Deer Damage Permits

One of the land owners I hunt on for several years now, called me yesterday an asked if I was interested in taking more anterless deer this coming year out of their cornfield. I agreed, but told her I wasn't gonna kill any does with young fawns or does during the summer months. DGIF said she has to prove damage when the corn is in, so this would have to wait till late summer/early fall to meet that requirement.
The deer have been hammering her corn field eating seven rows in around the field, before the corn is picked.

This will be a new experience for me. Have any of you all done this before?

YEP, Keep the land owner happy and you'll have a place to hunt for a long time. If you don't someone else will and you'll be LOOKING for a place to hunt again. :yeah: :yeah:

I have done some summer hunts on "kill permits." Hunting in high heat with all the growth still around is certainly different. Most important is to remember that if you take a deer, you will need to cool it down fast! I freeze water in two liter soda (or half gallon milk) bottles. and bring them in a cooler. After field dressing you can stuff the chest cavity with the bottles to get the carcass cold enough till you can process the meat.

Also the bugs might not be something your expecting but they can be brutal!

Yeah, the heat of summer an the bugs is why I told her I didn't want to kill any then. It's a pain even cleaning squirrels in the early fall because of the flies an bees. Gonna be interesting...

I have done some cull hunts for several different groups.(usually the state, but some private) Its a whole different thing than hunting, at least here. Many times its on land not usually hunter accessible, and most times they want a certain head count minimum. It was almost like high fence hunting, but you were supposed to kill them all, not horn hunt, usually just letting mothers with fawns, and yearlings go. A 10-15 per day minimum, is typical, and shooting 30 a day is not uncommon. It dont happen every year, or in the same places, the deer were hauled off in dump trucks. We were always told, they were butchered, and went to feed the hungry, and prisons and the like. Its not a muzzleloader type sport. Its probably different for a farmer, and in other places. Some guys like it, its not for everyone.

Gonna meet with the Conservation Officer an landowner in the morning. The deer are already two rows in an eating away....

Yes I did it for several years on a farm in clarence n.y. it was shotgun only at night with spotlight on gun. Does only 5 tags at a time then they would give new ones if they were in the food plot they are fair game. I loved doing it and lots of back straps !

Squeeze said:

Some guys like it, its not for everyone.

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This wouldn’t be something I’d enjoy doing, We get 1 Deer Tag a year here, I enjoy being out in the Deer’s environment and To match/OutWit A Big Buck, I try Hard every year to Find a BIG Ole Mossy Horn Buck, If i get the Chance GREAT, And if i dont That is ok to, I usually settle for a Decent little Buck before the Season ends. It’s not about Killing to me, it’s about being out there :yeah: I couldn’t imagine sitting over a Field and Blasting every Deer that stepped in it, Farthest thing from my mind as enjoyable/Fun. Anyone that thinks so Needs a Checkup

As a rule Lewis I agree with you but I also see the other side of the coin. In the SE corner of Minnesota deer density numbers can be very high and crop damage can be excessive. Orchards take a huge hit when deer in numbers converge on them during the winter to feast on the tender buds that become flowers and apples in the spring. Soybeans and corn also can get ravaged. I know where 100 acre cornfield yield little when combining the 10-15 outside rows and soybeans are the first place to look for deer in the evening when doing pre-season scouting. In this area we have early youth and state park seasons as a method of crowd control. In northern Minnesota we look at the deer as crops and the wolves as the over-populated only the dnr/feds do little to control the wolf numbers. The dnr harps about how low the deer tag sales are but when they have too many deer in one area and none in another is makes one wonder how effective their deer management strategies are. With chronic wasting disease such an issue today it would be healthier to get rid of wolves to allow deer to re-populate in the north and to live trap deer in the south to get that tactic done in a more timely fashion.

Just like too many wolves, too many deer do a tremendous amount of damage and those need to be managed quickly. Bang.

This is printed on my favorite T-shirt. Anywhere I am going to encounter numbers of the "green people" I wear this shirt. I bought it at the Manhattan Potato Festival in Manhattan, Montana and it nicely messages my stance on wolves.

Got a permit for 20 antlerless deer before the hunting seasons start Oct. 1st. No its not hunting, its thinning out the herd that will destroy a farmers crop an income for the year. I was told a field nearby where I will be had 167 deer in it one evening. :shock: A farmer can't compete with those numbers when they just eat up everything in a field of corn/beans/etc.

The deer herd will suffer with disease if they aren't thinned out.
I can take them anytime, at night, any weapon, with spotlight anyway, sure goes against the grain, but I can see the reasoning behind it.

I'm concerned this will effect the hunting in there after the corn is cut, but the deer just move on after the food source is gone anyway. I doubt I will like it much either, but somebody will do it an I can give the meat to family an friends who will enjoy it.

When your the one losing 20-30 k a season you tend to not like deer a whole lot ! Deer are constantly moving they don't finish a tomatoe they take two or three bites then start another when you have twenty doing that at the same time they trash a whole lot of tomatoes in one night ! Where I did this you couldn't kill enough deer to hurt the population and a side effect there is less car/deer collisions so imo there is a benefit at least un my case.

muzzlestuffer said:

When your the one losing 20-30 k a season you tend to not like deer a whole lot ! Deer are constantly moving they don't finish a tomatoe they take two or three bites then start another when you have twenty doing that at the same time they trash a whole lot of tomatoes in one night ! Where I did this you couldn't kill enough deer to hurt the population and a side effect there is less car/deer collisions so imo there is a benefit at least un my case.

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Makes perfect sense now, Kill em all :yeah: if in doubt, Hit em again to ensure they are GOOD N DEAD :yeah:

Before i ever started a Crop like that i would make DAMN sure that Deer couldn’t get in it and Wipe me out, I bet a Deer fence would Work Wonders :yeah: Probably can’t afford a Fence like that? But obviously can afford the Equipment etc. to Maintain a 20-30K Crop of tomatoes, Makes perfect sense

Really acres and acres were going to fence off great idea !

Re: RE: Re: Deer Damage Permits

Idaholewis said:

muzzlestuffer said:

When your the one losing 20-30 k a season you tend to not like deer a whole lot ! Deer are constantly moving they don't finish a tomatoe they take two or three bites then start another when you have twenty doing that at the same time they trash a whole lot of tomatoes in one night ! Where I did this you couldn't kill enough deer to hurt the population and a side effect there is less car/deer collisions so imo there is a benefit at least un my case.

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Makes perfect sense now, Kill em all :yeah: if in doubt, Hit em again to ensure they are GOOD N DEAD :yeah:

Before i ever started a Crop like that i would make DAMN sure that Deer couldn’t get in it and Wipe me out, I bet a Deer fence would Work Wonders :yeah: Probably can’t afford a Fence like that? But obviously can afford the Equipment etc. to Maintain a 20-30K Crop of tomatoes, Makes perfect sense

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Come on are you serious I don't ever remember seeing a farm fenced off in my life! If you were the guy losing all the money after spending 18 hour days seven days a week you would want to minimize your losses as well or you could just feed deer for free until you lose everything that a great idea I think I'll start farming next week ?

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Re: RE: Re: Deer Damage Permits

muzzlestuffer said:

Idaholewis said:

muzzlestuffer said:

When your the one losing 20-30 k a season you tend to not like deer a whole lot ! Deer are constantly moving they don't finish a tomatoe they take two or three bites then start another when you have twenty doing that at the same time they trash a whole lot of tomatoes in one night ! Where I did this you couldn't kill enough deer to hurt the population and a side effect there is less car/deer collisions so imo there is a benefit at least un my case.

Click to expand...

Makes perfect sense now, Kill em all :yeah: if in doubt, Hit em again to ensure they are GOOD N DEAD :yeah:

Before i ever started a Crop like that i would make DAMN sure that Deer couldn’t get in it and Wipe me out, I bet a Deer fence would Work Wonders :yeah: Probably can’t afford a Fence like that? But obviously can afford the Equipment etc. to Maintain a 20-30K Crop of tomatoes, Makes perfect sense

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Come on are you serious I don't ever remember seeing a farm fenced off in my life! If you were the guy losing all the money after spending 18 hour days seven days a week you would want to minimize your losses as well or you could just feed deer for free until you lose everything that a great idea I think I'll start farming next week ?

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If it’s a high value Crop it’s possible to get help funding a Fence, i am sure it varies from State to State. I know in Wa State, on the Coast where i came from, They had introduced Elk just before i moved, There was only 1 large Scale Working Farm, That guy raised Corn for Silage, The Elk ended up on his farm, The State Fish & Game got involved and built a Fence to keep them out, His farm was 180 Acres

To understand my thinking you would need to live and see what i have seen, I have seen the Land of Plenty become Not enough. We had a HUGE population of Blacktail Deer on the Wa coast, I grew up hunting them, i passed my Hunter Safety Class, and started hunting when i was 9 years old. The Mountains were full of Blacktail Deer, Somewhere around 1990 We started seeing a HUGE increase in Cougars, My Dad was an EXTREMELY Avid Hound hunter, I have 2 Large albums sitting here that are FULL of Cougar pictures, And my Dad rarely took a Camera, as many as 3-4 Big Cats in the Same tree (Mother with kittens her size) The Deer started to Decline at a Rapid pace, My Dad contacted Fish & Game explaining to them the SEVERE problem, He offered to take them along with his Hounds and show them that he could Tree Several BIG Cats on 1 single Mountain Range. Fish & Game Sent a letter back saying “We are Glad to hear that the Cougars are doing well” My Dad sent another letter telling them that they didn’t understand? The Cats were literally Wiping the Deer Out! Nothing was done, Actually there was! You could Always buy a Cougar Tag over the Counter, But oddly After the HUGE Boom in Cougar population They Stopped that, They decided to put them on a Permit Draw????? And only gave out a Few Tags (10 if I remember correctly?) The Mountain Goats in the Mountain Ranges i grew up in were the First to Disappear, They were killed completely out to Extinction, The Mountain Blacktail Deer took longer to Wipe out, But it happened.

Several years before i moved from the Wa Coast It was an ABSOLUTE waste of 50 Bucks to Buy a Deer Tag and Hunting License, The Mountain Deer were pretty much Gone, To the point of them being a “Needle in a Haystack” Living there 38 Years i Have lots of friends from there that i Stay in Contact with, I ask them If the Deer Seem to be making a Comeback? NOPE! Same Ole Same! And Most of my Friends there are Loggers, They spend Monday through Friday in the Woods. Most of my friends that stil hunt, They Buy out of State Deer Tags And licenses, They Pay nearly 600 dollars for the opportunity to Harvest 1 deer, And That is just the Tag And License fee, Think about the Cost to Travel to Another State with Fuel well over 3 dollars a Gallon, Up to 4 Dollars. Motel fees, Etc. When i was a little Boy, And up until a Young Man there was no need to do such a thing, unless a Guy just wanted to do so, Our Mountains were FULL of Deer! Sadly those days are LONG LONG GONE!

Hopefully the Above gives a better understanding of why i feel like i do. When i drive the 10 miles up to visit my Folks and i see Several Whitetail Deer (In the Spring, just after our Snow melts i have seen nearly 100 Deer in 1 LARGE field) What an AWESOME sight to see!!! Especially so When coming from where i did. This is why the Above Management Culling Wouldn’t be something i could do, I couldn’t imagine sitting over a Field and Killing every deer that Walked in it

Just so you know this is in a suburban area with way too many deer and lots of private land that can't be hunted by many people so this farm consisted of 10 or so plots the farmer leased from private landowners so fences were not even a option. The Nys dec is like the Gestapo if they let you shoot deer at night with lights trust me there was a valid reason so I don't have any doubt in my mind it was a good thing to do for a whole host of reasons and my reward for this was backstraps galore and exclusive hunting rights during the regular season so to wrap this up it was a win win for everyone!

muzzlestuffer said:

Just so you know this is in a suburban area with way too many deer and lots of private land that can't be hunted by many people so this farm consisted of 10 or so plots the farmer leased from private landowners so fences were not even a option. The Nys dec is like the Gestapo if they let you shoot deer at night with lights trust me there was a valid reason so I don't have any doubt in my mind it was a good thing to do for a whole host of reasons and my reward for this was backstraps galore and exclusive hunting rights during the regular season so to wrap this up it was a win win for everyone!

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Definitely sounds Valid. If you read my post above in it’s entirety you should be able to see where my thinking process is. I have never visited the Eastern States, From what i have read, and watched there a lot of Whitetail deer in some areas.

The Wa Coast where i grew up was literally destroyed, From the Hunting, to even the fishing, I grew up within walking distance of 2 Major Rivers that Several species of Salmon and Steelhead would Run to Spawn, There were kids that would sneak in on Remote Creeks with .22 Rifles and Shoot the poor ole Salmon that were trying to spawn, Them fish had traveled from the Salt Water 100 or more miles to end up in them Creeks, and Tributaries where they were born so they could Spawn and then Die, Starting the new Generation, And then to be met with Pitch Forks, and .22 Rifles. I can honestly say that i NEVER EVER done anything like that, Had i of done that My Dad would have RIGHTFULLY Beat me to an inch of my Life! But believe me there were LOTS of Kids that did that Crap! Those Rivers were finally Shut Down for fishing, You can NOT even Catch and Release anymore. I owned a 16 Ft Willies Guide Model Drift Boat that i Drifted the Rivers and fished from, Many of us Seen the River Closures coming, I sold my Boat the year before it happened. I have several friends over there that have REALLY nice Aluminum Drift boats, They are Nothing more than EXPENSIVE Yard Ornaments now. 99% of The Mountains are Gated off to the public for vehicle travel, They even have Patrols over there that stay inside the Gated roads to Catch folks trying to break through and Drive in, You either Walk in, Or Mountain Bike. And we are talking HUGE HUGE Mountain Ranges, This is Public State and Forest Service land. Get caught behind their Gates in a Motorized Vehicle and you are in DEEP DEEP Trouble! People are their Own worst Enemy!!

When you have seen the things i have, Resources Literally DISAPPEAR from IDIOTS, and Poor Management, it makes you think differently. And Sadly the same thing is happening here in Idaho, it’s just a little farther behind than the Wa Coast. In my thread under General topics about the Shooting pit being shut down you can see it starting. I have lost SEVERAL places just this year where i use to shoot my Muzzleloaders, They are Gated, or the Entire Rd tore apart with heavy machinery. I have tried to explain to some of these folks what i have seen, and that this BEAUTIFUL place is Gonna end up the EXACT same way as where I Came From, But you can see it go in 1 ear and out the other. They will ONLY realize it when it’s GONE. I feel for the upcoming Kids, They will never get to Experience the AWESOME things i have. If i could have Chosen a time to live my Life, i would have been Dead and Gone a LONG time ago

Re: deer damage hunts

They work. Over populated deer are killed, and eaten. Them does taste mighty fine they do. Hunted them in Montana with a 44 handgun, and killed a bunch. Hunted them in South Dakota, with a muzzle loader. and killed a few. It is good for the deer, the farmer/rancher, and me.