I’m sure glad I’m tagged out on bucks here in Delaware. I have one more doe tag left of the 4 I get, and man my cameras have been deadddddd. Maybe the second rut has the does in hiding again? But deer in general have been missing off camera
Willows,dogwood,hazelnut have worked very well for me creating thick cover that will stick around for a longtime with little maintenance. They grow fairly quickly too!
48:35 I can tell you exactly why the deer numbers in North Dakota are so bad It’s a combination of a few things 1. 2019 was a bad winter and they cut tags (I don’t know the exact numbers) 2. 2021 late summer early fall there was a horrible EHD outbreak and the game and fish department played it off like it wasn’t that bad. My family’s 2000+ acre farm that is deer heaven was down to about 20 deer on the entire farm. Game and fish does a really good job here for the most part but they fumbled that year really really bad. 3. That same winter so 2021-2022 saw record snowfall and cold and was brutal on the deer herd. Our area had basically nothing left Now 3 years removed from that I’m very happy with how the population is bouncing back and there’s over 100 deer on the farm now. A combination of deer moving in and we have only shot 1 deer in those 3 years and it was last year in 2023 season So I’d say in 2-3 years the population will be very strong
10 years ago numbers were less here cuz ehd wiped out tons two years earlier. And its hit and miss throughout the state darn near every year. You guys should try to interview Tim Wells, The Slock Master. Hes just north of us in fulton county. He's hunted Illinois longer than most.
Yep good call. Just trying to comprehend why with some of the best soil in the world a fairly large state, more deer aren’t killed especially when numbers seem low to many
“Shout!? His own father has to use a livewire to keep him from fuckin' the fireplace!” Vision Quest. A movie that motivated me all through my wrestling career. Another great one boys
Im 7 miles south of Higgins in a great looking neighborhood on a river corridor. Heavily manipulated parcel with cover browse and food but the doe population just never explodes. Its baffling.
My neighbor started a fire in 2010, he almost killed me. Long story! He burned over 13 miles and many homes. Our deer numbers and habitat exploded! I shot 2 Big black bucks 5 months after fire. They were black from running thru all the burned timber.
I think the deer harvest numbers in Illinois are probably right. I can go back and look at totals in my county in iowa over the last twenty years and it has barely changed. I think I would believe that over anecdotal accounts from deer hunters on numbers. I think if the deer numbers are down significantly then the harvest will be down significantly. They are complaining about low numbers in western iowa. If that’s true the harvest will be down. You can’t shoot deer that aren’t there. Illinois and Iowa are big deer states but they are not big deer habitat states. I think they figure a deer can live in like one or two percent of the land in Iowa. Habitat loss I think concentrates deer in big ag areas. In our county in north central iowa we got hit with ehd. But I think it’s pretty spotty. Back during bow season during lockdown we heard reports of all the deer being dead. Well once the rut was over all of a sudden the deer re appear. Maybe our areas lost some, others out in the prairie maybe lost more. I don’t think the state governments cant operate on the anecdotal stuff. I think if a county kills about the same number of deer, they figure the numbers are about what they normally are. We have definitely had population swings over the last twenty years. I can think of probably two cycles of low and high population. But I don’t think the harvest varied all that much. I think state biologists are probably seem slow to act on some deer numbers stuff but I’m out area if they really cut back on tags available the population can boom in a hurry too. If hunters think there aren’t as many deer they have to use their own judgment as well. In our area I think there was a lot of browse and acorns that kept the deer more in the timber until it got cold. I just hate to see state agencies chase every whim. All this stuff is pretty cyclical. We have a lot of platforms for people to express their opinions. It can be good. But we can’t be making big regulatory changes every year on anecdotal stories. Or statewide changes for localized problems. Now we hear every complaint from everyone who didn’t get a deer this year and they want to turn the whole world upside down.
Had 60 ac of my se OH place composed of olive, rose, spice bush, honeysuckle, privet, etc…. Invasive hell that was thicker than a Sasquatch’s bikini line .. while it did seem like it was 600ac, deer hate(d) it by my observations. Some browsing but a pass through property. Native regen areas, plots and the yellow piles got attention. Areas that I’ve since mulched and sprayed out the invasives seem to be used so much more for both bedding and browse. Invasives are like drinking liquor… they start as a good idea and “okay” with all… next thing you know you lost what you love, Mother Nature serves you divorce papers and you’re spending all your money to try and get things back.
Far too much work and with futility removing them, best case is keeping them at bay in planted areas. It’s funny how the “how to buy a farm” media always list “avoid invasives”. That’s not a thing anymore.
I’m sure glad I’m tagged out on bucks here in Delaware. I have one more doe tag left of the 4 I get, and man my cameras have been deadddddd. Maybe the second rut has the does in hiding again? But deer in general have been missing off camera
Willows,dogwood,hazelnut have worked very well for me creating thick cover that will stick around for a longtime with little maintenance. They grow fairly quickly too!
Great ideas!
48:35 I can tell you exactly why the deer numbers in North Dakota are so bad
It’s a combination of a few things
1. 2019 was a bad winter and they cut tags (I don’t know the exact numbers)
2. 2021 late summer early fall there was a horrible EHD outbreak and the game and fish department played it off like it wasn’t that bad. My family’s 2000+ acre farm that is deer heaven was down to about 20 deer on the entire farm. Game and fish does a really good job here for the most part but they fumbled that year really really bad.
3. That same winter so 2021-2022 saw record snowfall and cold and was brutal on the deer herd. Our area had basically nothing left
Now 3 years removed from that I’m very happy with how the population is bouncing back and there’s over 100 deer on the farm now. A combination of deer moving in and we have only shot 1 deer in those 3 years and it was last year in 2023 season
So I’d say in 2-3 years the population will be very strong
Hey, it's not over yet! Flintlock is right around the corner!
Yea buddy I can’t wait!
10 years ago numbers were less here cuz ehd wiped out tons two years earlier. And its hit and miss throughout the state darn near every year. You guys should try to interview Tim Wells, The Slock Master. Hes just north of us in fulton county. He's hunted Illinois longer than most.
Yep good call. Just trying to comprehend why with some of the best soil in the world a fairly large state, more deer aren’t killed especially when numbers seem low to many
“Shout!? His own father has to use a livewire to keep him from fuckin' the fireplace!” Vision Quest. A movie that motivated me all through my wrestling career. Another great one boys
Haha great movie
Noooo Autumn Olive😮
It takes over and cant be slowed or maintained with fire since it creates bare ground.
Illinois deer harvest for 2011 right before 2012 ehd was 181, 411
Autumn Olive and Bush Honeysuckle are great cover.
lol they are just hard to justify planting when so invasive
Im 7 miles south of Higgins in a great looking neighborhood on a river corridor. Heavily manipulated parcel with cover browse and food but the doe population just never explodes. Its baffling.
My neighbor started a fire in 2010, he almost killed me. Long story! He burned over 13 miles and many homes. Our deer numbers and habitat exploded! I shot 2 Big black bucks 5 months after fire. They were black from running thru all the burned timber.
Haha holy crap
2000 illinois finally hit 100k harvest ..went up to 155 k and then dropped down but been rising yr after yr there up to last yrs 160k
Maybe we are on drugs but that seems so
Low from a whitetail mecca. I mean we kill 400,000 in Pennsylvania every yesr
@HUNTRPOD I thought the same things so if yall are crazy I'm in the puzzle factory too lol
I think the deer harvest numbers in Illinois are probably right. I can go back and look at totals in my county in iowa over the last twenty years and it has barely changed. I think I would believe that over anecdotal accounts from deer hunters on numbers. I think if the deer numbers are down significantly then the harvest will be down significantly. They are complaining about low numbers in western iowa. If that’s true the harvest will be down. You can’t shoot deer that aren’t there. Illinois and Iowa are big deer states but they are not big deer habitat states. I think they figure a deer can live in like one or two percent of the land in Iowa. Habitat loss I think concentrates deer in big ag areas. In our county in north central iowa we got hit with ehd. But I think it’s pretty spotty. Back during bow season during lockdown we heard reports of all the deer being dead. Well once the rut was over all of a sudden the deer re appear. Maybe our areas lost some, others out in the prairie maybe lost more. I don’t think the state governments cant operate on the anecdotal stuff. I think if a county kills about the same number of deer, they figure the numbers are about what they normally are. We have definitely had population swings over the last twenty years. I can think of probably two cycles of low and high population. But I don’t think the harvest varied all
that much. I think state biologists are probably seem slow to act on some deer numbers stuff but I’m out area if they really cut back on tags available the population can boom in a hurry too. If hunters think there aren’t as many deer they have to use their own judgment as well. In our area I think there was a lot of browse and acorns that kept the deer more in the timber until it got cold. I just hate to see state agencies chase every whim. All this stuff is pretty cyclical. We have a lot of platforms for people to express their opinions. It can be good. But we can’t be making big regulatory changes every year on anecdotal stories. Or statewide changes for localized problems. Now we hear every complaint from everyone who didn’t get a deer this year and they want to turn the whole world upside down.
“I want an Autumn Olive thicket”
🤦♂️
I would rather have the best 40 acres than 200 acres of alright land
Bingo
Had 60 ac of my se OH place composed of olive, rose, spice bush, honeysuckle, privet, etc…. Invasive hell that was thicker than a Sasquatch’s bikini line .. while it did seem like it was 600ac, deer hate(d) it by my observations. Some browsing but a pass through property. Native regen areas, plots and the yellow piles got attention.
Areas that I’ve since mulched and sprayed out the invasives seem to be used so much more for both bedding and browse. Invasives are like drinking liquor… they start as a good idea and “okay” with all… next thing you know you lost what you love, Mother Nature serves you divorce papers and you’re spending all your money to try and get things back.
Awesome to know! Lots of work and money to control them
Far too much work and with futility removing them, best case is keeping them at bay in planted areas.
It’s funny how the “how to buy a farm” media always list “avoid invasives”. That’s not a thing anymore.
If you were REALLY testing other bows you WOULD be shooting Mathew’s, just saying!!🦌🏹😉👍
A thermal drone?? Whats next a crossbow? Lol
Hahaha
I'm sure thousands go unreported
Yes