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I completely agree. If it were true then we would have seen a 25% decrease in Michigan kills when they outlawed it.
A little bird has told me that it's coming soon as the first case of EHD is found in the state.
ODNR Weekly Deer Harvest Reports
- Thread starter Boone
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I completely agree. If it were true then we would have seen a 25% decrease in Michigan kills when they outlawed it.
A little bird has told me that it's coming soon as the first case of EHD is found in the state.
Lundy
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That makes me feel better. I was so disappointed I couldn't be a 1%er. Good to know I was a 1.81%er last year though. Fed three families in the process too.
I don't know if the banning of baiting would help or not. I didn't hunt over bait unless you consider acres of agricultural ground (and some food plots) a bait. Eliminate bait and food plots and I have killed 3 this year. There are certain properties I am not going to take a doe, but I don't think most will self police. I do think it will be interesting to see how the season harvest totals are concluded.
I totally believe that, Lundy. However I think you're probably of the minority when it comes to deer hunters. I'd say there are far fewer guys like you than guys who simply throw a stand or blind over a corn pile and call it good. I'm around the county a lot for work... rural areas, urban areas, subdivisions, etc. You wouldn't believe how many corn feeders I see in the back yards of 1 or 2 acre lots. Don't get me wrong... I'm not saying there's anything wrong with it... I just believe removing that option from deer hunters in Ohio would have more of an impact than you think.
ImpalaSSpeed96
Junior Member
Some great points here. I'm playing more of a devils advocate than anything. I wouldn't actually argue, having limited hunting experience here, with someone who has hunted the same piece of land, and Ohio, for the last 25 years.
So what do we think is the problem? Most deer breed, I see very few fawnless does every year. If car accidents are down, and a definite tell tale there, what is killing these deer off? The does dropping fawns should be more than recovering the previous years slight raise in harvest. There is something else happening here. It's not just the annual harvests increasing by a few thousand every year.
So what do we think is the problem? Most deer breed, I see very few fawnless does every year. If car accidents are down, and a definite tell tale there, what is killing these deer off? The does dropping fawns should be more than recovering the previous years slight raise in harvest. There is something else happening here. It's not just the annual harvests increasing by a few thousand every year.
Lundy
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The population using the farm I hunt fluctuates year to year based upon the field conditions(food), cattle concentrations and mast crop and I haven't noticed a huge decline in the population. There were years however when the bottom fields would have 50-60 deer in them each evening, this year and last year that number is 10-15 every evening. I don't attribute that to a population reduction as much as I do a change in the field itself over the years. It used to be the best clover for miles around, it is not anymore.
I do know for sure that I see more does with one or no fawns over the last 5 years than I ever did in the past. It was very unusual to have does that didn't have two fawns, sometimes even 3 fawns in the past. The only difference, that I can see, is the possible increase in predation as the coyote population has increased.
The hunter pressure and their effectiveness seems to have increased and gotten better over the years. They do a great job of whacking bunches of deer on the surrounding properties during the big drives.
10 years ago it was cool to be able to see a coyote while hunting. The last few years it very common to see them in the area I hunt. They show up on all of my cameras every couple of days, there are a bunch of them.
I do know for sure that I see more does with one or no fawns over the last 5 years than I ever did in the past. It was very unusual to have does that didn't have two fawns, sometimes even 3 fawns in the past. The only difference, that I can see, is the possible increase in predation as the coyote population has increased.
The hunter pressure and their effectiveness seems to have increased and gotten better over the years. They do a great job of whacking bunches of deer on the surrounding properties during the big drives.
10 years ago it was cool to be able to see a coyote while hunting. The last few years it very common to see them in the area I hunt. They show up on all of my cameras every couple of days, there are a bunch of them.
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A big part of the DOW's action plan for the first documented case of CWD in Ohio is to outlaw all baiting and supplemental feeding of deer. It's not a matter of "if" but "when." I look for a run on used trail cams to follow.
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Personally I believe it's a compounding impact. Years of increased harvest, EHD, and yotes would be a few to look at. Two of which are still an unquantified variable.
WHen you say supplemental feeding does that include food plots? You also think they will ban trail cams? What would be the reasoning for banning trail cams?
Lundy
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I think Mike just means that if baiting were banned that many would no longer have a need for their trail cams because that is the only place and way they deploy them today
Makes sense on the trail cams for sale if they ban it. I could see this as well.
I am with Kaiser. I am curious what they constitute as "supplemental feeding". We talking salt/mineral licks? We talking food plots? I don't think a food plot could be included in there. It is no different than an ag field unless someone does a garden sized plot. That size plot is useless anyway as they are gone too fast.
I am with Kaiser. I am curious what they constitute as "supplemental feeding". We talking salt/mineral licks? We talking food plots? I don't think a food plot could be included in there. It is no different than an ag field unless someone does a garden sized plot. That size plot is useless anyway as they are gone too fast.
Not true at all depends what you plant. A half acre plot of clover and or grains can withstand a lot of pressure. I see it first hand every year as none of my plots are over 3/4 acre
As far as baiting hunters pump in a lot of money to these farm stores buying corn blocks etc. The state should also look at the economic impact of outlawing baiting food plots etc.
I guess when I say "garden sized plot" I am thinking much smaller than 1/2 acre. I am thinking 2 car garage sized plot.
dante322
*Supporting Member*
Lundy
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I had looked these charts earlier and never really digested what they were saying until today, maybe everybody else got it but I didn't.
This chart shows that 157,726 hunters killed a deer last year. It then breaks down the numbers of those 157,726 that killed more than one deer. The chart also at the bottom says deer killed. To me that was a little misleading because you have to multiply the number of hunters in each catagory by the deer taken to end up with a total number of deer killed.
So all of this time I thought that the extra tags beyond 3 had little impact on the harvest totals. I may have to change my opinion.
114, 789 killed 1 deer..........114,789
30,147 killed 2 deer...............60,294
8,581 killed 3 deer.................25,743
2,850 killed 4 deer.................11,400
899 killed 5 deer ....................4,495
460 killed 6 deer.....................2,760
So all deer killed above 2 per hunter accounts for 20% of the overall harvest or 44,398 deer.
All deer killed above 3 per hunter accounts for 8% of the overall harvest or 18,655 deer. I don't find this number insignificant.
Wow, I didn't think the "above 2" would be as high as 20%. I wonder how many of the "above 2" and "above 3" deer were killed in urban zones? So many variables to consider......