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Harvest Numbers

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newfarmer

Well-Known Member
I just checked and saw that harvest numbers are 87,337- so do we think we are going to break 100,000- or is this exactly what is needed for the DNR to just start dropping doe tags? Do you think they can react now? Because I feel like if we dont break 100,000, we more than likely wont next year- and then the cycle starts of low numbers. Any thoughts, insight, just general good debate on it?

In all reality, it was by far the worst year for numbers of deer seen for me and several of my buddies- none of us shotgun hunt, but are in the woods alot. I travel all over Iowa on a weekly basis and saw the fewest numbers I have seen in a very long time, and never saw the usual bucks pinned down out in fields. Concerned that maybe we wont have the fawn crop next year either.
 
I've been watching the counties I hunt as well, and the numbers are alarming but to be honest this is my first year watching them numbers trickle in so I'm not sure how this compares to this same time last year? I'd have to think that the bulk of the harvest is reported, and the entire state is down. I have heard a lot of reports that match yours newfarmer and I just hope the hunters and DNR do what's right for the herd. My biggest fear is that this just plays into the CWD playbook of killing all the deer before they die from CWD. That being said, I honestly could care less about CWD amid the perpetual waves of EHD.
 
As of ( right at dark) tonight, there were about 150 deer across the river 1/2 mile east of me and another 75 or so 1/4 miles north of me.
I'm the only one that has done ANY habitat improvement.
Fearful that all my hard work is gonna be destroyed with those kind of numbers.
Am super happy with the amount of nice bucks around though.

Winter here was insanely mild last year and is also so far this year.

Winter severity is by far our most contributing factor on deer #s.

Merry Christmas to all of you.:cool:
 
Bucksnbears said:
As of ( right at dark) tonight, there were about 150 deer across the river 1/2 mile east of me and another 75 or so 1/4 miles north of me.
I'm the only one that has done ANY habitat improvement.
Fearful that all my hard work is gonna be destroyed with those kind of numbers.
Am super happy with the amount of nice bucks around though.

Winter here was insanely mild last year and is also so far this year.

Winter severity is by far our most contributing factor on deer #s.

Merry Christmas to all of you.:cool:
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If winter severity is the most contributing factor and last year was mild, what explains the statewide dip this year. I'd have placed every cent I own on EHD but I'm always open other perspectives. In talking with the game warden in the area I hunt he also thinks EHD is the controlling factor in herd health right now.
 
Bucksnbears said:
Tim, I'm in Nw Mn.
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Gotcha, that makes way more sense to my simple mind now! I live in MN as well but more Central and although less frequently than you guy sup there, we definitely see winterkill. Kinda sucks, we have food, no wolves but too little cover and you guys have cover with less food and wolves.
 
Dnr’s new article involves a lot of common sense. Thanks to Jace Elliot of the DNR. I’ve had several meetings/discussions with Jace on EHD, approach to cwd, doe tags, etc. Extremely impressed.
Give u a LONG story short on EHD….
Several states have done “dead deer recovery studies” & the best data/results they have seen is a 10% recovery rate. Using the absolute best data, iowa dnr estimated that with 3,000 ehd cases (now 3,100 as of TODAY) is actually no less than 30,000. & that doesn’t even factor in people finding them but not reporting. I’d argue we are closer to 50,000++ actual cases.
We are slightly above 2023 ehd reports. Bummer. Which means, at bare bones, we are at 30,000 loss x 2 years, 60,000 bare bones conservative. Again, most likely 100,000+++ dead in 2 years. With a deer herd under 500,000…. This is not minimal.
Our harvest will be down in 2024. But with guys that “still find a deer to shoot”‘with legal tags…. The reality is, we have drastically reduced our population & harvest data will lag behind on showing the reality of how many less deer there are.
We need immediate reductions in doe tags. We need shed buck season GONE. At this pace…. We will likely be down for harvest in 2024 & the trajectory down will continue for at least 1-3 more years if nothing changes. The sky isn’t falling. But we have some real issues and challenges & we need the dnr & legislator to continue to react. They are doing a good job (more so DNR).
I can’t repeat this enough: we need to tell the story to EVERYONE (hunter, non-hunter, your legislator, etc…. EHD is devastating our state & CWD should all but be shelved ACCEPT funding to funding cure/resistance. CWD is NOT our big issue (other than government reaction to it). EHD is!!!

LINK TO DNR article…. EXCELLENT…

Dec. 23 Iowa Outdoors

content.govdelivery.com content.govdelivery.com
 
Tim Tracy said:
If winter severity is the most contributing factor and last year was mild, what explains the statewide dip this year. I'd have placed every cent I own on EHD but I'm always open other perspectives. In talking with the game warden in the area I hunt he also thinks EHD is the controlling factor in herd health right now.
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Did you miss the 16" of snow in January that was followed by 5-6 days straight of negative high temps? Food is covered deep and body heat loss was rapid. That was rough on the herd and widespread
 
8bitnes said:
Did you miss the 16" of snow in January that was followed by 5-6 days straight of negative high temps? Food is covered deep and body heat loss was rapid. That was rough on the herd and widespread
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There was only 2 days with negative highs. Funny how we remember it being way worse than it actually was. :D

About a week that really sucked, but followed quickly by a substantial warmup -especially for mid January norms. I feel like overall it really was a pretty easy winter with little to no effect on the herd. Just my personal observation....


Screenshot_20241225-193240.png
 
Wapsi Tree Rat said:
There was only 2 days with negative highs. Funny how we remember it being way worse than it actually was. :D

About a week that really sucked, but followed quickly by a substantial warmup -especially for mid January norms. I feel like overall it really was a pretty easy winter with little to no effect on the herd. Just my personal observation....


View attachment 129020
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I remember it as an easy winter with only 1 week of real cold. I was doing dirt work in February with no frost in the ground.
 
Wapsi Tree Rat said:
There was only 2 days with negative highs. Funny how we remember it being way worse than it actually was. :D

About a week that really sucked, but followed quickly by a substantial warmup -especially for mid January norms. I feel like overall it really was a pretty easy winter with little to no effect on the herd. Just my personal observation....


View attachment 129020
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I was factoring in the wind chill. So add the 13th, 16th, 19th, and 20th. 6 of 8 days subzero with food fully blanketed and in many areas iced over due to the weather that started on the 12th.
I remember it a little better since I drove over 25 hours throughout the event, blowing a leak into the overworked heater core in my truck, and then I found five mature bucks a month later that succumbed to it

Beyond that, yes, a very mild winter. Even up north the MN resorts really struggled to get safe ice. But, going a full week without reliable food and warmth is not good for mature bucks shortly following the rut
 
My Taxidermist has a pretty good business, and to this point he thinks he s going to be down 15-20% this was a little while ago before the 2nd gun season.
2 different lockers I ve dealt with said similar things, deer numbers down.

The brown is down crews have to quit shooting everything. They shoot them all sometimes, fawns they could care a less. Drive to public land and look in the back of trucks it is sickening to me, a guy that let's a tremendous amount of deer walk.
I know no one wants to be told to do, but if it keeps up the deer numbers will continue to slide.

Me personally with the food and habitat improvements I've done, and the sanctuary type of farm I've established I will always have the deer, it's the shoot everything crowd that is hurting themselves.
 
Trapshooter1 said:
My Taxidermist has a pretty good business, and to this point he thinks he s going to be down 15-20% this was a little while ago before the 2nd gun season.
2 different lockers I ve dealt with said similar things, deer numbers down.

The brown is down crews have to quit shooting everything. They shoot them all sometimes, fawns they could care a less. Drive to public land and look in the back of trucks it is sickening to me, a guy that let's a tremendous amount of deer walk.
I know no one wants to be told to do, but if it keeps up the deer numbers will continue to slide.

Me personally with the food and habitat improvements I've done, and the sanctuary type of farm I've established I will always have the deer, it's the shoot everything crowd that is hurting themselves.
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IMO...shotgunners have their place when numbers are high, almost doing what mother nature will do without. It's when you couple it with something as devastating as EHD is when it's a problem. Don't get it twisted, the shoot everything crowd is just a tool for the DNR. The DNR can't stop EHD but they can slow issuing tags and they can tweak the seasons. Even well insulated farms will feel the lower numbers with the backing and filling of of lower population areas. All ships will rise and fall with the tide, or at least to some degree. Throw an EHD bomb in the middle of that property and feel just how vulnerable you really are.
 
the battle over how many deer are shot is: COMPLEX to some but actually very SIMPLE if u work through it…
DNR often wants to reduce tags & deer shooting. The legislator OFTEN over rules them. They over rule them BECAUSE they are lobbied, donations & massive influence from Farm Bureau (& secondarily corn & soybean growers associations). The more the voters, hunters & conservation groups back the DNR & “the right thing for resource” - we can change things. DNR usually wants to do what’s right.
HUNTERS- there’s very loosely 2 groups (more complex but we can make this simple)…. #1: concerned about resource. Take what’s responsible. Give back. Do what’s biologically sound. “I CARE”. #2: if it’s legal it’s fine. How much can I take? If it’s brown it’s down. “I wanna BLAST!”. “Don’t u dare tell me what I can do!!!” “Kill em all”. “ME ME ME”. Or as simple as “I have no clue about deer management or what I’m doing- not my fault - just a casual dude wanting to do some hunting” (nothing wrong with that as we all START there - just doesn’t mean we can’t progress or become more educated).

I’ll totally admit- there’s a portion of hunters that piss me off with their stupid comments. That last post on FB/IG to the GENERAL PUBLIC…. 75%+++ was great, positive & understanding of my message of true caring & concern. Remaining % are that other crowd: no education or care. Offended at the world … probably get mad when they are not called the proper pronouns. Not real sharp, no common sense & never gonna care. With that part of any population - that is EXACTLY why regulations trump all!!! Regulations are the only thing keeping the average human population from ruining a resource. Why iowa can have maniacs that are would kill deer 365 - 24/7 with any weapon if u could. REGULATIONS define all!!!!
Long long ADHD ramble short bottom line: we must influence regulations. This happens LITERALLY by joining & participating with IBA & ISC. Educating the public & getting a larger % to understand regs, basic ecology & biology. Educating so people CARE about the resource. EMPOWERING the DNR so they have MORE say than the legislator. Legislator RIGHT NOW probably has more say. That changed thanks to Brandstad selling us & them out. We need more power to DNR & the more we join & grow IBA/isc & public awareness… the more power & political capital the DNR has.
Sorry on the rant. Have a great rest of week!
 
Sligh1 said:
the battle over how many deer are shot is: COMPLEX to some but actually very SIMPLE if u work through it…
DNR often wants to reduce tags & deer shooting. The legislator OFTEN over rules them. They over rule them BECAUSE they are lobbied, donations & massive influence from Farm Bureau (& secondarily corn & soybean growers associations). The more the voters, hunters & conservation groups back the DNR & “the right thing for resource” - we can change things. DNR usually wants to do what’s right.
HUNTERS- there’s very loosely 2 groups (more complex but we can make this simple)…. #1: concerned about resource. Take what’s responsible. Give back. Do what’s biologically sound. “I CARE”. #2: if it’s legal it’s fine. How much can I take? If it’s brown it’s down. “I wanna BLAST!”. “Don’t u dare tell me what I can do!!!” “Kill em all”. “ME ME ME”. Or as simple as “I have no clue about deer management or what I’m doing- not my fault - just a casual dude wanting to do some hunting” (nothing wrong with that as we all START there - just doesn’t mean we can’t progress or become more educated).

I’ll totally admit- there’s a portion of hunters that piss me off with their stupid comments. That last post on FB/IG to the GENERAL PUBLIC…. 75%+++ was great, positive & understanding of my message of true caring & concern. Remaining % are that other crowd: no education or care. Offended at the world … probably get mad when they are not called the proper pronouns. Not real sharp, no common sense & never gonna care. With that part of any population - that is EXACTLY why regulations trump all!!! Regulations are the only thing keeping the average human population from ruining a resource. Why iowa can have maniacs that are would kill deer 365 - 24/7 with any weapon if u could. REGULATIONS define all!!!!
Long long ADHD ramble short bottom line: we must influence regulations. This happens LITERALLY by joining & participating with IBA & ISC. Educating the public & getting a larger % to understand regs, basic ecology & biology. Educating so people CARE about the resource. EMPOWERING the DNR so they have MORE say than the legislator. Legislator RIGHT NOW probably has more say. That changed thanks to Brandstad selling us & them out. We need more power to DNR & the more we join & grow IBA/isc & public awareness… the more power & political capital the DNR has.
Sorry on the rant. Have a great rest of week!
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I really feel like Group #1 is growing. I think in 2024 Group #1 has really gained some traction. Just watching some things on facebook you can see by the likes and posts that more people are starting to care, or are atleast speaking up. I find it very exciting for the future and do believe we are actually starting to move in the right direction. I've commented on a few things and that group #2 is ruthless, no common sense are actual discussion about an issue, just often times straight to a personal attack. I think some of them are just mad at the world. I have some friends that fall in that group #2, just all about bang bang bang and if its legal they are going after it, taking as much as they can. Trying to slowly educate people, but staying 'professional' about it is difficult! Stay strong Skip!
 
Sligh1 said:
the battle over how many deer are shot is: COMPLEX to some but actually very SIMPLE if u work through it…
DNR often wants to reduce tags & deer shooting. The legislator OFTEN over rules them. They over rule them BECAUSE they are lobbied, donations & massive influence from Farm Bureau (& secondarily corn & soybean growers associations). The more the voters, hunters & conservation groups back the DNR & “the right thing for resource” - we can change things. DNR usually wants to do what’s right.
HUNTERS- there’s very loosely 2 groups (more complex but we can make this simple)…. #1: concerned about resource. Take what’s responsible. Give back. Do what’s biologically sound. “I CARE”. #2: if it’s legal it’s fine. How much can I take? If it’s brown it’s down. “I wanna BLAST!”. “Don’t u dare tell me what I can do!!!” “Kill em all”. “ME ME ME”. Or as simple as “I have no clue about deer management or what I’m doing- not my fault - just a casual dude wanting to do some hunting” (nothing wrong with that as we all START there - just doesn’t mean we can’t progress or become more educated).

I’ll totally admit- there’s a portion of hunters that piss me off with their stupid comments. That last post on FB/IG to the GENERAL PUBLIC…. 75%+++ was great, positive & understanding of my message of true caring & concern. Remaining % are that other crowd: no education or care. Offended at the world … probably get mad when they are not called the proper pronouns. Not real sharp, no common sense & never gonna care. With that part of any population - that is EXACTLY why regulations trump all!!! Regulations are the only thing keeping the average human population from ruining a resource. Why iowa can have maniacs that are would kill deer 365 - 24/7 with any weapon if u could. REGULATIONS define all!!!!
Long long ADHD ramble short bottom line: we must influence regulations. This happens LITERALLY by joining & participating with IBA & ISC. Educating the public & getting a larger % to understand regs, basic ecology & biology. Educating so people CARE about the resource. EMPOWERING the DNR so they have MORE say than the legislator. Legislator RIGHT NOW probably has more say. That changed thanks to Brandstad selling us & them out. We need more power to DNR & the more we join & grow IBA/isc & public awareness… the more power & political capital the DNR has.
Sorry on the rant. Have a great rest of week!
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The answer I was ultimately looking for. Appreciate it Skip- and appreciate everything you do!
 
sep0667 said:
I really feel like Group #1 is growing. I think in 2024 Group #1 has really gained some traction. Just watching some things on facebook you can see by the likes and posts that more people are starting to care, or are atleast speaking up. I find it very exciting for the future and do believe we are actually starting to move in the right direction. I've commented on a few things and that group #2 is ruthless, no common sense are actual discussion about an issue, just often times straight to a personal attack. I think some of them are just mad at the world. I have some friends that fall in that group #2, just all about bang bang bang and if its legal they are going after it, taking as much as they can. Trying to slowly educate people, but staying 'professional' about it is difficult! Stay strong Skip!
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Totally agree! I think there’s less and less people in group #2 every year. It might seem like there are a lot of them at times since it’s everybody’s favorite thing to complain about on the internet this time of year but I just don’t think there’s as many out there as we think. Way less now than there was 20 years ago when our herd population was at its peak. I think the battle is slowly being won.


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