2011 Outdoor Life National Deer Hunting Forecast
We look at deer herd health, harvest numbers, new regulations and trophy potential in all 50 states.
It's been a strange year so far for deer herds. First, regions in the Northeast and Northwest were crushed by a long, brutal winter. Then the South was drowned by floodwaters in the spring. Huge stretches of land in the Southwest spent the summer burning in wildfires or baking under severe drought. How have deer herds fared through it all? Excellent in some cases, poor in others. To read about why deer numbers are down in some regions go to: Are We Killing Too Many Does? AdvertisementRelated PhotosSUBMIT YOUR PHOTOSADVERTISEMENTAdvertisement |
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Comments (16)
The WI DNR needs to get a better system for counting the deer heard. They think that selling unlimited $2 doe tags is going to help. NO! Our harvest numbers are down due to predators and how the DNR can't seem to get an accurate count on our herd size. The DNR thinks that coyotes, wolves, and bear have no significant effect on the deer herd. Well guess what they are wrong again. WI has some of the best hunting around in my opinion, but the DNR is destroying that with the way they are trying to manage the herd population.
In Wisconsin we are on the right track dropping earn a buck requirement. Many of us ending up shooting anterless deer we never wanted to shoot, just to be able to shoot a nice buck. Great recap in the article. Keep up the usefull information.
"Nothing serious" about E.H. disease in Missouri UNLESS you happened to live in an area impacted. Our 1600 acre tract covers six farms and we saw the harvest in 2010 drop to one buck and three does for 24 hunters. The year previous we estimated the harvest at five bucks and twelve does. Five miles away the harvest was normal.
Indiana set another record hooray.now if they would start listening to the hunters who are complaining that they are seeing doe herds dropping from 12-15 8yrs ago to 3-4 in certain counties ranked for high bonus doe tags we won't have to bring deer in to fix population problems down the road.It's called conservation for a reason.
No offense, but these graphs are pretty bad. For example, on the Ohio graph, the bar that shows the harvest for '09 is over double the height of the '10 bar, but numbers-wise, the harvest was only about 11 percent higher. You're just showing the very tops of the graphs, which is confusing and kind of defeats their purpose...
i do hope this earn and buck program we now have in nebraska pans out but right now its killing me and many other hunters in my part of the state. we live on the northern edge of Elkhorn and the southern edge of missouri units yes they have tons of deer along the rivers. but for those of us caught in the middle no such luck
There has been some major decreases in harvests but how about putting these all on the same scale rather than trying to accentuate the differences that are sometimes minor. Doesn't help your credibility.
Keep in mind that these numbers are deer harvested and not the actual deer population. Who knows, Florida could have more deer than any other state but have the fewest hunters. I was surprised to see Kansas where it is. My wife took out three last year with her buick (my brother asked to borrow it for this year!!)
Truth is, I think that auto casualties should factor in there somewhere to get an even better idea of deer population.
To Jh45gun--WI has a whole bunch of areas open for unlimited $2 doe tags this year. Everyone gets a doe tag with both gun AND bow license. Last year extremely limited tags----this year ALL you want. DNR does not have a clue. Deer kill down 33%. Wolf numbers up big over last 4 years in northern part of state----funny no mention of predators for any of the states.
@TheITguy, this is true since we do not have a tag system for private lands and the coastal deer I hunt are more like rabbits.
I think that is horrible that
ohio went to the phone call in. I think that its just a bigger chance for more poachers. That really effects big buck growers.
. "Deer harvest numbers in Wisconsin have been sliding for years, which has frustrated many hunters. From 2006 to 2010 the harvest dropped by about 33 percent."
What the report did not say is why. The DNR With its early doe seasons and giving doe tags like candy for both gun and archery seasons have really put a hurt on the herd. Yea I am as guilty as the rest Mea Culpa for using multiple doe tags as was a lot of WI hunters and non residents. For a while WI had enough deer that you did not notice the numbers going down then it started to add up. It is gonna take a while to get back to good hunting again I only hope the DNR pays more attention to the hunters and not its desk jockey's.
Just a heads up, 23 DMUs are closed to antlerless hunting in all of Michigan this year... not 3.
Glad to see that Pa is #5 but I'm really concerned about the forest health comment. Fair might be optimistic. At least Mr. Feaser recognizes that there is an issue.
@floridahunter, did you miss the "Florida does not do harvest counts".
How can you rank a state that does not keep track or provide statistics?
WoW. My state ranks Last. How is that possible
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. "Deer harvest numbers in Wisconsin have been sliding for years, which has frustrated many hunters. From 2006 to 2010 the harvest dropped by about 33 percent."
What the report did not say is why. The DNR With its early doe seasons and giving doe tags like candy for both gun and archery seasons have really put a hurt on the herd. Yea I am as guilty as the rest Mea Culpa for using multiple doe tags as was a lot of WI hunters and non residents. For a while WI had enough deer that you did not notice the numbers going down then it started to add up. It is gonna take a while to get back to good hunting again I only hope the DNR pays more attention to the hunters and not its desk jockey's.
To Jh45gun--WI has a whole bunch of areas open for unlimited $2 doe tags this year. Everyone gets a doe tag with both gun AND bow license. Last year extremely limited tags----this year ALL you want. DNR does not have a clue. Deer kill down 33%. Wolf numbers up big over last 4 years in northern part of state----funny no mention of predators for any of the states.
In Wisconsin we are on the right track dropping earn a buck requirement. Many of us ending up shooting anterless deer we never wanted to shoot, just to be able to shoot a nice buck. Great recap in the article. Keep up the usefull information.
WoW. My state ranks Last. How is that possible
@floridahunter, did you miss the "Florida does not do harvest counts".
How can you rank a state that does not keep track or provide statistics?
Glad to see that Pa is #5 but I'm really concerned about the forest health comment. Fair might be optimistic. At least Mr. Feaser recognizes that there is an issue.
@TheITguy, this is true since we do not have a tag system for private lands and the coastal deer I hunt are more like rabbits.
i do hope this earn and buck program we now have in nebraska pans out but right now its killing me and many other hunters in my part of the state. we live on the northern edge of Elkhorn and the southern edge of missouri units yes they have tons of deer along the rivers. but for those of us caught in the middle no such luck
Indiana set another record hooray.now if they would start listening to the hunters who are complaining that they are seeing doe herds dropping from 12-15 8yrs ago to 3-4 in certain counties ranked for high bonus doe tags we won't have to bring deer in to fix population problems down the road.It's called conservation for a reason.
I think that is horrible that
ohio went to the phone call in. I think that its just a bigger chance for more poachers. That really effects big buck growers.
There has been some major decreases in harvests but how about putting these all on the same scale rather than trying to accentuate the differences that are sometimes minor. Doesn't help your credibility.
No offense, but these graphs are pretty bad. For example, on the Ohio graph, the bar that shows the harvest for '09 is over double the height of the '10 bar, but numbers-wise, the harvest was only about 11 percent higher. You're just showing the very tops of the graphs, which is confusing and kind of defeats their purpose...
Just a heads up, 23 DMUs are closed to antlerless hunting in all of Michigan this year... not 3.
The WI DNR needs to get a better system for counting the deer heard. They think that selling unlimited $2 doe tags is going to help. NO! Our harvest numbers are down due to predators and how the DNR can't seem to get an accurate count on our herd size. The DNR thinks that coyotes, wolves, and bear have no significant effect on the deer herd. Well guess what they are wrong again. WI has some of the best hunting around in my opinion, but the DNR is destroying that with the way they are trying to manage the herd population.
Keep in mind that these numbers are deer harvested and not the actual deer population. Who knows, Florida could have more deer than any other state but have the fewest hunters. I was surprised to see Kansas where it is. My wife took out three last year with her buick (my brother asked to borrow it for this year!!)
Truth is, I think that auto casualties should factor in there somewhere to get an even better idea of deer population.
"Nothing serious" about E.H. disease in Missouri UNLESS you happened to live in an area impacted. Our 1600 acre tract covers six farms and we saw the harvest in 2010 drop to one buck and three does for 24 hunters. The year previous we estimated the harvest at five bucks and twelve does. Five miles away the harvest was normal.
Post a Comment (200 characters or less)