So- on vacation & doing a little “light reading” while my daughter was snoozing. I’ve been all over the Midwest in 25 years of hunting now. It’s just interesting to think of what I’ve seen happen across the Midwest in these 25 years, one hunter with one set of eyes who cares & pays attention.... I’ve seen huge swings of “good hunting” or high deer #’s and saw things do 180 degree turns in a matter of 3-4 years. Michigan has always been a poster child of the worst hunting I’ve seen over the most consistent period. But even amongst a whole state that’s a total joke- I’ve even witnessed fluctuations in that disaster-zone. I’ve lived in Michigan & understand what “disaster” looks like. In a funny or exaggerated (but true) way- it’s kind of like when I hear the people who fled communism explain how bad it was in their country & warn people here not to follow the same path! 
On the other side of watching “real good” going south fast.... watching 4-5 counties in Illinois I’ve hunted and watched for well over a decade- it’s INCREDIBLE to see how something can go from “so good” to “so bad” in such a small period of time. I quit hunting it about 10-ish years ago and I do have some friends who still luckily manage a few exceptions of good farms - but - it’s rare. Pike co had ZERO b&c entries several years in the past. Which - we all know b&c can also mean lots of guys don’t bother to enter - but for some counties in IL - that’s a staggering shift. Again- I do know some unique good farms but that’s anywhere if done right. You have had a whole year where close to zero B&C bucks are entered in the whole state of MO. That’s insane!!!!! 10x the cover & far more deer. The few guys who dream of maybe seeing a giant- some years that’s all it is for 99.99999% of hunters there (a dream) & may as well buy lottery tickets. That’s wasted potential & mismanagement at its finest!
I look at last B&C chart below- kinda laugh cause there’s so much more to the story..... WI & IA are always compared & called “really close”. BUT no one mentions the fact that WI has 16M acres of forest vs 2.8M in IA!! & the fact that WI has far more deer & hunters. Add the fact that about 2/3rd’s the counties in our state of Iowa really don’t have hardly any of the timber or hunting at all!!! Chart at bottom - a whole lot of almost “deer free counties” with mostly all wide open ag fields & little to no cover period.
To add to WI- I’ve also seen lots of WI go up and down to massive degrees for both: amounts of deer or mature bucks.
I’ve seen these delicate systems be turned upside down. I’ve seen the pendulum swing from “hunters all over” to “no one wants to hunt cause it sucks”. I’ve seen it in Iowa with pheasants in about a 5-7 year period where it took a nose dive off the cliff & never came back. I’ve seen blocks of deer hunting where you would see 50-60 deer a night & 3-4 years later - maybe see 5-6. I’ve witnessed that with my own eyes. Sure: disease, harsh winters, regulation change, ground be taken out of crp, whatever- lots that can happen to cause this.
**IF iowa ever “goes to crap”- I’ll bet my life it’ll be due to politicians & $ - making regulation & law changes - PERIOD. There’s part of the population that “gets this”. Then - you have folks that somehow miss it. You get groups driven by $ or hunters that don’t care & pick up the “next fun sport”.
It’s crazy to see what’s happened to many areas I thought were “amazing” in IL, WI & even a spot I went to when I was younger in KS. How they can be “so good” and in 3-4 years - turn into “I’m never going back” & some of them seem like they really never will come back. In 2001 - few IL farms I hunted were “dang good”. 2005 - “never going back” & my buddies still hunt there and 12 years later- they still suck. Sad.
I’ve seen, no joke, every 1 of 49 other state’s residence in Iowa to hunt for deer. 2.8m acres of timber out of 754 million acres of timber in the US. Folks with fertile states with 10x the timber want to come to Iowa. I’ve seen areas in Iowa go DOWN in quality over the years. I’ve always called it “the pike county effect”...... too many people, resource is exploited & every last good genetic 2 or 3 year old gets pummeled every year - total disaster in the end. I’ve seen areas go that direction in Iowa. Never like IL but I sometimes I wonder if something “big” will change and we follow those paths of disaster. I hope not and like to think not but I don’t know. I don’t know how many people realize what little timber we have here or have witnessed what other states have done to see massive swings in hunting quality & make up of the herd or resource. The pendulum has majorly swung for IL, Some of WI, parts of KS, etc. On other hand- the pendulum has swung in a positive direction for places like IN (vs what it used to be), Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kentucky, etc. - at least improvements.
Not a rant, not a break through, nothing new..... just a minute to think about the facts & think about how we manage things, pass hunting & resources to new hunters. Some thinking on how fast the dynamics can change where a generation enjoyed pheasant hunting where it hardly exists now. Or, the infinite states & counties in northeast US or Northern areas where there is no deer hunting left..... massive pockets where no one even “bothers” anymore. Places that “used to be” the “go to areas”. It’s just nuts to see how the system changes & how fast the pendulum can swing.
This is just my lil deer nerd tangent for today. Look at the data & for the tiny sliver we have
here- how much better it is. Or how easily it could change with just a few bad regulations or laws. Understand other states and the big picture so you can better understand how we can protect things here for generations.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
On the other side of watching “real good” going south fast.... watching 4-5 counties in Illinois I’ve hunted and watched for well over a decade- it’s INCREDIBLE to see how something can go from “so good” to “so bad” in such a small period of time. I quit hunting it about 10-ish years ago and I do have some friends who still luckily manage a few exceptions of good farms - but - it’s rare. Pike co had ZERO b&c entries several years in the past. Which - we all know b&c can also mean lots of guys don’t bother to enter - but for some counties in IL - that’s a staggering shift. Again- I do know some unique good farms but that’s anywhere if done right. You have had a whole year where close to zero B&C bucks are entered in the whole state of MO. That’s insane!!!!! 10x the cover & far more deer. The few guys who dream of maybe seeing a giant- some years that’s all it is for 99.99999% of hunters there (a dream) & may as well buy lottery tickets. That’s wasted potential & mismanagement at its finest!
I look at last B&C chart below- kinda laugh cause there’s so much more to the story..... WI & IA are always compared & called “really close”. BUT no one mentions the fact that WI has 16M acres of forest vs 2.8M in IA!! & the fact that WI has far more deer & hunters. Add the fact that about 2/3rd’s the counties in our state of Iowa really don’t have hardly any of the timber or hunting at all!!! Chart at bottom - a whole lot of almost “deer free counties” with mostly all wide open ag fields & little to no cover period.
To add to WI- I’ve also seen lots of WI go up and down to massive degrees for both: amounts of deer or mature bucks.
I’ve seen these delicate systems be turned upside down. I’ve seen the pendulum swing from “hunters all over” to “no one wants to hunt cause it sucks”. I’ve seen it in Iowa with pheasants in about a 5-7 year period where it took a nose dive off the cliff & never came back. I’ve seen blocks of deer hunting where you would see 50-60 deer a night & 3-4 years later - maybe see 5-6. I’ve witnessed that with my own eyes. Sure: disease, harsh winters, regulation change, ground be taken out of crp, whatever- lots that can happen to cause this.
**IF iowa ever “goes to crap”- I’ll bet my life it’ll be due to politicians & $ - making regulation & law changes - PERIOD. There’s part of the population that “gets this”. Then - you have folks that somehow miss it. You get groups driven by $ or hunters that don’t care & pick up the “next fun sport”.
It’s crazy to see what’s happened to many areas I thought were “amazing” in IL, WI & even a spot I went to when I was younger in KS. How they can be “so good” and in 3-4 years - turn into “I’m never going back” & some of them seem like they really never will come back. In 2001 - few IL farms I hunted were “dang good”. 2005 - “never going back” & my buddies still hunt there and 12 years later- they still suck. Sad.
I’ve seen, no joke, every 1 of 49 other state’s residence in Iowa to hunt for deer. 2.8m acres of timber out of 754 million acres of timber in the US. Folks with fertile states with 10x the timber want to come to Iowa. I’ve seen areas in Iowa go DOWN in quality over the years. I’ve always called it “the pike county effect”...... too many people, resource is exploited & every last good genetic 2 or 3 year old gets pummeled every year - total disaster in the end. I’ve seen areas go that direction in Iowa. Never like IL but I sometimes I wonder if something “big” will change and we follow those paths of disaster. I hope not and like to think not but I don’t know. I don’t know how many people realize what little timber we have here or have witnessed what other states have done to see massive swings in hunting quality & make up of the herd or resource. The pendulum has majorly swung for IL, Some of WI, parts of KS, etc. On other hand- the pendulum has swung in a positive direction for places like IN (vs what it used to be), Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kentucky, etc. - at least improvements.
Not a rant, not a break through, nothing new..... just a minute to think about the facts & think about how we manage things, pass hunting & resources to new hunters. Some thinking on how fast the dynamics can change where a generation enjoyed pheasant hunting where it hardly exists now. Or, the infinite states & counties in northeast US or Northern areas where there is no deer hunting left..... massive pockets where no one even “bothers” anymore. Places that “used to be” the “go to areas”. It’s just nuts to see how the system changes & how fast the pendulum can swing.
This is just my lil deer nerd tangent for today. Look at the data & for the tiny sliver we have
here- how much better it is. Or how easily it could change with just a few bad regulations or laws. Understand other states and the big picture so you can better understand how we can protect things here for generations.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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