Jmitch wrote:Dewey wrote:WI deer kill history not including the 2019 results.
https://dnr.wi.gov/wideermetrics/DeerSt ... estHistory
Looks like we’re back to 1980’s numbers and down almost 60% since the 2000 peak just before CWD was discovered.
Things have changed that's for sure. I think cwd changed things more than people will admit. I remember hunting the western dane county area before cwd and it always sounded like a war zone. Multiple large groups all driving almost every day and tons and tons of shooting. Lots of multiple shot volleys and clip emptying too. Cant even imagine how many deer died that way. Also that area in particular was insane with the amount of deer before the eridaction stuff hit. Like 75 to 100 deer per square mile. They were everywhere but it's not like that anymore. Every one of the groups i used to know of that drove doesnt hunt that way anymore. Most never hunt in that group setting or drive anymore at all.
I hunt a different area now but still see the same changes. People quit driving and the properties that used to account for a ton of dead deer may only see a few die now. I can think of 2 large groups that used to hunt together as recently as 5 years ago. That would account for 15 to 25 kills within a mile of two of each other now those same properties may kill 5 combined but not because the deer arent there just the people hunting them hunting differently and are waiting for a big buck instead of killing anything. Not sure where we go from here but I dont think it's a sky is falling situation either. Personally I'm looking forward to a good 2020 because I know locally atleast lots of bucks made it thru rifle season successfully and most people are done for the year now.
Jmitch- this is exactly what I’m seeing in my home area of Washington and Dodge counties. My group is a great example. For the most part we’ve disbanded. Mostly because the older guys don’t want to get into the muck and cattails anymore and the young guys don’t want to work that hard for a buck. I have no idea why...but that’s what it is. We used to kill some great bucks and a good 12-15 deer a year. This year the small group that was able to get together shot one 3 year old buck off a drive. Meanwhile at the home farm, my uncle is seeing 20-30 deer a day on a 50 acre piece of woods, grass and corn. There have been hundreds of deer killed out of that property alone over the years...now does are off limits and only mature bucks get shot.
Gone are the days of listening to hundreds of shot on opening morning. Hunting is changing. I think that the deer are there in this area, people just hunt differently. It’s different in what’s shot and how hunters pursue the deer. There are still groups that drive, but not like it use to be.
I could understand the numbers of deer being close to what they were in the 80s. The one thing that I’m pretty sure is different are the amount of mature bucks. I don’t remember us killing many big bucks until the 90s. We really started killing some good ones staring in the early 2000s.