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Thoughts on deer prospects this year?

The guys with bully bucks…. I cannot emphasize this enough!!!!!!!……. Spend your season on it!!!! Get them taken out. I’ve seen this movie a million times…. “I got nothing to hunt” says 75% of guys I know. & MOST of those guys have 100”-145” 4-8 year old bucks around. Get every one of them u can!! Be excited to do it or find someone that will be. Seasons come & go so fast. “Now it’s shed season”. “Now they growing again”. “Now it’s 2025 season”. Prepare for next year NOW & hunt every bully you can. The result will almost always be new bucks & younger ones making your farm a safe place. Don’t shoot them- u will have the exact same bucks to hunt next year & they will still be “bully bucks”. So fix next season - this season!!!! :)


For those in ehd areas, low deer #’s or poor growing year. No good answer to that one. Lay off the does, leave food & know that years ahead things do recover.
 
We are in a similar boat. 50+ cameras ran over a good portion of south central Iowa for the last 5-7 years very consistently. Over that timeframe and across 10+ different farms as well as public, we have had anywhere from 5-10+ mature bucks to chase. Two years ago we had 5 that EASILY would have cleared 170s. Always have had at least one "big" deer in that mix. Last year was the slowest yet, with this year being significantly worse. I know cameras do not tell the whole story, surely we miss some! we also hunt and scout these farms often. We have 2 deer that are 5+ this year, both under 140". maybe 2-3 really good genetic 4 yo deer as well.

We have had many discussions with other folks as well, seems a similar sentiment exists among others as well. lots of people still having good years, but it appears to be less than normal, especially when compared to pre-covid era.

We also do a ton of gravel travel in some very high deer density areas - this summer through currently there is definitely a way lower number of road sightings and full cornfields than normal. Some spots would have 20+ deer every single night in the past, now many of these fields dont even have one deer in them at dark.
 
IowaBowHunter1983 said:
I've talked to ALOT of people about this.... A few are on good deer but there is a common theme I keep hearing. Not a big deer to chase and overall numbers are down. Even in areas with no apparent EHD.

Several folks I do work for with good size farms and killer set ups scratching their head.

General sentiments out there?
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More and more hunters. Large parcels being split in half, therefor same acres with double the pressure. Less guys on the same page as guys like us (hunting mature animals) social media giving guys atta boys for shooting 110” deer. EHD. High predation, seems to be more disease running around in general. You name it, deer hunting in Iowa isn’t even a fart in the wind compared to what it once was 10 years ago………….thank god for other fall hunting hobbies.

Lease / hunting 800 ish acres in total. I have 1 deer over 170” and 3 deer I know are over 5 years old. Buddy owns 600 acres outright and doesn’t have a deer over 160 to hunt. Big group of us all talk, college buddies, etc etc, nobody in that group has a buck over 170 consistently on camera. Very few “mature (5+ ) deer to hunt. All of this is taking place in Clarke, Warren, Madison, ringgold counties.

Every parcel has food plots, I rarely get that wondering “satellite” buck anymore either.
 
Muddyrem said:
More and more hunters. Large parcels being split in half, therefor same acres with double the pressure. Less guys on the same page as guys like us (hunting mature animals) social media giving guys atta boys for shooting 110” deer. EHD. High predation, seems to be more disease running around in general. You name it, deer hunting in Iowa isn’t even a fart in the wind compared to what it once was 10 years ago………….thank god for other fall hunting hobbies.

Lease / hunting 800 ish acres in total. I have 1 deer over 170” and 3 deer I know are over 5 years old. Buddy owns 600 acres outright and doesn’t have a deer over 160 to hunt. Big group of us all talk, college buddies, etc etc, nobody in that group has a buck over 170 consistently on camera. Very few “mature (5+ ) deer to hunt. All of this is taking place in Clarke, Warren, Madison, ringgold counties.

Every parcel has food plots, I rarely get that wondering “satellite” buck anymore either.
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So this is off the subject, but you say "more and more hunters". It kinda seems that way to me too. Yet we constantly hear of falling hunter numbers and poor hunter recruitment.

Where is the disconnect?
 
IowaBowHunter1983 said:
So this is off the subject, but you say "more and more hunters". It kinda seems that way to me too. Yet we constantly hear of falling hunter numbers and poor hunter recruitment.

Where is the disconnect?
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I hear people say we have less hunters, but I don't personally see it. In Southern Iowa and West Central Illinois, every farm seems to not only be hunted, but they are pounded. As lease prices rise, it takes more and more hunters to pay for the lease. This results in more younger bucks shot and more hunting pressure. Everyone leaves their own poorly run hunting state to try and find bigger bucks in the Midwest.
 
If there is less hunters now like they say, then the guys that are hunting are way more serious. I wish there was a way to track day’s afield, I would bet most guys now spend way more time in the woods than the average guy did 15-20 years ago.
 
IowaBowHunter1983 said:
Not sure I follow.... what ya mean?
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Follow the money.

The only people saying the numbers are falling are entities that rely on hunters for an income.

Government Agencies
Outdoor magazines
Social media
“Professional hunters”
Etc.etc.etc

These examples depend on X amount of money coming in. At no time is anyone going to say, hey we have enough hunters. It’s always the latter. Recruit more hunters, take out a kid, take out your wife. That’s all grand if Iowa was like the Canadian north and had endless woods to play in. The reality is we do not.

Ask 100 actual deer hunters and majority will tell you the woods are crowded, there’s more people outdoors partaking in outdoor activities compared to what there was 10 years ago. The kicker is there’s not more animals, there’s not more deer, there’s not more turkeys, there’s not more fish. Theres no more today than 10 years ago of anything, imo.

Yet you talk to someone listed above and they’re saying less less less. I would love to see numbers of turkey licenses sold in Iowa since Covid. I would love to see number of fishing licenses sold since Covid. Deer licenses etc. I bet it’s more than pre covid.

Go look at Iowa bowhunters Facebook page. There’s more people on there posting “first bow kill” than people posting their harvest in general.
 
IowaBowHunter1983 said:
So this is off the subject, but you say "more and more hunters". It kinda seems that way to me too. Yet we constantly hear of falling hunter numbers and poor hunter recruitment.

Where is the disconnect?
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Fewer hunters ? I don’t see it . In Minnesota there’s a guy in orange in every woodlot, creek, cattail slough, timber, edge of the field etc..

Lots of new blinds !

I’m seeing more guys out with crossbows. The bucks are getting a lot of pressure for multiple weeks. It’s not getting easier !!
 
As far as deer numbers they are down in my area for sure. Worst year I've had for deer numbers as well as big deer on camera in the last 15 years. Personal experience hunting reflects what my cameras have shown. Much fewer deer and I have been expanding further than ever before trying to find numbers. Talking with hunters I have heard the same thing about fewer deer or "where are all the deer." Talked with a few guys who have been coming south for over 25 years and said they would easily see 80-100 deer on a stretch of highway and they're very lucky if they see 20 this year. Also stated they have bigger deer on their cameras up north. Another guy said he has been hunting the past 4 days and has not seen a deer period. Went with my brother yesterday and we saw one little buck early and then when everything was slow we decided to scout around since it was a new area. Never bumped a single deer walking over a mile. People are blaming EHD but I've only found 1 dead deer all year. I would think I would have found more. Although it is area specific I think on a lot of the public areas the deer just are not there period and not due to EHD. It's well past time to reduce doe harvest in Southern IA. If we're worried about doe numbers on large private parcels maybe give out "x" number of doe tags per acres owned or something. I can say small acreages and public lands don't seem to need further herd reduction.

Hunting pressure has also increased quite a bit the past 5 years. Years before there would be open parking lots but now during prime time many parking lots will have vehicles and with OnX and other mapping software people are getting in further than I have ever seen before. I've run into guys multiple times this year and some areas that never had a vehicle now have 3 or more. Yes there are some overlooked areas but not as many as before. As land continues to get broken up and people lose access to private the public lands are getting hit hard and age structure definitely is being impacted. Just what I've seen the past few seasons.
 
When deer numbers are down … seems like more hunters competing for fewer deer !

I think states should manage public different. There’s rarely an abundance of deer on public. If every hunter shoots a doe on public, it’s gonna be slim pickings!
 
IowaBowHunter1983 said:
So this is off the subject, but you say "more and more hunters". It kinda seems that way to me too. Yet we constantly hear of falling hunter numbers and poor hunter recruitment.

Where is the disconnect?
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By sheer number, we are losing hunters. But there are more hunter days than ever before. I worked in studying the human dimensions of the outdoors and conservation for years and here's what it boils down to: we've lost a lot of the casual hunters- the weekend warrior, one weekend a year, just for deer camp, kinds of hunters but now there are more avid, hardcore guys now. These guys (like me) who hunt weekdays, take vacation to hunt, travel to hunt, and are a lot more "hardcore". These people spend more time in the woods (hunter days). There are less license sales because people only buy their permits once annually, obviously, but we perceive more hunters because these hunters are afield more consistently throughout the season. This is the disconnect.

Then you add in the public land craze, lease and land prices, land being divided up, insane amounts of technology and knowledge, increased efficiency of weapons, increased season lengths, and here we are discussing why we aren't in the good ol days.
 
We went from stacked in all age classes, best year in a long time last year to hunting squat this year. 3 ponds, no bodies. An average to above average doe population. The only thing that makes sense is they went to a preferred food source mid summer and got smacked with EHD.
 
CottonwoodCanyon said:
By sheer number, we are losing hunters. But there are more hunter days than ever before. I worked in studying the human dimensions of the outdoors and conservation for years and here's what it boils down to: we've lost a lot of the casual hunters- the weekend warrior, one weekend a year, just for deer camp, kinds of hunters but now there are more avid, hardcore guys now. These guys (like me) who hunt weekdays, take vacation to hunt, travel to hunt, and are a lot more "hardcore". These people spend more time in the woods (hunter days). There are less license sales because people only buy their permits once annually, obviously, but we perceive more hunters because these hunters are afield more consistently throughout the season. This is the disconnect.

Then you add in the public land craze, lease and land prices, land being divided up, insane amounts of technology and knowledge, increased efficiency of weapons, increased season lengths, and here we are discussing why we aren't in the good ol days.
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Bingo - all play a role but the days afield is HUGE imo.

None of this is new- but in my few county area of IL the Xgun has exponentially increased the days afield. Virtually all were gun-only hunters pre xgun, now hunt ALL Oct, Nov, Dec BUT with their same orange army standards. Most wack 2 (3 in CWD counties) young dumb bucks a year now, rather than just a forkie & doe opening gun weekend. The age class gap in unmanaged areas has become sickening. Sprinkle in EHD, and the same xgun converts not caring to change their standard-less buck streak, and the deer just don't stand a chance.

It's been sad to see the speed at which it's all happening too.
 
The only part of the explanations that don’t add up is that the harvest has not drastically increased. Does anyone know where to find the license sale data? I get the more days afield shows more pressure, specifically on public lands but the harvest data has been roughly 99 K to 109.5K in last 10 years.
 
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