|
|
Post by greghopper on Jan 15, 2018 10:41:50 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by mjaburton on Jan 15, 2018 11:03:54 GMT -5
It was an abnormal year with the warmer fall and wet gun season. Also, the frigid temps kept a lot of the hunters inside in the late season.
|
|
|
|
Post by deadeer on Jan 15, 2018 11:22:12 GMT -5
A recipe for better future seasons!
|
|
|
|
Post by MuzzleLoader on Jan 15, 2018 11:27:38 GMT -5
Weather (Wind,rain,snow and ice) definitely changed the outcome of deer numbers. Just read "Live from the Stand". Guys stayed out of the woods a lot this year due to weather.
|
|
|
|
Post by Woody Williams on Jan 15, 2018 12:18:26 GMT -5
Yep... The Monsoon on firearm opening weekend kept a lot of hunters out of the woods and then the extreme cold during the bulk of the "late special antlerless season" kept those numbers down. The last day of the "late special antlerless season" was a warmer good day and deer hunters responded by killing over 1,000 deer.
However there are still some on FaceBook that discount all of this...
|
|
|
|
Post by dbd870 on Jan 15, 2018 12:35:36 GMT -5
Yep... The Monsoon on firearm opening weekend kept a lot of hunters out of the woods and then the extreme cold during the bulk of the "late special antlerless season" kept those numbers down. The last day of the "late special antlerless season" was a warmer good day and deer hunters responded by killing over 1,000 deer. However there are still some on FaceBook that discount all of this... They have an agenda to push and will not let anything get in the way |
|
|
|
Post by boonechaser on Jan 15, 2018 13:18:15 GMT -5
With over 3 months of hunting days I'm not going to blame reduced harvest on a few bad days. Stats show harvest was up on most of other days of firearm's and even muzzy and late antlerless. Come on you really think a few bad days are going to keep a hunter from getting out and getting a deer??? (Very few IMO.) It's a hard sell to most of us to say that Indiana's deer herd is not down when our own DNR has been in a reduction mode for several year's and tells us itself that deer herd number's are down. In all honesty herd levels needed reduced in many areas and probably still do in others. It appears from what I read on most social media sites that areas most affected by planned reduction's have been central and northern parts of state. dbd870 I follow many hunting sites and many social media sites you can call it a 'Agenda" not sure about that??? All most groups or sites I read want is less pressure on antlerless herd AKA: less bonus tags. Of course you have a lot of armchair biologist's that have some pretty drastic ideas to increase the size of deer herd EX. No season 2 year's, 2 bucks no doe's, no firearm season 5 years, etc. etc. but we all know none of these are going to happen. DNR isn't interesting in any big herd increases that I have herd about?? Not much is going to change in our DNR's management model. Expect bonus antlerless tags to continue to be reduced in many counties. Wouldn't be a bit surprised to see a few increased in a few as well. Current herd size is going to be the new normal IMO.
|
|
|
|
Post by tynimiller on Jan 16, 2018 1:10:14 GMT -5
The days after up figured still never made up for the immense loss the opening day took. Would we have beat last year ago knows but gotta believe it did impact numbers.
|
|
|
|
Post by subzero350 on Jan 16, 2018 15:06:39 GMT -5
Come on you really think a few bad days are going to keep a hunter from getting out and getting a deer??? Yes. High winds made it dangerous to be in the stand and we stayed out of the woods on frigid days because we couldn't afford to get sick. Furthermore, I was out driving around on the bad weather days (as well as the good ones) and I can tell you I certainly noticed less hunters' vehicles out on the bad weather days than what I saw on the good weather days. |
|
|
|
Post by whitetaildave24 on Jan 16, 2018 15:31:57 GMT -5
Come on you really think a few bad days are going to keep a hunter from getting out and getting a deer??? Yes. High winds made it dangerous to be in the stand and we stayed out of the woods on frigid days because we couldn't afford to get sick. Furthermore, I was out driving around on the bad weather days (as well as the good ones) and I can tell you I certainly noticed less hunters' vehicles out on the bad weather days than what I saw on the good weather days. But you still went out on the good days to attempt to kill deer, correct? |
|
|
|
Post by beermaker on Jan 16, 2018 16:50:17 GMT -5
Come on you really think a few bad days are going to keep a hunter from getting out and getting a deer??? Yes. High winds made it dangerous to be in the stand and we stayed out of the woods on frigid days because we couldn't afford to get sick. Furthermore, I was out driving around on the bad weather days (as well as the good ones) and I can tell you I certainly noticed less hunters' vehicles out on the bad weather days than what I saw on the good weather days. I agree with subzero. I drive through rural parts of Orange, Washington, Harrison, and Floyd counties to get to and from my lease. I always pay close attention to how many other hunters are out and there just were not that many guys out this year, especially opening day of firearms. |
|
|
|
Post by Woody Williams on Jan 16, 2018 17:11:56 GMT -5
Yes. High winds made it dangerous to be in the stand and we stayed out of the woods on frigid days because we couldn't afford to get sick. Furthermore, I was out driving around on the bad weather days (as well as the good ones) and I can tell you I certainly noticed less hunters' vehicles out on the bad weather days than what I saw on the good weather days. But you still went out on the good days to attempt to kill deer, correct? Some were and some weren't. As we all know there are die hard deer hunters and so called "weekend warriors". In the past some even hunt opening morning and that was it... The Live From The Stand went almost postless during the Christmas week until the end of the "Special Antlerless Season". Very few of even us die hards went out in that or the last of archery. I know I did not... Joe Caudell predicted an above average year, but that prediction went by the way side with the horrendous opening weekend. |
|
|
|
Post by swilk on Jan 16, 2018 17:32:14 GMT -5
I have to believe it did impact the total kill but we can wait 12 or more preferably, 24-36, months to decide for sure.
If next year and the couple after that are back up around that 120k number (+ or - a few) I think we can come closer to a definitive yes or no.
|
|
|
|
Post by thecommissioner on Jan 16, 2018 17:47:54 GMT -5
I 'normally' harvest a deer from my 43 acre property each year. This year I did not. My observations are my own and my report is purely anecdotal, but I suspected a decrease in the number of deer on my acreage. That suspicion was confirmed in the fall when I saw only one line of rubs. In every year prior, I've seen multiple rubs and scrapes all around the property. It was one of those, "Uh oh, something is not right here," moments.
My definition of quality deer hunting is seeing unpressured deer. If I see nothing, that makes for an unfulfilling day regardless of taking a shot. So I decided to forgo the kill with the hope that there will be more sign of deer next year and (hopefully) more deer to see during the hunt.
Incidentally, another purely anecdotal report comes from a landowner a few miles from my place. He doesn't hunt his farm but allows others to hunt. It's been the same hunters for many years. The landowner told me that for the first time in at least 30 years, none of his hunters took a deer off his place. He is blaming coyote depredation of fawns for the local herd decline.
Your mileage may vary.
|
|
|
|
Post by subzero350 on Jan 16, 2018 20:18:06 GMT -5
Yes. High winds made it dangerous to be in the stand and we stayed out of the woods on frigid days because we couldn't afford to get sick. Furthermore, I was out driving around on the bad weather days (as well as the good ones) and I can tell you I certainly noticed less hunters' vehicles out on the bad weather days than what I saw on the good weather days. But you still went out on the good days to attempt to kill deer, correct? I didn't get to go hunting on all the good weather days. There were a number of weekends that the weather was poor that forced me to stay indoors. So I didn't make it out into the stands as many times as I would have liked. In other words, weather did play a factor. You can call me a "weekend warrior" if you want, but my workload was so high I couldn't take time off of work during the week to go hunting. I wish I could have. |
|
|
|
Post by jjas on Jan 16, 2018 21:05:54 GMT -5
But you still went out on the good days to attempt to kill deer, correct? Some were and some weren't. As we all know there are die hard deer hunters and so called "weekend warriors". In the past some even hunt opening morning and that was it... The Live From The Stand went almost postless during the Christmas week until the end of the "Special Antlerless Season". Very few of even us die hards went out in that or the last of archery. I know I did not... Joe Caudell predicted an above average year, but that prediction went by the way side with the horrendous opening weekend. The reality is....as compared to last year we were up in early archery. Up in the muzzleloader season, up in the late antlerless season and up in the last 15 days of the firearms season ... Day one of the firearms season was a giant train wreck weather wise, AND...no one other day in the firearms season EVER totals more than day one...It just doesn't happen and it can't all be made up. |
|
|
|
Post by boonechaser on Jan 17, 2018 0:21:45 GMT -5
Early Archery had a extra week of hunting and during rut. Same with late antler less season which had a extra week this year compared to last. Both should have been up with the additional week. No doubt weather hurt opening weekend firearms but much ,not all was made up over remainder of season. Hard to compare apples to apples when you have extra days to hunt. I think if you go back and compare 2015 to 2016 using same number of days early archery was a wash (even) and late antlerless was down.
|
|
|
|
Post by steiny on Jan 18, 2018 16:02:57 GMT -5
If there aren't as many around, there won't be as many killed. I think the harvest numbers are pretty much on target for what the DNR wants, gradual reduction of the herd.
Yea, we had some wet weather opening weekend but there is always some sort of weather issue during the season that could be blamed for poor hunting. I'd be surprised if we don't see lower harvest numbers next year too.
As recently as 5-7 years ago it was not unusual for me to have 30-40 deer in my food plots every evening this time of year (cold January, February). Lucky to see 15-20 anymore. The deer just are not around in the numbers they used to be.
|
|
|
|
Post by jjas on Jan 18, 2018 16:45:40 GMT -5
Steiny
I'd buy the argument if it weren't for the fact that the last 15 days of the firearms season was up as compared to last year.
And as far as lower harvest numbers next year....barring a big EHD outbreak (or some other catastrophic event), I see the numbers going back up to the 120,000-125,000 range.
Who's right? Time will tell.
|
|
