Deer Population Concerns

Anyone else concerned about the deer population in their area? It seems like every year the number of deer in my area (77C) seem to get lower and lower. Hunter numbers and harvest have been down over the past 15 years, coyotes seem to be down currently, winters are not as harsh as 30 years ago yet the deer population doesn't seem to be doing well. Lots of development in the area but still tons of AG with woodlots and relatively large chunks of forest scattered throughout.

Just curious if anyone else is having the same concerns and maybe some insight into what caused the decline.

55B - looking pretty good. I'm in the southeast corner - mostly bush but on the edge of farmland. I've only had two wolf / coyote pics in the last year. Both does that show up regularly have their fawns - 3 between the two of them. Seem to have a better than normal deer population - last year was pretty good too.

I hunt 79 and 87, over the years I have seen deer numbers in both areas flip, but I have never seen them move in the same direction at the same time. In both areas the number of hunters seems to correlate with the changes, there have been times when I counted five tree stands in a one KM radius and other times when I don't even see a footprint.

92B has a good healthy population.

The land-owner is practically begging me to take out more deer but the MNR only gave me 2 tags... lol

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Originally Posted by bellerivercrossbowhunter

92B has a good healthy population.

The land-owner is practically begging me to take out more deer but the MNR only gave me 2 tags... lol

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Excellent area! Better you than the 401 corridor taking (roadkill) between London and Windsor.


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I'm 65 and there are lot's of deer. They just don't come out when I am in the stand.

I just talked to a hunter from 90B and he didn't getting an antlerless tag this year, a first for him so maybe the population is down here as well. TC

The herd in Unit 10 is still way down. Whenever I think that the population has bottomed out, it drops more. Last year, only about 700 deer were shot… the least in my 40 years of hunting there. Compare that to the late 1990’s-early 2000’s when up to 3000 deer were taken annually. We should see a bit of a bounce-back this year due to the mild winter, but we will need several more to turn the ship around.

I'm in 77C as well. I didn't see the activity I would normally see in the season. Not as many hits on the trail cameras. Deer sign was there, but the deer movement was different. Then again, maybe I just suck at finding deer :)

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Originally Posted by trky chsr

I just talked to a hunter from 90B and he didn't getting an antlerless tag this year, a first for him so maybe the population is down here as well. TC

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I'm blown away at the number of guys i've talked to down here who didn't draw their antlerless this year. 89, 90, 91. Area's that are usually 100% draw. Antlerless quotas have been the same for the past couple years so i'm not sure what's changed. More applicants? MNR system error? Coincidence?

I've been seeing the usual amount of deer here in 90B but I only hunt the Controlled Shotgun in November so can't comment on antlerless draw which I assume is for Bow hunting. There is a theory that a lot of applicants are not following all the directions properly and think they've entered but because of one missed step they didn't ?

According to the mnr web site, the same quota of doe tags was issued this year compared to last year for 88, 89 and 90

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Originally Posted by Markster

According to the mnr web site, the same quota of doe tags was issued this year compared to last year for 88, 89 and 90

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Same for 73, second year in a row at 100%.

I have cams out in the north end of 68b, deer numbers seem average but am also seeing yotes continuously as well.
John

That's good to hear that everyone is still seeing good numbers for the most part. In my area I can remember 15-20 years ago at dusk there would be deer in every field, in the last 10 years I rarely see any. Tracks of bush that had highways of trails barely have any sign. They're still around but not close to the numbers that used to be here. I did just score permission on another farm that has some good sign, just threw some cameras up and we will see!