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- Thread starter cnelk
- Start date
iccyman001
New member
- Apr 30, 2014
- 5,489
I see a game pole 
iccyman001
New member
- Apr 30, 2014
- 5,489
Someone else hunts your area?
Unless they are cutting and quartering they are just OTC deer hunters?
That might be a splitting log, but I am not seeing any fire pits, fire rings or burn marks, so it\'s old?
Send me the GPS coordinates and I will tell you
Unless they are cutting and quartering they are just OTC deer hunters?
That might be a splitting log, but I am not seeing any fire pits, fire rings or burn marks, so it\'s old?
Send me the GPS coordinates and I will tell you
The picture covers what is referred to as a dispersed camp site. It has been used by hunters before. Something is causing young trees to die. Since I see other dead tree(s) nearby, it is not likely the meat pole caused the death of the three trees with the pole in them. It could be that they were girdled by the person(s) that put it up, but I can\'t see that. Also it appears to be a dry camp. You will need to bring water from somewhere else.
david.denham.39
New member
- Mar 20, 2014
- 372
1- Animals in the area.
2- Might be good spot to check for a honey hole??
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
2- Might be good spot to check for a honey hole??
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
StartMyHunt
New member
- May 3, 2015
- 84
It has not been heavily used based upon the amount of vegetation growing on the ground.
No fire rings as pointed out above.
Looks like an area that was used as a hunting camp in the past because of the meat pole.
Lots of rain in the area which should mean ample forage for elk and deer.
Elk will not need to move very far to find food since it appears to be abundant.
Unless pressured, elk are probably in the area because of the forage.
Decent bedding areas nearby.
No fire rings as pointed out above.
Looks like an area that was used as a hunting camp in the past because of the meat pole.
Lots of rain in the area which should mean ample forage for elk and deer.
Elk will not need to move very far to find food since it appears to be abundant.
Unless pressured, elk are probably in the area because of the forage.
Decent bedding areas nearby.
Some very good observations!
The campsite is bigger than what is shown in the pic. There is a fire ring just to the right.
Here is why I took the pic and what my best surmise of the game pole is.
Bears aren\'t a big problem, deer hunting is not very good in the area.
1- like Terry mentioned, it is high. I believe that hunters used it for whole elk. Prob during rifle season.
2- since they got the elk out whole, the elk must have been close to camp. And if they got the elk out whole during rifle season,
I would venture to guess the elk are there during archery season. And close.
Are these points valid?
The campsite is bigger than what is shown in the pic. There is a fire ring just to the right.
Here is why I took the pic and what my best surmise of the game pole is.
Bears aren\'t a big problem, deer hunting is not very good in the area.
1- like Terry mentioned, it is high. I believe that hunters used it for whole elk. Prob during rifle season.
2- since they got the elk out whole, the elk must have been close to camp. And if they got the elk out whole during rifle season,
I would venture to guess the elk are there during archery season. And close.
Are these points valid?
I agree with Brad\'s assessment of the meat pole.
It looks like an Oregon picture to me, where three or four Billy Bobs hung a deer or elk, after getting one on a drive by shooting. BTW: There is no greater show of hunting skill, than to drive around with a couple of guys, decked out in camo, riding on lawn chairs in the back of a pickup truck. If they are really good they have a beer in the cup holder, and their bow on a carpet, on the bed of the pickup, and an arrow on the Whisker Biscuit rest. If and when a game warden stops them, they can quickly, and unobserved detach their arrow, and say they are just riding around taking in the scenery.
I just got back from a scouting trip with my brother. Where we camped there were three meat poles, within a few feet of each other. Two were high and one was fairly low. We had deer in camp including one decent buck. I saw elk just walking out of camp, so I am not sure if the poles were intended for deer or elk, or both. Also, where I camped before, for years, there were two meat poles. All of these poles were near a filthy, dusty road. I know these camps are often used by archers in the summer, because of the things they left behind.
I don\'t get people and their meat poles. I see them go up before the season starts and it appears they are used mostly for bragging. Another meat pole, my brother and I observed, was right adjacent to a heavily used arterial gravel road. It was within 10 feet of the dusty traveled way. It may have been used in the late cow season when the road was covered with snow. I assume it was placed there to be easy to hang a critter from the back of a pickup, or they killed an animal right on the road and hung it there. It seems unlikely an elk would have been on that road in a later season, but it is possible. Most likely someone wanted maximum exposure to as many hunters as possible.
Like I said meat/game poles, with their placement and use, often baffle me.
It looks like an Oregon picture to me, where three or four Billy Bobs hung a deer or elk, after getting one on a drive by shooting. BTW: There is no greater show of hunting skill, than to drive around with a couple of guys, decked out in camo, riding on lawn chairs in the back of a pickup truck. If they are really good they have a beer in the cup holder, and their bow on a carpet, on the bed of the pickup, and an arrow on the Whisker Biscuit rest. If and when a game warden stops them, they can quickly, and unobserved detach their arrow, and say they are just riding around taking in the scenery.
I just got back from a scouting trip with my brother. Where we camped there were three meat poles, within a few feet of each other. Two were high and one was fairly low. We had deer in camp including one decent buck. I saw elk just walking out of camp, so I am not sure if the poles were intended for deer or elk, or both. Also, where I camped before, for years, there were two meat poles. All of these poles were near a filthy, dusty road. I know these camps are often used by archers in the summer, because of the things they left behind.
I don\'t get people and their meat poles. I see them go up before the season starts and it appears they are used mostly for bragging. Another meat pole, my brother and I observed, was right adjacent to a heavily used arterial gravel road. It was within 10 feet of the dusty traveled way. It may have been used in the late cow season when the road was covered with snow. I assume it was placed there to be easy to hang a critter from the back of a pickup, or they killed an animal right on the road and hung it there. It seems unlikely an elk would have been on that road in a later season, but it is possible. Most likely someone wanted maximum exposure to as many hunters as possible.
Like I said meat/game poles, with their placement and use, often baffle me.
cohunter14
Administrator
- Jul 10, 2017
- 5,431
I think there are a lot of good points here. It is tough to tell from the picture, but I have noticed that a lot of meat poles are at a height that fits a V in a tree. If there is no V or big branch that the pole is resting on, then you can potentially take something from the height of it.
One thing I have done in the past when seeing a meat pole is to check it out a little closer. Throw a rope over the top of it and see if it still supports weight. A lot of times, meat poles have been in place for so long that they no longer support any weight at all, meaning they are no longer useful. Therefore, if another pole isn\'t present in that camp, it means nothing has been hanging in that camp for a while.
On that note, I see that this pole is hanging on three beetle kill pines. I would be interested to see if it still supports the weight, but even if it does I am guessing that this pole isn\'t being used anymore. This is because these trees no longer provide the shade to game hanging from the pole, meaning that whatever is hanging there would be exposed to a lot of sunlight during the day. I would be looking back in the pines that are not dead to see if there is another pole
Then again, like Swede said, some people have meat poles in places that make no sense at all.
One thing I have done in the past when seeing a meat pole is to check it out a little closer. Throw a rope over the top of it and see if it still supports weight. A lot of times, meat poles have been in place for so long that they no longer support any weight at all, meaning they are no longer useful. Therefore, if another pole isn\'t present in that camp, it means nothing has been hanging in that camp for a while.
On that note, I see that this pole is hanging on three beetle kill pines. I would be interested to see if it still supports the weight, but even if it does I am guessing that this pole isn\'t being used anymore. This is because these trees no longer provide the shade to game hanging from the pole, meaning that whatever is hanging there would be exposed to a lot of sunlight during the day. I would be looking back in the pines that are not dead to see if there is another pole
Then again, like Swede said, some people have meat poles in places that make no sense at all.
