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SW Davis County

Arrowsmith1

Active Member
I have some ground in Southwest Davis county. I have not been able to get up there lately. I know our deer herd in that area suffered from the drought last year. If you live or hunt in that area I would like to hear how the hunting was so far this season.
 
My land is in Appanoose County very close to the SW border of Davis County. I have noticed a drop in the deer numbers over the past 4 years. I have not shot a die in 4 years because I feel the numbers are low and there is no need to harvest does at this time. I was relieved to hear the state eliminated the late rifle season. My area was hunted hard and the does were slaughtered for years. Since the drought and EHD I have seen the older age class of my deer diminish. This year on opening morning of gun season I sat all day and where I used to see 30 deer in a day, I saw only 2. I think it will take 4-5 years to get back to where we were. This will only be accomplished if hunters pitch in and take it easy on the deer. I hope the hunters who are proud to have 15-20 in the back of their truck change there way of thinking.
 
You are probably very close to my ground. My neighbor who has lived there 45 years has told me the same thing. I have never hunted our place. My wife and I plan to move there when we retire. I hope doing away with the rifle season helps re-establish the doe numbers.
 
I hunt near polaski and the last 2 years of bow hunting usually first week of November the deer numbers are WAY down! Talked to the neighbor and said EHD and poachers are really putting a hurting on the deer #s!!
 
My brother n law and myself hunted for the first time in Iowa this year on private land just southwest of Pulaski. We both saw plenty of deer each and every hunt that second week of November. I killed a 130" 10pt and he killed a 160" 12pt. I realize I can't compare our hunt to previous years but the land owner did say the numbers of giants are down some. We are from Louisiana and we were amazed at the number of deer and large bucks we saw as that is something that just does not happen down here. We can't wait to draw tags again and get back up to deer "Disney Land".
 
We are seeing the same problem in the area of Monroe Co where we hunt. I hear a lot of the same stories from guys hunting from South Central to South East Iowa. Numbers are way down and very few mature deer; including none of the big old does we used to see every night. The end of the late season is a great thing and that should have been done years ago. Now the extra doe tags need to go away. Why in the heck would a county need 2000 "extra" tags when the total harvest in the county is only around 1,500 deer.
 
We are seeing the same problem in the area of Monroe Co where we hunt. I hear a lot of the same stories from guys hunting from South Central to South East Iowa. Numbers are way down and very few mature deer; including none of the big old does we used to see every night. The end of the late season is a great thing and that should have been done years ago. Now the extra doe tags need to go away. Why in the heck would a county need 2000 "extra" tags when the total harvest in the county is only around 1,500 deer.

FYI - I talked to someone this afternoon that is very familiar with a certain region in SE Iowa(generally speaking, western Van Buren and eastern Davis counties) and he also talks to many pretty salty hunters that spend a lot of time in that general area and the report was pretty much what you wrote above.

Numbers are bouncing back a little, but older buck AND older doe sightings are way off from where they were up until about four years ago or so. One hunter said that it has now been four years since he saw a Booner class buck, where before it was something that happened at least once per year and many times more than once per year.

I am super glad that the rifle/late antlerless season has been kiboshed and I know that will help a lot. But barring any more widespread EHD outbreaks, I still think we are 2-3 years away from "the good ol' days".
 
Well we got some land near centerville and got some good deer but I've seen a lot of deer during last day of bow season1 27 deer in 2 hours to me that's awesome
 
I can tell you I cant wait to get drawn and get back up there in three years or so. Yall have a amazing resource kind of like our fishing down here in Louisiana.
 
I can tell you I cant wait to get drawn and get back up there in three years or so. Yall have a amazing resource kind of like our fishing down here in Louisiana.

Trust me, that "resource" does not come without a fight. If it were left up to certain groups in this state there would be no "resource". I suggest that if you cared to keep coming here and harvesting quality animals you join the Iowa Bowhunters Assn. one of the few groups fighting the good fight.
 
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