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Shed Buck Competition!! Get em!

risto2351 said:
Justin,
I have a question for you.

Do you really think the extra seasons have done their job yet around you or are you just saying that to protect the shed bucks.

Be nice though I know where you live. :grin:
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Tony I firmly believe deer #'s are 50% maybe less of what they were 4-5 years ago. Which is great now let's keep them where they are.

Were you referring to where I live as my home or work because technically I probably spend more time at this damn shop than my home. So ya you do know where I live...:moon:
 
jjohnson said:
Tony I firmly believe deer #'s are 50% maybe less of what they were 4-5 years ago. Which is great now let's keep them where they are.

Were you referring to where I live as my home or work because technically I probably spend more time at this damn shop than my home. So ya you do know where I live...:moon:
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I will completely second this one! 50% is probably a very good estimation. I spend as much or more time at this addiction than anyone I know and I can take anyone of you guys for a ride any night of the week through areas that 4 years ago would have 30 to 100 deer in any given field, now.... I can take you for that same ride and maybe show you 30 total. The hunting here in NE Iowa is still pretty good don't get me wrong, but if it continues this way for much longer........YIKES. These seasons have totally served their purpose and were worth while in getting numbers down, but they need to cease for awhile. I truly think that the way things are now is not healthy for the overall herd. We are at the point that a few farms have the majority of the deer. The die hard deer hunters are food plotting and leaving standing crops and ending up with sanctuaries (myself included). This is what it is coming to now, and I hate to see it, but I will continue to have a healthy deer herd on the farms I hunt, because I will not join the rest of the sheep and follow the "kill em all" attitude that many people have adopted here. These doe seasons need to be put on hold for a few years.
 
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jjohnson said:
Tony I firmly believe deer #'s are 50% maybe less of what they were 4-5 years ago. Which is great now let's keep them where they are.

Were you referring to where I live as my home or work because technically I probably spend more time at this damn shop than my home. So ya you do know where I live...:moon:
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GregBickal said:
Heck after all the flack I get, I dont even want to talk about the does I shoot anymore.
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Don't be so down Greg, we still love ya!

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I think this is a good debate and I appreciate your passion. Hunting deer this late in the year doesn't make sense to me, give the poor things a break.

As they say, all politics are local, I think alot of people don't care as much about this because it isn't happening where they hunt. You make some good points and I agree with you on most of them.
 
jjohnson said:
Tony I firmly believe deer #'s are 50% maybe less of what they were 4-5 years ago. Which is great now let's keep them where they are.

Were you referring to where I live as my home or work because technically I probably spend more time at this damn shop than my home. So ya you do know where I live...:moon:
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I agree that they are down but they still need to come down some more.

I am not one of those people that have to see 20-30 deer a sit. (Not saying you are). But some are. I do think not much will change next year in your area except maybe they will do away with the Late Nov. season.
I hope I am wrong.

I do agree with you though on keeping those that do trespass, poach etc. at bay and home for the rest of the year.

The one thing I do wonder though is are people basing how many deer they are seeing by what others are saying or are they actually hunting more than two weekends a year? Not everyone is the same.


As far as where you live, work whatever trust me I will find you. :drink2:
 
dedgeez said:
I will completely second this one! 50% is probably a very good estimation. I spend as much or more time at this addiction than anyone I know and I can take anyone of you guys for a ride any night of the week through areas that 4 years ago would have 30 to 100 deer in any given field, now.... I can take you for that same ride and maybe show you 30 total. The hunting here in NE Iowa is still pretty good don't get me wrong, but if it continues this way for much longer........YIKES. These seasons have totally served their purpose and were worth while in getting numbers down, but they need to cease for awhile. I truly think that the way things are now is not healthy for the overall herd. We are at the point that a few farms have the majority of the deer. The die hard deer hunters are food plotting and leaving standing crops and ending up with sanctuaries (myself included). This is what it is coming to now, and I hate to see it, but I will continue to have a healthy deer herd on the farms I hunt, because I will not join the rest of the sheep and follow the "kill em all" attitude that many people have adopted here. These doe seasons need to be put on hold for a few years.
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Dedgeez,

Are you in the same are as JJ?

Yes there are pockets of a lot of deer which will disburse to other areas come spring.

Now how do we take care of those pockets which will migrate to other areas?

As far as the season hopefully the weather will be too bad so many will not go out and keep the shed bucks and does safe.

Everyone just needs to be careful and identify their target and let the nubbies and shed bucks through.
 
When the deer migrate to the sanctuaries, that is where the tresspassers go. I hunt in SW Iowa, and every one thinks that there are just tons of deer. Well, from where I actually live in Northern Iowa, there are a lot more. But there were many nights me and a buddy would see maybe 1 deer. I hunted all but one weekend of this year bowhunting. Thats 3 day weekends every weekend. Its pretty hard to say that the late season needs to stay when you are only seeing 1 or 2 deer in a day. Thats hunting both morning at night. Yeah, 5-6 years ago when I started hunting down there, it wasnt uncommon at all to see 30-40 deer each sit morning and night. Now the numbers are way down, but I feel the herd is healthy and not to thin. But it needs to stop, before it gets way to low.
 
risto2351 said:
I agree that they are down but they still need to come down some more.

I am not one of those people that have to see 20-30 deer a sit. (Not saying you are). But some are. I do think not much will change next year in your area except maybe they will do away with the Late Nov. season.
I hope I am wrong.

I do agree with you though on keeping those that do trespass, poach etc. at bay and home for the rest of the year.

The one thing I do wonder though is are people basing how many deer they are seeing by what others are saying or are they actually hunting more than two weekends a year? Not everyone is the same.


As far as where you live, work whatever trust me I will find you. :drink2:
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Tony I disagree that they need to come down more. You are basing your observations around a very small area? I talk to hundreds and hundreds of FARMERS and hunters around this area and with no exaderation (spelling) 90% of the people are saying "Man we're just not seeing the deer this year." Most of the farmers could care less and were imo the ones that always exaderate and say there's way to many deer and they're destroying my crops. Not 1 and I mean not 1 farmer that I talked to complained about crop damage or to many deer this year.

I heard lots of things like I used to see 20-30-40 deer back in the corner of my hayfield but this year the most I've seen is 12. Or we always pushed 30-40 deer out of that drive and this year we saw 15 deer.

I've talked to very few that said Oh there's still plenty of deer. Usually the next sentence out of their mouth is go drive by John Doe's tonight. He's got 70 deer coming to his sileage bags. Well yeah no sh!!. 80% of the corn fields got turned over this fall, most farm ponds were froze over in mid Nov. this year, not to mention 30+ inches of snow on the ground since the second week of December. You better believe the deer are grouped up. These few places that have that many deer are pulling 80% of the deer off of a few square miles.

The deer are not there. Again I don't think it's a bad thing but there's absolutely no reason to keep the extra doe seasons going. I also agree that we need to give them a break. 3 months of hunting pressure is enough.
 
risto2351 said:
Dedgeez,

Are you in the same are as JJ?

Yes there are pockets of a lot of deer which will disburse to other areas come spring.

Now how do we take care of those pockets which will migrate to other areas?

As far as the season hopefully the weather will be too bad so many will not go out and keep the shed bucks and does safe.

Everyone just needs to be careful and identify their target and let the nubbies and shed bucks through.
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I'm close, Decorah area. I hunt all over, with the main farms being clermont area along the turkey river, Fayette area along the Volga river, and alot around Decorah as well as Highlandville.

I still see decent numbers up North, but the fayette farm has very few deer left. The farmer has around 2500 acres and saw 12 deer this year while combining. The first year I hunted it, it was nothing to see 15 plus deer in one sit. Even up North the numbers are drastically down. It's very alarming how few deer are running around on some of the farms that were loaded less than 4 years ago.

I do spend alot of time over by the Heritage in Allamakee where a couple of friends have great farms and it's the same story there as well.

We lost alot of snow up here 2 weeks ago, so Im sure they will be getting pounded during this late season. I spoke with 3 guys at the EVA archery shoot last weekend that had "accidentally" shot shed buck already. There is still an old school mentality around most of this area, where the farmers really don't care about deer, so it doesn't matter what it is or when it gets shot as long as it's gone. They love these seasons and aren't even concerned with deer numbers. I've said it before and I will say it again, that the guys on this sight are a major minority when it comes to deer hunting and actually caring if we have deer to hunt in 10 years. There is a small # of hunters that do most of the talking, and that really needs to change if we want things to get better.
 
risto2351 said:
.
one thing I do wonder though is are people basing how many deer they are seeing by what others are saying or are they actually hunting more than two weekends a year? Not everyone is the same.

I often wonder this myself, but as I stated earlier, myself and some of the guys that I hang out with, spend as much if not more time at this than anyone I have met. It is truly a 365 day a year sickness. I KNOW what is going on in my area, and it is alarming. I agree that the numbers are probably at the desired rate now, but another year or two of bad winters, doe seasons, and early crop harvest and we will be doing alot of fishing.
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There is still an old school mentality around most of this area, where the farmers really don't care about deer, so it doesn't matter what it is or when it gets shot as long as it's gone. They love these seasons and aren't even concerned with deer numbers.
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Just playing Devil's advocate for a bit......why is that "old school mentality"? In reality it is their livelihood. I hunt property where anyone who asks gets permission for this reason alone, the landowner is a rancher not a deer hunter. His livelihood relies on the amount of alfalfa bales he can put up every summer to get his cattle through 8 months of feeding. This supply is in jeopardy through the animals that feed on it every night during the growing season and destroy it while in haystacks and feed yards. I can't really blame him for wanting deer shot even if deep down I'd like to see less deer killed.

I do believe I read a harvest post on here where someone stated they were seeing 30-60 deer a night on their plot. If there is indeed a problem then situations as this are not going to make anyone think there aren't any deer.
 
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Most of the farmers I know with that attitude don"t hunt and never have. They want all wildlife dead, deer, turkeys, coons, beaver, if it eats corn it should die. I know one farmer like this and the only thing we can't shoot on his land is bobcats because he is convinced they are thinning out the turkeys. Alot of the younger farmers I know hunt and have a little more appreciation for wildlife.
 
SaskGuy said:
Just playing Devil's advocate for a bit......why is that "old school mentality"? In reality it is their livelihood. I hunt property where anyone who asks gets permission for this reason alone, the landowner is a rancher not a deer hunter. His livelihood relies on the amount of alfalfa bales he can put up every summer to get his cattle through 8 months of feeding. This supply is in jeopardy through the animals that feed on it every night during the growing season and destroy it while in haystacks and feed yards. I can't really blame him for wanting deer shot even if deep down I'd like to see less deer killed.

I do believe I read a harvest post on here where someone stated they were seeing 30-60 deer a night on their plot. If there is indeed a problem then situations as this are not going to make anyone think there aren't any deer.
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You are 100% correct on this. You have to understand that where I am from the deer hunting tradition runs so deep that everyone there hunts. They close schools on opening day, and you certainly do not ask permission to hunt. So even the farmers who are making their livings are deer hunters and passionate at that. So I was taken back when I moved to this area and was told to "shoot every deer you see" by the first landowner I approached. Corn and Beans are big business and you are correct that I am to quick to assume that it is an old school mentality. I stand corrected on my usage of the term.

As far as the 30 - 60 deer a night on a food plot. This is what JJohnson and I are talking about when certain people say the numbers are fine, but they aren't looking past their own noses. Sure I could show you a farm tonight that has 70 deer in the field. Then I will proceed to drive you around the sections next to it and show you 0. If a guy was hunting that farm(which I do) he would say that the deer population is great, and at the same time all the neighbors are saying that there are no deer left. You see what I'm getting at? It's a tough predicament that Iowa is in with many opinions on how to fix it. But I don't have the answers, except the obvious, which is to do away with some of these "antlerless" seasons. If that farmer lets everyone come shoot those 70 deer(which he does) then there won't be any to disperse in the spring. That is one of the biggest problems with this season. The deer are herded up so people automatically think that the numbers are skewed to the plus side. It's kind of like the mountain lion being shot in Iowa last fall, now all of the sudden there is one on every farm. My point is you need credibility from the DNR's aerial surveys, spotlight surveys, and car/deer surveys. They don't tell you where they do them so their is no credibility on the true herd numbers. Wow am I rambling, sorry
 
Dedgeez- well said!! Also...

Large farms owned by wealthy guys will always have a different herd than avg farms- they have som$e ability to decide deer #'s and managent and can choose to do nothing- no deer will b shot- little will ever fix that. That is a fraction of our farms and if u own/hunt by that u will see lots of deer. Could b different 2 miles from there

QUESTION for you all...
1) If this season is not adjusted- do u think it could have similar results of Wisconsins Earn-a-buck program? In WI- huge landowners weren't impacted as bad BUT the average farm was decimated. Whole groups and organiztions worked together to speak out that there were very few deer (many folks will say they often go out without seeing a deer- it was bad). There was public out-cry. The DNR finally realized they made a big misake, admitted it and did away with the season. Could this season b similar?? Or am I wrong?

2) Do u feel this season could fit into a Government program/idea with "good intentions" that we r now feeling all the unintended consequnces??? Side note- Maybe their motives possibly had some other unneeded interests (unneeded in my opinion)- $, insurance companies, lobbying, etc?

Do u feel this season has a big part to do with outcry from many on: low deer sightings, low buck sightings or low mature buck sightings?? Ok- from what vast majority said so far, I'd say the answer is yes.


I know I'm repeating myself but want some thoughts/feedback on ur opinions.
 
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Skip, I'll be honest, the whole idea of a rifle season for antlerless deer at this time seems silly. I can see the negative side for sure. I wouldn't begrudge anyone for taking part but can see your beef from way up here. However, is it completely assanine of me to still wonder if the 3 bucks per resident landowner and 2 per regular joe are not more impacting the buck sightings than the "shed buck" season?
 
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