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Post by Woody Williams on Dec 3, 2018 12:30:29 GMT -5
It appears that for the second year in a row the annual deer harvest will be down.
What do you attribute that to?
Less deer
Less hunters
Smarter deer
Hunters being more selective
Full moon the first week
Third weekend stormy weather
Bowhunters killed most of them
Great football games on the tube
I don’t have a clue..
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Post by boonechaser on Dec 3, 2018 12:45:00 GMT -5
Being down less than 2000 with over a month to go I would say little early to say we will harvest less than last year BUT with fewer counties being in late antlerless season and lower bonus tags in most counties , it appears we might be down slightly.
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Post by jjas on Dec 3, 2018 13:08:12 GMT -5
Last year we were down due to the lousy weather on the firearms opener. We have averaged 25,000 deer harvested on the firearms opener from 2009/2016 and that explained last year's numbers being down.
This year, archery was up a bit and days 2-16 of the firearms season averaged about what we have for 2009/2016 too. The ONLY data that is odd to me is that the firearms opener was down 10,000 deer. For the life of me, I can't think of a single reason why that occurred, especially when you see that days 2-16 were right on the averages. Had those numbers been lower, I would assume the herd numbers were down. But again...archery was up a bit, and days 2-16 of the firearms season were right @ the averages.
Do I think this year will be lower? Unless the m/l season harvest numbers jump significantly, and with the late antlerless season in fewer counties, I just don't see us getting above 110,000.
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Post by greghopper on Dec 3, 2018 13:11:43 GMT -5
Anyone that's thinks there is less Hunters that would make a big difference in numbers needs to get out more and to other areas
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Post by jjas on Dec 3, 2018 13:19:36 GMT -5
Anyone that's thinks there is less Hunters that would make a big difference in numbers needs to get out more and to other areas I would buy the less hunters if the harvest data was down across the board. But with the only day of any significance being down was the opening day of firearms (and archery up and the rest of firearms season was right on the average from 2009/2016), hunter numbers being down doesn't make much sense to me either.
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Post by lawrencecountyhunter on Dec 3, 2018 13:31:19 GMT -5
The last 2 years have had later starting dates for firearms than in the past. I don't think that would have that big of an impact on overall numbers though.
Only thing I can think of is that smaller herd=reduced harvest.
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Post by jjas on Dec 3, 2018 13:37:34 GMT -5
The last 2 years have had later starting dates for firearms than in the past. I don't think that would have that big of an impact on overall numbers though. Only thing I can think of is that smaller herd=reduced harvest. If the herd was smaller (to the point of impacting the harvest by that much), why would the archery numbers be up and days 2-16 of the firearms season be right on the averages for 2009/2016? The more I think about, perhaps more hunters were trying to kill a certain class of buck or a certain buck they had seen on their cameras and waited until day 2 to really push into harvest mode.
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Post by majyang on Dec 3, 2018 13:57:29 GMT -5
I dunno either but because i'm looking for a reason (excuse) for my own much fewer than usual sightings, i'm thinking "smarter deers" if that includes the deers going/ staying nocturnal. I hunt public and so don't run cameras for various reasons BUT, i do recall reading at least a few posts from hunters who do run cameras saying they were capturing much more night movement pics than daytime pics. I realize that's not too far fetched considering that's what deer's do (move more at night) anyways. But because i need an excuse, is that convincing enough.
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Post by deadeer on Dec 3, 2018 14:10:20 GMT -5
The last 2 years have had later starting dates for firearms than in the past. I don't think that would have that big of an impact on overall numbers though. Only thing I can think of is that smaller herd=reduced harvest. If the herd was smaller (to the point of impacting the harvest by that much), why would the archery numbers be up and days 2-16 of the firearms season be right on the averages for 2009/2016? The more I think about, perhaps more hunters were trying to kill a certain class of buck or a certain buck they had see on their cameras and waited until day 2 to really push into harvest mode. I have fell into this category the last couple years. Only from my own patience and maturity. Seeing bigger deer on cams in our area has allowed me to hold off and pass on a lot more deer than I normally would. Typically I would have whacked the does I let walk first off. Was waiting and hoping they would have bucks trailing. So, I will hopefully be adding a couple does to the total come mz season since I got a buck already.
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Post by hornzilla on Dec 3, 2018 14:16:27 GMT -5
Archery was up. That's because of those 200 yard crossbows we have now. But opening day firearms being down just doesn't seem right. Specially now that we have the 2 mile high powered rifle season. Ok,ok, I just wanted to be the first one to get the pot started. Lol
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Post by boonechaser on Dec 3, 2018 14:22:52 GMT -5
On a "POSITIVE" note. Just because we may end up killing less deer than last doesn't mean it's really a bad thing. Less deer killed this year should equate to more deer next year. Personally deer population in my home area is GREAT and I have no complaint's at all.
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Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Dec 3, 2018 14:31:06 GMT -5
I think it's a combination of two factors
Less deer Less hunters ((root cause - food plots (moves deer a few miles to that food plot locations. Leaves just a few deer for the non food plot area.) It seems it started around 2007 and gain popularity the last 5 years.) Newer hunters gave up not seeing deer the last few years in there non food plot area.
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Post by jdebose on Dec 3, 2018 14:49:39 GMT -5
Antlerless tags went down in many county’s. Makes sense that the kills number went down a little.
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Post by swilk on Dec 3, 2018 14:50:57 GMT -5
Id have to see some pretty hard evidence to believe there are less deer hunters today than in years past. Maybe we hunters just arent as good as we used to be. Reading some of the things folks ask or discuss it not a hard leap to make ...
My guess is fewer deer overall as well as limited access to private ground has pushed many hunters to our limited public ground and success rates have dropped for them.
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Post by swilk on Dec 3, 2018 14:52:17 GMT -5
Antlerless tags went down in many county’s. Makes sense that the kills number went down a little. Ill be interested in reading the data when it comes out and comparing ..... there really arent that many hunters who have used tags in the past. Maybe enough hunters took things into their own hands and stopped killing as many willingly.
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Post by jdebose on Dec 3, 2018 14:56:30 GMT -5
Antlerless tags went down in many county’s. Makes sense that the kills number went down a little. Ill be interested in reading the data when it comes out and comparing ..... there really arent that many hunters who have used tags in the past. Maybe enough hunters took things into their own hands and stopped killing as many willingly. Im trying figure out if the drop in available tags and the subsequent drop in kills was the goal.
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Post by MuzzleLoader on Dec 3, 2018 16:04:33 GMT -5
Less hunters and less deer.
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Post by jjas on Dec 3, 2018 16:25:24 GMT -5
Less hunters and less deer. If that were the case, why are the archery numbers up this year, and day 2-16 of the firearms season steady (as compared to the numbers from 2009/2016 and the only day that the numbers are down is normally the highest one day of the entire season by far, and it's down 10,000? Why that one day?
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Post by welder on Dec 3, 2018 17:48:19 GMT -5
Well, I have never chimed in on any of these topics before,so, here goes. First, I am not bashing anyone, I am only giving my opinion. Other than state park and military draws, I have 0 public land hunting experience,so this pretty much only pertains to private property hunters. In the last 15-20 years, leasing hunting ground has grown exponentially, that being said, "free" private hunting is difficult,to say least to come by. Not long ago,8-10 guys with permission on a farmer that owns several hundred acres all had a decent hunting area. Now,3-4 guys have it all to themselves and very possibly only shoot "trophy" deer. The remainder of the guys from the same farm are either crowded into another place with 15-20 guys or they hunt public land or not at all. Remember, opinions are like armpits, but I say an overall lack of GOOD hunting ground is a huge reason for the decline.
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Post by tynimiller on Dec 3, 2018 18:02:09 GMT -5
Makes sense honestly....
-less hunters if trend kept going. -less bonus limits in many counties. -growing amount of education telling hunters to pay attention to their localized herd on whether to shoot or not.
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