closed for the winter? When?

[tsunayoshi]

I thought I heard that schaeffer gets closed for the winter..

1) Is this true?

2) If true, when does it normally close?

-Mike.

[punga]

There's no set date for the closure (except for a few pre-arranged hunting days). Its usually a conditions based decision made by the park rangers. Once they close it, expect it to be closed for a few months, unless we get an long dry/cold spell, but that rarely happens in the winter.

p!

[liznotter]

Schaeffer will close for hunting November 24th to December 8th and January 4th & 5th.

Liz

[toddjb123]

Schaeffer will close for hunting November 24th to December 8th and January 4th & 5th.

Liz
...speaking of which, those deer are going to get slaughtered out there! They have become way too tame and accustomed to people on trails leaving them alone. Maybe we should start pegging them with paintball guns when we pass them just to give them a fighting chance next week.

Seriously, has anyone noticed that when you ride up on them they usually don't even run away? They just stop what they're doing and then keep an eye on you until you're out of site. And (try this) if you stop where you are, stand still, they'll eventually go about their business all the while 20 feet away from you.

Anyway, I just found this entertaining and when I've passed them the past couple weeks I tell 'em "You f**kers had better start running away or you're going to get shot next month." They ignore me. :)

[allencb]

...speaking of which, those deer are going to get slaughtered out there! They have become way too tame and accustomed to people on trails leaving them alone. Maybe we should start pegging them with paintball guns when we pass them just to give them a fighting chance next week.


So what if they get slaughtered? Every deer eaten is one more cow/chicken/pig that lives another day.

They'll lose that tameness very quickly. I've noticed deer in the national forest are pretty relaxed around humans outside of hunting season, but they become wary rapidly. It doesn't take them long to learn. As for giving them a fighting chance, between their natural camoflage (that chestnut brown coat is better than mossy oak any day), enhanced hearing, and enhanced sense of smell, they don't have much to worry about. It's not as easy as PETA makes it out to be.

Chris

[jon_baler]

One of these days, I'm going to jump off my bike rodeo style and get one of those tame ones at Patapsco!

[allencb]

If you do, stay clear of the hooves, they can and have eviscerated folks. :)

Chris

[toddjb123]

all i'm saying is i can probably walk up to one of those bucks and bonk it on the head! :D

and i swear, when hunting opens up in there, i guarantee a hunter would have much better luck biking down the trails with a rifle on his back than he would sitting quietly in a tree stand! (and it'd be a hell of a lot more fun)

[allencb]

A company called Reflex used to make a bike with a camo paint job and a rack on the handlebars for carrying a bow. I saw on in person once. It was designed to be ridden from stand to stand.

Chris

[macdaid]

"The case against Minnesota's 1.2 million forest-destroying, disease-spreading deer"

http://citypages.com/databank/25/1249/article12655.asp