Handcannon
Well-Known Member
ZERO doe tags this year. Any bets when it will be buck only for 1st season? We are soon to be in the red like the rest rest of NW Iowa.
Woodbury County
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Hardwood11
It is going to be a good fall!
Due to EHD?
I could be wrong, but I dont think NW Iowa has been getting hit hard with EHD like southern Iowa but I could be wrong... I feel like there are a ton of reasons why numbers are low in that part of the state and where I am (North Central)... No cover first, they keep moving away for cover. Shotgun groups who shoot/wound deer and dont follow up (yes I will get torched for that).. Hunters shooting 15 deer to pound their chests, and then turning into HUSH (personal peeve of mine, I understanding helping, but come on).. Sometimes we as hunters are harder on the deer than we realize, with us wanting 4-5 deer in the freezer all the time, the areas just dont hold that kind of deer continuously. We have a farm in NE Iowa in the High Power areas, and numbers are WAY down over there but they keep kicking out tags. People from all over the state travel up there to shoot deer, one group that I talked to and know, they went over there and then donated every single one they shot... sorry, sort of went down a rabbit hole..
Hardwood11
It is going to be a good fall!
The EHD put the hurt in some areas of W Iowa last year. Drier areas with more pasture seemed to be the worst .
Thanks for the knowledge, I had zero idea it was in Western Iowa...
Handcannon
Well-Known Member
Due to many factors. Years of excess doe tags, EHD, severe drought in 2012 and now 2 years back to back, loss of habitat with tons of trees being uprooted for a few extra acres, etc.
I've been yapping about this day for years. Telling anyone that would listen. I've watched the #s drop over the last 20 years. And in the last 10, numbers fell fast. I didn't even bowhunt last year...because the year before, I had the same 5 deer on 2 cameras 2 miles apart. I haven't gun hunted here for over a decade. I hunt another county.
I drive the tri-state area daily and see what certain counties have done...and I've warned that if we follow suit...we will be just another barren county. It's happening.
But...there still are clusters of deer where there are trees...just not as many. I think the last time we were buck only was in the 90s.
sirrloin
Active Member
You see it every day...farmers tearing up any last remaining trees and cover for a little extra space. I figure the moment a naturally occurring issue occurs the effect is only multiplied when there's lack of proper habitat. EHD & drought...deer all flock to the same food and water sources. Makes it easier to target those deer during gun pushes.
It would be a fun experiment to buy up a large chunk of marginal ground (if it exists there), plant it all to cover. A guy could have ALL the deer. 
Handcannon
Well-Known Member
My buddy in Plymouth County left all of his trees alone while others were cutting everything down. He said he has a bunch of deer that "just showed up". Never really had deer around there before.It would be a fun experiment to buy up a large chunk of marginal ground (if it exists there), plant it all to cover. A guy could have ALL the deer.
So yes, if you have cover and surrounding ground doesn't...you'll get deer.