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Controlled Hunts 2009
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<blockquote data-quote="Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow" data-source="post: 690823" data-attributes="member: 7123"><p>Ridgehunter, yeah I know all about McAAP, and believe me, I was fired up about being drawn. I practiced my butt off and could keep 8 arrows insided 4.5" at 20 yards with the recurve by the time the hunt rolled around.</p><p></p><p>But I think the hunt sucked really really bad, *relative* to my expectations and what it's cracked up to be.</p><p></p><p>First off, I hated all the many stupid rules. Some made sense, like no lighters and such - fine. But no binoculars? This really hacked me off and made no sense. And I later found a pack of 209 shotgun/ML primers under the front seat of my pickup when I got home, that somehow found its way there, which had been in there the whole time - I could have been jailed for just an inadvertent act if they had chosen to search my pickup - that's for the birds; sorry.</p><p></p><p>Secondly, two related issues: not many good deer (not in the hunting areas), and too much off-limits area....Why are there so many restricted areas? Do all of these areas REALLY need to be that secure? The housing and administrative buildings areas and such? C'mon. I saw exactly <strong>ONE</strong> deer when I was hunting, after hunting 3 days hard, and only TWO deer during the scouting day, one of which was INSIDE a restricted area! Granted, it was a good one - huge thick antlers was all I saw above the brush, probably a 5 or 6 year old buck. But these deer are extremely educated, and know full well to stay inside the restricted areas during the day. I saw probably 30 or 40 deer on the WAY to go hunt, in the restricted areas, and along the roads where they know to hang out, but only 1 while hunting, and 2 while scouting, for a total of 3 deer back "up in the woods". Trails out the ying yang, yes, but no deer. They have us hunters pegged bigtime - at least all the smart ones (i.e. the good deer). So there was in incredible (to me) lack of harvest numbers. Out of 275 hunters, there would be maybe 3 or 4 deer hanging in the shed each evening - horrid horrid success rate, if you ask me. And not many of them were anything to write home about. I don't think there were 3 deer the whole weekend over 120 class. Yeah, they have <strong>some</strong> big deer in there inside that huge area, and they get a lot of pictures of the good ones, because they hang out all year and look and take pics. But they're not that much more common than big deer anywhere else in the state, on a per-acre basis. It's just that most of them don't get their pictures taken and spread around in the rest of the state. And the biggest & best undoubtedly stay in that center large area that no one is allowed to hunt, or in the restricted areas during the day. Of the 4 hunters in our group that rode in the pickup together each day, only ONE of us even got a shot off in 3 days. I could have shot a spike, the one deer I saw while hunting outside a restricted area, but I wanted a doe or big buck, so I let it pass. Also, the rules about being AT the truck to go home before fully dark sucked badly, because that meant leaving your ambush spot BEFORE prime time dusk time, to make your way back in time to be picked up and not left behind and getting in trouble.</p><p></p><p>Finally, probably the worst part of all is just the bad land management practices - that place is overgrown chock full of cedars and briars and underbrush - they need controlled burns BADLY, but I suppose cannot DO a controlled burn due to the explosives around there. So the flora situation sucked for the most part. Sorry, I'd much rather hunt in a well-managed area that I can walk through all parts of it, with far fewer cedars and accompanying cedar pollen.</p><p></p><p>95% hype (to get those hunt fees!), and 5% actual delivery.</p><p></p><p>Just one man's take on it.... <img src="/images/smilies/smile.png" class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" data-shortname=":)" /></p><p></p><p>P.S. And frankly, they need to allow compounds and sights. Although I was pretty darned good at the recurve by the time the hunt rolled around, and I practiced in the camp there each day, I would have been a whole lot more comfortable had a big deer actually come along, if I had my compound with sights - it's just more humane, being a more sure shot thing.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow, post: 690823, member: 7123"] Ridgehunter, yeah I know all about McAAP, and believe me, I was fired up about being drawn. I practiced my butt off and could keep 8 arrows insided 4.5" at 20 yards with the recurve by the time the hunt rolled around. But I think the hunt sucked really really bad, *relative* to my expectations and what it's cracked up to be. First off, I hated all the many stupid rules. Some made sense, like no lighters and such - fine. But no binoculars? This really hacked me off and made no sense. And I later found a pack of 209 shotgun/ML primers under the front seat of my pickup when I got home, that somehow found its way there, which had been in there the whole time - I could have been jailed for just an inadvertent act if they had chosen to search my pickup - that's for the birds; sorry. Secondly, two related issues: not many good deer (not in the hunting areas), and too much off-limits area....Why are there so many restricted areas? Do all of these areas REALLY need to be that secure? The housing and administrative buildings areas and such? C'mon. I saw exactly [B]ONE[/B] deer when I was hunting, after hunting 3 days hard, and only TWO deer during the scouting day, one of which was INSIDE a restricted area! Granted, it was a good one - huge thick antlers was all I saw above the brush, probably a 5 or 6 year old buck. But these deer are extremely educated, and know full well to stay inside the restricted areas during the day. I saw probably 30 or 40 deer on the WAY to go hunt, in the restricted areas, and along the roads where they know to hang out, but only 1 while hunting, and 2 while scouting, for a total of 3 deer back "up in the woods". Trails out the ying yang, yes, but no deer. They have us hunters pegged bigtime - at least all the smart ones (i.e. the good deer). So there was in incredible (to me) lack of harvest numbers. Out of 275 hunters, there would be maybe 3 or 4 deer hanging in the shed each evening - horrid horrid success rate, if you ask me. And not many of them were anything to write home about. I don't think there were 3 deer the whole weekend over 120 class. Yeah, they have [B]some[/B] big deer in there inside that huge area, and they get a lot of pictures of the good ones, because they hang out all year and look and take pics. But they're not that much more common than big deer anywhere else in the state, on a per-acre basis. It's just that most of them don't get their pictures taken and spread around in the rest of the state. And the biggest & best undoubtedly stay in that center large area that no one is allowed to hunt, or in the restricted areas during the day. Of the 4 hunters in our group that rode in the pickup together each day, only ONE of us even got a shot off in 3 days. I could have shot a spike, the one deer I saw while hunting outside a restricted area, but I wanted a doe or big buck, so I let it pass. Also, the rules about being AT the truck to go home before fully dark sucked badly, because that meant leaving your ambush spot BEFORE prime time dusk time, to make your way back in time to be picked up and not left behind and getting in trouble. Finally, probably the worst part of all is just the bad land management practices - that place is overgrown chock full of cedars and briars and underbrush - they need controlled burns BADLY, but I suppose cannot DO a controlled burn due to the explosives around there. So the flora situation sucked for the most part. Sorry, I'd much rather hunt in a well-managed area that I can walk through all parts of it, with far fewer cedars and accompanying cedar pollen. 95% hype (to get those hunt fees!), and 5% actual delivery. Just one man's take on it.... :) P.S. And frankly, they need to allow compounds and sights. Although I was pretty darned good at the recurve by the time the hunt rolled around, and I practiced in the camp there each day, I would have been a whole lot more comfortable had a big deer actually come along, if I had my compound with sights - it's just more humane, being a more sure shot thing. [/QUOTE]
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