Compound bow advice sought

[Devonian]

(23 November 2014, 13:12)Tartar Horde Wrote: The fact is that it can be very easy to get close to Roe Deer and when "calling" them in the rut I have had them walk right up to me, close enough to spear. It doesn't mean that they are stupid though, no way!!

How true that is.

In my own woodland, just about every time I'm there I will see at least 2 or 3 Roe Deer and that's when I have a big bouncy Labrador with me as well.

Normally they are perhaps 20 or 30m in the distance, but yesterday I was walking through an area with a lot of dead/dying bracken and all of a sudden, literally 6 foot in front of me, a Roe Deer jumps up and runs off - mind you the dog still didn't notice - he's useless!

[bigpaul]

we used to see them all the time when we lived in Glastonbury-they would come right up to the edge of town, still see quite a few now in North Devon usually on the edge of woods or in some cases crossing the back roads.

[Sunna]

so the deer start to be speared , how quickly will they start to avoid people.

[Mortblanc]

Deer and other medium sized game are unusual creatures.

It is common for many species to appear semi-domesticated when one is "walking through the woods" or sitting empty handed on a stump. I have pet deer that feed in my back garden, wild turkey that graze with my chickens and have camped where bear walk about the campsite as if they had been invited to the outing.

However, as soon as there is ANY hunting pressure they will disappear. As soon as the human "hunting thermiones" drift through the air the timid little creatures seem to know exactly the range of the weapon you are carrying and what to do to stay just outside that range!

They sense your intent.

A month ago I was camping in prime black bar country inside a federal sanctuary. Bear season was open in that district and the hunting pressure was on with hounds and radio coordinated hunters in deer stands and on ATV machines all over the woods hunting in earnest. Guess where all the bear were ???

Correct, they were all camping inside the sanctuary boundaries with the tree huggers. I did not hear a shot fired from the surrounding area all weekend.

I have honestly had to kick wild turkey off my porch to enter my house on the day before hunting season opened and not seen another turkey until after the official season closed! It is as if the WMA sends them an e-mail telling them when season opens and another to tell them when the can return.

During the season hunters go to extreme lengths to mask their scent, camo their stands, climb trees and do most anything to get an upper hand on their elusive prey that were eating corn from the back of their pickup trucks only hours earlier.

We have a multi billon pound industry over here that specializes in bottling female deer pee to use as a scent mask!

I fear that you expectant British "hunters", thinking your deer are all tame, stupid, or have the wild bred out of them, are going to be very shocked SHTF +10 minutes when you find that the band of sheeple that just grabbed their clubs and chased the deer out of the park have turned your food supply back into wild animals, and though they are ravaging your crops and devouring your fruit trees you never seem to get a glimpse of them.

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As for British deer being different from other deer ????

How do the deer know they are British?

[bigpaul]

that's why post SHTF we don't put all our eggs in one basket!!

[NorthernRaider]

Hunting deer is illegal in the Uk but it certainly does not stop a heck of a lot of people up here including the " travellers" and some folks are coming out of the cities using bows and crossbows to poach sheep, goats, pigs as well as deer. Just in this area alone we have huge herds of red deer on the estates like Raby castle etc, bow poaching appears to be growing in popularity in some areas cos its silent, the kit is unlicenced and thanks to the yanks inventing very short compound bows they are getting used from vehicles.

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Now please if the trolls have finished can the mods please get this thread back on line.

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There's currently no shortage of deer up here, not as many as Scotland but North Yorks Moors and Dales run straight into the Durham Dales, Pennines, Cumbria, Lake District and Northumberland which of course in turn runs straight into Scotland. There also the rabbits which I guess number in the tens of millions, Salmon, Trout, Carp in huge numbers ( must think about getting one of those reel atachments for a bow) sheep in the millions and huge numbers of those wooly buggers rarely see humans and run as soon as they see you. some feral porkers but nothing like they get in the US or Oz, Are Alpacas edible theres a few herds of them along with two or three small herds of Bison, and there is a good number of Reindeer being bred on some farms.

[NorthernRaider]

They ended up with an Armex Compound bow kit for £135, not bad for them to potter with till they see if they like archery, We treated ourselves to another little compound a Mathews Genesis Pro, it will be a fun piece of kit that can still be used for other stuff

[Tartar Horde]

The Deer will respond very quickly to any increase in hunting pressure and respond accordingly like any animal by being more wary. I want to clear something up though, I do not see any way no matter how good you are with your chosen food gathering weapon that you will be able to feed yourself off the land in England. Hunting will be supplemental to your main food production which will be agriculture and husbandry.
ps that's if you have the time to hunt.
It can also be hard for people who don't live in the sticks to appreciate what actually goes on there, it's a very different closed world to that of the heavily policed cities. Shoot, Shovel & Shut up!!!!

[bigpaul]

(25 November 2014, 13:35)Tartar Horde Wrote: The Deer will respond very quickly to any increase in hunting pressure and respond accordingly like any animal by being more wary. I want to clear something up though, I do not see any way no matter how good you are with your chosen food gathering weapon that you will be able to feed yourself off the land in England. Hunting will be supplemental to your main food production which will be agriculture and husbandry.
ps that's if you have the time to hunt.
It can also be hard for people who don't live in the sticks to appreciate what actually goes on there, it's a very different closed world to that of the heavily policed cities. Shoot, Shovel & Shut up!!!!

post shtf food will come under the "rule of 3": 1. food storage. 2. growing fresh foods and animal husbandry. 3. hunting/gathering/foraging. if one fails you have the other two to fall back on. don't "put all your eggs in one basket"!

[NorthernRaider]

I completely and totally agree with Tartar Horde on this, I live in the countryside and was raised in the countryside, around here there are deer, rabbits, pheasants, partridge, pigeon, hare, fw fish sw fish, shellfish, wild edible plants but I till think that hunting will only be supplementary to our food needs.
Even now entire flocks of sheep disappear overnight in parts of this region as gangs from the cities come out with a truck and tools. Recently a farmer from Richmondshire came out one day to find over 40 of his sheep slaughtered and butchered in the field they live in..

PERHAPS and its a big PERHAPS that in time after a major societal collapse and IF the population fell substantially then maybe further down the line the survivors can live off the land. But theres loads of ifs and maybes to be considered.