Where have all the Deer gone?

Dolfan21

Ten Pointer
we havent seen jack at the club in about two weeks....doe or spike here or there but no good bucks. they were really fired up late october into early november and it seemed to dry up when we got all that wind and rain in mid november.
 

Hunting Nut

Old Mossy Horns
I know you probably have checked this but... make sure the corn in your feeders didn't get molded from any rain. Check it and smell it. If corn gets mold, Deer will leave it.
 

oldest school

Old Mossy Horns
Over 61,000 bucks are reported killed so far across the state.
That contributes to reduced sightings.
quadruple that and that might cover car, unreported, wounded and die numbers.
they just aint around like they were.
 
Over 61,000 bucks are reported killed so far across the state.
That contributes to reduced sightings.
quadruple that and that might cover car, unreported, wounded and die numbers.
they just aint around like they were.
The state needs to reduce the number of allowed bucks to 1 and anterless to 3 in the North Western, Western and Central Zones. Also, a bounty on Coyotes and Red Wolves to reduce their counts will help tremendously.
 

oldest school

Old Mossy Horns
The state needs to reduce the number of allowed bucks to 1 and anterless to 3 in the North Western, Western and Central Zones. Also, a bounty on Coyotes and Red Wolves to reduce their counts will help tremendously.
well good luck with any of that happening.
i dont even want to explore why you think that is needed and I suggest you just harbor those thoughts and avoid discussing them here. It wont be pretty. :)
 

Lee

Six Pointer
Hang in there. I have constant deer on the cameras in Harnett until the acorns and hickory nuts fall. Then they disappear for a month or so. Usually I put out my first corn of the season in December and they will come to it. It could be the mast crop is thinned out or it could be most of the other local hunters are done by then.
 

PPosey

Twelve Pointer
Every year my deer disappear with the opening of gun season my moron Neighbors start walking the property line shooting at anything that moves in and out of the woods constantly. I've only got 30 Acres all good habitat I've done lots of hinge cutting have a food plot but they can only stand so much pressure
 

JLove1974

Twelve Pointer
Every year my deer disappear with the opening of gun season my moron Neighbors start walking the property line shooting at anything that moves in and out of the woods constantly. I've only got 30 Acres all good habitat I've done lots of hinge cutting have a food plot but they can only stand so much pressure
I'd be selling that property to someone who would build a nice trailer park

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk
 

Deerhuntr

Ten Pointer
Late season deer are hard to come by sometimes. Keep the corn out and they’ll eventually be there when you are.
 
I agree with Turkeyfoot. 11 acres is not enough land to hold them. Keep the corn out and you may get some on the move to hang for a bit or more likely stop in for a bite.
 
well good luck with any of that happening.
i dont even want to explore why you think that is needed and I suggest you just harbor those thoughts and avoid discussing them here. It wont be pretty. :)

Well, I bring it up because I have lived in this state nearly 7 years now and have hunted multiple portions of it. I think I have a good idea of what the population looks like. The game lands seem to be the worst for deer populations. Very similar to what West Virginia used to be.

At one point the state had as many as 8 buck per square mile in some place and others had barely 1.5. Some genius in the state capital thought it was wise to up the statewide bag limit to 11 of which 3 were bucks. Obviously not considering the consequences for the locations with lower populations or areas with high concentrations of hunters. This devastated the public (WMA) Wildlife Management Ares and after a couple of years you were lucky to see a couple of deer a day or even a week in WMAs. After a a few years those buck limits were lifted on most WMAs. They have excellent hunting now.

Private land however had the opposite effect. Since most private land did not have as high a concentrations of hunters and given that landowners were not very forthcoming in allowing hunters to come on their land; the deer population kept growing. For example, On one occasion in one 8 hour hunt (all in daylight) I counted 194 deer crossing a single 350 acre farm. They looked like Elk migrating. An yes, before you ask, they were all different deer herds. To this day teh farmer takes about 20+ on crop damage permits but only allows limited hunting from non family members.

When the state did the obvious thing and implemented variable and tighter seaon bag limits, especially for WMAs; populations improved in the WMAs. They kept the 2 bucks per year statewide limit but restricted the WMAs to one buck per year per hunter and on average 2 does per year per hunter on WMAs; give or take depending on the WMAs location. To this day the overall bag limit varies from year to year depending on the previous harvest of course. If a hunter wished to bag more deer he then had to do so on private land.

I guess the point after all of that is that NC could and probably should do something similar for its game lands. It would help improve the populations and allow us, the paying hunter, more opportunities to harvest a quality whitetail. Leave teh private land alone.

Just some thoughts.
 

josh

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Well, I bring it up because I have lived in this state nearly 7 years now and have hunted multiple portions of it. I think I have a good idea of what the population looks like. The game lands seem to be the worst for deer populations. Very similar to what West Virginia used to be.

At one point the state had as many as 8 buck per square mile in some place and others had barely 1.5. Some genius in the state capital thought it was wise to up the statewide bag limit to 11 of which 3 were bucks. Obviously not considering the consequences for the locations with lower populations or areas with high concentrations of hunters. This devastated the public (WMA) Wildlife Management Ares and after a couple of years you were lucky to see a couple of deer a day or even a week in WMAs. After a a few years those buck limits were lifted on most WMAs. They have excellent hunting now.

Private land however had the opposite effect. Since most private land did not have as high a concentrations of hunters and given that landowners were not very forthcoming in allowing hunters to come on their land; the deer population kept growing. For example, On one occasion in one 8 hour hunt (all in daylight) I counted 194 deer crossing a single 350 acre farm. They looked like Elk migrating. An yes, before you ask, they were all different deer herds. To this day teh farmer takes about 20+ on crop damage permits but only allows limited hunting from non family members.

When the state did the obvious thing and implemented variable and tighter seaon bag limits, especially for WMAs; populations improved in the WMAs. They kept the 2 bucks per year statewide limit but restricted the WMAs to one buck per year per hunter and on average 2 does per year per hunter on WMAs; give or take depending on the WMAs location. To this day the overall bag limit varies from year to year depending on the previous harvest of course. If a hunter wished to bag more deer he then had to do so on private land.

I guess the point after all of that is that NC could and probably should do something similar for its game lands. It would help improve the populations and allow us, the paying hunter, more opportunities to harvest a quality whitetail. Leave teh private land alone.

Just some thoughts.
WV has a 3 buck limit but no more than two during rifle season.

WV has been doing an awesome job with land acquisition in the past 10 years and I guess that’s the most important. There hasn’t been much actual management of the most of these areas though, funds are an issue as well as enforcement, the atv/ redneck culture unfortunately makes many of the state owned WMAs a joke it’s just a”mudding” grounds and beer bottle shooting fiasco
 
WV has a 3 buck limit but no more than two during rifle season.

WV has been doing an awesome job with land acquisition in the past 10 years and I guess that’s the most important. There hasn’t been much actual management of the most of these areas though, funds are an issue as well as enforcement, the atv/ redneck culture unfortunately makes many of the state owned WMAs a joke it’s just a”mudding” grounds and beer bottle shooting fiasco
Define Redneck culture! Perhaps you are referring to a working class white person from a rural area? Or do you mean Farmers? Please expound.
 
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So the guy hunting 11 whole acres would like to limit other hunters because he’s not seeing any deer. Makes perfect sense to me 😂

I wasn’t for the two antlered deer limit in the eastern part of the state and definitely wouldn’t want a one antlered deer limit.
Not just my eleven whole acres but I hit South Mountain, Pisgah, Alcoa and Uwharrie game lands as well. I tend to actually get off my rear end and actually get in the woods an hunt for my deer. But thats Just me. As far as bag limits changes, it would be worth it to have more deer, healthier deer and larger racks to harvest. Because when they are over hunted and you can’t find them you will be singing a different tune. I’ve been there and it’s no fun.
 
Best of luck to y'all. Enjoy your time together. Spending time with your father is indeed the true blessing. A deer would just be a cherry on top.
Thanks so much. I have been hunting with him since I was 5 (52 now) and he is my best friend. The man is a deer whisperer For sure and I still feel like a Padawan Learner when I am with him. Still a lot to learn from him for life in general.
 

PPosey

Twelve Pointer
Back in the early 90s there was great public land hunting in WV , kinda like the late 80s here in WNC,
 

Deerhuntr

Ten Pointer
Not just my eleven whole acres but I hit South Mountain, Pisgah, Alcoa and Uwharrie game lands as well. I tend to actually get off my rear end and actually get in the woods an hunt for my deer. But thats Just me. As far as bag limits changes, it would be worth it to have more deer, healthier deer and larger racks to harvest. Because when they are over hunted and you can’t find them you will be singing a different tune. I’ve been there and it’s no fun.
I guess if it gets to the point they are hard for me to find I would really be deer hunting then.
 

Ambush

Twelve Pointer
Not just my eleven whole acres but I hit South Mountain, Pisgah, Alcoa and Uwharrie game lands as well. I tend to actually get off my rear end and actually get in the woods an hunt for my deer. But thats Just me. As far as bag limits changes, it would be worth it to have more deer, healthier deer and larger racks to harvest. Because when they are over hunted and you can’t find them you will be singing a different tune. I’ve been there and it’s no fun.

One buck limit just over the mountains in Kentucky. If I lived in western NC, I’d make a trip there every season. Land of the giants now. Two buck limit is perfect for most of NC. Some western countries maybe a different story.
 

sky hawk

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Define Redneck culture! Perhaps you are referring to a working class white person from a rural area? Or do you mean Farmers? Please expound.

Hit a nerve, huh? I believe he explained what he meant if you read the second half of his sentence. You ought to know what culture he's talking about and it's not farmers and "working class white people".
 

FireDuck401

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
11 acres isn’t large enough to run multiple feeders and food plots.
I would focus my efforts on improving bedding/cover. There’s corn everywhere.
You want the deer on your property during daylight.
 
Hit a nerve, huh? I believe he explained what he meant if you read the second half of his sentence. You ought to know what culture he's talking about and it's not farmers and "working class white people".
naw no nerve hit. I'm a proud redneck. I just don't think he knows what the definition is. There's a big difference between redneck and white trash.
 

JLove1974

Twelve Pointer
Buck harvest limits only work for honest people... count how many shots before and after legal light on rifle season and you will understand why you’re not seeing a lot of deer. NC has a bad poacher problem
 

np307

Ten Pointer
@riversedge there's plenty who hunt game lands who have success and even take some very nice bucks. I have hunted Uwharrie the last several years and never felt the deer herd there was suffering. There's deer to be found if you put a little work in. I was on deer there my first year hunting. I think you underestimate the value of how short the either-sex seasons are on game lands compared to the surrounding private lands.

Plus, NC just reduced bag limits last year. Even if what you're saying is true, it would take a few years to see the effects of the reduction.
 

woodmoose

Administrator
Staff member
Contributor
There's a big difference between redneck and white trash

:party: you asked for it,,,,,
I heard you would be a redneck if:
  • You need one more hole punched in your card to get a freebie at the House of Tattoos.
  • You need an estimate from your barber before you get a haircut.
  • The biggest fashion risk you take is which plaid you'll wear to the 4-H Fair.
  • You have flowers planted in a bathroom appliance in your front yard.
  • Your wife (or husband) weighs more then your refrigerator.
  • You move your refrigerator and the grass underneath it has turned yellow.
  • You mow your lawn and find a car.
  • You can spit without opening your mouth.
  • Going to the bathroom in the middle of the night involves putting on shoes and a jacket and grabbing a flashlight.
  • You go Christmas shopping for your mom, sister, and girlfriend, and you only need to buy one gift.
  • Taking a dip has nothing to do with water.
  • There are more than ten lawsuits currently pending against your dog.
  • You take a fishing pole to Sea World.
  • The hood and one door are a different color from the rest of your car.
  • You've ever filled your deer tag on the golf course.
  • You've ever shot somebody over a mall parking space.
  • Santa Claus refuses to let your kids sit in his lap.
  • Your toilet paper has page numbers on it.
  • You think mud rasslin' should be an Olympic sport.
  • The receptionist checks the rat traps at your place of business.
  • More than one living relative is named after a Southern Civil War general.
  • You think the stock market has a fence around it.
  • You think the O.J. trial was the big Sunkist and Minutemaid taste test.
  • You've ever lost a loved one to kudzu.
  • Your boat has not left the driveway in 15 years.
  • Your front porch collapses and kills more than three dogs.
  • Your coffee table used to be a telephone cable spool.
  • You keep a can of Raid on the kitchen table.
  • You've ever used a toilet seat as a picture frame.
  • Your home has more miles on it than your car.
  • Your Christmas tree is still up in February.
  • You've ever been arrested for loitering.
  • You think that potted meat on a saltine is an hors d'ouvre.
  • There is a stuffed possum anywhere in your house.
  • You hammer bottle caps into the frame of your front door to make it look nice.
  • You've ever shot anyone for looking at you.
  • You own a homemade fur coat.
  • Your wife can climb a tree faster than your cat.
  • Your momma has "ammo" on her Christmas list.
  • You've totaled every car you've ever owned.
 
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