ORIGINAL: Jim Bell
Here in the Eastern Panhandle where I hunt onlightly hunted 1500 acs of ground there has been a decline in deer numbers for the last 2-3 yrs. Blame has been placed on coyotes, poor food, overpopulation, etc. I haven't seen a good buck in 3 or 4 yrs. This year from bow season to present I have seen only a limited number of scrubs and far less does. I ain't a game biolgist but I know something is amiss.
Jim
I've lived in Berkeley Co ALL my life, and there'squite a few BIG RACKED bucks on the remaining farms, and living near the Interstae.(I saw a 10 pointer 50 ft from I-81 chasing a doe during the 2nd week. Hunting on 1500 ac, you have the deer there(Jefferson/Berkeley/Morgan have remained somewhat steady in the harvests).. and I can't imagine the herd being as pitiful as you described. Like I said, there isn't too much of the 3 counties that I HAVEN'T hunted.... you obviously missed about the 12 pointer killed outside Shepherdstown...my future son-in-laws' grandfather owns 3 farms off of Rt #45... deer aplenty... nice bucks too...just remember tha deer are adapting to living in the ever increasing developments, where hunting isn't allowed.Home sites are the new "thickets" for the game... but the deer are still here,you just have to stop the low-livesthat arepoaching the deer...and there's plenty of those to go around, from what the landowners(mostly farmers/orchardist)are telling me.