dublb

We don't move our deer feeders. I've heard of people who do so, but my family doesn't. (I've got quit a large family.) At my Uncles deer lease they don't feed till the end of July. At our lease this year we set our feeders up last month. With this drought we think that we'll probably save more wildlife than we harvest this year. We always wear boots & never go out there without a firearm of some sort. Our kids learned early how to walk while lookin' for snakes. Not all snakes are dangerous. We all know what ta look for. (Rattlesnakes! I could tell ya'll some rattlesnake stories!) My oldest DS went out there taday & checked on everything. April is turkey season, but he didn't see any turkey taday. My lease is 25 min.s from the house.

dublb

Such a pretty kitty.
Yeah, the weather is warm, but taday 'the wind she is a 'blowin!' 25 -40 miles an hour! This summer ya'll will have the last laugh when we have 104* & up days. It is a dry heat, thank goodness. We do need rain so ya'll pray for us.

QuiltE

We had lots of those dreadfully hot days last year ... temperature of ? and feels like 100+!
I only wish ours was the dry heat ... I can tolerate that much easier than the HHH (Hot, Hazy, Humid) that comes our way.

I'm intrigued about these "deer lease"DublB.
I'm guessing that one leases a bunch of land for hunting rights?
How much land in each?

Deer are somewhat of a pest here ... grazing in corn and soybean fields as they grow! A lot of damage done, and crop lost thanks to Rudolph, Bambi and their friends.

Likewise our sacred Canada Geese ... again have become pests and nuisance beasts ... seem to think that the farmers are their providers!

QuiltingNinaSue

Who owns the deer and the geese?? If the farmer feeds them, why can't they harvest a percentage of them???''

Iowa conservations claimed them as state property until those who had a deer hit their car, started to sue the state. Appanoose County, Centerville, the county seat, is ranked no. 5 by sportsman as a good place to hunt and fish. Rathburn Dam has been building up as "thee" area to come stay awhile and enjoy the area. All because of a record sized deer recorded in Monroe Co. Iowa. An out-of-state license is $350.00 just to go look for one "big" buck deer. And for the female, doe, its $250. They put a lot of value on that Iowa deer...that dresses out to be about 200-300 pounds of meat or so. I have seen deer here weighting about 1200 pounds. The bucks that are killed for their antlers are too tough & old to cook their meat. Now, the big TEXAS deer might dress out at 45 pounds. Or how much would you say, Dudlb?

The military base at CC declared them a nuisance on the air field, so the officers got in the helicopter and hovered over the deer, shot up a storm, and donated the meat to charity....all 45 pounds. QNS

dublb

A White Tail dress out any where from 65 ta 80 lbs, & a Mule Deer dress out around 130 lbs. We've never shot a Mule Deer. My Combination Hunting & Fishing license cost $85.00. That included my White Wing Dove stamp. We are allowed ta hunt 1 buck & 2 doe or 3 doe. (I don't know what an out of State license is but I'm sure that it's high.) Our Deer lease is about 3 sections & has cattle on it. We also have a stock pond that is full all year & another one that they turn the pump on, to fill it up, in Aug. We have a draw that runs through the north end of the lease, but is dry 90% of the time. Our lease is a full year, all game, lease. We've been a member of this lease as a bird lease for over 20 years. Last fall, the group we were a member of, decided not ta lease it anymore. Mike & I approached the owner of the lease ourselves, asked for, & got it. It was awesome! We didn't have ta share it with anyone. In Feb. they called us & asked if we wanted it as a full lease. We split the cost with our oldest son's family, & my Sister's family. (I personally like ta dove hunt the best.) Before that we had ta hunt deer, or turkey at my Uncle's lease. (We always helped my Uncle's family out with the work at their lease.) I have heard that some people in the area of our lease have seen some Mule Deer.
As for the sizes of leases they must be big enough to be safe, in my mind at least 100 acres, but other than that it just depends on how much land an owner has or wants ta lease.
We always eat what we hunt.
Clear as mud?

QuiltE

So maybe now we'll be calling you AnnieGetYourGun ... instead of DublB!!!

Good explanation .... and thanks! \
I forget, how big is a section? 1000 acres? or am I way off?
You mentioned that cattle are on the lease. The owner of the property, does he own the cattle? or are these yours?
So you go out hunting ... amidst the cattle? YIKES!
Do you have any responsibilities involved in the lease ... other than paying the fees to the owner, and hunting safely?

And a final question ... is this a common practice throughout all the States?

dublb

A section is 1 mile squared, or 640 acres. I had ta look it up. I kinda knew it but had ta look up the actual #s.

The cattle belong to Kenny who is leasing the right ta run the cattle on the land. Actually Kenny is the one that we have been turned over to deal with. He likes the fact that we cleaned up the place where the other people who we were on the bird lease with, had filled several barrels of shotgun shells & the cattle had knocked 'em over. We didn't have ta do that, but it bothered us that all of that was all over the place. Our motto is "...to leave it better that it was when we got there."

Our responsibilities are to not shoot Kenny's cows. We want ta keep it clean. We also have ta, of course, follow all hunting laws, & hunting safety rules.

There are also oil wells at our lease. I do not know who has the mineral rights but the oil company leases the mineral rights to git oil. We have ta git along with the Pumpers that are checking on the wells. Most of the wells have pump jacks on 'em. We need ta stay away from the pump jacks!

As for hunting with the cattle, well, they leave as soon as we shoot a gun. They don't like that sound at all.

Kenny also said that we have permission ta camp out there if we want ta. 25 min.s from my own bed. Hmmm I think I'll sleep at home. My Sister's family wants ta camp.

I only know what the rules are in TX. I do know that my DB complains about the hunting rules in Missouri, but I don't know what those rules are.

oksewglad

My, My all kinds of critter talk the last couple of days. Oh cute little birdies coming in. DDIL will be getting her chicks pretty soon, too--this batch will be broilers for eating! I usually help her with some of the butchering. She has learned to skin the birds rather than scald and pluck feathers. Works pretty slick if you ask me.

Deer--what a nuisance! FYI they don't like alfalfa (according to our DNR) Yeah right, says the dairy farmer. Were a half dozen in the corn stubble east of the house at dusk last night.

I must tell you all this family tale. Our second son (in about 3 or 4th grade) was barn person one fall evening; about 8:30 he wonders up to the house to call it a day and get ready for bed. Off in the distance beyond the reach of the yard light he sees a kitty-nice fluffy kitty. Our boys all have enjoyed cats and sure here's a nice one to add to the farm's cat population. As he approaches he calls, "Here, kitty, kitty." Kitty turns tail and runs----and sprays!! You guessed it a fluffy skunk. What a smell as he enters the house!! Fortunately not too cold outside yet--I made him strip outside and hang his clothes on the clothes line. Took a bath in vinegar water to help get rid of the smell; and then a bath/ and a shower. And yes he went to school the next day with a note! Good thing it was a small rural school. But if you want to make our nuclear engineer cringe--just say, "Here, kitty, kitty!"

gardnergal970

Wow! One day away from the computer and what a turn in the conversation! I love it. Dubib, when I was a kid, all of my family was hunters...if we didn't get all of our deer tags filled in the fall, we didn't have meat for the winter so I thought I would step up and do my share. I had taken my gun safety lessons and could handle a 22 rifle good enough to help keep the ground squirrel population in check. My big brothers humored me and got out their 30.06 and set up cans on the posts by the woodshed. I listened to all of their instructions and warnings, took aim and fired. I was quickly knocked off my feet from the recoil and there was a hole on the tin roof of the woodshed! I never heard the end of it and I found other things to do besides deer hunting....like helping with butchering chickens. I can still do it if push comes to shove and I can see the benefits of skinning rather than plucking. I did the shinging and the final pin feather search before the chickens got cut up. Mom would do 20-25 chickens a day, a big tub full and a very long, tiring day. I can almost smell it just thinking about it.

QuiltE

Oh yes, Mr.DNR is correct .... deer don't like alfalfa ........... they love it!

It was quite common to see deer grazing in our alfalfa, and that would be while I was on the other side of the field baling! The back of the field bordered on a small bush area with a stream running through it, so they had housing, a bed and water close at hand to the field.

While they are a nuisance, we were never overly-imposed upon by them. In fact, there was just something calming and peaceful in seeing them. At dusk, we'd often go back to that field just to see the deer ... especially when we had visitors.

The crop issues are one thing .... there's a greater "risk" with the deer population to those with livestock, as they can carry disease that can spread to the cattle. And some of that being quite serious concerns.


OKSGlad ... Oh your poor son!! And yes, I'm sure a mention, not only brings back the memories, but he probably even can "smell" it again. UGH!! Hopefully, he can now "laugh" about it some ... and it not just be a "fear factor"!

DublB ... thanks for the further lessons! And as soon as I read, that I "knew" that yes it was square mile! We don't talk "sections" here, but they do in the west, so when JanieW shows up, she'll be right at home with that talk!! Our land here was surveyed in 100 acre lots, and anything larger than that is usually just referred to as the # acres, or three lots, etc. Thanks for the further "lessons" ... so it looks like the owner sits back, and collects his moo-la from all those different leases! And doesn't have any work to do, other than to go to the bank ..... and in this day and age, chances are he gets auto deposits, particularly from the oil guys! We'll look forward to hearing about your results, when you go a'-huntin'-and-a'shootin'!!!



While my family were hunters too, I never really caught the bug! Actually none of the women/girls did ... guess it wasn't the female thing to do. You know, the men went off hunting!!!

Guns were kept handy on the farm for unwanted critters ..... skunk, raccoons, the odd porcupine, and unfortunately there were times we had to use them on a sick cat, dog or cow. Today more so ... Good animal welfare practices dictate that a cow cannot leave the farm unless it is healthy and able to walk on its own onto the trailer. If it is not able to do so, it must be euthanized (drugs or gun). And you don't want to get caught for trying to do otherwise!