I'm hearing lots of complaints about not seeing many deer....

I not counting the ones that are always complaining about the "lack of deer"


I'm talking about the guys who have been seeing deer all summer and early fall but not now while they are out hunting..

where did they go ???


The crazy weather may be a part of the problem and I think the areas that have tons and tons of acorns are allowing the deer to not travel..

what's you're thoughts on where they went and why folks are not seeing them now ???

and if folks think the deer are bad what happened to the rabbits..

all summer I had rabbits everywhere.. now I can't remember the last one I saw ???  

--Last edited by Dr Trout on 2009-10-28 14:52:08 --

I think that the main reason is that there are not enough people in the woods. We hunted for 3 days and never saw another hunter.

yep, the deer don't have to move very far to feed.

October lull. Happens every year as the leaves start to drop. Give it another week or so for the deer to adjust and breeding kicks in
Mike

Saw my first nice buck of my work commute today a nice 8 pointer.  It will pick up this week I am sure of it this buck was rutting pretty hard.  

--Last edited by flyfisher on 2009-10-29 09:22:42 --

I just love these excuses.. ie...crazy weather, too many acorns, too few hunters, deer aren't moving, Oct lull, and what happened to the rabbits. ( What happen to the rabbits is simple....neighborhood cats, hawks and many were most likely killed on the road)

Come On Guys....We are now either at, or close to, 10 years into a DMP that was designed to reduce the herd. It's worked.....why are you so surprised?

This is reality!!!!   It's only going to get worse and worse.

I've spent over 60 hours hunting deer since bow season opened. I've seen less than a dozen deer and I know guys that have seen even fewer and spent that much time or more.

You can't see what AIN'T there. I have criticized the PGC big time. I have written letters, made calls, and even stopped by my local Representatives office to ask him to get involved. The PGC is going to do what they want.

I also couldn't understand why the PGC rushed to set doe allocations in April, before one fawn was even born. They had absolutely no info as to this years fawn survival rate. As you will recall we had one of the coldest and wettest springs I can remember and it's my opinion that fawn survival was far below normal years.

About 2 months ago I watched 7 does come into a field and there was not one fawn.

I know I'll be called a “whiner and complainer” That's fine....I'm a big boy and I can handle your name calling, but this is still the way I view things. I'm over 60 years old and I been down the road.

Thanks for allowing me my say.

Nissan

Nissan..
As I wrote.. I am not talking about the guys that are always saying there are no deer...

I'm talking about the ones who were all excited about the season opening because of all the deer they had been seeing all summer....

where did THOSE deer go ???

I talked to George from the meat market last week he has only had 5 deer brought in for processing ....  

--Last edited by Dr Trout on 2009-10-28 14:49:17 --

Quote :

Nissan wrote : I just love these excuses.. ie...crazy weather, too many acorns, too few hunters, deer aren't moving, Oct lull, and what happened to the rabbits. ( What happen to the rabbits is simple....neighborhood cats, hawks and many were most likely killed on the road) Come On Guys....We are now either at, or close to, 10 years into a DMP that was designed to reduce the herd. It's worked.....why are you so surprised? This is reality!!!!   It's only going to get worse and worse. I've spent over 60 hours hunting deer since bow season opened. I've seen less than a dozen deer and I know guys that have seen even fewer and spent that much time or more. You can't see what AIN'T there. I have criticized the PGC big time. I have written letters, made calls, and even stopped by my local Representatives office to ask him to get involved. The PGC is going to do what they want. I also couldn't understand why the PGC rushed to set doe allocations in April, before one fawn was even born. They had absolutely no info as to this years fawn survival rate. As you will recall we had one of the coldest and wettest springs I can remember and it's my opinion that fawn survival was far below normal years. About 2 months ago I watched 7 does come into a field and there was not one fawn. I know I'll be called a “whiner and complainer” That's fine....I'm a big boy and I can handle your name calling, but this is still the way I view things. I'm over 60 years old and I been down the road. Thanks for allowing me my say. Nissan

I think it is a combination of things that have made it harder to find deer right now.

First I will say that there is no question that there are fewer deer then there were back in the old days. Why wouldn’t there be? There would be fewer deer even if hunters never harvested any of them, in fact if hunters hadn’t harvested what they did there would most likely be far fewer then we presently have.

Yes, predators do have an affect on the number of deer people are seeing and I would have to suspect that fact isn’t going to change in the future. Hunters got used to the fact that there were no predators on deer but them and automobiles. But, we now have healthy bear, coyote and bobcat populations. All of those species do prey on fawns and even an occasional adult deer. So, hunters should be able to figure out that with more deer predators them just themselves competing for the deer there will obviously be fewer for the hunters then there once were.

It is also a factor that the deer habitat has changed, and I mean a lot in some areas such as the Allegheny National Forest. When the ANF was forced to quit clear-cutting deer habitat took a HUGE hit and that isn’t ever going to be returned to the old days either. Get used to reality, be cause that is what we all have to deal with, like it or not.

As for why hunters were seeing deer through the summer and aren’t now I think that has a lot to do with the changes in the food supply and preference of the white-tail deer. During the Spring and Summer the deer are much more visible because they use the fields a lot more when there are crops and highly nutritious new growth grasses that are easily available to them. But, as the summer comes to an end so does the new growth that is the most nutritious and preferred by deer. The best grasses become dormant as fall and winter approach but that too is just a nature intends.

Now the best and most nutritious foods are the acorns that blanket pockets of our forested habitats. Also at this time deer start to rely more on the woody browse that is actually the most valuable year round food supply the deer have. Since we now have fewer deer we have enough woody browse the deer don’t have to spend all day looking for enough food to survive. Instead they can live like deer always should have been able to by feeding at night and bedding down to conserve energy during the day. Back in the days when we had way too many deer the deer had to look for food during a lot more of their day and night just to find enough to survive. That made them much more available to hunters during the season. Even though they wanted to be nocturnal when the hunting pressure started they simply couldn’t because they couldn’t find enough food by just looking for food at night. Now deer can be nocturnal when they start feeling the pressure of hunters in their home range.

Now hunters have to learn to hunt deer on the deer’s terms instead of their terms. Those that learn to do that will still pretty good hunting. I have archery hunted a total of eight hours and saw ten deer in those eight hours. Two of those were legal bucks within ten yards that I passed on. I also hunted a total of 17.5 hours in the early muzzleloader season trying to fill DMAP tags. During that time I saw eight deer. I killed one adult doe. All of the other deer that offered me shots were bucks so of course I had to pass on them.

I agree that hunting is harder then it used to be. But, it is still pretty easy for those that take the time and initiative to learn about what deer eat during the various cycles of the seasons and where to look for those natural foods. Though there are fewer deer today, there is a much more natural balance of deer with both their habitat and the natural predator base. It is also still very good hunting for those that actually learned how to hunt instead of just shoot and butcher.  

Dick Bodenhorn

Nissan +1