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- Thread starter Ohiosam
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This is wierd. Our group (7 guys) had a great weekend. We got 4 deer, all all skinheads. Plus several of out guys passed up small bucks and does waiting for a big boy. Had they wanted, everyone coulda tagged out. Seen more deer in our area this year than normal at this time of year. But the Coyote hunters did go through alot of the sanctuaries the were holding the bigger heards and spread them back out.
Mountaineer
Banned
Cotty..
Yes..thats where i was going with this..The acorns kept the deer from traveling. It kept the deer living in areas of deep timber...Areas of deep timber dont get the pressure therefor dont get killed. I told all my buddies back in September that this will be our year for good hunting due to the great mast crop..and it was.
cmon JD..I thought you knew better...geeeesh:smiley_asswhip:
Jack..
However..In some cases..Property lines prevent hunters from adjusting..The bottom line is..Deer move less in years of large mast crops.. They can basically bed were they are feeding...Thus the low deer kill.
Yes..thats where i was going with this..The acorns kept the deer from traveling. It kept the deer living in areas of deep timber...Areas of deep timber dont get the pressure therefor dont get killed. I told all my buddies back in September that this will be our year for good hunting due to the great mast crop..and it was.
cmon JD..I thought you knew better...geeeesh:smiley_asswhip:
Jack..
However..In some cases..Property lines prevent hunters from adjusting..The bottom line is..Deer move less in years of large mast crops.. They can basically bed were they are feeding...Thus the low deer kill.
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Mountaineer,
I thought you and your buddies killed deer by tracking them for miles up and down hills in the snow? WTF, I'm confused now. If they are feeding and bedding in the same place then why did you have to track your deer so far to kill them? It doesn't sound to me like you killed your deer based on the mast crop.
This year was rough. I"m not going to only blame the acorns but also the simple fact that there were less deer. Most of the deer that i saw were in the big woods. Thats where i killed my buck and where most of our shooter bucks were seen. And i dont think it will get better soon. 5 fawn carcasses were found by the farmer in his hay fields this summer. Even durring summer scouting it was hard to find deer. Most of our core acorn spots werent even productive because there were acorns every where to be found. It"s hard to pattern deer that don't have to go to a specific place to eat.
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Mountaineer
Banned
Gern..
All our bucks were taken deep in the timber..2 were killed by tracking..2 were killed by sitting. The bottom line all bucks were killed in deep woods settings dominated by oaks.
i said the Deer can feed and bed were there is mast crop..If you have an area 5 miles by 5 miles of pure timber..the deer can feed and bed in the same spot..where that will be in that area is anyones guess...Thats why hunter success was way down..Hunters did not adjust..There was no pattern created for hunters to captilize on..Typically hunters ambush bucks from bedding areas to fields or corn piles..or maybe food plots..All that is trumped when acorns are plentiful.
All our bucks were taken deep in the timber..2 were killed by tracking..2 were killed by sitting. The bottom line all bucks were killed in deep woods settings dominated by oaks.
i said the Deer can feed and bed were there is mast crop..If you have an area 5 miles by 5 miles of pure timber..the deer can feed and bed in the same spot..where that will be in that area is anyones guess...Thats why hunter success was way down..Hunters did not adjust..There was no pattern created for hunters to captilize on..Typically hunters ambush bucks from bedding areas to fields or corn piles..or maybe food plots..All that is trumped when acorns are plentiful.
Milo
Tatonka guide.
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last year i did not believe Mountaineer...after my own investigations this year i believe his is absolutely correct. the sign was so pocketed this year it wasn't funny...i found 2 buck bed with 20 feet of 2 white acorn trees that still had piles of acorns on the ground in gun season. there was an area 40 yards aproximately that was worn out...the trails into it were barely used...
formerbowhunter1023
Now Posts as Jesse..
There are three factors that contributed to this, not just one. Acorns are certainly a factor. As much as it pains me to agree with Mountaineer, he is right when he says they have don't have to move as far to feed. The early season around here sucked because the deer had more food than they could ever eat and it slowed movement to a crawl. The second factor could be contributed to weather on some scale. I don't believe it was a huge factor, but inclement weather undoubtably contributed to some subpar days of hunting.
The third and biggest contributing factor is the fact that there are simply less deer. We are killing TOO many deer. My county was down 43% and I'm not about to blame that all on acorns and weather!!! This "whack 'n stack" mentality our DNR is cramming down our throats is going to ruin hunting in Zone C in a few short years if things don't change. I don't hunt just for the likelihood I might see a deer and I damn sure don't want to hunt my hardest just to increase the odds of a sighting. I hunt to enjoy nature (i.e. observe deer and other wildlife) and to fill the freezer. Those two things are getting harder and harder because there are less and less deer in the woods. I'm calling off all doe kills on my hunting properites (Tracie being the exception) until something changes with our regs in Zone C. This is getting out of hand...
The third and biggest contributing factor is the fact that there are simply less deer. We are killing TOO many deer. My county was down 43% and I'm not about to blame that all on acorns and weather!!! This "whack 'n stack" mentality our DNR is cramming down our throats is going to ruin hunting in Zone C in a few short years if things don't change. I don't hunt just for the likelihood I might see a deer and I damn sure don't want to hunt my hardest just to increase the odds of a sighting. I hunt to enjoy nature (i.e. observe deer and other wildlife) and to fill the freezer. Those two things are getting harder and harder because there are less and less deer in the woods. I'm calling off all doe kills on my hunting properites (Tracie being the exception) until something changes with our regs in Zone C. This is getting out of hand...
Schu72
Well-Known Member
My experience this year was that the urban areas were overflowing with deer and the rural areas were barren. Technically, all three deer I harvested were from urban zones.
BINGO!!I have been saying this all year! Glad im not the only one who thinks this!
In Morrow I can say without a shred of doubt that the great acorn crop isn't what made the numbers go down. It is a 6 deer limit in a county that doesn't support high numbers of deer in the first place. Morrow is WAY down from all past years (recent).
Beentown
Beentown
This should be interresting at the close of season.
Crawford is a 4 deer limit and we didn't hit the numbers from last year for gun or muzzy.
I wonder if the ODNR is scratching their heads by now.
Just seems odd to me that they increased bag limits in some counties and still can't hit numbers higher then they did when the bag limit was set at 2 :smiley_chinrub:
Crawford is a 4 deer limit and we didn't hit the numbers from last year for gun or muzzy.
I wonder if the ODNR is scratching their heads by now.
Just seems odd to me that they increased bag limits in some counties and still can't hit numbers higher then they did when the bag limit was set at 2 :smiley_chinrub:
Lots of guys have trouble killing one deer, increasing the limit doesn't make much a difference to a high percentage of hunters. What is the # Rex has posted only something like 1.5% of the hunters tag 3 or more deer statewide. Using 4 tags is highly unlikely for all but a few, especially in a place like Crawford. What it does though is shut up some critics of the "large" herd, ODNR can say they have expanded the limit.
You know, I thought about that also. Whether the bag limit is 2 or 6, the majority of the hunting population is gonna struggle to shoot more than 1 deer. I wonder what the percentage is in some of these counties of people who kill more than one deer. Meaning, even if they drop the bag limit down to 3, your kills are probably still gonna be in the same ball park!
Personally, from what I have seen where I hunt, deer numbers are not down. That doesn't mean everyone's experiences/observations are the same...However, if you believe they are, this is the answer for you...
Nothing chaps my a$$ more than the guy that complains about deer numbers and has a pickup full of carcuses and hunts until every tag he has in his pocket is used.
Nothing chaps my a$$ more than the guy that complains about deer numbers and has a pickup full of carcuses and hunts until every tag he has in his pocket is used.
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If that were the truth, then why raise it to 6 in order to do exactly what the DNR said their plan was "lower deer numbers and correct an overpopulation" How can you stick up for the DNRs management plan on one hand. And on the other say it is drastically flawed???
So Which is it guys? Make up your minds? You can't say the DNR knows what they are doing by raising bag numbers and are in no way harming the population.. And on the other hand say, raising limits to reduce population numbers is futile and doesn't work...
Hide and see people.. Hide and see... You might not have an issue now, You will soon enough... Maybe not though.. You may be close enough to urban areas, metro parks or just in an area with lower hunter density... Many factors go into why one area has less or more deer than another... However more and more areas are quickly seeing a detrimental impact on heard numbers. Even Jesse said last year many times in this discussion.. I don't see any problems with our population in Washington county. We still have deer etc etc.. This year he's singing a different tune... Now saying he's not going to shoot another doe for a couple years until things improve....
While some of you may be hunting areas not affected by the population decrease, congratulations.. Nice to know you have a little slice of heaven to hunt.. HOWEVER, to ignore the fact that so many ARE seeing a decrease in widespread areas is foolish at best... Reminds me of a certain ostrich that sticks his head in the sand. I guess as long as you don't see it on your personal property it must not be happening..
So Which is it guys? Make up your minds? You can't say the DNR knows what they are doing by raising bag numbers and are in no way harming the population.. And on the other hand say, raising limits to reduce population numbers is futile and doesn't work...
Hide and see people.. Hide and see... You might not have an issue now, You will soon enough... Maybe not though.. You may be close enough to urban areas, metro parks or just in an area with lower hunter density... Many factors go into why one area has less or more deer than another... However more and more areas are quickly seeing a detrimental impact on heard numbers. Even Jesse said last year many times in this discussion.. I don't see any problems with our population in Washington county. We still have deer etc etc.. This year he's singing a different tune... Now saying he's not going to shoot another doe for a couple years until things improve....
While some of you may be hunting areas not affected by the population decrease, congratulations.. Nice to know you have a little slice of heaven to hunt.. HOWEVER, to ignore the fact that so many ARE seeing a decrease in widespread areas is foolish at best... Reminds me of a certain ostrich that sticks his head in the sand. I guess as long as you don't see it on your personal property it must not be happening..
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Not exactly. But it is a significant increase. As Brock told me once "I liked bow hunting better when people though i was crazy for doing it, Now everybody has a bow and thinks their the next Michael Waddell"
However resident hunter numbers as a whole are down. But NR hunter numbers are way up making last year the highest number of licenses sold in 23 years.