Tough year for deer hunters?

[cisco]

It's "work party" time at my hunt club (about 4000 acres in SC, no dog hunting), which means mucking around on rather hot days with bush hogging and tree branch trimming of the shooting lanes, stand maintenance (including zapping the wasp nests), food plot seeding and the like. I expect a difficult year, given a paucity of water (there are only a few places on the property where there will reliably be water for the deer) and the challenges to the farmers who lease many of the fields may mean less for the deer to eat. Corn is going to be expensive, with estimates of the US crop declining another 10% this week, so placing ample piles near stands every few weeks will be out of the question. I'm crossing my fingers, but it could be a difficult year to harvest, over a few weekends, the 3-4 doe I usually need to keep my deer meat habit in check, and the large buck I tend to seek later in the season may be harder to flush out. I guess it's the normal ebb and flow of nature, with the recent "good years" now turning towards leaner ones. Darn.
Any of y'all expecting better luck with hunting this year than last? If so, where are you located - Canada? I sure hope this is not the opening salvo of global warming.

 

[DANOCHEESE]

Drought the last two years here in SW Minnesota. THe deer all head for the river bottoms. Our ground has one little pond that we are able to see a few does around.

The price of corn will be high. We have a chance to make a crop if we get rain in the next few days./

 

[RobertBrown]

I suspect that if its' been that dry, there will be few acorns and less mast in general. You may be surprised at how much activity you get if you can get a food plot irrigated and growing.
If your hunting for subsistence, you'll get your share. If your hunting for antlers, maybe not.
We have been getting quite a bit of rain over the past 3 weeks, after a prolonged drought. So... I suspect that there will be tons of acorns and the deer won't have to go far to find food. You'll have to "hunt them" here. Won't be a lot of success "baiting them up", and sitting over a food plot.

 

[Pete Judd]

Come up here, again, all the does have twins. The rats with antlers are coming right up to the back porch, next to the deck. They have no fear anymore, and heck to keep out of the garden so added another 2 ft to the already 6 ft fence poles.

 

[forgeblast]

I have seen up here this year twins is more common then singles. I just saw a flock of 10 baby turkeys with their mom and dad in our front yard. I saw them when they a few days old now they are a little smaller then my chickens. Bear are real active this year also.

 

[phiferpharm]

I'm not a hunter, but we have had more deer, turkey, critters in general, wandering around the property than ever this year. They have even been coming out during daylight hours over by my barn.

 

[TripleR]

No real changes expected in our general area, many farmers irrigate, cattle and flood control ponds are common, so while the water level is down, it's still available.

 

[foreman Etexas]

Have seen way more deer this year,should turn out to be really good year. I found it cheaper to feed them alfalfa($8.00 bale) last year than corn and put out bigger food plot.

 

[clemsonfor]

We had a dry period a few weeks ago here in upstate when all the 100 degree days, but in the last few weeks we have gotten rain and things are green. If it keeps up at half this level to oct, i expect a great acorn crop. I had a terrible season last year. I did not hunt as much but the time i did i saw one 8 point little buck. A saw a decent amount of does but missed 2. One i shot a small diameter tree i guess i did not see in front of a deer and another was a clean miss at 350ish yards. I usually see 6+ bucks a season, and try to shoot bucks that will score 110+ is what i really look for. NOt to say i dont mess up and shoot a smaller 8 or 9 pt that scores lower but thats just what i try to kill.

Get into a different club that dosent "pour the corn" to um you may have better luck. corn= deer hunters and in my opinion deer are not stupid enough to think piles of corn just lay in the woods, they know that corn equals danger. Not saying you or other people have never killed big deer over corn, cause i see plenty of deer each year that are killed over it in the SC fishing/hunting free mag thing. I just think you have better success fining bedding, natural food and setting up along major travel cooridors or on the food source that sustains them (corn does not sustain any deer other than the 6 does that eat your pile every night).

Just my opinion others may not agree but with the pirce or corn in the last 8 years or so i dont see how anyone can feed the deer?

 

[ShenandoahJoe]

... with the price of corn in the last 8 years or so i dont see how anyone can feed the deer?

Maybe these guys are doing me a favor, culling the ones who like corn. In a few years, maybe the only deer left will be the ones who don't care for the taste.