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Post by medic22 on Nov 25, 2019 10:25:30 GMT -5
The deer herd has been way down. Struck with disease. My farm in southern Illinois all the way to my home & land in warrick co. Indiana. Its unbelievable is all I can say. And this is a testament to localized herds, Ive had great success in Warrick county, snd numbers appear up in the areas i hunt
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Post by jman46151 on Nov 25, 2019 10:29:33 GMT -5
The deer herd has been way down. Struck with disease. My farm in southern Illinois all the way to my home & land in warrick co. Indiana. Its unbelievable is all I can say. And this is a testament to localized herds, Ive had great success in Warrick county, snd numbers appear up in the areas i hunt I definitely agree that it seems to be localized.
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Post by parrothead on Nov 26, 2019 6:29:45 GMT -5
I agree with the localized statement. There are several of us that hunt Jefferson/Switzerland Counties on here. I have only seen 5 deer the last 2 weekends with 48 hours in the stand those 4 days. Other guys are seeing good numbers. 10 years ago I would see around 400 deer a year down there over the course of the season.
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Post by nfalls116 on Nov 27, 2019 21:36:46 GMT -5
Wow I heard people say that wild hogs would decimate the deer herd but I didn’t think it would happen that fast.
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Post by firstwd on Nov 27, 2019 21:39:15 GMT -5
I agree with the localized statement. There are several of us that hunt Jefferson/Switzerland Counties on here. I have only seen 5 deer the last 2 weekends with 48 hours in the stand those 4 days. Other guys are seeing good numbers. 10 years ago I would see around 400 deer a year down there over the course of the season. Part of the issues in that area might have something to do with the guys running mineral and feeding sites year round, or close to, and drawing deer from miles around.
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Post by parrothead on Nov 28, 2019 7:48:27 GMT -5
I run minerals pre season by September they are done with them. Have 13 acres of clover and alfalfa plus couple other plots. What really hurt this year no acorns
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Post by ukwil on Nov 28, 2019 7:56:37 GMT -5
I run minerals pre season by September they are done with them. Have 13 acres of clover and alfalfa plus couple other plots. What really hurt this year no acorns I'm hearing that alot. In northern Dearborn county it seemed we had a decent mast crop. Tons of red oaks. Both deer I killed just across the state line in Ohio had the most fat I've ever seen on a deer. I know after talking to the biologists at Big Oaks that their most crop was down this year also.
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Post by parrothead on Nov 28, 2019 8:10:12 GMT -5
I wonder if there was too much rail and washed pollen away. There are no walnuts or hickory nuts either. Squirrels are going to have rough winter
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Post by dbd870 on Nov 28, 2019 9:21:30 GMT -5
Acorns are not very good here either
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Post by coaldust on Nov 28, 2019 9:47:58 GMT -5
Guess everyone can say or believe whatever they think. My statements are based on farms 20 miles apart in southern Illinois & hunted lynville lease, spurgeon & boonville home land this year.
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Post by coaldust on Nov 28, 2019 9:50:19 GMT -5
Also not just this year has been trending down for several years. I also just talked to a big outfitter where Im from in Illinois said the same.
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Post by boonechaser on Nov 28, 2019 10:15:17 GMT -5
Guess everyone can say or believe whatever they think. My statements are based on farms 20 miles apart in southern Illinois & hunted lynville lease, spurgeon & boonville home land this year. Well after several years of planned deer reduction by IDNR it can't help but be down statewide. Last 4 years we have seen a steady reduction in ANTLERLESS tags. My County A 8 bonus for yrs. Dropped to 4 , 3 and now 2. Although I hunt privately owned and in a managed area I have seen a noticeable increase in herd last 2 seasons. I expect other areas will follow suit.
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Post by popcornridgevevay on Nov 28, 2019 19:49:43 GMT -5
We hunt Switzerland county and deer herd is definitely healthier this year than the last 5 years. We only shoot one or two does on our 130 acres.
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Post by span870 on Nov 28, 2019 20:12:05 GMT -5
I've hunted a total of about 10 hours this year and all on the same property and I've seen about 5 deer so in my opinion the deer herd in the whole Midwest is decimated. Freaking Lawrence county black mountain lions to blame where I hunt mainly though I'd wager.
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Post by tynimiller on Nov 30, 2019 11:58:49 GMT -5
I have a property in a reduction zone, with solid numbers and still have hunts every now and then where I don't see anything. To some that means herd is down...to others we call it hunting...perspective is a fickle thing really and is never truly wrong depending on the factors and things which trigger it.
Main reason Joe and any logical deer biologist sadly can only give emotional thoughts or opinions so much weight...I think Joe does an admirable job of allowing it to factor into decisions, but also attempting to gather as many facts as possible.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 30, 2019 12:08:08 GMT -5
I have a property in a reduction zone, with solid numbers and still have hunts every now and then where I don't see anything. To some that means herd is down...to others we call it hunting...perspective is a fickle thing really and is never truly wrong depending on the factors and things which trigger it. Main reason Joe and any logical deer biologist sadly can only give emotional thoughts or opinions so much weight...I think Joe does an admirable job of allowing it to factor into decisions, but also attempting to gather as many facts as possible. I hunt a small farm, that is only 5 miles or so from a property my buddy has access to hunt. I have hunted with my buddy on the property he has available to hunt, and seen on some hunts, as many as 12 deer in a single evening sit. I`ve hunted the small farm I have permission for, only 5 miles from him during the same season, and seen 2 or 3 deer all of archery, firearms AND muzzleloader. But then THIS season, at the same small farm, only 5 miles from him, I`ve seen 13 deer in only a handful of hunts. That`s why the herd counts have to be left to the professionals at the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. They have the means and understanding on how to logically, and unemotionally determine a fair approximation of the number of deer out there. There are too many factors, a lot of which we cannot be aware of, that we see more or less deer, any given hunt, any given season, and, like EHD, these numbers can be very localized.
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Post by Woody Williams on Nov 30, 2019 12:14:49 GMT -5
I have a property in a reduction zone, with solid numbers and still have hunts every now and then where I don't see anything. To some that means herd is down...to others we call it hunting...perspective is a fickle thing really and is never truly wrong depending on the factors and things which trigger it. Main reason Joe and any logical deer biologist sadly can only give emotional thoughts or opinions so much weight...I think Joe does an admirable job of allowing it to factor into decisions, but also attempting to gather as many facts as possible. The main problem with Joe is - He is so good that Indiana will not be able to keep him. Indiana pay is not all that good compared to other states.. .
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Post by esshup on Dec 21, 2019 0:47:14 GMT -5
Well, now I know why we had such a poor deer hunting season in Wisconsin. Wolves killed more deer in some Wi counties than huntersI hunt in Vilas County. Hunters killed 782 deer, wolves 720.......... We DID see 2 sets of wolf tracks on the Friday before season opened, and the number of deer sighted was down by a huge amount vs. the previous year. 5 hunters the opening weekend only saw 2 deer total. Those hunters spent the whole weekend of legal shooting time in the woods except for 2 hours each day at lunch time. While it's nice to go up there and visit with family that I only see once a year I don't know if it's worth the $$ spent to drive 8 hours one way and spend 6 days there (including drive time) and not see a single deer.
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Post by greyhair on Dec 22, 2019 12:58:26 GMT -5
Well in our area, southern Parke, the herd is way down for sure. I bast this on results from multiple cameras, not seeing much while hunting, not seeing much while driving back roads, and a long walk through my hunting area in the snow and not seeing a lot of tracks. Coyotes though, and I mean lots of them, pictures and tracks.
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Post by welder on Dec 22, 2019 16:35:40 GMT -5
Clay county. Absolutely down in my area. I have killed a really nice buck (which I am very thankful for) and that is it. I haven't killed a doe anywhere since 2013. I have always said I don't think harvest numbers are a great indicator. I could have killed my limit and it would look like I was knee deep in deer all year. That is NOT the case, I see less than 1/3 of the deer from 15 years ago.
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