TREESTANDMAN

There are dirt roads I know of where I have been tempted to put treestands over because the deer will use that road everyday on there way from bedding to feeding area. Roads are not always bad:) Of course these are 4wd roads that don't see much hunting pressure

300 wsm, what makes you believe that these trophy blocks are preferrable to regular salt? Have you hunted over it? Just curious to see If I should try it.

From my experience, it is hard to get away from roads even when you are trying to. Little quad roads and dirt roads seem to be everywhere.

They don't make much but they will pay for a lot of your expenses.

Very competitive field, underpaid.

THEY HAVE A WILDLIFE MANAGMENT MAJOR AT ASU EAST NOW. IT STARTED LAST YEAR. I WAS GOING TOWARDS THAT MAJOR BUT HAVE SINCED CHANGED.

No offense intended, but I was just curious, how different it is hunting 1 mile from the road as opposed to 4 miles into the wilderness area. Is the hunting that much better the farther you go from roads? I don't know because I have usually hunted fairly close to roads and I have glassed some huge bucks. It just doesn't seem like it would be that fun hauling that deer over 4 miles of rough terrain.

The trophy blocks are those blocks out of utah that look like rocks.

For me it depends on the area I'm hunting and the weather. If the weather is nice and I am seeing game I will hunt all day with quick lunch. Otherwise I need a good nap in the shade with a nice lunch to bring my moral and energy to par.

In the books they say not to pour salt at bedding areas. They say that it is best to pick a spot off of a trail leading from a bedding to feeding area. I established a plot right smack dab in the middle of a bedding area and killed a little whitetail 3*3 this past December.

Non typical, I've never seen a real nice non typical.

That mineral block stuff may be more healthy for the deer but it will probably attract them just the same as water softener salt. If you have the money, that mineral rock would be the way to go, if not I have a lot of proof that cheap bag salt works great. I had 3 bucks come into my salt within a 4 hour period in unit 27, a spike muledeer, monster whitetail, and 5*5 Muley buck. In order not to outrage this site I will not go into detail about what happend. I'll just say that I ended up taking the muley spike and having nightmares for months. I then bought a new bow and practiced until I got really good.

I do not recommend the salt blocks. I have actually done surveys and used trail cameras to find out which products deer prefer. Deer do prefer deer cocaine over water softener salt pellets and softener pellets over blocks. When starting a site be sure to either use the liquid deer cocaine or pour water over the salt, the water helps carry the scent through the air so the deer can find it quicker. When the salt disolves it is not necessarily a bad thing because the deer will continue to chew on the dirt. It is necessary to replentish it every so often so that the the salt stays there. From what I have seen, the deer will hit the salt every few days so don't expect immediate action.

How did you call it in? Were you using an electronic or hand held? How long did you call for, what type of call did you use. What kind of blind or set up did you use. Did you see it before or after you started calling. What type of country was it in? I'm just curious because I enjoy predator calling but have only called in a few coyotes and a fox.

How did you get the lion? Dogs, calling, random ?

Very very nice buck, especially for a spot and stock w/ a traditional bow. Congrats!!!

That is exactly my point. I highly respect hunters that use hounds, I just don't have the money and time to invest. My uncle runs hounds up in the whitemountains, maybe one of these days I can convince him to take me out to run some cats.

I just wish it were slightly easier to see much less kill a lion without dogs.

It is hard to have a strong opinion on a subject of which you are fairly ignorant. I personally have not studied the lion impact on deer but I figure the F&G biologists who are paid to survey these impacts are doing there job and I trust there comments and judgment. I believe the drought has played a larger impact on deer herds than lions these past few years.

I just got a picture of 2 elk fighting from one of my trail cams. Two cows standing on their hind legs. Also got a pic of a bull.

GMM, Was this on Water?

I have always held a lot of respect for those that are able to pass up smaller bucks. That takes a lot of self control in my opinion. This January was the first time I actually passed on a spike and a little forky whitetail from my treestand and it felt good! I was sitting some salt in the pines in January and a few does were congregated around the salt. I was sitting up high watching them chase and nip at each other and then a little spike comes in trotting towards them. All 3 does ran away from him and he just stopped there trying to figure out which one was in heat. It was kind of interesting how the does would keep there distance from him. I felt kind of bad for the poor guy. Another day a little 2 point came in with some does. He seemed a little ruttish but the does just kind of ignored him. Sorry this was a little off the original subject.

Has anyone ever heard of the "Picketed Goat tactic"? I don't know if it is legal but you would picket a goat and sit a treestand all day. The goat will make a lot of racket and attract mountain lions and whatever other predators are in the area.

I have never seen a lion kill. Where do you usually find them? Are they usuall in Canyons, think brush, caves?

Amen.