Those deer and elk are so screwed.

**bonehead** · 03 Feb 12,, 01:53

Originally Posted by USSWisconsin

Deer hunting costs that much already - by the time a hunter gets to shoot one, they're lucky if they've only spent a 1000$. Sometimes they miss - and there aren't any refunds. Back in the 80's it already cost 100's to hunt deer, if you were hunting them locally, lots of people came back with a hangover and not much more - maybe the promise of some consolatopm venison from someone in the party who got one (usually a stick or two of sausage). Add a hunting trip to the hunt and it becomes an expensive and not very comfortable vacation. The cheapest deer are road kill, if somebody hits one in the head - and gets it processed right away - then vension can be a good deal - if you don't figure the insurance hike. Hitting one with an old truck is best - often the truck doesn't need any significant repairs.

LOL. In Oregon the authorities will rape your wallet for touching roadkill. Makes absolutely no sense though as the carcass ends up rotting on the roadside while different agencies fight over getting the OTHER agency to clean up the mess.

I first started hunting on the cheap. A borrowed rifle and a lot of walking through the woods. Steeply sided hills that hold trees would be closer to the truth. I'd buy a single box of ammo, spend 10-12 rounds sighting in and practicing and kept the rest for when a deer was unlucky enough to walk out in front of me. I still have my first rifle. Rem 700 BDL .270 Its paid for itself in venison many times over. That rifle has hunted with me for over 30 years....and looks it.
Elk hunting is a different story. As I got older I decided I needed to drive to the other side of the state. .300 Mag, meat grinder, a trailer and a 4Runner to tow it. Traveling money and a huge gas bill. I can't say I have gotten my moneys worth yet but some of the experiences are priceless. Elk is damned tasty to boot. There are lots of wide open places where a mile shot, while not always sporting, would be just the ticket. Still need someone to help me drag the beast to camp. Thats always the tricky part when there are yellow jackets, cougars, coyotes and wolves about. Some days you can't trust the 2 legged animals either.

**USSWisconsin** · 03 Feb 12,, 02:26

I haven't done it in many years, but they used to tag it for you if you reported the accident and wanted to keep the deer - normally you'd need to report it for insurance reasons - they do a lot of damage to the average car. Several times I helped process a road killed deer, it was just as fresh as a hunt kill, - some road kill meat was ruined - but often they are hit in the head - leaving most of the meat intact. In southern Wis, the deer eat a lot of corn, and taste better than the Northern deer eating twigs and bark.

**bonehead** · 03 Feb 12,, 04:19

Really can't beat cornfed. They get bigger AND tastier. As we have a lot of wineries here sometimes the deer will marinate themselves for you. Only in the PNW do you have to ask before pulling the trigger, "Does this buck have some disease or is he drunk?"

Many states have common sense roadkill laws. Some even have a lottery for them.(talk about pot luck) For some dumb reason Oregon isn't enlightened enough to be a state that handles roadkill in an effective manner. The way I see it, if you hit the poor animal the least you could do is take him home for dinner.

**Aussiegunner** · 09 Feb 12,, 10:59

Originally Posted by bonehead

The wolf problem is way overblown. Disease and coyotes are much bigger problems. Wolves will take care of the coyotes naturally and as wolf numbers increase they are already being hunted. Like any other species reintroduced there will be some fluctuations but nature is really good at long term balancing.

Interesting. Do the wolves prey on coyotes or just drive them off food? We have a similar interaction here between dingos/introduced wild dogs/hybrids, introduced european red foxes and feral cats. The foxes probably do the most damage to native wildlife, lambs and chickens, with the cats mainly being a problem for natives and the dingos/dogs keep the numbers of the other two down. However, the dingos/dogs also do a lot of stock damage so they tend to become a focus of control efforts. Getting the balance right has been discussed as a management strategy.

Personally I just wish our local weapons licencing authority would hurry up and process my licence so that I can get my gun, get out there and contribute to thinning out those foxes and cats!

**omon** · 09 Feb 12,, 15:24

Originally Posted by Aussiegunner

Interesting. Do the wolves prey on coyotes or just drive them off food?

usually they kill coyotes, but not for food, but to eliminate competition.
Wildlife: Wolves Kill Coyotes

**mustavaris** · 09 Feb 12,, 16:15

You should tell those folks about .338 Lapua Magnum. The most accurate overkill available for big game hunters. You can drop a human from 2000+ metres with that one. Even the conscript snipers train to shoot to ranges around 1500 m.

What comes to this new round, it seems that we ain´t gonna see very high power bullets coming any time soon.

And in any case, using these rounds do not sound like too much of hunting for me...

Originally Posted by bonehead

We have "ultra mags" that are about that long and some even drag a .50 cal on occasion so this really isn't over the top. Hitting something consistently at that range changes everything.

**bonehead** · 10 Feb 12,, 04:38

Originally Posted by mustavaris

You should tell those folks about .338 Lapua Magnum. The most accurate overkill available for big game hunters. You can drop a human from 2000+ metres with that one. Even the conscript snipers train to shoot to ranges around 1500 m.

What comes to this new round, it seems that we ain´t gonna see very high power bullets coming any time soon.

And in any case, using these rounds do not sound like too much of hunting for me...

I agree. That is more "shooting" than hunting, but when someone has a disability or just getting up there in years this bullet could have a use. I did know some who "hunted" antelope with a Barrette .50. All old timers that couldn't beat the bushes anymore. They drove to a commanding knoll, drug out the .50 and glassed. They could still shoot though and they shot those antelope at obscene ranges. Then they sent their grand kids down to retrieve the animals.

**bonehead** · 10 Feb 12,, 05:00

Originally Posted by Aussiegunner

Interesting. Do the wolves prey on coyotes or just drive them off food? We have a similar interaction here between dingos/introduced wild dogs/hybrids, introduced european red foxes and feral cats. The foxes probably do the most damage to native wildlife, lambs and chickens, with the cats mainly being a problem for natives and the dingos/dogs keep the numbers of the other two down. However, the dingos/dogs also do a lot of stock damage so they tend to become a focus of control efforts. Getting the balance right has been discussed as a management strategy.

Personally I just wish our local weapons licencing authority would hurry up and process my licence so that I can get my gun, get out there and contribute to thinning out those foxes and cats!

Pretty much what oman linked.
Coyotes are damned smart animals but wolves are the best way to get rid of them. Later on when the coyote numbers are way down you can come back and take the wolves out as they are much easier to hunt. Mostly because coyote will run from man, especially if he was educated, ie shot at before. Wolves are leery but not nearly as afraid of man as coyotes are. Thats my experience anyway. The problems you describe sound a bit different. Good luck with that. In the states a box of doughnuts will do wonders when it comes to getting paperwork pushing authorities to expedite things. I don't know what you can use.

**Officer of Engineers** · 10 Feb 12,, 06:32

Originally Posted by Aussiegunner

Interesting. Do the wolves prey on coyotes or just drive them off food? We have a similar interaction here between dingos/introduced wild dogs/hybrids, introduced european red foxes and feral cats. The foxes probably do the most damage to native wildlife, lambs and chickens, with the cats mainly being a problem for natives and the dingos/dogs keep the numbers of the other two down. However, the dingos/dogs also do a lot of stock damage so they tend to become a focus of control efforts. Getting the balance right has been discussed as a management strategy

For us in Ontario, Canada, we make no distinction between coyotes and feral dogs. We shoot any dog/coyote we don't know and the game wardens don't care.

Feral cats, however, must be taken cared of through poisoned baits.