PAID Hunting trip with father In law. What to expect.

[Topgun 30-06]

Bird hunting is a lot different than a canned big game hunt! Once the birds are released, if the operator has raised them in a big enough flight pen so the birds can develop properly, that type of operation can be as good as hunting wild birds. I'm not quite following you as far as your statement that the pheasant operation is fenced. The enclosed flight pens where they are raised would be the only enclosure and you don't shoot them in there. I go to a 300+ acre farm down near Marcellus once in a while just to keep my pointer happy and he doesn't know a bird he points isn't wild because when they flush you can't tell the difference. You still have to find the birds and shoot well on some good flushes, so it's not like it's a sure thing or I wouldn't go there. I also like a nice pheasant breast to supplement the birds I get in November on our North Dakota hunt that I do every year.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Bird hunting is a lot different than a canned big game hunt! Once the birds are released, if the operator has raised them in a big enough flight pen so the birds can develop properly, that type of operation can be as good as hunting wild birds. I'm not quite following you as far as your statement that the pheasant operation is fenced. The enclosed flight pens where they are raised would be the only enclosure and you don't shoot them in there. I go to a 300+ acre farm down near Marcellus once in a while just to keep my pointer happy and he doesn't know a bird he points isn't wild because when they flush you can't tell the difference. You still have to find the birds and shoot well on some good flushes, so it's not like it's a sure thing or I wouldn't go there. I also like a nice pheasant breast to supplement the birds I get in November on our North Dakota hunt that I do every year.

It's security fenced farmland replete with no trespassing signs. Never been there Inside) but I've driven the perimeter before and I've heard about the owners from others so it's part presumption on my part and part fact as the tract isn't that big in the first place.

I don't hunt birds at all. In fact, our property in Big Rapids is loaded with turkeys. I've sat in a deer blind (we have a couple) on the property and watched in amazement as a group oif a hundred or so wild turkeys come marching past, in lockstep, their heads and necks all moving as one. I stay real still and quiet until they get past and just rustle a bit. They all stop like one bird, turn their heads (altogether) and move off in a different direction. Never ceases to amaze me. They must know I don't hunt wild turkeys somehow.

Myself, I like roast Long Island Duck and KFC ocassionally but thats it for fowl and me.

 

[Topgun 30-06]

You should try a Spring turkey hunt at your place in Big Rapids if you have a lot of birds in the area. It's a blast calling a big longbeard within close shotgun distance and I think you'd like the breast on them. The only birds I like for table fare are turkey and pheasant breasts.

 

[SidecarFlip]

I believe there are more turkeys on the property than students at Ferris......

I dont even own a shotgun other than a side by side antique mantel piece. The only thing I own that takes shotshells besides the mantel piece is my Bond derringer.

We have bears too. Never saw one but saw plenty of footprints.

 

[Topgun 30-06]

That's funny and it sounds like the birds are safe on your place! Yep, bears are working their way south all the way down to about a line from Muskegon east toward the thumb.

 

[SidecarFlip]

From the size of the paw prints, I don't particularly want to meet one when I'm up there walking around looking for morels. First time I saw a paw print, I thought of Sasquatch.

Other than the prints however, they seem to be pretty elusive. Thats ok with me.

Not sure what they eat so long as it's not me. The deer are very plentiful and so are the turkeys.

2 years ago in late doe season, it was bitter cold I was leaning against a maple tree dozing, warmly dressed and a doe walked right beside me, I could have reached out and rubbed her back. I let her walk off, never shouldered the rifle. I figured if she came that close unafraid, she could enjoy the year like I was.

I base my harvest solely on freezer capacity. We abut the Manistee Forest so the wildlife abound and if I do an out west hunt, I don't hunt up north.

 

[lancetkenyon]

As for the naysayers about the "canned hunt", if the deer were not raised in pens on the 3000 acre property, you can bet they know every escape route and hidey hole on the property. If you do not do your part with scent, movement and noise control, they will bust you quick and good luck getting a shot in thick timber.

Venison tastes just as good and fills a freezer just as well if it comes from the wide open free range spaces or from a 3000 acre ranch.

If your FIL is paying, enjoy the time in the field with him, get to know him better, and fill the freezer to provide for his daughter the way your vows told you to.

Even though my FIL's idea of hunting is sleeping in until 7:00AM, starting a campfire and eating breakfast and drinking coffee until 9:00AM, then jump in the truck while smoking a cigarette and drive around until 11:00AM then head back for lunch and more coffee until 3:00PM, then jump back in the truck and drive until dark and head back. Wake up and repeat, all the week without a single shower or washcloth hitting the body. I still enjoyed the time with him in the field. I just snuck out and hunted alone from time to time on my own.

I would hunt a "canned hunt" if it was free ANYTIME.

 

[Topgun 30-06]

As for the naysayers about the "canned hunt", if the deer were not raised in pens on the 3000 acre property, you can bet they know every escape route and hidey hole on the property. If you do not do your part with scent, movement and noise control, they will bust you quick and good luck getting a shot in thick timber.

Venison tastes just as good and fills a freezer just as well if it comes from the wide open free range spaces or from a 3000 acre ranch.

If your FIL is paying, enjoy the time in the field with him, get to know him better, and fill the freezer to provide for his daughter the way your vows told you to.

Even though my FIL's idea of hunting is sleeping in until 7:00AM, starting a campfire and eating breakfast and drinking coffee until 9:00AM, then jump in the truck while smoking a cigarette and drive around until 11:00AM then head back for lunch and more coffee until 3:00PM, then jump back in the truck and drive until dark and head back. Wake up and repeat, all the week without a single shower or washcloth hitting the body. I still enjoyed the time with him in the field. I just snuck out and hunted alone from time to time on my own.

I would hunt a "canned hunt" if it was free ANYTIME.

***That speaks a lot for you Sir! Nobody claimed it was a turkey shoot, but when you have a "hunt" where you're paying by the inches of antler that's exactly why it's not considered "fair chase" or allowed in the B&C or P&Y books. Those animals, just as was mentioned in another post, were probably genetically engineered, or at least were conditioned and raised eating supplemental feed out of a trough just like the ones up at the Sanctuary in mid Michigan. Yea, that one is over 1000 acres too, but I met a gal who shot a 160"+ buck there and it came in to a feeder twice and she shot it from a tower blind after she made noise with the gun the first go around and her "guide" told her not to worry and that the buck would be back. He was back in a couple minutes and bango, end of Bucky!!! SCI, on the other hand, would take that buck into their book because they don't give a tinkers **** if the animal was tied to a tree and you walk up and stab it to death to get in their "Book", as long as you have some front money to pay them for that priviledge! Each to his own, but please don't call it "hunting"!!!

 

[lancetkenyon]

***That speaks a lot for you Sir! Nobody claimed it was a turkey shoot, but when you have a "hunt" where you're paying by the inches of antler that's exactly why it's not considered "fair chase" or allowed in the B&C or P&Y books. Those animals, just as was mentioned in another post, were probably genetically engineered, or at least were conditioned and raised eating supplemental feed out of a trough just like the ones up at the Sanctuary in mid Michigan. Yea, that one is over 1000 acres too, but I met a gal who shot a 160"+ buck there and it came in to a feeder twice and she shot it from a tower blind after she made noise with the gun the first go around and her "guide" told her not to worry and that the buck would be back. He was back in a couple minutes and bango, end of Bucky!!! SCI, on the other hand, would take that buck into their book because they don't give a tinkers **** if the animal was tied to a tree and you walk up and stab it to death to get in their "Book", as long as you have some front money to pay them for that priviledge! Each to his own, but please don't call it "hunting"!!!

I appreciate you noticing that my post says volumes about myself. I could not agree more!

It says I love to put food on my dinner table for my family to enjoy and appreciate that I did not buy it at the local supermarket.

It also says I read the entire thread and comprehend what was written, including post #6 where the OP stated "BUT since there are no fences, there are no guarantees...".

It also says I would take the opportunity to spend time with my family enjoying the outdoors and the chance to hunt for free where the chances of putting meat in my freezer is great. I would take any advantage I could get to do that.

Being that I would take advantages in helping put meat in my freezer, I would also:

Hunt elk in the rut where they practically yell "I'm over here!" all day long.
Hunt spring turkey and lure them to their death with calls.
Hunt over a field planted to attract game.
Hunt over a water tank where water is a natural draw.
Hunt varmints using electronic callers.
Hunt ducks over water.
Glass deer that bed and shoot them from 600+ yards across a canyon.
Hunt late season mule deer in the rut where they get plain stupid looking to do nothing other than breed.
Fish in a man-made lake using bait or lures (canned fishing trip?).
Hunt doves on the edges of fields between feeding and water sources or roosting areas.
Handload and build custom accurate rifles for long shots (isn't that what this site is about?).
Use camouflage and scent control.
Exercise so I can get into canyons where deer bed.
Use high quality optics to locate hidden game.
Use trail cameras to locate where and when game is active.

What a sunofabeech I must be, huh?

Are you honestly telling me that if someone told you they paid for a side of beef and all you had to do was go and attempt to find it, you would not do so?

And yet you admittedly hunt a 300 acre ranch for pheasants that were raised in pens?

Might be time to step off your high horse for a moment and take a minute to re-read the thread and certain posts.

I hunt out west where game is relatively scarce compared to Michigan, and drawing a tag is very tough. It takes between 5-10 years to draw a good rifle deer tag, and 8-15 years to draw a bull elk or antelope tag, so me saying I would take the offer up in a second is a fact that I have no heartache in stating.

As for your comment about "paying by the inch", 99% of guided hunts where I live/hunt are fair chase, and you definitely pay dearly for the service. Many even have trophy fees over a certain score, so they are indeed "pay by the inch" rates. They are mostly on private property with some on public lands, but are fair chase just like the OP stated his hunt is going to be with no high fences. The guides use trail cameras and spend hundreds of hours in the field looking to put clients on game they are proud to take. Using a guide, or paying for a hunt, absolutely does not disqualify them from B&C or P&Y.

 

[Topgun 30-06]

Calm down please! You took my comment for a lot more than it was meant to be, as it wasn't meant just for your last sentence. If you knew me, you would know I wouldn't have called you Sir if I was trying to address you in a demeaning way. That's the problem with the internet and writing something instead of having a face to face discussion. I apologize for making it sound like I was cutting you down. All I said was don't call it hunting when we're talking about captive animals that are habituated to humans through feeding and continual human presence similar to what I mentioned about the Sanctuary up near Stanton. Incidently, the OP said he had no idea about whether where he was going was a high fence operation or not, but I'd bet money that if they charge by the inch that it is. I may be mistaken, but I don't believe he's ever said anything different in the thread since then. If it's 3000 acres with deer that are born and live there with no supplemental feeding to draw deer in to a given position like I mentioned happened with the lady at the Sanctuary, I have no problem with it whether it's fenced or not. If a person wants to go shoot one in a canned situation go right ahead, but just don't try to say you went hunting! Everything else you mentioned is also fine with me as the animals are free to roam and you're basically using human intelligence to try to outwit the animal. If you breed an animal and know it's parentage or what semen straw was used to breed it's mother, feed it, put a tag in it's ear to keep track of it's age and size, etc. is not hunting! I do question why you brought up the bird hunting because I stated I wouldn't do it other than in a place like I occasionally go to because you'd never know the birds aren't wild. If it wasn't like that, I wouldn't do it because it would be just like a canned big game situation. You really didn't need to school me on guided hunts or the other stuff you mentioned, as I've been hunting for 60 years and know quite a bit about the ins and outs of most types of hunting by going on plenty of hunts in numerous states. In fact, I'm priviledged to be going big game hunting with a good friend in 4 western states this year for deer, elk, antelope, and BigHorn Sheep and another state with my pointer for pheasants.

 

[lancetkenyon]

My apologies back at you.

I pride myself on being a very ethical hunter. I have even passed on shots that I was 98% sure I could make because I was not 100% sure, and that would not be fair to the game I was pursuing.

I get my panties in a bunch sometimes, and that was one of them. No disrespect meant as well.

Believe me, if I could get up to Michigan and go hunting with you, we would have a blast...and hopefully fill the freezer too.

In AZ, we have a non-native species of dove called the Eurasian (or Collared) Dove, and it is open year round with no bag limits since it is not a native "game bird". They really seem to like my roping arena in the back acreage, so my 10 year old and I go pop a few on the weekends with the pellet guns and fry them up for the dog's treats. I still call that hunting, and so does my daughter. Used to humans, but still have to sneak around the tack shed and stalls to get close enough. Spot and stalk training.....

And I am jealous of your 4 state western hunt. Best of luck. If you get to AZ, let me know if you are not on a guided hunt. I might know some productive spots.

 

[Topgun 30-06]

It might be a stretch to call that bird hunting, but if it's with the kids why not! I was out in 6A just to the se of Flagstaff a couple years ago helping my buddy on a September archery elk hunt and we were into elk 13 of the 14 days even though we had rain the first 9 days. It was a fun hunt and we hope to get out there again in 6A or 5BN one of these years. Right now I'm just praying for those firefighters that lost their lives and that the fires get put out with no more suffering.