newb with ripley ?'s

[northwoodshunter]

so i got in this year , i have never been there and have some ?s , i will repost in here with more ?s as i think of them....anyone else with ?s feel free to post here , and thanks for any info

1)...do deer feed outside of ripley? i would think they would find a way out for other food sources , if so , what are your thoughts of the west side of the property , having never been there i dont know what it looks like , my dad assumes it has a high fence around it....

2)the rules say only open fires in the camping area.....can i use a small portable camping grill in the entrance line...since i am sleeping in my suv and want to stay in line

that is it for now

[maros91]

1) my dad assumes it has a high fence around it....

2)the rules say only open fires in the camping area.....can i use a small portable camping grill in the entrance line...since i am sleeping in my suv and want to stay in line.

There is no fence. Free roaming deer. We used a small portable camp stove type deal to cook food on and set it on the tail gate. Should be fine there.

[MUSKY18]

There is only a barbed wire fence that runs along the west boundary of Ripley. The east boundary is the Mississippi River, so really no need for a fence there. The deer to feed out to the fields on the west side of Camp, but I couldn't give a guess at how many. Ripely is 43,000 acres, and the deer have plenty of food sources for them right on camp and I just cant imagine the deer that live in the middle of camp wandering all the way off to eat. I know there are deer that live right in the area where you will be camping and stay there all year long. Last couple of years there has been a nice 10pt that has lived there in complete freedom, as no one is allowed to hunt that area!

[northwoodshunter]

thanks guys

good to know i have some options for a hot meal

[fire29]

I have a friend that used to live on the west side of ripley, yes they feed out side of ripley. The majority of the deer feed inside, but I know the deer living on the west side take trips outside. Yes you can use a burner or grill in the line, they mean no camp fires. But you need to take your stuff with you cause you dont know where you will be in line the next day.

[Kyle]

Ive been looking at maps and talking to locals, and I personally dont think that many deer that live in camp ripley feed outside of the compound. There is such diverse terrain and so many acorns and browse for them in there, I just don't see that many deer traveling too far, let alone across hwy34 just to get to some fields... Sure deer love corn and beans and alfalpha but they love acorns too, and in my experience deer will take fresh white oak acorns any day over darn near anything...So yes, I do think there are a few deer that live on the outskirts that travel to fields outside the compound. I do not think very many deer do this however...

[jnorm1984]

To add to fact that they do feed otside of ripley- Ive talked with a couple people that shot deer in there and said they were full of corn when they gutted em- One the guy figured the deer was about 5 miles from the nearest corn field at the time

[Bear55]

Lots of corn to the east of Ripley, they might call it the mighty Mississippi but its nothing for the deer to cross to get a good meal. I have also heard plenty of stories of deer crossing the river when the pressure is on during the hunts.

[Kyle]

It is unrealistic for a deer to travel 5 miles a day just to eat corn. If it had a belly full of corn, it likely got pushed around by other hunters. Deer won't bed very far from a consistant food source. If you had all the acorns in the world to eat, and weren't starving, would you travel 5 miles every day there and back, which in total is 10 miles per day just for a stomach full of corn? Rhetorical question; no you wouldn't and neither would a deer. Im not saying there are not deer that dont live on the outer edges of ripley and travel a couple hundred yds to eat corn, but the deer that live in the depths of the compound are not traveling that far. It is a complete waste of energy.

[MUSKY18]

Lots of corn to the east of Ripley, they might call it the mighty Mississippi but its nothing for the deer to cross to get a good meal. I have also heard plenty of stories of deer crossing the river when the pressure is on during the hunts.

This could be true as there are many shallow spots where the deer could basically walk across the Mighty Miss. I have a few friends that hunt across the Missisippi from camp and have shot some monsters in there. Whether or not they came from camp, I guess one would never know unless you saw them crossing the river. The whole area is loaded with some bruisers, either in camp or outside of it.