Tough Deer Season in Midwest

[midwesterncrosshair]

I have heard locals from all three states say it has been the worst deer season they have been apart of. I did a little digging and sounds like its been a down year in many Midwest states. I guess I have had a good year compared to others.

How has your season been?

Deer kill down 25% for Wisconsin's nine-day gun hunting season, the lowest in 39 years

The DNR cited the late timing of the season and relatively poor hunting conditions for the lower deer harvest.

www.jsonline.com

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50,000 deer taken in first Illinois hunting weekend, 15% drop

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — State officials say hunters in Illinois took a total of 50,173 deer during the first weekend of the firearm season Nov. 22-24. The preliminary total reflects a 15% drop in the n…

wgntv.com

Missouri Department of Conservation reports deer harvest down in 2019

MDC reported six firearms-related hunting incidents during the November portion of the firearms deer season with four being self-inflicted.

www.ky3.com

 

[MikeW217]

I am from Illinois and I was able to get a nice doe the morning of opening day of firearm, but the number of shots heard in my area was down. I was also the only one to harvest is my group. Not sure the cause of this, but it is not surprising that the total harvest was down.

 

[midwesterncrosshair]

I am from Illinois and I was able to get a nice doe the morning of opening day of firearm, but the number of shots heard in my area was down. I was also the only one to harvest is my group. Not sure the cause of this, but it is not surprising that the total harvest was down.

I agree with you. The shots I heard opening weekend was down also.

 

[Dave N]

Yep, less shots but I still filled 2 tags. Have a muzzle loader only tag to go yet!

 

[8andcounting]

Cuz there’s crop standing everywhere, all over the upper Midwest

 

[BrentD]

My season is still just over 2 weeks out. But friends in northern WI said they had one of the best in a long time. Guess it's the wolves.

 

[Midwestwhitetail]

I hunt in Missouri and for opening day of rifle season the shots were definitely down in my area. My brother in laws and I shot some nice bucks during early bow season. I could have filled a tag or two with some does but none seemed big enough. It was definitely a down year here.

 

[Clzandstra79]

I’m from IL and this has been one of the best seasons I’ve had. I’ve seen plenty of deer as have the guys I hunt with. I have 5 in the freezer and done for the year

 

[rjthehunter]

I had a good season. Got 2 for the freezer and was waiting for a biggin with my buck tag and the Saturday of our second weekend out walked a good mature buck so I ended up with 3!

I will say I do think the shooting was down. I saw the same amount of deer I normally see for an opening morning which is right at the 20 mark.

 

[midwesterncrosshair]

Cuz there’s crop standing everywhere, all over the upper Midwest

So it should be good next year right?

 

[F250]

Were your areas impacted by all the flooding last spring/early summer ?

 

[midwesterncrosshair]

Were your areas impacted by all the flooding last spring/early summer ?

In my area it was affected. For the farmers it was either planted or not. From what I heard in upper WI it has been wet most of the year so lots of standing crops.

 

[Pucky Freak]

I'm predicting an uptick in total Iowa harvest compared to last year once the stats roll out. Mild weather on shotgun opener and everyone will be out. If our main gun season was in November like many other Midwestern states it would have been different due to the historically late corn harvest.

 

[Midwestwhitetail]

I'm predicting an uptick in total Iowa harvest compared to last year once the stats roll out. Mild weather on shotgun opener and everyone will be out. If our main gun season was in November like many other Midwestern states it would have been different due to the historically late corn harvest.

I believe that is why the numbers were down in missouri. Many of the farmers still had alot of crops in the field. I think it helped give the deer alot more coverage than they can normally find that time of year.

 

[SD_Prairie_Goat]

Tough year for me in South Dakota. Got a mule deer buck for rifle season, after that I've been skunked so far. Archery was tough and now I'm just trying to get meat for muzzleloader doe in December now. Also I know listening to shots isn't scientific at all, but those seemed few and far between on opener.

Corn still in played a large role I'm sure, but also all the flooding I'm sure didn't help anything this year.

 

[sbhooper]

Nebraska was up 2 percent for the week and including whatever archery tags were filled before cf season. Muzzle loader is on now and everything seems pretty status quo for me. I have killed five deer so far and have six left to kill by the middle of January. I don't anticipate any issues filling the remaining tags.

 

[BrentD]

Nebraska was up 2 percent for the week and including whatever archery tags were filled before cf season. Muzzle loader is on now and everything seems pretty status quo for me. I have killed five deer so far and have six left to kill by the middle of January. I don't anticipate any issues filling the remaining tags.

Why would you kill 11 deer?

 

[sbhooper]

Why would you kill 11 deer?

Why? Because I can! The permits are available, I like to kill deer, I fill my freezer and that of some friends. If you don't want to kill more than one a year, or whatever, that is your choice, but I like to kill deer and I hunt on a ranch that has gobs of them all winter. I selectively harvest the older mulie does, many of which are past their prime and I usually kill one or two white tails here by the house.

The whole reason that the permits are available, is that the herd can stand the harvest and in some instances, is above what the land should have on it.

Next question?

 

[huronmtns]

To the OP, get the license sales data and factor that into harvest rates and shots that have been heard. Less license sales means less hunting effort that could be contributing to the final kill numbers.

 

[midwesterncrosshair]

To the OP, get the license sales data and factor that into harvest rates and shots that have been heard. Less license sales means less hunting effort that could be contributing to the final kill numbers.

I have thought about that one also. Where I’m at in Illinois outfitters are looked at as a problem. Where one parcel of land that a family could hunt three people lost access and now the outfitters will send one person on that whole property.