Are the glory days of deer hunting coming to a close?

[Howboutthemdawgs]

Sure. Now do how many guys have said they don’t have a single shooter. Can’t take hero insta shots of that

 

[SwampCat]

When I started we hunted in north Central Wisconsin it was nothing to see 30 to 40 a day the first couple days,all running like mad and almost all antler less. But we didn't shoot does until later in the week, when you couldn't find a deer! Lol. Those days were magic, hanging with my dad and uncles, and they're friends . Loved every second . Those were my glory days

Last saturday evening, when my herd of grand daughters were in - and my son and daughter in law, and my wife - all at deer camp. It poured rain almost all day saturday. Saturday afternoon, we killed one old warrior 9 pt, another 5 yr old 8 pt; a 4 yr old 8 pt, a 2 yr old 8 pt the 7 yr old in the group - her first buck, a boyfriend killed a 2.5 yr old 8 pt we wanted gone, and a doe. Best we could tell, we saw 52 deer sat even - of which maybe 15 were bucks. We cleaned deer til midnight, ate steaks off an open fire. It was probably the best day of my hunting life - and I didnt even have a gun in my hand - but I did see my 14 yr old grand daughter kill a nice 8 pt buck. She said she is for sure leading the buck contest with some of her buddies.

I started my deer hunting experience when I was living in Rochester MN back in the late 60’s. I went with my dad - I believe the season was open one weekend a year - I did not hunt, but sat with my dad and I was probably the reason we never saw a deer. Other than spending a weekend with my dad, which was great - sitting on a foam pad in the woods for two days and seeing nothing was forgettable.

We then moved to GA in about 1970. The deer hunting wasnt much better, but the season was a lot longer - over a month. We camped out on the weekends on a river and traveled by boat to our hunting spot. Between me, my buddy, and my dad - we would usually kill a small buck and a doe during doe days. We might see four or five deer between us during season.

When I moved to AR after college - our deer hunting was similar to what you describe. We camped, and we shot the first legal deer we saw. We usually killed our two bucks and maybe a doe. It was a meat gathering adventure. A forkhorn was a monster. But we killed lots of deer, had some great times around the fire, and running dogs was big then. It was exciting when you realized the dogs were headed right towards you. It was fun times

But now, no, we dont run dogs and we dont camp out. We have a deer camp. I hate to say this - but times have changed - both in deer hunting and life. No, we dont rely on deer meat to get us through the year anymore. A couple deer per family is fine. The kids are so busy now that is is hard to get an open weekend. My son is on call every third weekend.My son in law works every other weekend. The boyfriend that came down last weekend - and my grand daughter - didnt get here until midnight Fri night after a football game. He had to leave early Sun morn to get to baseball practice. Year round volleyball, year round tennis, year round cheer practice. It is nuts.

I would suspect my grand daughters will cherish the moments of their two weekends a year they spend at hunting camp with me - just like we did when we hunted with our dads fifty or sixty years ago. They kill just as many deer as we did fifty years ago, they are just killing a lot bigger bucks.

Where I own my property, I have 14 adjacent landowners. Three of them own 1000 acres plus. I own 350, and the rest own ten to 20 acres. Almost all of them hunt or allow hunting on their land. I know most of them - and the smaller landowners have no desire to pass a 3 yr old 8 pt and see what he looks like next year. I understand. Managing deer on ten acres is is not going to show positive results. They kill the first two or three or four deer they need for the year - and go about their business. A lot of these folks really do need deer meat. This is poor country.

The large landowners all perform some varying form of deer management. At the very least, limited doe killing and at least some restraint on buck harvest - to 5 year old bucks or better. The 10/20 acre land owners interspersed around the area, all know where their deer come from. Those larger land owners who manage their deer, supply the deer to the smaller land owners. The smaller landowners all line their feeders up next to the property lines of the larger landowner deer managers property. We kill one or two does a year off our 350 acres - even though we sometimes see 20 in a hunt - so that the small landowners can kill them. If it was not for the large landowners managing their herds for quality bucks and restricting their harvest - the many small land owners would be sucking hind tit when it comes to deer hunting.

Yes, the smaller landowners greatly affect me and the rest of the larger landowners who are trying to kill an older buck. But I also realize that is all part of the game. We arent hitting in the batting cage, we are in the real game where there are bad hops, strikeouts, foul balls, and errors. I dream of a day when all baiting is banned - but those smaller landowners would have next to nothing on their land that would ever attract a deer. But at the same time, I know there are grand dads among those small landowners who enjoy being with their grandkids when they kill their first deer, and showing them how to dress and cut up a deer, and makes sausage and jerky for them to enjoy.

I take the good with the bad and make the best of it.

 

[BenA]

Sure. Now do how many guys have said they don’t have a single shooter. Can’t take hero insta shots of that

I think you could do a comparison every year, and some places/people would be living in the glory days, some would have passed it, and some would be looking forward to them. I also think general trends are location or region specific. Indiana is an example of a place I believe may be headed into their glory days. Parts of Iowa may be going downhill.

 

[Howboutthemdawgs]

I think you could do a comparison every year, and some places/people would be living in the glory days, some would have passed it, and some would be looking forward to them. I also think general trends are location or region specific. Indiana is an example of a place I believe may be headed into their glory days. Parts of Iowa may be going downhill.

That’s a good point. I’m not sure about Indiana, but I think you could argue parts of the deep south are definitely in their glory days. I know Georgia is pumping out some giants. Oklahoma is too. I’d say, Iowa, Ohio, Kentucky, Kansas, and Illinois have probably started going on the downward swing.

 

[SwampCat]

I don't think there are many on this forum managing several hundred contiguous acres, tto be fair.

I've said it many times here before, I think the absolute best way to kill a giant in the upper Midwest every year is to have 10 different 40 acre chunks as opposed to a 400 acre contiguous farm. More headaches, more logistical issues, more variables, sure. More access to different herds and the odds of having a 170 on or near those 10 different parcels is likely 3-4x what it is to having one every year on a single tract, IMO.

I do agree with that - I have a 62 acre tract 8 miles from the house that draws from a whole different herd of deer. Every other year, their will be a good one show up - but you better kill it early before gun season opens. I am in an 800 acre wrp lease where we duck hunt. It is about 160 acres water and the rest land. We have not killed a deer off it in three years. We always run a few cameras. It is one of the deeriest looking piece of properties you could imagine. I can go all duck season without seeing a deer of any kind. We run a few cameras and always get pictures of a couple deer we think need one more year - and they never are there next year. I haul equipment to these other two properties. I hate it

 

[Bill]

Got one of these at home signed by Ed and the tag line he wrote was "Bill, keep the FUN in hunting"
Can't say I've always done that, but it's sound advice from an old timer.

 

[Bill Loser]

Last saturday evening, when my herd of grand daughters were in - and my son and daughter in law, and my wife - all at deer camp. It poured rain almost all day saturday. Saturday afternoon, we killed one old warrior 9 pt, another 5 yr old 8 pt; a 4 yr old 8 pt, a 2 yr old 8 pt the 7 yr old in the group - her first buck, a boyfriend killed a 2.5 yr old 8 pt we wanted gone, and a doe. Best we could tell, we saw 52 deer sat even - of which maybe 15 were bucks. We cleaned deer til midnight, ate steaks off an open fire. It was probably the best day of my hunting life - and I didnt even have a gun in my hand - but I did see my 14 yr old grand daughter kill a nice 8 pt buck. She said she is for sure leading the buck contest with some of her buddies.

I started my deer hunting experience when I was living in Rochester MN back in the late 60’s. I went with my dad - I believe the season was open one weekend a year - I did not hunt, but sat with my dad and I was probably the reason we never saw a deer. Other than spending a weekend with my dad, which was great - sitting on a foam pad in the woods for two days and seeing nothing was forgettable.

We then moved to GA in about 1970. The deer hunting wasnt much better, but the season was a lot longer - over a month. We camped out on the weekends on a river and traveled by boat to our hunting spot. Between me, my buddy, and my dad - we would usually kill a small buck and a doe during doe days. We might see four or five deer between us during season.

When I moved to AR after college - our deer hunting was similar to what you describe. We camped, and we shot the first legal deer we saw. We usually killed our two bucks and maybe a doe. It was a meat gathering adventure. A forkhorn was a monster. But we killed lots of deer, had some great times around the fire, and running dogs was big then. It was exciting when you realized the dogs were headed right towards you. It was fun times

But now, no, we dont run dogs and we dont camp out. We have a deer camp. I hate to say this - but times have changed - both in deer hunting and life. No, we dont rely on deer meat to get us through the year anymore. A couple deer per family is fine. The kids are so busy now that is is hard to get an open weekend. My son is on call every third weekend.My son in law works every other weekend. The boyfriend that came down last weekend - and my grand daughter - didnt get here until midnight Fri night after a football game. He had to leave early Sun morn to get to baseball practice. Year round volleyball, year round tennis, year round cheer practice. It is nuts.

I would suspect my grand daughters will cherish the moments of their two weekends a year they spend at hunting camp with me - just like we did when we hunted with our dads fifty or sixty years ago. They kill just as many deer as we did fifty years ago, they are just killing a lot bigger bucks.

Where I own my property, I have 14 adjacent landowners. Three of them own 1000 acres plus. I own 350, and the rest own ten to 20 acres. Almost all of them hunt or allow hunting on their land. I know most of them - and the smaller landowners have no desire to pass a 3 yr old 8 pt and see what he looks like next year. I understand. Managing deer on ten acres is is not going to show positive results. They kill the first two or three or four deer they need for the year - and go about their business. A lot of these folks really do need deer meat. This is poor country.

The large landowners all perform some varying form of deer management. At the very least, limited doe killing and at least some restraint on buck harvest - to 5 year old bucks or better. The 10/20 acre land owners interspersed around the area, all know where their deer come from. Those larger land owners who manage their deer, supply the deer to the smaller land owners. The smaller landowners all line their feeders up next to the property lines of the larger landowner deer managers property. We kill one or two does a year off our 350 acres - even though we sometimes see 20 in a hunt - so that the small landowners can kill them. If it was not for the large landowners managing their herds for quality bucks and restricting their harvest - the many small land owners would be sucking hind tit when it comes to deer hunting.

Yes, the smaller landowners greatly affect me and the rest of the larger landowners who are trying to kill an older buck. But I also realize that is all part of the game. We arent hitting in the batting cage, we are in the real game where there are bad hops, strikeouts, foul balls, and errors. I dream of a day when all baiting is banned - but those smaller landowners would have next to nothing on their land that would ever attract a deer. But at the same time, I know there are grand dads among those small landowners who enjoy being with their grandkids when they kill their first deer, and showing them how to dress and cut up a deer, and makes sausage and jerky for them to enjoy.

I take the good with the bad and make the best of it.

Sounds like you are living the good life! Making memories is what it's all about. I only have 20. Not near enough to think about any management at all. We have a lot of deer and only one rule, once you pull the trigger you're not allowed any regrets.
I have 3 direct neighbors ,1 now hunts only. I probably could make use of they're 100 acres for fun season but I won't ask and put him in thelat position, he's say yes because he's to nice to say no, and I don't want to screw with his bow hunting. The other neighbors don't hunt nor allow any. Nice enough people but they live in the middle of their 40 and I don't blame them for not wanting it. They've never turned down a request to track.
The 3rd is across the street andnis a business .
All that to say I have a very specialized situation, we have to hunt carefully, because once we bump them they aren't coming back in the daylight. It's frustrating some days and rewarding others. It's nothing to see 30 plus I'm an afternoon sit so we try to take at least a couple does every year.
This year my youngest took up bow hunting. That's my joy now, watching him. He's full on into it and I have to temper him back from hunting too much. I love it.
To me in a nut shell that's what it is all about, doing what you love, no regrets and make memories. Sounds like you got that down too.

 

[MN Slick]

110% of this. Too much emphasis on horns, not enough for the experience, family, and most of all the animals.

Bill, I envy you and the fact your hunting is fulfilling for you, but we all have a different idea of what fulfills us. Some golfers are all about getting out there, hanging with the guys, and carding a 100 every round. They don’t practice and don’t care if they ever shoot a 95. Sometimes I wish I was wired to shoot nothing but 95’s on the golf course and not worried that my days of next level buck hunting could be over.

 

[Ben.MN/WI]

Got one of these at home signed by Ed and the tag line he wrote was "Bill, keep the FUN in hunting"
Can't say I've always done that, but it's sound advice from an old timer.

View attachment 84866

That's a great book, still as valid as it was when it was written 20+ years ago.

 

[Bill]

That's a great book, still as valid as it was when it was written 20+ years ago.

It is. It's also expensive these days $79 bucks on Amazon.

 

[Bill Loser]

Bill, I envy you and the fact your hunting is fulfilling for you, but we all have a different idea of what fulfills us. Some golfers are all about getting out there, hanging with the guys, and carding a 100 every round. They don’t practice and don’t care if they ever shoot a 95. Sometimes I wish I was wired to shoot nothing but 95’s on the golf course and not worried that my days of next level buck hunting could be over.

To each their own. Not trying to change anyone's mind. Just putting out a different view point.