Deer density where you hunt

BOHO · April 16, 2017, 10:55:00 PM

QuoteOriginally posted by South MS Bowhunter:
2016 MS forecast:

"According to the Quality Deer Management Association's Deer Density Map, Mississippi has more deer per square mile than any other state in the nation. Most of the Magnolia State (especially the lower Delta, much of southwest Mississippi, the Black Prairie and several areas in northwest Mississippi) has a deer density greater than 45 deer per square mile. Only southeast Mississippi, along with a few other pockets around the state, fall into the deer density category of having less than 15 deer per square mile. "

I'm in one of the less than 15 per sq mi areas, but still was blessed to take two this past season
Read more: http://www.gameandfishmag.com/forecasts/mississippi-deer-hunting-forecast-2016/#ixzz4eSsNWGMw

saw 10 this past week. 6 this evenin feeding on kudzu. gonna be a good fall !!!

njloco · April 17, 2017, 07:21:00 AM

A lot!

Kevin Dill · April 17, 2017, 08:33:00 AM

I really have no idea of the average density per square mile here. It's pretty good though. Of course deer don't look at maps and try to stay evenly dispersed mile by square mile. Preferred habitat across regions, counties and individual properties will have higher concentrations. On my place in southeast Ohio it's fairly normal to see 10-25 deer out on a fine evening. That would seem to make the density about 200+ per square mile which is of course ridiculous to assume. Some properties hold few deer.

2 weeks ago a friend's wife hit and killed a deer on her way to work. The highway patrol arrived 15 minutes later. While writing up the collision report there was a screech of tires and a thump. Another deer dead to another driver. My friend saw the whole deal.

We've done work in the middle of town and come back to find deer tracks in the dirt next morning. ODOT puts up as many deer crossing signs as they do stop signs.

Trenton G. · April 17, 2017, 09:28:00 AM

I'm going to say .001 pers square mile.

In all seriousness I'm not really sure. I actually saw a decent amount of deer this year compared to years past, and I'll contribute that to the antler point restrictions. One thing that I've noticed though is that I've seen a lot less does than in past years. I think a lot of guys don't want to wait for a legal buck and are just shooting the first doe that they see.

TSP · April 17, 2017, 09:35:00 AM

Deer densities...poor.
NO HUNTING sign densities...off the chart.

April 17, 2017, 09:46:00 AM

According to the website BAK posted I'm in a "Greater than 45 per square mile" area.

Bisch

Blackstick · April 17, 2017, 10:02:00 AM

Noble County, Indiana is 417 Square miles. It is farm country and has 109 square miles of deer range. We harvested 2714 deer in 2016. The way I calculate it, we have a harvest density of 24.9 per sq. mile.

Tim Finley · April 17, 2017, 10:26:00 AM

We have had several bad winters lately so our population is way down. This winter we lost maybe 20% again and I'm surprised any survived at all with the deep snow and cold. I'm sure reproduction will be down as does abort when they are extremely stressed in starvation .We had too many deer about 10 years ago natures way of taking care of things. I have no idea what the density per sq. mile would be things are so varied in ND the SE part of the state has hardly any deer and the central and Badlands have the most.

Meflyfisherman · April 17, 2017, 10:32:00 AM

I havent seen recently published figures but I know that north of bangor it used to be .5-1/sq Mi. Much of the northwoods is spruce, pine and fur and is a heavy moose/deer overlap area. You dont see nearly half the deer you do in the southern part of the state but they are corkers if you do. I see more near the rivers when flyfishing so we are planning some float hunts in the future. Most of our "forestry protesters" have not clue how much good forestry practices improves the habitat for wildlife. back in the good old days of logging, the deer hunting was much better. In the southern part of the state where there is more agriculture, there are actually expanded hunting zones where you can get multiple tags if archery hunting. Hunting here is pretty good but the average age of alot of the deer is alot younger there...of course, Maine is the most heavily forested state in the union and even here...big bucks roam!

Deno · April 17, 2017, 11:15:00 AM

30-40 Northwest NJ

Deno

Mint · April 17, 2017, 11:35:00 AM

On Long island it is listed on the map posted 15-30 per square mile. In the woods I hunt I would guess closer to 15. In the housing developments where you can't hunt I would guess closer to 30. They know where the food and safety is. The only thing that has helped is the deer fences but people usually don't fence in their front yard so that's where they are.

MnFn · April 17, 2017, 03:39:00 PM

No idea. I dont see nearly as many deer as 5-10 years ago. I used to watch 8+ deer in my alfalfa field (MN) mid-day during rifle season. Lately if I see three or four in a whole day I think that is pretty good.

Although two years ago, in ND I regularly had multiple deer within shooting distance each evening. Just not the right one. This past fall, I only saw one forkie all season, but i knew there was one nice one around.

Roadkill · April 17, 2017, 11:44:00 PM

We have deer that migrate. In places where we see few in July, we may see see 100 during migration. Hard to tell, and localized deer are what we hunt-even then they may not pattern like white tails. That's why they call it hunting

YosemiteSam · April 18, 2017, 02:38:00 PM

CA has an estimated "herd" of about 400k total. The entire state is about 170k square miles. That puts us at about 2-2.5 deer per square mile on average. Our mountain deer migrate but our coastal deer are mostly resident. So the averages aren't very informative.

Our buck ratios are totally out of whack at about 13-15 does per buck -- mostly due to our buck-only restrictions. Public land success rates are usually less than 10%. It has been said that if we had the success rates of other states, our entire herd would be wiped out in a year. Our local management objective is to maximize the number of recreational hunting days (more hunters hunting more days). I sense that this is another way of prioritizing tag revenues over population health.

Sometimes I question my skills as a hunter. But I have to consider the base rate of success out here.

David Mitchell · April 18, 2017, 03:20:00 PM

The most recent figures for the county I hunt in West Virginia is 1.48 deer per square mile.

April 18, 2017, 04:13:00 PM

In our river bottoms perhaps about 50 deer per square mile or more. In the non woods areas away from the river less than one deer per mile. Two weeks after the deer season opens it is probably about 5 to zero on the public land, but the land adjacent to the public land, the numbers go up during hunting season. It is amazing how those deer no where the property lines are. Maybe, they can read the border signs.

randy grider · April 19, 2017, 01:32:00 PM

One public land spot in KY had as high as 100 per square mile, and another public land that I love to hunt was 10 per square mile, and as I understand down from that now. It is 95% forested. I still intend to hunt it, and took a small deer there last year ,in spite of the bad numbers.

BenBow · April 19, 2017, 02:51:00 PM

I quit looking for deer on the road day or night since moving to New Mexico. I've seen one road kill in 10 years. So I'm thinking one deer per 50 square miles.

Pointer · April 19, 2017, 07:58:00 PM

The state park I hunted in for years has seen a huge drop off...don't know the numbers for sure but the sign was so scarce last season I don't know if I'll go back this season