Redwing
Well-Known Member
So I'm looking at The Hunters Toolbox and checking Pres Island results from last year. 380 Hunters and only five Deer! that's it?? 2011 was seven, prior to that it was 30 to 40. Number of Hunters hasn't changed that much.
FWIW, I put in for "Presidents Island - excluding Ensley Unit" every year, which is the main PI unit to us locals. Don't get me wrong, there are magnum caliber deer to be killed on both units, I just prefer the bigger parcel of land and the layout a little better than the Ensley Bottoms Unit.Hillbilly Hunter said:which unit is the best?
Good advice, I hunted Ensley a few yrs ago and the scout day alone sends many of the mature deer scampering across the Levy and gone! I watched literally a dozen mature bucks leave myself.Poser said:Andy S. said:FWIW, I put in for "Presidents Island - excluding Ensley Unit" every year, which is the main PI unit to us locals. Don't get me wrong, there are magnum caliber deer to be killed on both units, I just prefer the bigger parcel of land and the layout a little better than the Ensley Bottoms Unit.Hillbilly Hunter said:which unit is the best?
I agree with Andy. The Ensley Unit can be problematic for these types of hunts. Some years you may need hip boots to hunt it, plus its fairly small and, from the first hand reports I have heard, the scouting pressure can easily chase many of the deer out of the area. Big deer are killed there, I'd just rather have the acreage of the island proper to distribute pressure more evenly.
Where did they go, i.e. onto PI or onto private land that wasn't part of the WMA?Winchester said:I hunted Ensley a few yrs ago and the scout day alone sends many of the mature deer scampering across the Levy and gone! I watched literally a dozen mature bucks leave myself.
But for those experienced in hunting the swamps and backwater of the Mississippi, needing those hip boots could turn into a big advantage.Poser said:The Ensley Unit can be problematic for these types of hunts. Some years you may need hip boots to hunt it . . . . .
Poser said:Wes Parrish said:Where did they go, i.e. onto PI or onto private land that wasn't part of the WMA?Winchester said:I hunted Ensley a few yrs ago and the scout day alone sends many of the mature deer scampering across the Levy and gone! I watched literally a dozen mature bucks leave myself.
Poser said:The Ensley Unit can be problematic for these types of hunts. Some years you may need hip boots to hunt it . . . . .
If I thought if would get me closer to some of those monsters I would have know problem
But for those experienced in hunting the swamps and backwater of the Mississippi, needing those hip boots could turn into a big advantage.
True, deer do live in those conditions. Anyone who has hunted in the Hatchie bottoms can attest to amphibian deer, but, do most hunters want to spend their PI hunt in thigh deep water?