The deer herd is becoming decimated.....We as hunters are the tool the establishment is using to make the herd smaller. Wake up and just fricking stop shooting them....how dense can you be when you complain to me your not seeing enough deer then you go out and shoot does.,...You might as well start killing hen pheasants too.
TheMadCatter
Well-Known Member
We want food, come at me bro! Bucks taste like chit.
I have seen this happen in two other states...in a couple of years all you`ll be eating is your words....STOP it now period or you do yourself and all other hunters a dis-service.
flugge
Well-Known Member
I have already shot one, and plan on shooting more...In my area, there are to many still..If you dont want does getting shot, then I guess its back to the little basket racks and stuff, because most people I know, wont buy a tag unless they get to fill it...so then you would have loss of revenue, and those that continue to hunt will just have to keep paying more..
beararchery
Member
Wait til shotgun season I know of people who take down a lot of does...
bearcatbaseball10
Member
hmmm I'm gonna go pop some popcorn and see how this pot gets stirred.
FYI, I have shot 5 does already and plan on our group taking more during gun seasons. 4 came off my personal farm, and 1 off a farm I help maintain....I can promise you come shotgun through late rifle, there will be some management done. When I'm seeing 15+ deer a night and only one buck....I can promsie that I'm not doing a dis-service. I'm done with does right now, I mean they are your "bait" so to speak come rut, but I plan on AT LEAST 6 coming off our 170. With 3 bucks taken off our farm last year, I feel like 2 does to every 1 buck is very applicable and will not hurt our herd....infact I have only seen major improvements in our deer's health and spring fawns since I put this management rules in place on our land. So in all honesty....I think your just trying to stir the pot my friend.
FYI, I have shot 5 does already and plan on our group taking more during gun seasons. 4 came off my personal farm, and 1 off a farm I help maintain....I can promise you come shotgun through late rifle, there will be some management done. When I'm seeing 15+ deer a night and only one buck....I can promsie that I'm not doing a dis-service. I'm done with does right now, I mean they are your "bait" so to speak come rut, but I plan on AT LEAST 6 coming off our 170. With 3 bucks taken off our farm last year, I feel like 2 does to every 1 buck is very applicable and will not hurt our herd....infact I have only seen major improvements in our deer's health and spring fawns since I put this management rules in place on our land. So in all honesty....I think your just trying to stir the pot my friend.
TheMadCatter
Well-Known Member
THEBAD said:
Dude, there are still way to many Does. I keep seeing like 5-1 Doe to Buck ratios in my area. I doubt that's normal.
TheMadCatter
Well-Known Member
bearcatbaseball10 said:
^^
What he said!
Liv4Rut
Active Member
I hear yah man. I do think it is very situational. Some areas are still loaded but I would say overall the population is pretty thin. On our one farm I get pictures of 3 does and 4 fawns every day. This is over 3 months of cameras. Two of the does have fawns and one extremely large doesn't have fawns with her. On our other farm, the deer population in general is low.
I used to have a few public areas that I hunt that you could go to late season and see 40-50 deer a sit. It was amazing. Any more you would be lucky to see 5 or 6. The numbers are definitely down in a lot of areas.
I used to have a few public areas that I hunt that you could go to late season and see 40-50 deer a sit. It was amazing. Any more you would be lucky to see 5 or 6. The numbers are definitely down in a lot of areas.
TheMadCatter
Well-Known Member
Calm down Spitndrum, relax xD
limblounger
New Member
In some areas, yes, the numbers are down. In others, you're way off base. Do you really think "the establishment" (i.e. Iowa DNR) is really trying to "decimate" the deer population? The purpose of this government agency is to manage a herd of animals - not an easy task. They rely on hunter surveys & field surveys to assist in setting yearly quotas throughout the state....what would be their purpose or benefit for trying to do what you're saying? To impress Illinois? Perhaps Nebraska?
Come on - be a little more responsible with your rants or just keep it to yourself.
Come on - be a little more responsible with your rants or just keep it to yourself.
Mark my words......I have lived and seen this in two other states....we are are own worst enemy....and one day you will realize that shooting does when the herd is down will just make it worse. Its not hard to do the math, it is not a simple one to one ratio. In fact it really comes down to were all in together or not at all. We as hunters are the only tool the goverment has to control the herd...it is up to us to fix the problems. Not some dumb ass sitting in Des Moines stuffing his pockets with Insurance and Farm Bureau money. And before anyone starts I do have a vested interest as a large land owner, and land that is farmed and is extensively managed for whitetails, I have seen the herd go down close to 600% over what we were seeing a few years ago.
We keep records, good records, journals you might even call them, I can go back and see moon phase weather, barometric movement, deer movement, numbers, and more on each and every hunt. The deer numbers suck and there getting worse compared to just a few short years ago.
What happens on someones 170 acres is a drop in the proverbial bucket compared to what happens in your township, county, and region in overall population control.
The hunters in a area that figure this out or the farmer who forbids people to shoot does on their farms will eventually draw the big bucks even when the herd is down.
Alright this is my last post on the subject but I have hunted deer from Texas, to Saskatchewan, and just about every mid western state in between, with over 30 years of playing this game. And countless thousand of hours invested I am asking everyone to at least stop and think about it. We are the ones that control or own destiny.
If I am so wrong ..ask someone in Wisconsin how the earn a buck program has worked out for them by forcing people to shoot does before they can even get a tag. Ask them how their herd is doing...Ask the guys in Oklahoma after there very liberal increase of doe days(permits) what happened to there herd in about five years. We have somthing great in Iowa don't let the damn politicians ruin it when we as hunters have all the power.
We keep records, good records, journals you might even call them, I can go back and see moon phase weather, barometric movement, deer movement, numbers, and more on each and every hunt. The deer numbers suck and there getting worse compared to just a few short years ago.
What happens on someones 170 acres is a drop in the proverbial bucket compared to what happens in your township, county, and region in overall population control.
The hunters in a area that figure this out or the farmer who forbids people to shoot does on their farms will eventually draw the big bucks even when the herd is down.
Alright this is my last post on the subject but I have hunted deer from Texas, to Saskatchewan, and just about every mid western state in between, with over 30 years of playing this game. And countless thousand of hours invested I am asking everyone to at least stop and think about it. We are the ones that control or own destiny.
If I am so wrong ..ask someone in Wisconsin how the earn a buck program has worked out for them by forcing people to shoot does before they can even get a tag. Ask them how their herd is doing...Ask the guys in Oklahoma after there very liberal increase of doe days(permits) what happened to there herd in about five years. We have somthing great in Iowa don't let the damn politicians ruin it when we as hunters have all the power.
bigbuckhunter88
PMA Member
And also, in our area we feel like the deer numbers are way down, not necesarily on our farm, because we have been seeing lots of does, but haven't shot any in the last few years because we have seen the decrease in population coming, but also know certains sections about 20 miles away that need a bunch taken out, so that is where I will do my State Farm deed and take a few out for the freezer.
spitndrum
yella acern
well i have never married my cousin..... and its just a "smiley" (in this case a flippey):thrwrck:
Central Iowa
Life Member
I don't care who you married but no more flippey or you'll get a breaky.
Daver
PMA Member
I don't think there is any question that the deer numbers are down significantly in large sections of the state and I do think the harvest has been too high many areas, but I also know that some areas can still safely support doe harvest and I still know of a couple of areas where the deer numbers are still quite high. There isn't a one size fits all approach.
biggest buck
Active Member
I agree with you 100%! Last year in my area there was way too many shot during bow season. When I started hunting my current area 4 yrs ago I used to see at least 10-15 bucks a day during bow and slightly higher numbers of does. Last year we had a monster triple droptine that was easily over 220 inches, I had been watching him for 2 yrs and last August(2010) he made himself seen nearly every single night about an hour before dark. He became widely known and the next thing you know we had 10 new bowhunters that got permission from surrounding landowners. One landowner was very specific and told his 4 hunters they could only shoot 2 does each. Turns out they shot close to 40, needless to say the landowner was pissed. Now why on earth would you pay someone to hunt their ground to get the chance at a once in a lifetime trophy and shoot that many does? So due to that many does harvested the herd was nearly wiped out and I had one of the worst years ever as far as seeing deer. I have had 2 trail cams out since July and have literally gotten pics of the same 8 does over and over. My huntin buddy has been out 3 times since Oct 1 and has yet to see a deer. I've been out 3 times and saw three bucks and 4 does.
Sure our population was very high and some needed thinned, but now those hunters have depleted the herd so much that we arent seeing very many deer and even fewer shooter bucks.