idea to try to make sure that the general population doesn't see it.

[bula]

If orange is required, don't skimp ! 

[magnumwheelman]

Yep it's required, and I have a full blaze insulated coveralls

[bushog]

Maybe a bear will get on the gut pile and eat one of the complainers too.....

[magnumwheelman]

put up our stands last Friday... talked to the ranger & yep... gut them in the park, just don't put gut piles on, or next to the trails or roads... BTW... did I mention we get to shoot 2 antlerless deer each

the hunt is this coming Friday thru Sunday... I went back in last Friday after my buddies left, with a paint pen, to mark the main parts of my new stand... stirred up a monster buck, that was tending a doe, 50 ft from my buddies stand which was closest to mine... the buck just stepped off the trail, about 50 ft into a small Tamarack patch, I could see his outline, & all of his rack... 10-14 points, with tines 10" to 12" long, & bleach white... too bad the hunt is an antlerless only hunt

really hoping I can get at least one... I love venison steaks, & it's been a long time...

sighted in my inline last Sunday... with just the fiber optic sights, I'm getting about a 4" group at 100 yards, so I feel confident out to around 100 yards... starting to get excited

[Ken O'Neill]

Best wishes to you for good hunting!

[edward]

good luck.

[cherokeetracker]

Dec 14, 2017 19:15:43 GMT -5 edward said:

good luck.

X2 on this

[magnumwheelman]

thanks guys... a few details & pictures of the hunt in the "Deer Hunting with Dynamite" thread in this section...

Tracking deer was the most difficult, as we had no snow... & so many deer get shot in such a short period of time... all the deer trails all have multiple blood trails on them...

most of my shots in my area were 75 - 125 yards... ( I had a nice little football sized clearing with Canary Reed grass & a few triangle shape reeds in the middle, where it had been wet over the wettest part of the summer ) this was surrounded by 50 ft or so of thick tamarack almost all the way around it... the 1st day I saw 14-16 deer, but all were either longer shots than I wanted to take without a scope, or obstructed ( we can't trim any branches or brush in the state park )... over all, we had a great time, & got 6 of 8 available tags filled... I had to dispose of one nice sized doe that got too warm... the weather was unseasonably warm... in fact on Saturday, I was just wearing an orange sweatshirt... normally by this time of year, we have a foot of snow on the ground...

this park has been averaging an antlerless hunt every other year... & you have to get drawn to hunt there... usually you have apply 2-3 times to get in... I'll be much more prepared next time I get in