How has your season been? Our deer numbers are down over here at lease where I hunt. bad winter last year then flooding and I found a bunch of dead deer before the season started. went to a spot the other day that in years past I have had good luck and the deer really like to rut in and found very little singe. A few small rubs and Two little scrapes.
I have been hunting two deer for the last three years found one of them dead in the spring (picture below) and the other was shot by a rifle hunter this last weekend. Now I dont even know where there is a muture buck living I did pass on one that will be nice next year if he makes it.
Here is a picture of the one I found dead never could get him any closer then 35 yards. seen him 10 times any where from 35 to 75 yards but never within my bow range.
(http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f143/Bloodtrailer/download_0330101228.jpg)
This is the one I passed on earlier this here he is a 5x5 with kickers coming off both g2s not a real good picture but I hope he makes it another year or two. If you look he has a messed up shoulder and a gash on his belly but I dont think that they are related he gets around just fine and dose not even have a limp I had him about two yards from my stand one time. and I think a bow hunter took a shot at him and thats where the gash came from.
Sorry the other picture was way to big I will try to resize it.
I'm in Miles City. Numbers are WAY down in this area.
Way down here in Glendive also. I have come across a dozen or so dead ones along the Yellowstone river bottom I typically hunt,and have heard of plenty more dead ones found along the river this year. I've backed out of my whitetail spots and have been trying to find a muley to have a crack at which has not been easy either. The past two winters have'nt been kind to them or the antelope either, I'm still having a blast out in the hills though.
ANY OF IT HAVE TO DO WITH THE WOLfs???
No, a friend has a ranch on the Musselhell and they lost a lot to EHD.He thinks they lost at least 50% of the whitetails.
No there are very few wolves over on this end of the state hard winters and disease two years in a row. lots of flooding this last spring was real hard on the fawns too. I have seen very few does and fawns more little bucks then any thing. but still the numbers are way down kind wish fish and game would of just shut it down. but they didn't after the gun season you might not have any deer left.
Western ND lost 75% or more to EHD as well.
Yeah its bad. I live right on the ND border I fact I could hit it with a arrow from one of my stands.
Its hard to say. I think our numbers are down. But, starting several seasons back they started offering up to 5 doe permits in the valley. I thinks its taken its "desired" effect. Insurance companies and ranchers +.... Deer lovin trad hunter -.
Over on the Madison, we'd see 30-50 deer during a morning or evening sit, now not so many, think you're right the number of B tags sold is having an effect!
I think we are down here areound Billings as well...I am seeing a few but near the numbers of just a couple years ago. I also know HUNTER numbers are down. Saw it in the gazette and havent seen that many guys on my favorite BLM and State Plots.
The whole state had a hard winter, and I think it's taken it's toll on fawn mortality (last years), that did'nt make it through. We have wolves, but the deer don't seem as much affected by them as other species.
There seems to be a lot less deer, to me this year. I'm having a tough time filling a doe tag!
EHD hit us hard around Forestgrove. Found several dead deer during September and October. The deer that usually hang out in the creek that we overlook have disappeared as well. Hard winter, wet spring and lots of stagnate water.
I agree with Mark. I my area we had a very rough Winter and Spring.
I found 7 dead fawns in and around our sheep barn this spring.
Curled up just like a dog, sleeping. By the number I counted we our
down 70-80 percent. Have not filled a tag.
I might just bag it if I dont find me a good buck. Switch my focus to bunnies with my bow I suppose.
What is EHD and does it effect Mule deer as well as whitetails?
Stands for Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease. It is transported by a biting midge. Similar to bluetongue. Most affected deer die within 36 hours. Don't know if it affects mulies or not. Read "The Deer Of North America" by Leonard Lee rue III. Has lots of info about the disease and others.
Interesting. I live just south of the MT border, but it seems to be a similar story around here.
Yes EHD can effect mule deer also. It is typically on a smaller scale with muleys than whitetail, at least here in Idaho
Travis
Just got back from a morning sit There is a front moving in and its just now starting to snow. Not a deer seen. and nothing came in to the horns this morning. on the way out I thought I would take a walk though to see if any scrapes have been hit. nothing fresh they all had frost in them. but look what poped up in the last day.
(http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f143/Bloodtrailer/IMAG0159.jpg)
I think that the reason why the EHD was so bad this last year is from all the standing water. think it might be a breeding ground for the midge. What do you think or know?
Well I'm changing my tune... I saw 25 plus deer this morning along the river and shot 2 of them. I took a smallish buck and a young doe. I passed on two others, because two is plenty of meat to bone and pack across the river. :) I spaced my camera and had to snap cell phone pictures? Does anyone know how to transfer those to a computer?
Jeff
Jeff,
If you have email on your phone you can just email them to yourself, if not some phones have chips in them that the pictures are saved on, your cell phone store can tell you how to get them off the phone.
Up here on the Milk the EHD was nothing short of devastating,, 90 to 95% die off, the winter was bad enough and the flooding no doubt had a serious effect but the EHD was over the top.. about 10 years ago or so we broke the record for annual snow fall with 59 1/2 inches,, well last winter we broke the record again. but we didn't just break it by a few inchees or a foot we broke the record by 50 inches,, thats right we almost doubled the previous record. The EHD outbreak was perfect storm in the making,, we had about twice as many deer as we needed so they were severaly overpopulated and we had tons of water,, and the bugs had thousands of acres of breeding grounds, water water everywhere.. The winter took care of our antelope and the mule deer did take a hit also.. on some of my stands where I would see 20 deer I am now seeing 4 or 5,, and thats in the good spots some are void.. I have seen a few (2) nice bucks 120-130 type deer, I hope these deer breeed every doe in the area as they must have a very good immune system that I hope gets passed on.. Anyway we hunt what we can and I enjoy it no matter what.
I would like to add that we aint out of the woods yet. if we have a normal winter we are going to loose more whitetails,, the acres and acres of flood water killed most of the alphalfa and winter forage for the deer, the brouse line for the deer is at least 7-10 feet high no leaves no nothing for them eat. so we are holding our breath up here and hoping for the best.. here is a pic of the line the flood waters left on the Milk.. this pic was taken a few days ago..
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v508/134sawney/rickswhitetail2011005.jpg)
I can vouch for Howler...I estimated up to 97% less deer than last november. Howler--you chasing mulies or what? I am thinking about putting a couple of those yearling whitetail in my freezer and save them the heartache of this winter.
Gentry...that is one cool find...sad story, but at least you found him. I look more forward to shed hunting than I do bow hunting anymore, and last spring was nearly a total bust with the flood waters coming up into several feet of snow.
stickman yeah I don't think you will hurt the population at all by taking a few youngens for the freezer,, I'm still sitting in a tree watching the milk freeze over,, I do like to hunt Mule deer but not this time of the year.. I like sept better..
I feel your pain NE guys. I took my annual pheasant hunt up in your neck of the state and heard similar stories from everybody I met.
Also, my sister inlaw's family has a large ranch in North Central Montana. Her dad outfits and says the whitetails are non existent around him. He also said the Muleys are still in velvet in many parts of the breaks. Have you heard of this. Supposedly the biologist are reporting frost bite to their testicles? I'm not making this up! Also the game processors are saying they have had about 20% of their normal deer and antelope business in the area.
After hearing all of this, I will not complain about my slower than usual hunting. At least I'm seeing some deer and the future prospects look relatively stable.
Jeff
Oh and thanks Tim. I have an older phone, but I do see a slot for a mini SD card. I'm going to the verizon store for some help.
I think you are right about the Frozen Bells Jeff. Ben shot a brute Muley 2 weeks ago and it still had velvet. This was up around Malta.
Now that you mention it I have heard of several velvet deer shot in rifle season well into Nov.. frost bite hummm sounds reasonalble
one other thing that is a different this year on the Yellowstone is the number of elk in the area there is always some but this year there seems to be more around then the normal I have seen 4 bulls on the river and a few cows and calves never seen them on the river before this year in the hills around here but never on the river and there seems to be more in the hills too. thinking they moved in becuase of the winter last year.
This was definately a good year for elk in this area, it would not have hurt my feelings if FWP would have shut down the deer season early and would have closed the season all together for antelope. North Dakota shut there goat season for the last 2 seasons I believe. I drew a either sex either species tag this year in ND and I'm not really seeing much in the area I've been hunting N of Sentinal Butte. Sad story we have some lean seasons in our future.
Phil I Know where there are two real nice mulie bucks in ND. One will go around the 180 mark and the other is a 190 buck. can show you on a map where they live and feed if you want. I always say that I am going to put in for that tag and never do.
How can I pass up an offer like that! That would be greatly appreciated. Headed back to work for some OT I will pm you tommorrow.
Thanks, Phil