Yeah, they are wrecking our deer herd here. But nobody seems to be worried about it but me. Where I hunt always had heavy numbers of deer in times past. I could go in most anytime I wanted, shoot two of my choosing and then count another 15 or 20 standing in the field on the way out to get the truck. But for the last three seasons I've seen scant few deer there. Only 12 this past season and no more than 7 the year before. three seasons ago, I killed 9 deer in there and 3 were taken by guest. The following season I took only three and last year only three. I didn't even look through my scope the whole month of December!
I use to sit in my stand and watch 6 or 8 little fawns playing around in front of me, keeping me entertained for hours. Now I'm lucky to see just a pair of fawns. In one season, I hauled over three tons of corn to feed the deer and it was a challenge to keep some on the ground. Last season, I carried less than a ton in there and some of that laid on the ground into February.
I'm getting the same story from other hunters in my area and all across the eastern part of the state. The deer are disappearing and us hunters are the only ones who have noticed it yet.
I'm planning to start my deer hunting in bow season this year and go ahead and stock my freezer early. Then when trapping season starts, I'm gonna dedicate myself to coyotes!