Hey all, I've only been deer hunting 5 years now and have never hunted after a summer of heat & drought, so I was wondering what, if any effects this will have on the fall hunting season. The property I hunt is on a friends farm that has two ponds and pretty bad looking corn and beans, but no food plots.

I can only assume that this miserable summer has resulted in a higher mortality rate for fawns, but is it also lethal to some percentage of the adult population?

here in central ky the heat has stressed everything but the fawns i am seeing are looking ok, i have noticed more movement this year as the deers are foraging wider for there water source as ponds turn into mud pits, lonesome hollow has 3 small ponds that are spring fed and they are looking as bad as i have ever seen them, but the deer are less than 3/4 mile from the green river so i am sure that they are getting more exercise than on a wet year

As long as they can get something to eat they will be fine, as deer don't need water daily like elk and antelope due to their different digestive system. They will go to water though if it is available and I've seen a number of them wading in the river eating and cooling off on the north side of town while I'm out running my pointer every evening the last couple of weeks. The northern climate kills most of the deer from mid winter into the Spring, while the deer in the far south are the ones that have the tougher time in the summer months.

The drought will have a negative impact on antler growth.

Southwest Oklahoma is in its third year of severe drought. Last summer was the hottest and driest on record: 100-150 year old oak trees died from lack of water. Most of the ponds dried up. We got some rain beginning in late September, 2011 but there was no runoff and the ponds are in worse shape now than this time last year.

Normally coyotes get about one-third of fawns in this part OK. Because of coyote depredation, and coupled with last years heat and drought; only 1/4-1/3 of does were running with fawns last deer season. The situation was better in south central OK where there was more rain.

The vast majority of wild hog sows lost their litters here last summer. i saw dozens of small dead pigs.

Last season we were in a drought and most of the deer we saw where near the river,so I guess it would be best to look for water sources that they will be near.
This year so far we are finally getting some rain and refilling the ponds so I hope it make's it better.