The deer are starving contest

[Willie]

It seems snowpocalypse '26 has crimped the local deers food chain a bit. I can see them eating hemlock and juniper and those are last resorts for them. They are also clawing up the snow along the driveway to get at the vinca ground cover. This is something I never saw before and they are moving a good wheelbarrow of snow away to get at it. They dig up a new spot every night. So.......I figured I could help and I went out and got some stuff for them to eat

Sweet potatoes
apples
frozen corn
peanuts
carrots
broccoli

Ok, so the contest is to pick which one of those foods they went to first. one was a clear favorite I leave this up for a week . choose whichever one you want even if somebody else picked it, we'll settle it with a tiebreaker

Prize will be any 2 packs from the 5 below

Sunshine4 F3
Kona gold F 10
Cackleberry F2
Pink Lotus F5
Romulan Bx1 F3

I've had enough snow for this winter already my damn game camera is upstate dagnabbit.....I really want to see how a deer moves that snow with those feet......I especially wonder when I have to shovel it back off the driveway. This is primarily 3 bucks.....they dropped horns in december. One nice 8 pt and two 6's

 

[Deebs]

I would say Apples or Sweet Potatoes due to the sugar. Ill choose apples. Being that there is quite a few choices I bet the answer isn't that simple though hehe. I bet its all like popsicles lol

 

[Trichitect]

Love it @Willie !
I'll go with frozen corn.

 

[Kold Kasiz]

Thanks for all the reindeer games @Willie.
I’ll go with .

I’ve been tossing apples, oranges, etc over to the woods here. It’s usually a group of 5 but yesterday my dog herded them directly back at me. It was more than 10. Ground was rumbling i was like , felt like i was in the middle of the horse track. lol

 

[belleswell]

I will go with frozen corn and then apples as our 10 apple trees are favorites of theirs in our garden. They jump a plastic fence almost 8' tall to get into our garden to get them. And then mid to late winter they do it again for chewing on the branches of the same apple trees.

They were doing so much damage in our garden that I planted a long food plot about 150 yards long by about 15' wide with a half
a dozen plants they love to browse on. The ones they mowed to the ground were the sweet clovers. There were about a half dozen plant varieties that they like to browse on, but the sweet clover was by far their favorite. I buy the seed in bulk from a produce/soil/garden store in our area and have to replant it every couple of years. No problem as not only did it keep them away from raiding our garden as much, but it also gives me an endless supply of picture taking opportunities.

This year, after 3 months and 2 weeks of hunting pressure, we are now seeing up to 30 that come in late afternoon to browse.

I use to hunt them, but quit about 6 years ago after a lifetime of taking one or two each year. When I was seeing the same deer in our yard every day, it became almost impossible for me to harvest any. I'm sure I could again, but not on my property where they have sanctuary, and a food plot to munch on and the only thing I shoot them with is my camera. Plus we buy a quarter to a half of beef from my farming neighbor every year and it is the absolute best beef we've ever had. Having a bunch of his beef in our deep freeze has also made it easy for me to give the ones in our yard everyday a pass.


This is a recent pic taken after the hunting season ended. It is also the spot where I planted a food plot for them. I will also use the snow shovel and remove quit a bit of snow from one end of the yard to the other to expose ground they don't have to plow with their hooves to get to the food plot. There are another dozen or so to the right of this pic.




The other end of the yard where they first come out of our woods. The most we've seen mid winter when they are "yarded" up
is about 60 of them. That was about 5 years ago. Some over zealous hunters on our section have dropped those numbers quite a bit
since then, but it is still nice to see all of the survivors of a hunting season that I believe is too long.







Another huge bonus is since buying this property in '16 and moving from the big city up until we both retired, is having seen does drop fawns from our home. In 8 years we've seen them give birth 4 times . Too cool.

This doe dropped one on the far end of our pond and then spent about 15 minutes licking it clean. The purpose is to have it scent free
when it's lying down and mom is off browsing. Having them remain scent free allows her to feed while it lays motionless and hopefully free of any coyotes that may try to make a meal of it. Removing the scent by licking them clean is instinctual.








The pond is a wildlife magnet.




Even on the pond





Speaking of our pond. I fished it for the first time today since the ice formed as the brutal temps we've been having finally went away for a few days. I caught a few perch, but no bluegills.








Another reason I love country living as we were life long big city folks until we retired.

Milk in a glass bottle.

 

[mmjmon]

Apples sound good..
Thanks.

 

[Southside112]

Carrots why not.

 

[Akss]

Yep carrots

 

[Akss]

I will go with frozen corn and then apples as our 10 apple trees are favorites of theirs in our garden. They jump a plastic fence almost 8' tall to get into our garden to get them. And then mid to late winter they do it again for chewing on the branches of the same apple trees.

They were doing so much damage in our garden that I planted a long food plot about 150 yards long by about 15' wide with a half
a dozen plants they love to browse on. The ones they mowed to the ground were the sweet clovers. There were about a half dozen plant varieties that they like to browse on, but the sweet clover was by far their favorite. I buy the seed in bulk from a produce/soil/garden store in our area and have to replant it every couple of years. No problem as not only did it keep them away from raiding our garden as much, but it also gives me an endless supply of picture taking opportunities.

This year, after 3 months and 2 weeks of hunting pressure, we are now seeing up to 30 that come in late afternoon to browse.

I use to hunt them, but quit about 6 years ago after a lifetime of taking one or two each year. When I was seeing the same deer in our yard every day, it became almost impossible for me to harvest any. I'm sure I could again, but not on my property where they have sanctuary, and a food plot to munch on and the only thing I shoot them with is my camera. Plus we buy a quarter to a half of beef from my farming neighbor every year and it is the absolute best beef we've ever had. Having a bunch of his beef in our deep freeze has also made it easy for me to give the ones in our yard everyday a pass.


This is a recent pic taken after the hunting season ended. It is also the spot where I planted a food plot for them. I will also use the snow shovel and remove quit a bit of snow from one end of the yard to the other to expose ground they don't have to plow with their hooves to get to the food plot. There are another dozen or so to the right of this pic.

View attachment 238244


The other end of the yard where they first come out of our woods. The most we've seen mid winter when they are "yarded" up
is about 60 of them. That was about 5 years ago. Some over zealous hunters on our section have dropped those numbers quite a bit
since then, but it is still nice to see all of the survivors of a hunting season that I believe is too long.
View attachment 238246

View attachment 238247


View attachment 238254

Another huge bonus is since buying this property in '16 and moving from the big city up until we both retired, is having seen does drop fawns from our home. In 8 years we've seen them give birth 4 times . Too cool.

This doe dropped one on the far end of our pond and then spent about 15 minutes licking it clean. The purpose is to have it scent free
when it's lying down and mom is off browsing. Having them remain scent free allows her to feed while it lays motionless and hopefully free of any coyotes that may try to make a meal of it. Removing the scent by licking them clean is instinctual.
View attachment 238249







The pond is a wildlife magnet.

View attachment 238248


Even on the pond

View attachment 238250



Speaking of our pond. I fished it for the first time today since the ice formed as the brutal temps we've been having finally went away for a few days. I caught a few perch, but no bluegills.

View attachment 238251


View attachment 238252



Another reason I love country living as we were life long big city folks until we retired.

Milk in a glass bottle.
View attachment 238253

Ever find any shed antlers on your property?

 

[belleswell]

Ever find any shed antlers on your property?

Yes , usually in the spring when hunting morel mushrooms. I've found 3 since we moved here, but have never found a matching set.


Here is one from a couple years ago. This pic was taken on Jan 10th and most will lose them before that, but usually they will lose one first, and a few days later lose the second one. That is why we've never found a matching set. A deer could lose one of them on our property and then a few days later lose the second one on a neighbors property. I named this one . One Headlight.

The first two years here, I was still hunting and shot one on December 31st that I thought was a doe, and found out it was a buck
that had recently lost both it's antlers. It was still considered a legal tag as I shot it during left over doe permits season and with no
antlers, it was considered a legal "doe" even though it was a buck that had lost both of its antlers. I quit hunting them in 19' as
seeing the same deer everyday and watching them and taking pics of them from our home made it too personal for me to do.



Big Balls approved this post


Backyard Bucks


If you have a problem playing any of my soundcloud links, as clicking play will sometimes take one to a a sign in/sign up page. Just close out that page to sign in/sign up , and they should play. I do not know why this occurs for some and not others, but if it does just click on the x for closing out the page on the upper right and then they should play.

 

[Trial n Error]

My best guess is broccoli, just because of the green nature of it. its nice of you to help them out. I have a feeling the winter kill will be significant this year. We haven't had this much snow, coupled with long term freezing Temperatures here, for a few years.
Stay warm.

 

[pepperpicante]

i think they went for the sweet potatos

 

[DemonTrich]

Apples all day long

 

[Akss]

Yes , usually in the spring when hunting morel mushrooms. I've found 3 since we moved here, but have never found a matching set.


Here is one from a couple years ago. This pic was taken on Jan 10th and most will lose them before that, but usually they will lose one first, and a few days later lose the second one. That is why we've never found a matching set. A deer could lose one of them on our property and then a few days later lose the second one on a neighbors property. I named this one . One Headlight.

The first two years here, I was still hunting and shot one on December 31st that I thought was a doe, and found out it was a buck
that had recently lost both it's antlers. It was still considered a legal tag as I shot it during left over doe permits season and with no
antlers, it was considered a legal "doe" even though it was a buck that had lost both of its antlers. I quit hunting them in 19' as
seeing the same deer everyday and watching them and taking pics of them from our home made it too personal for me to do.
View attachment 238258


Big Balls approved this post
View attachment 238259

Backyard Bucks
View attachment 238260

If you have a problem playing any of my soundcloud links, as clicking play will sometimes take one to a a sign in/sign up page. Just close out that page to sign in/sign up , and they should play. I do not know why this occurs for some and not others, but if it does just click on the x for closing out the page on the upper right and then they should play.

Yeah I shot one one time with the muzzleloader 190 pounds no horns was pretty upset with myself .. I've found alot sheds put on many many miles looking for them though over the years I think I've only found 2 or 3 matching sets... I totally understand where your coming from on not wanting to shoot the ones you watch all the time these days I let most everything keep on walking... I also think the TV shows these days give hunting a bad name these guys pretty much grow these deer know em all by name seems more like shooting your pets than hunting idk just my opinion..

 

[Willie]

Ever find any shed antlers on your property?

I watched a decent 6 point trashing a shrub by the back of my property. There was a bunch of us at the table at tyhe time, I saw the deer thrashing and I was like "c'mon baby" and bam....one horn popped right off. I had it in the house in less than 5 minutes....perfect condition and the butt end musta exuded a smell because my cats all ran to get a whiff and then rolled their lips up to show gums. 2 days later that deer lost the other one.....I looked but nada. When the first snow cover melted before the snowpocalyse, I though about looking for some since I knew they had recently dropped. Once they get covered in snow they are mouse food.

 

[AppleDeez]

I will go sweet potatos.

They probably are sick of eating apples!

 

[Akss]

I watched a decent 6 point trashing a shrub by the back of my property. There was a bunch of us at the table at tyhe time, I saw the deer thrashing and I was like "c'mon baby" and bam....one horn popped right off. I had it in the house in less than 5 minutes....perfect condition and the butt end musta exuded a smell because my cats all ran to get a whiff and then rolled their lips up to show gums. 2 days later that deer lost the other one.....I looked but nada. When the first snow cover melted before the snowpocalyse, I though about looking for some since I knew they had recently dropped. Once they get covered in snow they are mouse food.

Don't get much fresher than that ... I've found a lot of old chewed up ones for sure.. always nice to find fresh drops un chewed .. found this one a few years ago.. seen him once the following bow season no shots he blew up quite a bit .. I got him the following November as a eight point came in thrashing trees up and making scrapes... I'm in mass so that's a good one for here not like the Midwest here lol

 

[Mizzo81]

I’ll go with carrots. @Akss nice Buck and a bonus with the bow. Bows the only way to do it right lol. We’ve been lucky enough to fill the freezer with archery equipment the last few years. @Willie thanks for the contest

 

[HBZ]

Knowing how the deer here absolutely destroy the reachable apples and every single apple that falls the corn piles don't last long if I put it out...I'll go with the corn being gone first

 

[Nefar]

I used to turn pens and bookmarks out of antler. A very distinctive smell. Soon as I saw that rack it was the first thing that popped in my head.