Deer population down?
 

Ive been hearing people say the population in IL. is down. atleast does. one person even said hed rather shoot a button buck instead of a doe....im not sure what to think yet cause i havnt been out as much as usual this year...

Let the bucks go so they can grow is my moto. I would rather drop a dozen does than a few small bucks unless they are scrub bucks with jacked up racks just to keep the gene pool strong. I have as well heard that about the deer population and I live in Il also. Even though the papers around here are saying the harvest was up from last year, not according to everyone I have spoke with who was out. I hunted 2-1/2 days first season, 3 days 2nd season and saw NOTHING!!!!!!!! Saw a bunch of deer during bow season, took 1 scrub buck n 3 does. :confused0024:

I keep hearing it but im not etirely convinced..alot of does get shot around here but i consistently see twins and triplets which is a good sign of good habitat....i know theres alot of good bucks around just not as many deer being seen during daylight...i think theyre just bein more nocturnal this year and feeding other sources in the timber instead of bein in open feilds. therea also alot more preasure this year i think also since its been so dry. Yeah i think my head spun all the way around when i heard that said about button bucks...his therory is that with less small bucks and more does in his feilds the more often he wouls see big bucks. I said well what about natures way of sayin to those buttoen bucks "go for miles till you find a place ans not get kicked out so you bread with a diferent family hear to prevent inbreading"...and the reply i didnt like of course was id still have less small bucks on my property and more does for the big bucks ..

And if the herd numbers are down then doesnt that mean that we as sportsman are doing what were suppose to do to help the animals from becoming over populated and dieing of diseases like CWD and blue toung or starvation.

We should remember 20 + years ago you didnt see deer around here.

Exactly! I am always oddly amused by people who feel cheated if they don't see a butt load of Deer every time they go out, even if it is not what is in the best interest of the herd in the long run. To listen to people you would think the harvest was way down this year, but in fact at 98,700, it is in line with the harvest from the last several years and only several thousand less than even the best years. Factor in the fact that huge chunks of private ground are off limits to anyone that cannot or will not pony up several thousand dollars and it is amazing that even 100,000 deer are being killed.

I love the fact that so many are complaining about a lower deer population but yet they are all out STILL trying to fill several tags ?!? Hunters MUST learn to police themselves and make responsible management choices on the properties they hunt. If you feel the deer pop is lower in your region than you would like to see.... then do NOT shoot many!

Right on IL-Cornfed!! What did you think would happen if you shoot 3 or 4 deer a year? The same thing happened in Wisconsin. We got put in Earn a Buck and we were forced to shoot a doe to get a buck tag and go figure our doe population went down big time. I'm stuck in the CWD zone so I get EAB and 4 free antlerless tags every day and I will only let myself shoot 1 antlerless deer. I will only shoot a buck worth mounting but I would rather shoot a buck fawn then a doe because our buck to do ratio is 2:1 even 3:1 in favor of bucks.

Does anybody else think this guy is funny? Say's one thing and does another! He knows how to save money though, uses the same broadhead for every animal. Let the bucks go so they can grow? Took one scrub buck and 3 does. I don't even think you bowhunt.

In Virginia the population is down. Last winter's snow storm after snow storm annihilated the young of the year. Carcasses were everywhere during spring gobbler season. This may be different in other parts of the state, but where I hunt I haven't seen a 1.5 year old deer this season. In a few years when that age group would have matured, the woods will be empty of older deer. Hopefully we won't have more winters like last year, or the mature herd will suffer in years to come.