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Deer population

nemohunter

nemohunter

Member
Anybody else frustrated with the lack of deer and even more frustrated with there states lack of caring what the hunter wants or is it just me?
 
Yeah, back to back Ehd years takes a toll on a deer population.. I think a read somewhere where it's an average of three years for a deer population to rebound after one Ehd year. Yikes, We're behind now 6 years for having a decent deer population.. You add late doe season(shed buck season), Deer/Car encounters and regular deer season to that and it's quite scary to think what the deer number actually is!
 
EHD is part of the problem where it hit but that's not around me. I live in Davenport and hunt Clinton, Scott and Muscatine Counties mostly. No EHD that I have heard of around here. It's hunters killing deer and that's it. Very few road kill this month on my normal driving routes. Keep in mind the DNR wanted to reduce antlerless tags in these three counties before the 2012 season and the Gov. only gave them half what they wanted.
 
The places I hunt in Louisa & Muscatine County have normal deer numbers. Can't speak for anywhere else.
 
camo658 said:
Yeah, back to back Ehd years takes a toll on a deer population.. I think a read somewhere where it's an average of three years for a deer population to rebound after one Ehd year. Yikes, We're behind now 6 years for having a decent deer population.. You add late doe season(shed buck season), Deer/Car encounters and regular deer season to that and it's quite scary to think what the deer number actually is!
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That's basically my point too, after 2 years of EHD, I just don't think an antlerless season is necessary, I'm not saying do away with doe tags altogether, just a reduction and get rid of a season dedicated to shooting does, conservation dept in MO says they like to let the individual decide how many to shoot, if the general population could regulate how many got shot we wouldn't need a conservation dept, I know I'm in MO but I think a lot of this holds true in IA, we lost a lot of deer the last 2 years in northern MO and the conservation dept has yet to even mention change
 
Numbers are a little low in my area, but that has been the case since shortly after they started increasing the doe tags. No EHD issues. It's tough that's for sure.
 
Where I hunt I have seen more deer than I usually do. Not as many mature bucks though. I still have another doe tag to fill. I understand some peoples populations are down but it's not the entire state. The areas that are less dense in population weren't hit nearly as bad with EHD which allowed the population to grow. That being said I agree maybe not have an antlerless season for a couple of years but I think they just keep it the same to make it easier because the population would just increase again if tags were reduced and it would just go back and forth. Just easier for the government to keep it the it is.
 
I think we as hunters need to educate ourselves to know what's best for our local populations. I don't think they will get rid of the doe season (shed buck season) anytime soon. But we as hunters have the power to not participate in it if we don't want to. Same thing goes for the doe tag quotas. The hunters that are uninformed, or just plain don't care, are the ones that we should be concerned about. I worry that if they don't sell those tags, then they will open up more non resident tags.
 
Time to limit the number of tags that you can buy to only 3, gun, bow, and one antlerless. Too many people buying tags just to kill and then donating to HUSH. Maybe limiting how many you could donate to them also.
 
Just read a facebook post the other day about a guy saying he had only shot 4 does so far this year whereas last year he had gotten 10 (plus a buck or two). People asked what he did with all the meat and he said he gives a lot of it away. I don't care about shooting that many deer as long as you're doing it legally, but that's the kind of mentality that's going to drive our herd into the ground. Myself, I have my anysex bow, anysex muzzy and an antlerless bow. I doubt I will even fill the antlerless just due to the lack of deer numbers. But I doubt most people feel that way.
This is how I see it going down in the future. If the antlerless tag numbers stay high the population will continue to dwindle. With fewer deer, the guys that just wanna go out and shoot deer for a day or two out of the year will get tired of not being able to find deer to shoot. I would guess the tag sales and hunter numbers will dwindle if that starts to happen. Give that quite a few years and the deer numbers will go back up and it will start the whole cycle over again. Maybe I'm nuts, but this scenario doesn't sound impossible.
 
That being said I agree maybe not have an antlerless season for a couple of years but I think they just keep it the same to make it easier because the population would just increase again if tags were reduced and it would just go back and forth. Just easier for the government to keep it the it is.
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We employ the biologists of the DNR to manage the deer herd not do what's easier. By many accounts they have tried to do this but the politics gets in the way. Also, it can't be that hard. Look at how the entire continent's waterfowl is managed.

These things go in cycles. Eventually, if nothing is done hunter numbers will fall, tags will go unsold and the numbers will start to rebound. The problem is numbers will have to fall a lot farther then they should for this to happen and it opens the door to a lot of other issues like DNR funding, NR tags and farmers that hate deer with depredation tags.

Not calling you out CW but I have to share my thoughts on this.
 
I don't see why we rag on the extra January antlerless season. Its only for those counties with left over doe tags in December. We should lower the # of tags rather than worry about a season.
 
The Iowa DNR says harvest numbers are right on track with last years.Is this true or do they just claim that so we don't complain about the deer numbers or to make it look like there is just as many deer?
 
bradley said:
The Iowa DNR says harvest numbers are right on track with last years.Is this true or do they just claim that so we don't complain about the deer numbers or to make it look like there is just as many deer?
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I don't think it would ease the minds of people who think deer numbers are down this year to tell them we are killing just as many as last year. Just sayin.
 
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