Sorry to say very bad. Decimated by ehd. They eliminated doe harvest it's so poor.
Buddy has hunted Pott his whole life. He's pretty upset about current situation
Buddy has hunted Pott his whole life. He's pretty upset about current situation
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Hardwood11
It is going to be a good fall!
My friend hunted public in that same area last year and it was definitely slow . Not familiar with Pott County area, but private certainly could help matters .
There are still bucks around, the positive is I’m not hearing any EHD reports this year, (yet) and deer look healthy and rack growth is very good .
CottonwoodCanyon
Well-Known Member
I'm just south of Pott co and it's been bad. Zero doe harvest during shotgun 1 and zero antlerless tags will hopefully help bring numbers back up.
LoessHillsArcher
PMA Member
I'm hunting the county north of Pott and it's awful. Worse heard I've ever hunted in my 27 years of deer hunting. There's still deer around but man it's a small fraction of what it used to be.
Hardwood11
It is going to be a good fall!
Dang.. that’s a bummer !
So the whole western iowa deer #’s devastated…. Are we thinking this is overwhelmingly due to EHD outbreaks? As in the main reason. Or more big issues than that? & it wiped that many deer out? Dudes just finding piles & piles of dead deer?
I heard about the Low #’s & the meetings in western iowa but I wanna make sure I understand this right. Dag nab that stinks!!!!
Hardwood11
It is going to be a good fall!
I can only speak from my experiences. I would say it’s down 30%? Just a guess … Yes EHD, probably more
coyotes getting their share of fawns.
There are not as many mature bucks around. I still saw 30+ deer in field during evenings in my farm .
hillrunner
PMA Member
I wouldn't say we're devastated in my area. I found 18 ehd dead on 1 property last fall, mostly smaller does and fawns, but it still seemed fairly normal during season. We didn't kill any does on that farm last year but it really didn't feel like they were lacking all that bad. Maybe we inherited a bunch of new recruits?
I sure hope we don't get hit like that again this year though.
I sure hope we don't get hit like that again this year though.
I attended those meetings. They were hesitant to give specific reason. And seemed to really downplay predator impact. They talked about the long-term downward trend in NW Iowa and really seemed baffled to give reason.
We had EHD in the area, but only found one dead deer in a pond on our farm last year, and none this summer so far.
We are over run with coyotes. This spring, I saw 2 fawns on consecutive days snatched by yotes. I’m only at our farm a couple days a week. I’m sure they had bigger impact.
IMO, it is a compound effect of multiple factors. 10-15% per element has multiplied impact. Personally (and I’m no expert), I would say reasons:
1. Predator—coyotes and bobcat
2. Changing farming practices of tearing out fences, mowing/bailing the waterways, larger contiguous farms is impacting the habitat.
3. in years when EHD does happen at a wide scale, the population can’t bounce back as rapidly due to 1 and 2.
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LoessHillsArcher
PMA Member
We've noticed a decline the past few years. We'd loose a couple to EHD each year but then last year was the mega die off. We found 30 dead, young to old buck and does, everything. We didn't even cover half the farm, we just hit the normal hot spots shed hunting and then stopped looking and got to work improving the farm and farming
CottonwoodCanyon
Well-Known Member
I think #3 is huge. People like to point at one thing but it's more complex than that. "Cleaner" (poor choice of word) agriculture not only limits and fragments habitat, but also makes it easier for predators to be effective. #2 increases mortality from #1, #1 and #2 impact the rebound from #3, and the whole system circles the drain.
Hardwood11
It is going to be a good fall!
I’m seeing a lot of twin fawns on my Western Iowa farm. I think the numbers are up a bit from last year. Hopefully no EHD this year !
Definitely bucks around.
Definitely bucks around.
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bradley
triplebeam
Check out my post in Iowa whitetail conference ! Land for lease in SW Iowa, It is a hunters dream still available!