Poll: How’s Hunting this year vs past seasons? Short & long term choices

[Sligh1]

You can pick 2 choices. One is meant for the last few years “short term” Next choice is meant for now vs say 7, 10 or 15 years ago…. “Long term”
Most of us probably know what kinda bucks are around by now. How it compares to past & how the season is going so far. Yes- I live a bit in a bubble but at the same time- I spend more time with other hunters & across state having these conversations than anyone could imagine. I seek perspectives from all areas, walks of Hunters & scenarios. This info will be used for various reasons & in various discussions with anyone from dnr to legislators to wildlife groups, etc etc.

Feel free to chime in on any details like: REGION of state. Why it’s changed (good or bad)…. Ehd, habitat loss, loss of access or on other side: rebounds of population, maybe less pressure, etc. Any other thoughts on the changes. Last: as you define quality of hunting- can make any comments as to whether you are referring to what most would assume: bucks, “giants around”, amounts, diversity of age range & opportunities to hunt them. But maybe you define things more on simply population or maybe it’s the access to land or even things like “I hunt public & this is how it’s changed”. Any comments: all good.
2 votes each.

 

[sep0667]

Same as I have seen in my 15/16 years of deer hunting. Seems to be fewer deer every year. I remember being a kid in the early 2000's before I got into hunting and the deer #'s I would see in the winter were impressive. There were a lot when I first started hunting too, but I didnt know what I was doing at all. I wish the numbers today would increase.

 

[Bucksnbears]

You want this to be about Iowa only Skip?

 

[Sligh1]

You want this to be about Iowa only Skip?

Ya. Let’s do just iowa for polling but I’d love comments on the same thing for other states.

 

[Muskrat24]

Is anyone else generally seeing a POOR year for antler growth “in general”!? This has been probably one of the worst ruts I have experienced!! From starting off with no high scoring mature deer making it through last year in Iowa. To nothing surprising showing up on cams and deer I found the sheds to in IA and MO not showing up this year it has been pathetic. No cruising, no chasing and it has been generally the same for 95% of the hunters I talk to in this area. I get it, there have been a couple nice deer shot in the counties I hunt but generally good deer numbers and quality are bad this year!! And I must have missed the rut or something. I thought last year was bad with a trickle rut from what I have read but this year is worse yet. Generally no buck/hot does laid up in random spots yet. Guess we will see what hunters find for MO rifle this weekend.

 

[Buckhunter92]

I started bow hunting 15 years ago. I remember not being able to get out of football practice soon enough to go get in the tree. The amount of deer i seen the first 5 years i bow hunted was insane! All public land to and in bremer county. I remember going to southern Iowa the first time after a buddy had moved down there 10 years ago it was incredible. We had a 1500 acre piece of public almost all to our self. We seen big one after big one. The deer herd state wide is down. I never thought I would say i have a better chance of filling my tag in Blackhawk or bremer county compared to southern Iowa on public. I love this game we play with these great creatures. I am guilty as everyone as using the technology to my advantage but this has definitely hurt the sport. People need to get back to shooting what makes them happy and not the outside world judging it. Shoot what makes you happy and provide for your families. God bless and thank you to all that have survived 11/11 never forget.

 

[MN Slick]

First IA hunt since 2010 and it has been GARBAGE! Haven't seen a buck over 125". Granted, I'm hunting 2 new spots but I don't suck at hunting this bad!

Long term, my MO farm right on the Iowa border has fallen. I haven't had a next level buck on it since 2018, #high grade. I quit applying for Iowa after my 2010 hunt because MO was so good to me.

 

[Bucksnbears]

Where I hunt in Nw Mn, our deer #s have definitely increased past few years.
2 extremely mild winters in a row and our hunter #s are down (like WAY down).
I've heard FOUR shots since Saturday.
Used to sound like WW2 around here.
The age class of bucks (older) is tremendous now. Best I've seen in 20+ years.
I truly believe, Mn will become a Big Buck state again soon.
Hate so say it but...., with the lack of hunters, it's gonna take a brutal winter occasionally to keep deer #s within reason.

 

[mplane72]

Herd is down and pressure is up.

 

[CottonwoodCanyon]

Where I'm hunting (south central), numbers are good but age and trophy quality is way down, worst I've seen since moving to Iowa. Where I live in SW IA, numbers are in the absolute tank. Will 0 antlerless tags and buck-only shotgun 1 help? Time will tell. I don't even bother hunting around home right now.

 

[newfarmer]

Well I haven’t been in the tree yet because wow, there’s just nothing around. I have one 130" 6 pt, and one very mature 10...otherwise, nothing to even look at. I’m in the north, I don’t “think” we’ve had EHD but I can’t say for sure. I’m in an area no doe tags- but yet there are still people that want to sit and shoot does- I don’t get it.
My opinion- everyone talks about 1 buck and “unlimited” doe tags-thats a recipe for disaster. Should I shoot my tags full of does because someone thinks 1 any sex tag is better? uff, I remember my grandpa telling me when the state opened deer season and it was rare to see a deer and NO ONE shot a doe. You need them to reproduce. He NEVER once shot a doe, but would gladly tag a yearling buck. He knew numbers would drop if everyone kept shooting does. I watched a group from my area drive 3 hours to the CWD zone and load up the truck with high power kills and then drop them off at HUSH....thats the problem.

 

[whitetail_obsession]

Hunting has definitely went down in the long-term. Short-term I voted for stable but was debating selecting getting worse. The main factors IMO is herd is down and increased pressure/land segmentation. I hunt mostly public in SC IA and surprisingly (last year was the worst year I've ever had) I had some good bucks on camera early in the year but they have all vanished now and instead of getting more pictures during the rut I have had one of the worst years for pictures with the exception of last year being worse. I was fortunate to harvest a good deer as did my brother and driving around we are seeing little for both movement and deer in general. I have talked to a lot of NRs and same story as years past they all say I'm not seeing as many big bucks as I thought or as many as I saw the last time I was in IA. EHD has been a big factor and thankfully I haven't seen any evidence of it this year which has helped seeing more yearlings but we have to hope for multiple years without EHD and hopefully hunters will restrain from overharvesting of does for a few more years. I would like to see a total ban on cell cameras for hunting purposes as well as a ban on drones. We've made it too easy and I'd like to give the deer a better fighting chance and people get back to more woodmanship. Definitely getting to be more and more pressure every year with a loss of access for a lot of hunters. A lot of people will say sure IA is down but it's still better than XYZ state. Although that may be true I don't think we want to be comparing ourselves to those states. As the state a lot of hunters believe is the standard we should be raising the standards not lowering them and settling for anything less. From the discussions I've read on here I think we are going to be heading in the right direction but lots of work to do and some things are out of our control in terms of disease.

 

[DOR]

I noticed a significant decline in quality and a big increase in pressure the last time I hunted NE Iowa about 20 years ago, compared to 25+ years ago when tags were easy to draw most seasons and hunting pressure was nearly nonexistent, even on public ground. Back then, the TV guys hadn’t yet “pimped” the area, and it still felt quiet and under the radar.


I stopped hunting there after that decline, but finally cashed in some of my long-standing $7 preference points this year. I’d say the quality seems a bit improved, and hunting pressure is somewhat lighter, at least where I’ve been. I’ve hunted a mix of a few new private spots and some of my old public areas, so it’s not a full comparison, but overall, things seem to be trending slightly better, especially closer to home. Haven't seen any giants, but the 150 stuff is still around.

 

[Sligh1]

Poll so far is lopsided on worse for short & long term. Keep voting & posting. Stuff like above is awesome. Hunters usually think whatever they see… “that’s the whole state”… good or bad …. We, on here, all know this stuff is so regional & how dynamics can change so much in 50-100 miles. Great feedback so far!!!!!!!

 

[Sligh1]

Well I haven’t been in the tree yet because wow, there’s just nothing around. I have one 130" 6 pt, and one very mature 10...otherwise, nothing to even look at. I’m in the north, I don’t “think” we’ve had EHD but I can’t say for sure. I’m in an area no doe tags- but yet there are still people that want to sit and shoot does- I don’t get it.
My opinion- everyone talks about 1 buck and “unlimited” doe tags-thats a recipe for disaster. Should I shoot my tags full of does because someone thinks 1 any sex tag is better? uff, I remember my grandpa telling me when the state opened deer season and it was rare to see a deer and NO ONE shot a doe. You need them to reproduce. He NEVER once shot a doe, but would gladly tag a yearling buck. He knew numbers would drop if everyone kept shooting does. I watched a group from my area drive 3 hours to the CWD zone and load up the truck with high power kills and then drop them off at HUSH....thats the problem.

County by county quotas & regs are CRITICAL. Theres Northern counties that could probably never allow a doe to be shot for 5-10 years & be no issue. Clearly county doe tags should be adjusted yearly based on our instant data & feedback we can get. If I was the DEER DICTATOR …. There’s about 25-30 counties I would allow 0 does for 2026 season & 1 buck.
*majority of deer damage complaints come from lowest density counties. Ironic. Guys in S are used to deer damage & far fewer complaints. We have the most complaints from counties with 3-4 deer per square mile. Literally “3 deer nipped these soybeans” (and it adds up to $15 in damage- not joking!!!!) & they will complain & ask for depredation tags. Very few deer & minimal damage - complaints…. WHY?????? Because SOME farmers are greedy, too much time on their hands & have to have every last frigin NICKEL!!!! The same dudes that farm into the creeks & make sure every last tree is dozed in. It’s a MINORITY of farmers like that but those greedy angry grumpy old hags can ruin it for so many other people. Over scraps & damage that literally mean about nothing in operational costs. Same as every neighborhood having that angry crabby old man or hag of a crabapple lady - farmers have a few of those around too. & yes, that small group is exactly the old Hags causing the issues.

 

[Butch973]

Does are way down in my area of Guthrie county and the age structure of bucks is horrible. A handful of 4 yr olds, some 1 yr olds and very few 2 and 3 yr olds from what I have on camera and what we’ve been seeing from stand. It’s gonna be a tough few years here. They only lowered the doe tags by 200 in the county which won’t help much. Seems like the late Sept/Oct EHD last year killed more mature does than anything so we have been seeing more yearling does and very few fawns. We only shot 1 doe last year and won’t shoot any this year. I just hope the neighbors show some mercy once the orange army shows up but I’m not very optimistic about that happening.

 

[theDoorman]

2 years of ehd in Davis county is really showing with the low herd numbers this year.

 

[LoessHillsArcher]

Short term and long term quality of hunting is terrible here out West. I've bowhunted 2 hours so far this year and may hunt a couple more hours yet. Not going to lower standards just to fill tags. I'd rather work on improving habitat now and invest in making the future better. Too many hunters out here yet just wanting to fill tags on an already hurting deer heard out west. Blows me away to here of people still shooting the biggest does they can find and in the same conversation commenting how hard the hunting has been... wild to me!? 90% of people just can't help themself. They get a tag and go hunt and just can't pass a deer and enjoy the hunt. Got to fill tags.

 

[Daver]

2 years of ehd in Davis county is really showing with the low herd numbers this year.

Also in Davis County...we experienced significant EHD die off in Aug-Oct 2023. Prior to that, things were not as good as the good ol' days, but still pretty good.

2023 - was very bad, I hunted once or twice and purposely shot nothing. 0 bucks, 0 does. My son shot one old buck that year. So, one deer shot off of a farm that could easily handle 10-15 deer taken off of it in prior years.

2024 - we expected it be down following the 2023 EHD wipeout, and it was. But some sign of bounce back, so optimism for the future was had be all. Again, only one old buck was taken, maybe 1 doe, I can't remember, but very few.

2025 - this year we were expecting better, but while it hasn't fallen back to 2023 levels of puny...it sure isn't like the good ol' days either.

Besides 2023, what other year did you detect EHD in Davis County? TIA.

 

[RinggoCy]

Is anyone else generally seeing a POOR year for antler growth “in general”!? This has been probably one of the worst ruts I have experienced!! From starting off with no high scoring mature deer making it through last year in Iowa. To nothing surprising showing up on cams and deer I found the sheds to in IA and MO not showing up this year it has been pathetic. No cruising, no chasing and it has been generally the same for 95% of the hunters I talk to in this area. I get it, there have been a couple nice deer shot in the counties I hunt but generally good deer numbers and quality are bad this year!! And I must have missed the rut or something. I thought last year was bad with a trickle rut from what I have read but this year is worse yet. Generally no buck/hot does laid up in random spots yet. Guess we will see what hunters find for MO rifle this weekend.

Yes, very much so on the antler growth. I have at least 3 bucks that I had my eyes on last year as either for sure shooters last year or close and needing one more year. Confirmed they made it through season, found sheds, etc. Super encouraging considering there was EHD issues last year. I was super pumped to find them again. To be fair, one of them isn't ever gonna be much and just needs to go. The other two I thought would be really nice with the lush vegetation we had all year, relatively mild winter last year, etc. Wrong. One went backwards by a noticeable amount and he's not anywhere near what I would call "over the hill" age. The other stayed about the same size - if he added any inches it's because he sprouted a 4 inch g4 this year on the side he lacked it last year. Other than that, his rack looks identical.

As for the original question, short and long term both getting worse. I thought coming into the year, things were gonna be better than last year. It's flat at absolute best, I lean slightly worse than last year even. Numbers are low. Mature bucks are hard to come by. Decent smattering of 2 and 3 year olds that show great potential but if 25% make it to next year, that's amazing.

Too many hunts for me seeing 1, 2, 3, maybe 6 or 7 deer ALL DAY to call it coincidence or just sitting wrong place wrong time. I hunted 10 of 11 days from late October through last Sunday. Of those 10, it would be hard to say any of them were really good hunts. Maybe one or two I'd say were okay but even then, I hardly saw any deer. 10 was the most I saw in a sit. Nearly zero late morning to early afternoon cruising in spots that I would expect it the first week of Nov. Just brutal.

Even 5 years ago, an all day sit seeing anything less than 15-20 different deer would have been a very disappointing day. I haven't seen that many deer since probably 2022. Just 4 years ago I took my now wife on a hunt opening weekend of bow season and we saw 25 different deer (no accidental double counting). And it was memorable because it was the first time she ever hunted with me, not because of the number of deer. 25 was just a pretty good night in the stand then. 0% chance I see 25 deer this year unless they happen to yard up in one of my spots in January.

I've harped on it in another thread already so I'll keep it short. Cell cams are a problem. These roamer bucks that pop in on a farm for 4 or 5 days and are on every camera then leave and you never see them again.... you all know what I mean. Cell cam guy get's that buck and can immediately get in there and hunt him hard for those 5 days. Meanwhile, I'm sitting another farm those 5 days, never know he's there until a week later when I pull a card or two. Too late then. Opportunity gone. Just getting it sent to you is a huge advantage. Drones will be the next tech that will make it worse. And who knows, maybe a fella can upload weather history and historical trail camera pictures to Chat GPT someday and it will tell you which stand to sit on which day for a 100% success rate! ..........ugh.