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Post by bamabuck on Jul 30, 2011 9:41:39 GMT -5
Hey all, I am from Alabama and im planning a trip to an Indiana park and Hovey Lake is at the top right now just because of closer proximity. This will be my first ever out of state trip so if anyone has any insight it will be appreciated. Might be able to return favor one day.
PS: also considering Sugar Ridge
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Post by lugnutz on Jul 30, 2011 10:42:20 GMT -5
If your going for deer hunting, which season? Hovey Lake is loaded with deer. Its better hunting during Archery season, becauses of less hunters, and they allow you to hunt on the "back side" of hovey lake. They close this area off before firearm season, for waterfowl hunters. This area is just loaded with deer. Its nothing for me to shine 50-100 a deer a night their. The front side of the property, has a crap load of deer as well, but the DNR property is mixed in with alot of Private property and can be confusing for new hunters in the area.
Hope this was helpful.
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Post by bamabuck on Jul 30, 2011 22:16:22 GMT -5
Early Bow, around Oct 21st. Hope that times in with the pre rut. Talked with one biologist and he said that Hovey is presently flooded at this time, what effect will that have on the deer? Thanks for your reply.
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Post by lugnutz on Jul 30, 2011 23:07:39 GMT -5
Hovey does tend to flood, but the biologist is wrong, its not currently under water and hasn't been for a few weeks to a month. If you'd like pm me your address and i can mail out a map of Hovey Lake and its current boundries. Its not a Topo, but has some good general info on it.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 1, 2011 19:57:12 GMT -5
been working at the dam past hoveys since around april was about 3 weeks could,ent even get there it has been the worst flooding in a 100 yrs they claimed i have been driving around hoveys property almost daily i,m seeing nothing behind the lake but it might be they havent moved back in there yet. seeing a lot around the nature preserve . what got me worried i am seeing very few fawns i,m thinkiing a lot did,ent make it through the floods. might really show next yr. i have not been ther at nite but i,d say you would be hard to spotlite that many deer right now on hovey property.
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Post by INDeerhunter on Aug 1, 2011 20:19:48 GMT -5
Are you all having that much rain in the area ? Down here in Southern Indiana near the Ohio River we havent any rain in weeks !!! And the areas that have had rain near here is so spotty and short rains that it hasnt really accumulated to much !
I didnt think anywhere in the Indiana area was getting much rain or atleast not enough to cause "the worst flooding in 100 yrs" !! I by no means am tryin to say that it hasnt been flooded like I said its just we havent had a drop here at my place in atleast 2 weeks maybe more ! And the heat of the day we have had 98 degree days, 90 degree nights, and heat indexes up to 115 !!
I wish it would rain here for while my lawn looks like a big brown patch, the flowers are all gettin burnt up in the afternoon sun, and its been so humid that doing anything outdoors has been practically out of the question ! A cooling shower or too in my neck of the woods would be a very welcome sight ! Im hoping that it cools off a bit so I can get out there and take care of some much needed lawn work and repair !!
I cant remember the last time its been nearly this hot and humid for this long we have had nearly 20 days in a row above 90 degrees with heat indexes over 100, and the awful thing is the night time isnt cooling off either we still have heat indexes at midnight in the mid to upper 90's ! Im sure its effecting the deer and other wild animals alike. There are areas I have always seen deer at dusk this time of the year and now I see nothing.
I have been out a few nights spotlighting thinkin I'd have to see alot of deer with daytime temps that high they have to moving solely at night and even at 2-4 am I still next to no deer and have seen very very few fawns this year. Im sure some of them have had to succumb to the heat, their little fragile bodies prolly couldnt with stand this heat. And alot of the deer I have seen at night around here look very thin and to be honest ROUGH !! There cant be much to eat out there with all this extreme heat and no rain, we gotta be close to drought like conditions down here and I know out West they are really struggling.
I just hope that the heat passes us by soon and starts to cool off awhile and we get that much needed rain or the crops in my area are going to be nothing more than shriveled up burnt popcorn and crusty beans, the fields all ready look dried yellow and dead !! Hope you all are having better luck round your places with crops and deer health than we are here. I hate to hear about the flooding Im sure its put a hurting on the herd there too just for a different reason.
Good luck to you all and God Bless !!
~INDeerhunter~
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Post by Woody Williams on Aug 1, 2011 20:27:47 GMT -5
This Spring - Not far across the Wabash from Hovey lake. Woodmaster's deer/river camp... that trailer is setting on 10 foot poles..  You are right about [glow=red,2,300] HOT [/glow]and DRY. Yard looks awful... |
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Post by INDeerhunter on Aug 2, 2011 12:03:42 GMT -5
I remember the Early Spring time floods we had a hell of a flood in my area as well. I live very close to the banks of the Ohio River and it rose up midway to some of the flood walls in downtown. Also in Harrison County where the Horshoe Casino boat is located half the 4 story parking garage was under water.
There were ppl getting stranded on hwy 111 becuz they were still determined to get to the casino driving thru several feet of water covering the roadway, passing road closed signs and then stalling their vehicles. I guess I didnt realize that the flood waters could still be posing an issue around here the flood waters receeded after a couple weeks and its been months since that happened !
My area is 38" above average rain fall for the year but we are close to 8" below average for the past two months. I suppose I looked at this the wrong way so I apologize, I was under the impression that you were having sever flooding right now from all the rainfall you are getting in your area now not from the heavy rains and flooding we all had in early Spring.
Im sure that animals and such do take long periods to get back to their regular routines and it takes time for nature itself to rebound from a flood like that I again was just thinking that you were having this massive flood issue from rains in July and August and we have had nothing in those months to account for any help at all with the drought like conditions and heat we are having.
I just hope that it all gets back on tract before deer season so I can enjoy being outdoors again ! This heat is ridiculous and is causing all kinds of issues, seems like anymore we go from one extreme to the next ! Sometimes we have too much rain causing flooding, then we have no rain at all causing droughts, next its ice storms and a foot or more of snow, to frigidly cold below zero weather and winds ! Not to mention the straight line winds and tornados damagin everything in their path we have had this year.
It seems like only in Indiana you can have a nice quiet 65 degree day in March then the next day we have 14" of snow still in March LMAO !! We have all kinds of weird weather patterns in this state but I do enjoy living and hunting here I just never know what the weather will do from day to day or how to plan how to dress to accomadate the weather changes !
Good Luck to you all this season God Bless !
~INDeerhunter~
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Post by bamabuck on Aug 2, 2011 16:44:55 GMT -5
well, what about sugar ridge? or is there others to consider without making my trip much longer?
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Post by Deleted on Aug 2, 2011 17:17:43 GMT -5
i should of made myself more clear indeerhunter i was talking about the flooding back in april, bamabuck you might as well flip a coin i,v hunted both places they both have good deer. and the hunting pressure is probably close to the same. sugar ridge has more places to get away from hunters but it would take more time figering out where to go don,t know how much time you have and what you going to be hunting with. you going to be by yourself?
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Post by INDeerhunter on Aug 2, 2011 18:39:57 GMT -5
Thats no problem Duck I actually should have been able to put it together that the post was referring to the April floods LOL. Its more my miscommunication than anything, thats why I was so surprised that you were talking about flooding though since I was thinking you meant now and like I stated we have had rain here in weeks and doesnt look like thats going to change anytime in the near future !
Good Luck to you Bama on wherever you decide to go, the areas I hunt round my house ( Southern Indiana) have alot more gun hunters than archery hunters and at times they can really be overrun with guys trying their luck at the whitetail, and Im sure no matter where you decide to hunt you may end up running into the same problem.
Try to get your hands on so topo maps and aerials of the area you decide to hunt and then try to get off the main trail heads, get in there early, try to scout it out if you have the time to do so, and get back in there where alot of fellers wont be following behind you. Thats where you are going to have your best chances of success is IMO during early archery back deep in the woods where hunters arent going and get those maps and photos if you can.
You can try to use Googlemaps and search the area you are looking to hunt alot of times you can get arerial photos and topos off of it and even put your own icons on the maps then print them out to take with you while in the field so you can try and locate the exact spots you have looked at on the topos.
Thats the way I try to do it and it has worked for me, I only hunt public ground and I almost always only hunt anymore during archery season. You can do alot of prescouting in the comfort of your home on the computer if you know what to look for and it beats facing this heat right now.
Good Luck to you !
~INDeerhunter~
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Post by bamabuck on Aug 3, 2011 22:02:11 GMT -5
I appreciate the info guys. I am hoping this will be a memorable archery hunt and hopefully see something a little larger than what we have down here even if I dont get a shot. (125" BC and 130lbs is a good one here). ;D
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Post by whiteoak on Aug 3, 2011 22:49:56 GMT -5
I appreciate the info guys. I am hoping this will be a memorable archery hunt and hopefully see something a little larger than what we have down here even if I dont get a shot. (125" BC and 130lbs is a good one here). ;D I haven't spent much time at Hoveys, but I do know Sugar Ridge pretty well as I live near several of its properties. Sugar Ridge is mostly old strip coal mine ground. It is very rugged and with heavy cover and has gut busting spoil banks that will flat wear you out. It does hold nice deer and during the early archery season it actually has little pressure. If you are in pretty good shape and can do the leg work you are sure to do well hunting Sugar Ridge. There have been some monsters taken off this ground. Area 5 and 6 would be a good place to check out. |
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Post by shedhunter on Aug 4, 2011 14:12:22 GMT -5
X 2 what whiteoak said. I also live very close to SR. Me and my son did find 2 Sheds 30 ft apart last season that will both go P&Y Bucks this season on Sugar ridge property. Teaser pics   |
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Post by bamabuck on Aug 6, 2011 22:39:37 GMT -5
nice sheds, good luck on finding them this year still attached. by the way what are spoil banks.
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Post by whiteoak on Aug 7, 2011 12:41:50 GMT -5
Back in the old days of coal mining there were no regulation in place for re- claiming the ground. The (overburden) ground thgat was uncovered to get the coal was piled in huge piles and left in rows. These are spoil banks. They can be hundreds of feet high with heavy cover and large trees, and huge boulder size rocks.
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Post by INDeerhunter on Aug 7, 2011 14:29:58 GMT -5
Wow, that sounds like some serious terrain ! I have never been to SR, but it sounds like a good place to hike for the serious trail runner, and Im sure its a good area for deer hunting.
I know I wouldnt be able to go thru that type of terrain anymore with my back issues lol, hiking in is one thing getting a good size deer outta stuff like that would be a whole different ball game !
Good Luck to you all that hunt that area, and be safe, sounds like an accident could easily occur if you arent careful in an old coal mining area !!!
God Bless & hope you all have a successful season ahead of you !
~INDeerhunter~
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Post by gobblerstopper on Aug 8, 2011 10:27:25 GMT -5
bamabuck, I sent you a pm.
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Post by bamabuck on Aug 16, 2011 20:38:04 GMT -5
While I hunt Hovey Lake, where would be a good place to stay? Hotel or motel? and maybe a good place to eat. thanks
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Post by Ahawkeye on Aug 17, 2011 6:36:03 GMT -5
There are 2 hotels in Mt. Vernon one is not far from Hovey's at all I think it's called the 4 season's there is another on the east side of town but I don't know the name. I'd google hotels in Mt. Vernon and see what you come up with. As far as eats?  There is a bar named Kootie Hoo's it's a good place to get a burger and fries there is a mexican place called Tequela's that's a good place to get a good chicken taco salad or the polo ranchero or the polo loco are both good. Dimagio's pizza is prety good but a bit pricey they also have a chineese buffet if you like buffets I can't remember the name it's in the same complex as the mexican place. They also have Mc D's, Arbys, Dairy Queen, Dominoe's pizza, and a Godfather's pizza/ gas station that ain't bad. STAY AWAY FROM PEERLES TOO! unles you want a knife in your back. no joke that place is one bad bar to walk in to. |
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There is a bar named Kootie Hoo's it's a good place to get a burger and fries there is a mexican place called Tequela's that's a good place to get a good chicken taco salad or the polo ranchero or the polo loco are both good. Dimagio's pizza is prety good but a bit pricey they also have a chineese buffet if you like buffets I can't remember the name it's in the same complex as the mexican place. They also have Mc D's, Arbys, Dairy Queen, Dominoe's pizza, and a Godfather's pizza/ gas station that ain't bad. STAY AWAY FROM PEERLES TOO! unles you want a knife in your back. no joke that place is one bad bar to walk in to.