Worst Gun Season Ever!

[rks1949]

We have one day left of our 7 day (splity into two weeks) gun season in Illinois left. We have allways had lot's of deer to shoot,so you could be picky as to what you harvested. Not this year! Out of 6 days hunting we have seen 4 deer! Those were out of range) and small deer ast that. We had CWD hit here last year,plus a big flood,and most are saying the numbers are way down. Other Western Counties might be ok,but our area has went down the tubes. Ron

 

[cayuga]

In Wisconsin it was the worst year I have ever had. I have been saying for years that the Department of Natural Resources has been killing off the herd. I made it known that if we wanted a herd, we had to stop being greedy and shooting all the doe off. Still, as most hunters, no one really listened. Taking one doe might not hurt the herd. Taking several out of a small area could devastate the area.

Well this year I have talked to a lot of locals and its all the same complaint.. they saw no deer. They did see lots of wolves. But I am not blaming low deer numbers on the wolves. Although they don't help. I kind of laughed at one person because he used to brag about all the doe his gang shot. So I said to him, I bet you wish you had not shot all the breeders out of your area.

The Department of Natural Resources did their beautiful "spread a lie" campaign as always. Before season claiming the deer herd was bigger then ever. And that we need to get out there and shoot some of them off. So they talked all the hunters into buying a license. And now they report the harvest was over 20% less then the terrible numbers of last year. And they told the hunters, it was not their fault as deer are not spread all over the state. Another good one was, they might have used the wrong formula when they guessed at the deer herd, and their numbers were too high. And that only some areas might have deer. And their best is that the numbers are now where they should be for a healthy deer herd. A healthy deer herd? Who are they kidding.

I have not seen a deer and I decided after this morning of walking in a snow storm looking for a fresh track that I might follow to one bedded.. I am done for the year. And if sign does not look better next year, I might not even purchase a license. It looks like it is time to start planning hunting trips out of state.

 

[rks1949]

Dave,that's about the same as here. We are already talking about going out of state next year. We are on the East Central side of the state,and are getting reports the heard is up on the Western side of the state. Can't wait to see the stats ! When we went out this morning,there was a light skiff of snow covering the ground. We never found the "first track" in it. The best we can tell,is that just guessing we have around 4-5 deer per 5 mile section maybe. Last year you could drive around any evening,and see deer in almost every field,you can't find any this year. I wish the DNR would be honest,but that's not gonna happen,too many video's "We are here in Illinois,We are Hunting Illinois,ect",and their cash register is ringing up the profits! I've takled to a couple of out of state hunters,they haven't seen anything,or one or two small deer that they didn't want to shoot,but their money's gone! A friend of ours that farms found over 25 deer dead in one 90 acre corn field,with a stream running through it. All of the dead dear were laying at the stream's edge. The worst part is,most were nice mature bucks Ron

 

[doggzoe]

25 deer in a 90 acre field :shock: . They might have contracted Blue tongue diease. I hear they run a high fever then go to water and drink until the fever kills them. A neighbor found three deer over the summer dead floating in his pond.

Don

 

[rks1949]

Yup! That's exactly what happened. Going out today for a last day of dissapointment. Last night a friend told me he had some hunters North of him shoot yesterday,and about two minutes after the shot,two coyotes ran across the field into the area the shot came from :shock: ! Looks like the hunting is tough for everyone! Ron

 

[ccmano]

I've been hunting public land in southern Wisconsin. Haven't seen a single deer in several days out there. Finally found an area yesterday with at least some day old tracks in the snow. Still haven't even jumped one in my hikeing figured at least that would do it. Thought maybe the hunting pressure made them exclusively nocturnal, but then I've only run into one other hunter in all that time. Looks like I'm not alone. :?
Hans

 

[rks1949]

Same here! We used to see allot of hunters,and hear shots,but not this year! :?: We have had,earth quakes,floods,crop failures,ect,It has been a strange year for sure! Ron

 

[jefo1]

Same stories in my part of the state....early bow season looked promising...took two does opening weekend & figured my Firearm/ML tags would be promising for a quality buck come Nov & Dec. Deer numbers seem to have dropped drastically. I've got 2 very nice farms I hunt in Grundy County & one in Lasalle County. The farm in Laselle county was left alone ALL season & saved for the 2nd firearm & ML....the 40 degree + weather & hurricane level winds sure didn't help. I will go out for the January late doe season but really do have mixed feelings about shooting deer already struggling for forage & most likely bred 3 months prior,...definately can't help the over-all cause.
That being said....I strongly believe Wisconsin & Illinois are hitting the doe heard waaaaayyyy to hard....the more ya pressure em,..the more that die,...the harder they get to hunt. If every doe in the state has been either shot at or killed,..it doesn't take long for them to go 100% nocturnal,...still plenty of deer sign in my areas,..just fewer & fewer daylight sightings...with the high agriculture areas I hunt with plenty of white oak in the woods...the deer don't have to look very hard for a meal for most of the season....now put huge amounts of huntin pressure on em = nocturnal deer. Now my opinions on Wisconsins "earn a buck" program,...that will eventually destroy the states reputation for the "place to go" I've hunted 3000+ acres in Buffalo County (do a search on the trophy potential from there) for 12+ years and can't even put it into words how bad the hunting is getting in comparison to years past. Maybe they need to start shooting two or three does before the buck tag is valid...and what the heck....why don't ya throw a few more timber wolves in for grins & giggles,....

 

[g.g.]

we were in gallatin and white counties (southern IL) again this year and while movement was not as good in white it was great as usual in gallatin. white suffered a good bit of flooding and almost no corn was in on the farms we hunt.

sorry for the tough season

 

[HawgHunter]

Deer season seems to be tough in the upper midwest this year. We just entered our third year where our winter severity index is well above average. The last two winters have been tough with very few fawns surviving in many parts of the Upper Peninsula. I saw more 3.5 year old bucks than 1.5 year old bucks at camp this year; that's not a good sign.

My deer season was short, I took a nice 3.5 year old 8pt the first day of the season. My daughter took a similar aged buck a week later. Opening day we it started to snow and in less than a week we had 30" on the ground. It has continued to accumulate until we had a freak rain about 10 days ago. Our deer are migratory and head to the yarding areas when it gets like that. By the time muzzleloading opened here there were no deer left on my land. Muzzleloader season was a bust for me due to snow and no public land doe tags.

I didn't see a wolf during our firearms season but I did see one set of tracks on my trails. We are hoping for them to be reclassified so the problem ones can be shot on sight. Lawsuits have prolonged their reclassification not a reduction in their numbers. A wolf is a wilderness animal and does not belong in AG land in our UP.

I usually get invited to a late season doe shoot on a farm in the NE lower peninsula but so far the phone has not rang. I don't want to be a pest and call the land owner but time is running out this season. I'll call tonight and wish him a Merry Christmas and hint that I'm still available to help fill some tags.

 

[buddy]

WV herd seems stable. We shoot a lot of deer. I've looked for numbers to go down but they haven't. We can legally harvest 9 deer per hunter. Most areas have buck kills of 4 plus per sq. mi. I don't think this can go on forever.

 

[Doohan]

Same thing happened in KY a few years ago. Blue Tongue has made deer very scarce! It takes time but they will be back!

 

[teacherboy]

Like Cayuga, I also hunt in WI. It sucked. I think last years winter killed off a bunch, flooding in spring and an over abundance of doe tags has finally caught up with us. I never kicked up on deer when I was doing scouting. I found fresh scrapes that were never hit again. Driving to my spots I never saw a deer on the road where in years past you always saw deer. It was very quiet on opening morning of the gun season. In years past it sounded like a war had started. The DNR has lied to us all. They simply want our license fees. They claimed we had 1.4-1.5 million deer. Where were they? I've heard the same story from almost everyone I've spoken with. It didn't matter where they hunted, the story was the same. NO DEER The DNR has been taking some heat in the Milwaukee Journal, our news paper. A spokesman said that the DNR wants around 710,000 deer in the state. Thats half of what we are supposed to have now! I can't imagine what that would be like. :evil:

 

[MOdeer]

Seems like times are a'changin all over the Midwest. I hunt in NE Missouri, and can report the same type of year as the rest of you. Opening morining used to sound like WWIII, but no more. Barely any shootiing around. This year I saw way more antlered bucks than does. We have unlimited doe tags available, and I think we have shot too many does, it's hurt the overall population. MO is trying to become a "trophy" state, to draw hunter dollars, just like IA and IL have done in the past. I personally am probably done shooting does for the near future, and will try to build our local herd back to what it was.

 

[jefo1]

The Wisconsin DNR stuff just keeps getting better & better all the time,...during rifle season I give a buddy of mine a hand around his lodge in Buffalo County, just outside of Mondovi, basically just keeping an eye on his property (his family home is on some of the same ground he outfits on) and hunt a little in the mean time. I got out of the woods on the first Monday of season around mid day, cycled the bullets from my rifle, thru it in the case & zipped it al least 3/4 the way up. I had a damn loose bullet in my case, not in the action...laying in the case & was greated in my friends driveway by the local DNR (private property mind you) & was quickly sited 246.00 for an improperly cased gun/ammo. That wasn't enough for him that afternoon I'd guess,..he desperately wanted to site me for guiding without a license because I wasn't a paying client of the outfit & was helping my friend with his land,..that didn't sit well with me & didn't happen...after that lack of a second ticket Mr DNR went down the town road (a gravel driveway close to a mile long) & layed in waiting to hopefully issue more tickets for guys walking out of the woods to their vehicles with loaded weapons,...I know rules are rules....but how many people empty of discharge their weapons as soon as they leave the stand & head out of the timber for the night?? 99% of the folks I know do it at the vehicle prior to casing the gun.....anywho,..the Wisconsin herd is getting either slaughtered or VERY smart,..a combination of the 2 is my guess....and the DNR spends most of their time from what I see looking for more & more ways of generating revenue for THEIR cause at the paying customers expense.....for the amount of revenue generated by deer hunters FOR the state of Wisconsin...you'd think they'd approach the future of the sport a little smarter.
Damn.....didn't mean to blab so long..... :shock:

 

[Doohan]

I hear you and agree 100% Jefo. I do and have always felt that avoinding any type of meeting with the Ohio DNR was far more advantageous than discussing ANYTHING with them .. I have little to worry about since I do adhere to the rules but they are not out to make friends.. At least that has been my experience.


If I know the DNR is patrolling my area chances are I will not hunt or stick close to home. The DNR will waste your day trying to find anything to ticket you for. I guess I would rather goto work than spend a day emptying my pockets and trying like hell to prove my innocence... but then again. ... the 20 man deer drives pretty much keep the DNR busy as I dont participate in that.

On the flip side, I'll bet he DNR officers rarely if ever have a "friendly" meeting with the hunters they check.

On the brighter side, The Ohio DNR is saying they are going to have a call in tag service for 2010. I am very excited about that and commend them for doing so.

 

[HawgHunter]

Here is a link to the Michigan Winter Severity Index. I'm in the Upper Peninsula and it's bad up here.

http://www.michigan.gov/documents/dnr/W ... 9953_7.pdf