Where I live deer have been abundent in past years but this year instead of seeing them every two or three trips to my hunting spots; it's now every 8th or 9th trip. Just wanna know if anyone else in eastern Ontario has been noticing this as well.
Also just wanna say that excalibur is the best company I have dealt with and will post my stories invovling them later on. Just about to get off of work.
My opinion is that there are definitely not as many deer this year as in the past few. In my area the number of extra tags available has gone from 4000, to 260 this year. Anecdotal evidence is that coyotes, hunting and last year's severe winter has taken it's toll. There are still deer out there but you have to look for them.
don't have an answer for you but i haven't saw a deer since last sat. total deer 6 but 2 Doe's i saw twice on diff days. so total of 4 deer 3 Doe's 1 Buck and no fawns at all. there is a pack of dogs that run loose here and i have saw them running deer silently they don't ever bark.
Last year it was every other doe had fawns, this year we only seen two does with fawns. It was only the two, one doe had a jacked up eye and the other doe was what we call red... Coyotes are out of control we heard them every night and seen this big Male most days we hunted. #s of deer are way down.
Kevin
Every moment in the woods is a gift from above, having the Excalibur with is a blessing...
Thanks for the reply everyone. I guess I'm gonna wait for later in the season to hunt maybe late november early december. I want to do some more scouting. Maybe catch them going to another food source or water. That's what i love about hunting, it's not a science it's an instinct.
I have noticed a lack of deer in my area too, even on the roads. In the past when driving the back roads I would see groups of deer. Lately I haven't seen any. I think last years winter combined with high predation took its toll on the population. This winter the coyotes will likely take a down fall.
I have to agree. Deer population is definitely down. I have been hunting every weekend since season opener and have yet to see the white tail of one yet. The farmer and hunt camp next door report the same. This is despite preparing nice food plots for them. No fresh tracks anywhere. Nothing! There is however a huge pack of coyotes and I have taken shots at them and now am specifically targeting these song dogs. The huge amount of snow we had last winter probably made the deer easy prey for them. Hope things pickup for the rifle season as I'm on my last few pieces of venison.
I think I have noticed an increase in numbers so far in the hamilton area. I found that last year with the lack of rain that the deer were grouped somewhere else near water. This year I have seen alot of does, some with fawns. However, for the past week its been tough to get any in sight.
Welcome and I agree with others that the harsh winter and high coyote population has severely lowered the number of deer. I want to hunt coyotes lots this winter.
Hmmm not a problem here, we're seeing plenty of deer. I'm not a biologist by any means but I was always that a doe will usually drop 1 or 2 fawns a year, 3 being rare. We have seen 2 different does with 4 spotted fawns on our club and they were no where close to one another. Any thoughts
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