Hunting mobile

[ThePreBanMan]

I carry hand pruners. They're pretty quiet. But I stopped carrying a saw on hunts some time ago. Too loud. If I can't get a shot I try a different height or I just make it work. I've passed because of obstructions before on deer that were close. It's just part of the game for me.

[matt1336]

these are all really helpful but what if im sneeking in to a random spot i know is good is it kinda just you get what you get ?

What I have learned these past couple of years, is that not matter what you do, there is always going to be an obstacle. If you use a climber instead of a hang on and sticks you're going to have trees you cant even get into. But I have noticed that the trees that you can get into (because they dont have many lower limbs) provide great shooting lanes. So I have to adjust and find a tree I can actually climb. where as if you use a hang on and sticks, you may be able to get in any tree you want, but I have noticed some of these trees (as you noticed) dont have ideal shooting lanes because they may have a lot of low baring limbs.

As for cutting limbs, if you hunt "beast style" Then you most likely will scare everything within ear shot away. But there are some spots that my buddy has that he has brought me too, and he cuts limb after limb after limb on this private property. But that is because he knows exactly how the deer run. The deer make small changes so every year he has to go in and adjust his location by 20 or 30 feet. But the noise doesn't bother the deer because hes a good distance away from all of them. Plus there are always weird noises coming from the farm field haha. But deer on public land get smart FAST. So after opening day, you better believe any deer that hears a noise that is out of place. It isn't going to think twice about running, especially if you're very close.

You'd be surprised what you can get away with. The key is to be there early. There is noise from all kinds of critters and wind or whatever around any buck bed. That "calm down" period from your set up and prime time is very important. The noise you make just can't be obviously unnatural. That's why I love my racheting snips.

[Bubbles]

I don't think anyone is going to miss a few cedar limbs in thousands of acres of cedar swamp. :) besides, half of the old treestands I find are made out of trees that they cut down and nailed into other trees. And Cam locking a stand does damage to tree bark.

[woodswalker]

Well Johnny in my state the WCO's do care about people trimming trees and brush on state land and on private land unless the hunters have permission to do so on private land. I suspect the officers care about it in your state as well. I would have never told anyone if I don't see it, I don't care about it when I was on the job and I have a hard time believing any other officer would not care either, especially since you said you asked more than one. If you do not own the property or have permission to prune trees and shrubs you should not be doing it. In PA, you can be charged with damaging trees for cutting off branches without permission. You may think it is no big deal, however tree diseases and fungus gets access to a tree when a branch is cut off and the inside of the wood is opened to the environment and diseased trees are a loss of money to land owners who are kind enough to allow people to hunt their property.

[Uncle Lou]

Mancub, is that you Eli?

Welcome to the BEAST.

[Jonny]

Well Johnny in my state the WCO's do care about people trimming trees and brush on state land and on private land unless the hunters have permission to do so on private land. I suspect the officers care about it in your state as well. I would have never told anyone if I don't see it, I don't care about it when I was on the job and I have a hard time believing any other officer would not care either, especially since you said you asked more than one. If you do not own the property or have permission to prune trees and shrubs you should not be doing it. In PA, you can be charged with damaging trees for cutting off branches without permission. You may think it is no big deal, however tree diseases and fungus gets access to a tree when a branch is cut off and the inside of the wood is opened to the environment and diseased trees are a loss of money to land owners who are kind enough to allow people to hunt their property.

I agree. And yes I am sure you can be charged here for trimming trees. However, wardens by me usually have bigger fish to fry especially with a new baiting ban that started last year and the usual poaching. I am sure they care, however they just mentioned that it really isn't worth their time to investigate a guy with a ratchet pruner. Yes you shouldn't be trimming trees, and yes doing so will increase the likelihood of the tree getting a disease. I have seen multiple people get tickets when they are caught leaving the woods with a chainsaw or pole saw. I have never once heard of anybody getting a ticket for having a pocket saw in their pack.

I also know a couple wardens personally and get to talk to them outside of their job. Same with police officers. There is a reason why you don't get speeding tickets for going 1-2mph over. It just isn't worth their time and effort when there are bigger things to take care of. I have a family member who was a cop for 30+ years, and for area he worked, they had an unwritten rule on speeding tickets. Why? Past experience showed it wasn't worth their effort unless they were a certain speed above the limit.

Do what you want, just sharing my experience. Wardens by you may be totally different animals then the wardens by me.

[ttawh33]

Here is an interesting pod cast from Big Buck Registry on sound and how a deer hears. Thought this podcast has some good info to take into consideration for mobile hunters. It is podcast #137 with adam lewis

https://tmblr.co/ZxX1sq21gLLoK

[woodswalker]

Actually I am a retired WCO and in my state we take damage to property seriously because we have several millions of acres of private land open to public hunting and people treating this land like it was their own land causes the land to be closed to hunting. Hunters loosing land to hunt is certainly worth while for the WCO's in PA and people are prosecuted for damage to trees for several reasons, cutting shooting lanes and pruning trees is just one of those reasons. Now, the officers have to see or know the individual was cutting or pruning trees before they can prosecute as in any crime but those violations are certainly worth pursuing and you are doing a disservice to hunters by inferring there is nothing to worry about by doing it.

[Jonny]

Actually I am a retired WCO and in my state we take damage to property seriously because we have several millions of acres of private land open to public hunting and people treating this land like it was their own land causes the land to be closed to hunting. Hunters loosing land to hunt is certainly worth while for the WCO's in PA and people are prosecuted for damage to trees for several reasons, cutting shooting lanes and pruning trees is just one of those reasons. Now, the officers have to see or know the individual was cutting or pruning trees before they can prosecute as in any crime but those violations are certainly worth pursuing and you are doing a disservice to hunters by inferring there is nothing to worry about by doing it.

I am simply sharing my experience with the WI DNR wardens I have asked about it. The OP asked a question and I gave my experience about it

[Mancub173]

Mancub, is that you Eli?

Welcome to the BEAST.

yeah boy its eli!!!!!!