DNR Harvest Report

[JNRBRONC]

I like to look at the annual deer harvest numbers at the DNR website. I had to dig around to find their link, so thought I'd share it for those who might be interested in looking at it. You can view the page by clicking here: 2017 harvest data. 236 shed bucks is interesting.

I doubt late muzzle loading and the people still trying to fill an archery tag will have much of an impact on the final totals.

 

[Hardwood11]

How does that compare to the last couple years?

 

[JNRBRONC]

How does that compare to the last couple years?

From the Iowa DNR news page:
"The 2017 Iowa deer harvest is running more than 5 percent ahead of the 2016 totals. So far this fall, 90,955 deer have been reported, compared to 86,506 for the same period last year.

Iowa’s final deer hunting seasons – the late muzzleloader season and archery season - conclude on Jan. 10, 2018."

More harvest trend pdf's available along the right side of this DNR Harvest Trends page.

 

[IowaBowHunter1983]

Neighbor saw a shed buck this morning (one side). No apparent injury. Have heard reports of sheds being picked up. There is a few every year like this.

 

[Sligh1]

Yep- every day going forward, Any bucks with “significant stress” or some random ones - u see more shedding. Bet u with this next weeks cold snap- after that hits- u see some random shed deer.

Makes sense we up a bit.... Shed buck hunting season in rear view mirror. Ehd is in past as well & recovered some. Bet that crp enrollment bumped things up a bit as well.
And, all the RAMBOS with their full auto belt fed straight wall guns pry ticked it up a little. (Kidding!!!!).
Mild winters, etc etc. really- now that I type this.... mild winters, lot more crp, no shed buck season, recovered ehd.... surprised it’s not up more substantially to be honest. Hmmmmm. ????

Ok- 3rd little thing..... sorry .....
About 7,800 button bucks. Almost 10% of the kill. Happens every year like this. Every year. Not the end of the world, I get it. BUT..... seriously.... how are people this widespread careless?!?!? I sure understand & see no fault in the occassional “oops” or especially a new hunter. Whatever. But - year in, year out- 10% button bucks. Just makes me scratch my head. And ya, if u could get that down to 2-3% - yep- that would be a huge impact to the state.

 

[JNRBRONC]

Yep- every day going forward, Any bucks with “significant stress” or some random ones - u see more shedding. Bet u with this next weeks cold snap- after that hits- u see some random shed deer.

Yeah, if I fill my late ML tag I'll be sure to be careful not to pull the antlers off dragging it.

Ok- 3rd little thing..... sorry .....
About 7,800 button bucks. Almost 10% of the kill. Happens every year like this. Every year. Not the end of the world, I get it. BUT..... seriously.... how are people this widespread careless?!?!? I sure understand & see no fault in the occassional “oops” or especially a new hunter. Whatever. But - year in, year out- 10% button bucks. Just makes me scratch my head. And ya, if u could get that down to 2-3% - yep- that would be a huge impact to the state.

I did that math as well. It is said that the button buck is the easiest deer to kill. I wish we could identify the yearling doe fawns as easy as the button buck to report the number of them killed. Wonder if 10% of the doe fawns get whacked?

 

[iowavf]

Yep- every day going forward, Any bucks with “significant stress” or some random ones - u see more shedding. Bet u with this next weeks cold snap- after that hits- u see some random shed deer.

Makes sense we up a bit.... Shed buck hunting season in rear view mirror. Ehd is in past as well & recovered some. Bet that crp enrollment bumped things up a bit as well.
And, all the RAMBOS with their full auto belt fed straight wall guns pry ticked it up a little. (Kidding!!!!).
Mild winters, etc etc. really- now that I type this.... mild winters, lot more crp, no shed buck season, recovered ehd.... surprised it’s not up more substantially to be honest. Hmmmmm. ????

Ok- 3rd little thing..... sorry .....
About 7,800 button bucks. Almost 10% of the kill. Happens every year like this. Every year. Not the end of the world, I get it. BUT..... seriously.... how are people this widespread careless?!?!? I sure understand & see no fault in the occassional “oops” or especially a new hunter. Whatever. But - year in, year out- 10% button bucks. Just makes me scratch my head. And ya, if u could get that down to 2-3% - yep- that would be a huge impact to the state.

Sometimes it's pretty hard to tell if it's a button buck until after you kill it. A lot of hunters will let the big mamma go and take one of her off spring because they do eat better and the mamma will stay in the area and raise more deer compared to the off spring that might move on. Ok spikes are different which count towards button bucks and if I would've been in range I'd taken the one I saw 1st season chasing a doe. Decent size buck, but the spikes had to be 6" or 7" and personally I din't want him around breading doe.

 

[flugge]

Ive always thought that a "warmer" year is harder on the deer. I mean, do you want to wear a winter coat in the summer? I have felt like "warm" years I find more sheds earlier than years where it actually has been bitterly cold.

 

[HorseDoctor]

Sometimes it's pretty hard to tell if it's a button buck until after you kill it. A lot of hunters will let the big mamma go and take one of her off spring because they do eat better and the mamma will stay in the area and raise more deer compared to the off spring that might move on. Ok spikes are different which count towards button bucks and if I would've been in range I'd taken the one I saw 1st season chasing a doe. Decent size buck, but the spikes had to be 6" or 7" and personally I din't want him around breading doe.

Too nice out to go wait for something decent to come to food in shooting hours so we might as well have a discussion. I'll take the other tack and offer quite a different opinion:

During hunting season, a medium smallish deer running alone is a button buck til proven otherwise. Look at the head. It's a square top. Not that hard to tell apart, if you look. Not being critical. I've shot my share over the years. Sometimes didn't care, sometimes got excited, but every time I've taken the time to LOOK, I could tell.

I guess taste is a personal thing but I think "good eatin" is usually an excuse for "I screwed up". To me, there is nothing good eating about a flavorless 6-7 month old deer! It's like veal, (or 6 month old market pigs or 2-3 month chickens)! They only taste like what you season them with. We don't need another "other white meat"! If you don't like the taste of venison, don't shoot one!
It's well established that youngsters roam because "mama" chases them off! The best way to get young deer, especially young bucks, to stick around rather than roam is to orphan them. Killing "mama" helps the herd, as well as giving you more and better tasting meat.
It's also pretty well been proven that shooting spike yearlings has nothing to do with improving the genetics of the herd. That theory was popular 50 years ago, but not anymore. A 3 year old spike or fork yes, Whack it! Culling spikes & forkhorn yearlings has been disproven as a good management tool.