# Berrien Co. Report



## billy336 (Dec 19, 2005)

Well, whats the word up there? We had been seeing deer everywhere until this weekend. Granted there was  only one gun in the woods but he said he could hardly find a track.  Anyone else have them disappear on them? If not where are you seeing them. The pines or major food sources. I think they have been hunted enough now to retreat back into the thick. I'll be deep in the thick  come Saturday morning. Happy holidays to all.  billy.


----------



## Whitetailer (Dec 21, 2005)

*Billy336*

My son and I were hunting along the Alapaha River last Friday- Monday.  We saw no deer other than one I jumped at last light walking a road!!!!   I even hunted some deep woods spots I had never been before.  Found lots of rubs and , oh my gosh, I have never seen as many acorns on the ground as last week. 

BUT..... 

As we were driving to our property, we saw the largest rack buck I have ever seen dead or alive in Georgia.
 We came off of I 75 at Lenox.  As we drove about 6 miles east of Lenox it was eleven o'clock PM.  I saw a deer on the side of the road and as we got closer saw it was a buck with a doe.  I stopped my truck and the Buck walked onto the road and stopped five feet in front of the truck.  The G2's were every bit of twelve inches and the rack looked flawless.   My son and I were slack jawed   and shaking our heads as we drove the last ten miles to our camp!!!

Yeah, I think after two months of gun season they have become a little wary of hunters and nocturnal......

                  Whitetailer.......................


----------



## billy336 (Dec 22, 2005)

Thanks Whitetailer. I suspected the pressure would be getting to them by now. Heading up tomorrow for the annual Christmas hunt. I'll be lookin' high and low for those rascals. Need to put one more in the freezer. All  my city slicker buddies have discovered that they like venison. Still have a full strap stashed at my buddy's place up there. Might eat some for Christmas dinner. Merry Christmas to you and yours.   
billy


----------



## bam_bam (Dec 25, 2005)

hey whitetailer where you seen that buck is right there where i hunt. had you crossed over hwy 125 yet or do you know where that road is?


----------



## Whitetailer (Dec 25, 2005)

*bam bam*

We were just past the New river.  There is a church on the left and a cemetary on the right.  It was about a mile past the church.

                    Whitetailer


----------



## bam_bam (Dec 26, 2005)

yeah thats pine grove church. where you were at is right in the middle of my huntin land. you dont how many points he had do you?


----------



## Whitetailer (Dec 26, 2005)

I gotta tell ya, my son and I were both   , at the occurance!!!

I beleive he was a typical eight point.  It was eleven o'clock at night after a long day.  My son had final's and I had driven from the Keys starting at Ten am.  

As the Deer "casually" walked fron the grass shoulder onto the road he stood in front of us very close in the headlghts.
The image that is in my mind is the very long thick straight G-2 on the left side.  The Deer never turned to look right at us.  Probably because I had the bright lights on and he was only about five feet in front of the truck.  He had to feel the heat from the headlights!!!!  He stood there for about ten or more seconds.  I had a digital camera in a bag right beside me and never had the presence of mind to grab it.  I could of taken a photo of him out the driver side window.

Now see.....ya got me all worked up again!!!!

It is incredible at how shy they are in daylight and ridiculous  at how they run around with recklous abandon in the middle of the night....


        Whiltetailer.............


----------



## bam_bam (Dec 26, 2005)

man thatsnice to know that there is good deer like that still around i have not seen him before. but i do have a deer on my stealth cam that looks like an 8 with really long g-2's. cant really tell though he was almost too far away. i tell you though there are some real good deer in berrien county. i seen one that was killed this year in west berrien that green scored 157. but he had alot of deductions from sticker points. but he had awsome mass.


----------



## Whitetailer (Dec 27, 2005)

A local guy from Alapaha shot a very big buck about three weeks ago.  I am told it had sixteen points.  One of the guys in my club has a photo, I have not seen it.  You may know him, he has a car wash in town next to the convienience store.

               Whitetailer........


----------



## Whitetailer (Dec 27, 2005)

E-mailed the guy who has a picture.  He said the buck the guy in Alapaha shot had a 22 1/2" spread!!!

                   Whitetailer...................


----------



## bam_bam (Dec 27, 2005)

yeah his name is centry if i am not mistaken the buck he killed scored 157".  unless he killed another on since the one i seen. i see this one at henry fords taxidermy and he was a big deer w/ points all over the place. henry told me he was killed in west berrien on some land called the "trust" but i do know that he hunts also about 3 miles beyond the church you mentiond earlier right at the cross roads at the first stop sighn you would be stopping at.


----------



## bam_bam (Dec 27, 2005)

try to get a picture and i can tell you if it is the one i have already seen


----------



## Whitetailer (Dec 28, 2005)

Yes,

Scentry Dorsey.  I have known him since I first got the lease.  My guy sent me a photo.  It is a bad picture, but the mass seems incredible!!  The deer is laying in a pickup truck and the number of points is not evident.

                      Whitetailer


----------



## bam_bam (Dec 28, 2005)

must be the same one i seen. cause you couldnt wrap you hand around the main beam between the G1 and G2 and make your fingers touch. he had exceptional mass. how long you been huntin up here?


----------



## billy336 (Dec 28, 2005)

*Christmas hunt was a bust...*

Well, I didn't hunt too hard this weekend and thus didn't see any deer. Kicked them up in the pine fields but never saw hair. My dad had a three point under him at 1100AM Saturday morning. Only deer sighted all weekend. Some other members are up with their families and I heard a big bodied buck with little horns was killed. Great  . Probably that dumb young deer my old man saw. He wasn't scared of humans. On the plus side an old fella who fixes our tractor ran into two guys strolling around our place Christmas morning.. One guy had a .22 the other was unarmed. Claimed he was lost. Those two are lucky it wasn't me. They would have been sittin' in jail on Christmas Day minus a .22. Ignorant doesn't even start to describe them. I guess one guy was from FL so I know he is OK.   Trying to hunt the last two weeks of season. Good luck to you guys who are going to give it another try.


----------



## Whitetailer (Dec 29, 2005)

*Yes GREAT mass...*

I will want to see the mount when he gets it done, probably next season.

The first season I hunted my lease was 1996.   The property had just been clear cut.  I REALLY wish he would go in and thin.  The property is so low that even the ten to twelve year old pines  have lots of brush under them.  Even though it has flooded three seasons so that hunting was almost impossible, when it is reasonably dry it is nice property.  2 1/2 miles on the Alapaha River according to my GPS.  Always loads of acorns.  Beautiful river bottom.....

I will go up one more time breifly.  I need to close up and winterize.  I do not have much confidence in taking a buck, but I did kill a ten point on Jan. 11 1999.  He was chasing a Doe too...

Hope you and all have a good finish to the season.

Now on I'll  just be fishing.

     Whitetailer


----------



## bam_bam (Dec 29, 2005)

went to henry's yesterday and some one from west berrien/cook county line had killed a 13 point that green scored 175 7/8 typical. he was a monster. thats before deductions. well maybe you will have good luck next time. its a shame you cant come up more often


----------



## Whitetailer (Dec 30, 2005)

Where is Henrys??

Yeah, I missed my opportunity on a monster five years ago.  Saw him three times on consecutive days.  I had a shot, but it was a neck shot at 40 yards.  I mouth grunted and he stopped in brush facing me.  I would have felt horrible if I had a bad hit, so I did not shoot.  It was  the second week on November and he ran the exact same route each day.

Oh well!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


                  Whitetailer
PS.
Got two 30 # Cobia yeaterday.....


----------



## bam_bam (Dec 30, 2005)

Henry ford's shop is in berrien county out in the east berrien community. off radio station road. has your club killed very many this year?


----------



## bam_bam (Dec 30, 2005)

i have never caught any cobia. but plenty of reds and trout. my grandparents used to have a place in suwanee and i went with hem there all the time


----------



## JShane (Jan 2, 2006)

While you were out cathin Cobia Thursday Whitetailer. I was loading the boat with Trout. Took my boys  out and we put 21 in the boat. Only 5 were keepers though.


----------



## Whitetailer (Jan 2, 2006)

Our Trout season is closed here in the Keys in November and December.  Limit is four here in south region.  The Trout do not really crank  up til February anyway.  I love to get up shallow and toss chuggers on the grass banks for the big Trout and often a Tarpon hit your surface lure.

Oh my are we   !!!!

Whitetailer

By the way, I hear you are getting storms/rain in S. Ga. today???   I gotta come up to get my four wheeler before the season is over for one more brief hunt!!!


----------



## bam_bam (Jan 2, 2006)

man it is flooding here right now. need a row boat to get to the mail box


----------



## Whitetailer (Jan 2, 2006)

*Bam Bam*

Oh boy,  One of my guys is up there now.  My property floods easily.  Let me know if the river comes up.


         Whitetailer


----------



## bam_bam (Jan 3, 2006)

it's up!  thats for shure.


----------



## Whitetailer (Jan 3, 2006)

*Bam Bam*

Had two guys up and they told of great rain and thunder.  They said the Alapaha river started to come up and the sloughs were filling too.  I just logged on to the river gauge at Rt. 82 and the  river is up four feet from last week.

I still have to go up and get my Rancher.  

I guess I will hunt just one day and come home.

              Whitetailer


----------



## bam_bam (Jan 4, 2006)

i tell you what you have a long drive. i admire you i dont know if i would drive that far to hunt. are all your fellow members from florida?


----------



## Whitetailer (Jan 4, 2006)

*Bam Bam*

Yes, all from the Keys.  One from Okeechobee, Fla.  

It would not be fair to Keys members with an eight or nine hour drive to have a member with a short drive.  

I get up twice before season to work and four times to hunt.  I just bought a 2005 SIlverado in May and I have 18K on it!!!!     ugggggghhhh......  One reason it is important for me to have this place is to keep my son interested in hunting and the outdoors.  He has been up with me since he was nine and is a ninteen year old college student now.

But me,I love hardwoods and real soil under foot.  Something I am hard pressed to find in Florida.  I tried a couple of places i n Fla, and it was all sand and Palmettos.

I better stop before I step on someones toes  


                  Russ


----------



## Whitetailer (Jan 4, 2006)

*And also,*

I am glad folks from up north take the time to drive to the Keys to fish!!!

 Russ    www.rustyiv.com


----------



## bam_bam (Jan 4, 2006)

yeah i can understand that. is that your charter service?


----------



## bam_bam (Jan 4, 2006)

do yall have marlin down there? i went to jamaica in october for my honeymoon and went fishing there. caught a 150-180 pound blue marlin. talk about fun took 3 of us guys about 30-45 minutes to get him in. we hung 2 more but the broke the line before we got them in the boat


----------



## Whitetailer (Jan 4, 2006)

Got Blue marllin from April to August.  The marlin catching is better in lots of other places.  Tarpon is real good here.  Sailfish are biting like mad dogs right now!!!

I am leaving in the morning for Alapaha.


                   Whitetailer


----------



## bam_bam (Jan 10, 2006)

did ya do any good this past weekend whitetailer?


----------



## Whitetailer (Jan 10, 2006)

*Ho Hum....*

Bam,

I knew the water would be an issue, but.....

The Alapaha was up about five feet in depth from two weeks ago.  The upper land (200 ac.) was huntable.  The lower (700 ac) was under water.  My land owner had two tractors down on the property that got water damage.  They are still there as far as I know... 
I sat one evening on a plot of Biologic and heard  one or more deer move past me in the pines.  

Otherwise I just cleaned up the cabin and winterized everything and loaded my 4-wheeler up and sadly drove home.

                        Whitetailer


----------



## bam_bam (Jan 11, 2006)

well i hate to hear that. that water has to be fustrating to everyone when over half your land is under water. was anything killed over there this year? i know the big ones are around there. here are a few of the ones i have killed in the past years


----------



## Whitetailer (Jan 13, 2006)

*deer harvest*

We took seven deer this year.

two doe with bow
two doe with gun
three buck with gun
     one spike that obviously was old.  spikes were 9"
     one six.
     one eight.

No good rut was apparent this season.

                      Whitetailer


----------



## creekhunter (Jan 17, 2006)

Whitetailer:

My year was disappointing as well. Between the heavy equipment and the removal of the planted pines on one side of me and the bridge rebuilding on the other side, the deer stayed bedded in the daytime and moved at night. 

Oh well, maybe next year!


----------



## Whitetailer (Jan 17, 2006)

*Creekhunter*

Have not heard from you in a long time....  

 I know how you feel, you wait for the season with high hopes and nothing goes right....heat or water or something....

I had one good five day hunt when I evacuated from hurricane Wilma.  I was by myself and saw a load of deer, six were buck, although nothing exciting.  I shot a buck that I thought was better, but ended up being a six point.
You know how that goes when you walk over and pick up his head and go "heck..."

We had an incredible crop of acorns....they were still dropping in January...  To many??

Anyway I took my son up twice, once for three days (veterens weekend) and once for four days (week before Christmas) and neither of us saw a deer on stand....aaaaarggghhh.  Go figure.

Well, stay in touch.....

                        Whitetailer...........


----------



## billy336 (Jan 18, 2006)

We had the best season I can remember. I have never seen as many deer as I have this year. One true shooter, I HATE that term, but lots of does and young bucks. I took a six that didn't have brow tines , but he is tasty. Walking back to the truck Saturday night , in that blasted wind, I had a thought. I was the only person I knew who was in his stand during the last Sat. evening hunt of 2005 season. Now I am looking forward to shooting hogs all spring and summer, maybe a turkey too. But that is here at home. I already miss the pines . Keep it real boys. Next year will be fantastic. See ya at Oneals.


----------

