How are deer numbers where you hunt?

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Behind the house was low but I didn't hunt there too much. They logged the 30 acres all summer and into October. I'd think they were done then he'd come back and take some more trees for a week or two so more than anything I didn't want to go back there and have him show up an hour after light.

Got a small plot 1/2 mile down the road and there were deer there everytime I hunted. Overall I probably saw more deer but I think it was all the same deer so I would say about the same. Now if we can keep the skidder and the dirt bikers out of the 30 acres behind the house I believe it could be real good for next season or 10

Way down. I only saw 5 deer thru both firearms seasons. I used to see 5 on any day before lunch. There is also alot of night time slow traffic. My property is on a dead-end gravel road. I think that the economy has created alot more night harvest.

The number of does is alarmingly way way way down in Ohio Co.

Antlerless sightings are way down. And from the majority of my hunting friend's in Switz,Ohio, Ripley and Dearborn counties this has been the trend the past 3 year's. Expect the trend to continue untill enough hunter's voice their displeasure with the DNR and get antlerless quota's lowered in Southeastern Indiana. I'm lucky as I have my own farm and a couple neighbor's that allow very limited hunting. We control about 650 acre's total and micro- manage the deer here. We took 4 does off these 3 properties this year and 2 buck's. Satisfied with our doe sighting's this past year. Farm's are more a safe haven for antlerless as they get so much pressure from farm's surrounding our's. Think the future of deer hunting in Indiana is forming your own deer management zone with as many neighbor's as possible and working for a common goal. (Whatever that maybe.)

Kinda hate to ask, but how can excessive harvest lead to smaller body sizes? That's a new one on me, please explain how it works?

Maybe the deer are smaller because they aren't given the chance to grow to a larger size.

There's one old (and I mean old) doe that's on the property that is larger than many of the bucks that I've seen. (Height at the whithers) I finally got a picture of her on a trail cam this year, and she's probably 25% thinner than she was at this time last year. I think she's on the downward side of the hill. She is the only deer that stays a light reddish/brown all year long.

it was studied several years ago in Terra management area and i think upper NY casino enclosure I think . its simple really the theory is that under heavy harvest pressure the deer/ does are smaller due to the fact that the mature deer are the top target over time and this leads to more younger doe fawn births as in mostly the doe herd being made up of younger age class does thus not mature or at full body frame growth . And just like any other animal when young females give birth usually their spawn are smaller in stature and less nurtured and tend to not thrive as well.

The taking of the mature does also leaves the young deer to fend for themselves and under constant predator pressure and unaware of the traditional high food winter yard or group survival areas .

Thus by the terms of the study the combination results in smaller and younger age class doe herds this may or may not be the case with buck deer due to hunting regulations of the area,with the caveat of the button bucks that were left to fend also experience slower growth due to loss of matriarchal leadership and lowered food intake .Thus thier antler growth suffers as well as body size this is why many small framed bucks have spikes or very small well formed antlers ,Its because they did not thrive thier first year or were late born to a young of the year doe another sign of lowered mature doe herd . Genetics may be there but nothing else they need to thrive.

Not my study or me making it up but excepted research by real cervid biologists I'm sure its out there somewhere in cyber land but i read it in a text book and also saw` it in a research video many years ago.I beleive there was also a study in conjunction with this by either Texas a&m or Georgia U

BBT, I'm interested in a link to your study, can you post it?

Doesn't seem feesable that the only deer you have giving birth are fawns? Hard to believe really.

Pretty common for yearling does to give birth to twin, normal size and normal growing fawns every year. Fawns do often give birth late by one month, normally to a single fawn, that has the capability to grow to normal size and weight with time as any other deer, giving the same nutrition, which you saw is not lacking. Hate to say it, because it's a bad word for you, but that's basic QDM info.