Not Like It Use To Be!!!

[bullet]

Well, I got to go hunting yesterday for only the third morning this years because of how my work is going and Wolf River Management area has really gone to pot. This might be the first year in the last 25yrs that I do not take a deer. One of the major gas lines was always cut and planted, it was beautiful and through the years I have dropped some deer on this gas line. Now for the last two years due to lack of state funs, they have only planted 1/3 of what they use to. Here is a picture of the gas line I usually hunt and what it looks like today. The deer sign has dropped by at least 66% this years alone. From where I am taking this picture from my blind which up on a steep grade it is 460yds to the end. You had better not fall asleep or fail to keep glassing or the deer will slip right across and blend into all the growth. Needless to say, I saw nothing and I did glass a whole lot especially along the edges incase one decided to step out and walk or down up one of the the edges for a ways before stepping back into the thick woods. Here are a few shots I took yesterday of what use to be one of my favorite spots to hunt.

 

[DrMike]

Any idea why the population is depressed, Mike? When we see a drop in deer populations, we can usually correlate it to either increased exploration or harsh winter conditions or an obvious increase in predators. Nevertheless, watching a change in a favourite hunting area is somewhat like watching an old friend die.

 

[bullet]

Any idea why the population is depressed, Mike? When we see a drop in deer populations, we can usually correlate it to either increased exploration or harsh winter conditions or an obvious increase in predators. Nevertheless, watching a change in a favourite hunting area is somewhat like watching an old friend die.

Mike, you are so right about it being like watching an old friend die, it really is and you expressed exactly what I a feeling. The game warden says since that it is up on the north end, that it is surrounded by private leases that plant a lot of food plots and he believes from the tracks that cross the roads on the north end that they are going there to eat. He must be right because I checked out a creek that they have always used to get places and there was the same amount of sign I have seen in the past. It is hard to hunt the creek bottom because it has been logged and there are not trees to support a stand and it is very thick there.

 

[SJB358]

Seems as if some years the old faithful spots die out a little. Wouldn't be surprised if something has happened on the peripherals to change deer patterns... I know it was alot slower this year up North where I grew up hunting than it ever has been! Scotty

 

[DrMike]

So many factors affect ungulate populations. There were few ungulates in the valleys I hunted grizzly this past fall, but wolf and grizzly populations were much higher than I've ever seen there. Whenever gas exploration or coal mining operations expand into a new area, pushing in roads and cutting survey lines, ungulate populations drop immediately and dramatically. However, in the latter instance, I know that after the exploration and drilling ceases, the populations will rebounds. The major change will be that the new roads increase access, which usually means more hunters from outside the area driving in. It is always changing.

 

[JD338]

There are a lot of factors that go into deer densities and movements such as deer population, hunting access and pressure, bedding areas, food sources, and temperatures.

In the MI UP, deer numbers are way down due to wolves, tribal tags, hunting and hard winters. Add in the past few years that the temps have been in the 40's and the few remaining deer move after dark.

JD338

 

[bullet]

I went to hunt again today and tried a new spot I had scouted out Thursday afternoon. I am for sure going back to Arizona next year If I have to borrow the money. Had about enough of these crowed conditions, it makes me feel claustrophobic. I ran into 6 hunters before the day was finished today, and three of those hunters ruined my hunt by wondering into the area I was hunting. I just got to have some open space I think I need to go and buy a rabbits foot. I still had a good time though.

 

[DrMike]

Mike,

There are hunters; and there are people out for a walk in the bush while carrying rifles. Unfortunately, members of this latter tribe seem to have representatives throughout North America. This is a major aspect of the charm of hunting the west.

 

[bullet]

Mike,

There are hunters; and there are people out for a walk in the bush while carrying rifles. Unfortunately, members of this latter tribe seem to have representatives throughout North America. This is a major aspect of the charm of hunting the west.

AMEN!!!!! Well stated indeed.

 

[Songdog]

I encountered a similar thing a few years ago... and it literally brought tears to my eyes. There's a spot in Eastern Washington where I hunted coyotes for years, not far from the place Mr. Miner was hunting ducks in not long ago. It was a nice little road that ran across the top of about 10 finger canyons all about a mile apart... a true coyote heaven. Well... I drove the 2 1/2 hours to get there one morning... only to find it gated... with "No Unauthorized Entry" posted. That was MY place... some ignorant monkeys screwed it up for me by dumping stolen cars down there. Hey... don't fix the crime... just limit the hiding places... NICE.

 

[Greg Nolan]

It seems we all have shrinking areas and less game for a lot of reasons. Normal population cycles among predators and prey we all know about and get used to but when people and politics get involved it seems to end in a downward spiral. I won't bore you with California's issues but the places I hunt in Idaho have gone from riches to rags due to the wolves and of course there are more and more private property signs in Wyoming's wide open spaces. I wonder if my grandfather was thinking those same sort of thoughts about 70 years or so ago. :wink:

 

[Elkman]

I am the classical example of how you all feel. I came from Idaho, I hunted and lived there from 1975 until 2007. I hunted in almost every part of the state at one time or another. Of course once the wolves were reintroduced and were, and still are allowed to multiple unrestrained the hunting started to decline. There are millions of acres of the state that now have only marginal populations of deer and elk, and of course the human hunter takes a back seat to the wolves. I still go there but only in areas that have few if any wolves. Most of those areas have huntable populations of both elk and deer but opportunities are limited. I really do miss my favorite spots and doubt that I will hunt them again in my life time.

 

[YoteSmoker]

Dr. Mike,
Even out here in the West, we have a lot of road hunters. The key is getting away from the roads but somewhere you can still retrieve the animal without killing yourself. I'm still working on that part Elk are not very cooperative these days...my friends and I joke about shooting tranquilizing bullets and then snapping a lead on them and walking them to the truck. Things we come up with aournd camp fires

 

[Guest]

Having lived and hunted Colorado and still go back to hunt, I have seen the road hunters, the 4-wheelers and just dumb people, who refer to themselves as hunters. I like 4-wheelers and horses they are a very useful when used within reason. But not to ride up and down the roads screwing up the hunting. The very reason I hunt 7-10 miles back in wilderness. We pack the horses, lead the horses by walking in, then hunt on foot. You have to get off your butt and hunt. This past season in Colorado I saw more Deer and Buck than I ever have, didn't have a tag. But we hiked our butts off up and down the slopes. We weren't sitting in the tent or riding around. Agreed on the retrieving of Game back in wilderness, not an easy task. It's either on foot and back packs or packing out with horses etc. Better success lies in getting away from the crowds and noise.

Don

 

[DrMike]

YoteSmoker,

We have lots of road hunters here in the north. It can be very productive in a pioneer area such as near my home. As oil, gas and mining exploration pushes roads into areas that have never had vehicle traffic before, it opens new opportunities for relative easy access to large tracts of land. I am opportunistic, as anyone might be in such an area; and on more than one occasion whilst driving I've spotted game. Especially if I am in a remote area, I'm not adverse to stopping and assessing the situation and taking game if it is safe. In many areas heavily travelled by oil, gas and mining personnel, it is simply not safe to stop, much less to hunt. However, it is not unusual to drive into some remote valleys and never see another person for days. When I drop game in such areas, I know that I will be working. I also know that I will have walked where few others have been in the past fifty years. There are still vast areas of land here that are accessible only by horse, river boat, plane or possibly ATV.

 

[Guest]

Seems you have some great potential in those kind of places.

Don