Deer density now vs. 4 years ago.

[Swampthing]

For me personally, the deer #,s are horrible. 4 years ago I bet we had 4 times the deer. This past year I really have had to work just to find any bucks, does, everything is pretty dried up.
I know of 2 local gun hunting parties that have access to most of the prime land around me. One group went 4 for 14. And the other went 3 for 11.
These groups are usually tagged out early and sit up at the bar laughing about everyone else that still out beating the bush.

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[forgehunter]

3 hunters, 5 days of sitting in treestands... 2 deer seen... northere Wisconsin.... need i say more?? just pathetic!

[BigHunt]

3 hunters, 5 days of sitting in treestands... 2 deer seen... northere Wisconsin.... need i say more?? just pathetic!

[PLB]

3 hunters, 5 days of sitting in treestands... 2 deer seen... northere Wisconsin.... need i say more?? just pathetic!

That's the same as us in Northern WI!!! Horrible deer numbers!!

[tim]

yeah i agree the numbers suck, i just put so much time in i see deer but not as many as id like. trailcams tell the tails if you run a bunch of trail cams around food sources and still dont get many pics you know the numbers suck.

[swamp-assassin]

3 hunters, 5 days of sitting in treestands... 2 deer seen... northere Wisconsin.... need i say more?? just pathetic!

northern wisconsin and the UP is were it is the worst...i remember when i was a kid (about 15 years ago) we saw a herd of deer crossing highway 2 in the UP in the middle of summer...by a herd i mean probably 50. now..i doubt there are 5 deer per square mile

[Autumn Ninja]

Now..i doubt there are 50 deer per square mile

50 dpsm are some pretty crazy numbers.

The land I hunt is much better now than it was 5 years ago. There where around 8-10 dpsm five years ago, now its around 10-12 dpsm...maybe more in some areas.

[swamp-assassin]

Now..i doubt there are 50 deer per square mile

50 dpsm are some pretty crazy numbers.

The land I hunt is much better now than it was 5 years ago. There where around 8-10 dpsm five years ago, now its around 10-12 dpsm...maybe more in some areas.

yeah i should edit that seemed pretty high to me!!

[MN Legacy]

Yeah, the deer numbers around the western MN seem to be way down. I've got my bonus tag filled
and now I'm looking for a buck. People that I've talking to haven't had much luck let alone seen deer.
Hopefully we have a mild winter to get those numbers back up.

[Dewey]

3 hunters, 5 days of sitting in treestands... 2 deer seen... northere Wisconsin.... need i say more?? just pathetic!

Pretty much the same for me. First 4 days hunting in Vilas/Oneida counties, 38 hours on stand and only saw a glimpse of a doe and fawn I kicked up walking in!! After 4 days I had enough and more than likely am done gun hunting up there until things improve. The numbers up there peaked about 10 years ago and antlerless slaughter went on for about 5 years too long. Been nothing but downhill since and it is sad to see many hunting camps breaking up and shutting down because everybody is sick of what is happening. Very sad to see!
Can't blame it on the weather because conditions were perfect. We sat in our best proven spots over the years and in many of those areas you could walk all day now in fresh snow and barely see any fresh deer tracks but tons of coyote tracks!! I am interested to see what Dr. Deer James Kroll is going to do about this!!!

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[adrenalin]

People just dont get it you cant hammer all the does. I'm so sick of hearing " I'm doing my part to manage the herd". I have yet to see an area over grazed by a deer herd. More does always equal more bucks. Theres more than enough predators out their to balance the herd.

[Dewey]

yeah i agree the numbers suck, i just put so much time in i see deer but not as many as id like. trailcams tell the tails if you run a bunch of trail cams around food sources and still dont get many pics you know the numbers suck.

I had a camera out from mid-Oct -Nov 18 and had a few deer pics but mostly coyotes!!

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[Casper]

Way down as well. Last year I thought the numbers were actually not that bad and this year numbers were way down, but I did have a lot more encounters with mature bucks. I thought it was because I was strictly hunting for bucks, but I have ran 6 trail cams since July and those don't lie. Either a large winter kill, coyotes, or the orange army slaughtered them.

[Dewey]

Around home in the public marshes I hunt the deer numbers are way down as well. I thought this early in the bow season and lack of sightings by others during gun season confirmed this for me.Areas that had plenty of deer sign a few years ago are completly dead with barely a track found in some areas that were great in the past.
I think it is ridiculous that there is a antlerless gun hunt coming up after muzzleloader. Hopefully that slaughter ends after this year.

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[James]

Numbers on my family farm are back up (Green Lake county, WI). Most of us including the neighbors held off on doe for a single year and I noticed the difference. Saw at least 20 on opening firearm day. We took a couple doe out this gun season to keep things in check. However my lease in hill country was very much down. A good sit was 4-5 deer, but the buck quality still seems to be decent. No doe taken this year by our party there so hopefully it helps some.

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