Originally Posted by
whitetailcrazy
I have spoke with guys who hunt just outside of Pittsfield Illinois in Pike county, and they said the same thing...
"They have noticed a significant decline in numbers this year..." So, I don't want people to think this is my opinion...
Check local contests in your county, those numbers don't lie.. I wouldn't trust anything that comes from the state of Illinois and I am a resident of the god awful state!
EHD was to have hit the center of the state the hardest, and that was put out by the IDNR.. You can go to their web site and look at their EHD Report.
I hunt a farm just outside Pittsfield and the EHD was there for sure but the deer also just were not moving in the daylight at all. I didn't see deer out of my stand several days in a row leading up to gun season but I did see them in big numbers around the roads every single night on my way home. The deer did not budge in the mornings at all. It has been a funny year.
The deer moved much better this last weekend. I seen 30 deer Thursday afternoon including 5 bucks including a 140ish and a 150ish.
Still a lot of deer around Pittsfield. Everybody I talked to seen deer the second season.
The hunting pressure is immense. EHD certainly hasn't helped though.
There are less deer now for sure. This is the 2nd straight year of significant EHD in the area but we also had a very warm/late fall. crops in way late, leaves and cover still very abundant on in to November,acorns on the ground late etc.
1000s of acres of corn still stood during 1st gun season.
As long as the EHD doesn't continue to happen the herd will bounce right back no problem at all.