50 years ago my Grandpa said that if you saw a deer it was rare and if you did you called your neighbor to report the rare sighting. Other wildlife was abundant though, prairie chickens, ducks, pheasants, rabbits, and fox populations wereMUCH more abundant than now.
Vehicle insurance companies,irritated homeowners that complain about bush and flower damage,some farmers and other property owners complain of the financial losses to deer. Not to mentionour deerlandsare being swallowed up by developers. 5 years ago, a hunter in IA was allowed to take one deer with a bow and one with a gun.Now we are allowed to take as many as we want until each county is sold out. Most guys are taking 3-6 deer per year that I know. Pressure from the above groups is causing the IA DNR to take these actions.
Deer hunting is big business for the states and brings in a lot of revenue. Our pheasant population in IAhas steadily gone downhill over the years due to lack of cover, modern farming practices, and overhunting. It used to be nothing for me to drive down a gravel road and see 10 roosters in a mile. Youwouldhave to drive alldaynow to see 10 rooster pheasants.The state wouldn't think of closing the pheasantseason for a year or limiting the harvest or days afield. Pheasant hunting brings tons of $$ to this state and the state economy depends on it.$$ talks. Could our deer hunting go downhill from the peak it is right now? Some states have chronic wasting disease to contend with too. It is probably only a matter of time until it affects all states with deer. Will our kids or grandkids call up their neighbor to report the rare sighting of a deer?
Here is my Grandpa with a weekend of fox that he just walked upon by tracking and shot years ago.
I don't think so. I think the fact that you brought up, that deer = big $, is the saving grace if nothing else is. They can't risk losing that money. Are you sure that the reduction of the other species isn't because of the urban sprawl and the deer are just more able to adapt than many of the other species? Now the sprawl issue does concern me, but that is not up to the DNR/DOW and aside from a massive epidemic, I don't know what can stop that.
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"We cannot expect the Americans to jump from capitalism to Communism, but we can assist their elected leaders in giving Americans small doses of socialism until they suddenly awake to find they have Communism" - Nikita Krushchev 1959
In NC....I can count on one hand the number of deer I saw as a child. Though I didn't hunt deer....I small game hunted from the time I was 10 and had a pellet gun.
I remember being on the Blue Ridge Parkway on the way back to college and seeing my first wild turkey. I was 20.
I see hundreds of turkeys every year, now......and hundreds of deer (maybe over a thousand).
In my state....the numbers have gone up 450% in the last 20 yrs (deer herd pops). I would assume (though I don't know....I'm basing this assumption purely on sightings) the turkey numbers have equalled that.
I know in the state of Missouri we have the most Turkey's than any other state and the deer population is doing great. Here you can shoot as many doe (up to 99) in a season. I think the main problem with Pheasants and Quail is habitat loss. With increase in Sprawl and most pastures made of of fescue the nesting conditions and lack of food are decimating the Upland game population. Also, when you throw in the adaptability of other game such as Turkey and Deer compared to the bird population, it becomes easy to see why these populations have flipped. I am as we speak converting a 90 acre pasture with limited woods and entirely fescue into a more wildlife friendly environment for Deer, Turkey, Quail and Pheasant.
here in cental missouri i didn't see as many deer the first part of the season, but i contribute that to too many warm days and farmers keeping the corn in for so long. i personally since have seen plenty of deer. i was fortunante to kill 2 this year and think that that's pretty good for around here.
In the part of Illinois where I grew up, deer were very rare until the 50s. By the time I was coming up in the 70s, there were enough to justify a season, but that was about it. Now, there are more deer than rabbits, and deer huntinghas turned into a religion. Of course, we now have to contend with daily auto accidents, very bad damage to crops and gardens, grossly inflated land prices, and people fighting like cats and dogs over hunting stand spots.
I miss the 70s.
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"Shoot him again....his soul is still dancing"
I grew up in the 50's and 60's and I can honestly say I saw my first deer when I was 20 years old while small game hunting. I can still remember how stunned I was. This past year I shot 6 deer in this same area. I know the good times are now and it like anything else won't last for ever. CWD is probibly going to do it. But as stated earlier deer hunting = big bucks. They will try to control it but I don't think it will ever happen.
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What's a pheasant? If a downstate resource doesn't drawbig $$$into the state, Chicago don't wanna hear it.
I don't honestly see the deer numbers declininguntill(if) the whitetail population boom allows disease to spread easier.
Pheasants and quail are to me, almost non-existant. I've only seen a handfull of foxes in my life, turkey #'s are up, coyote #'s are up, and I don't need to say much about IL deer to this crowd.
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Of course, we now have to contend with daily auto accidents, very bad damage to crops and gardens, grossly inflated land prices, and people fighting like cats and dogs over hunting stand spots.
The quail numbers seem to have remained stable in my neck of the woods. Rabbits have taken a big hit over the years due to some habitat loss, low fur prices for fox and coyote, more people moving out in the country with their free-ranging house cats, and people cracking down on coyote hunters.
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"Shoot him again....his soul is still dancing"
Will History Repeat Itself?
