Deer numbers in your area?

[guywhofishes]

I'm stunned at how few deer we're seeing on camera in our hunting area (north of Killdeer). Summer numbers seemed normal - and now in Oct it's like they've vanished.

I was thinking it was due to poor acorn output and alfalfa staying green so long. Could just be the odd year (weather) and it's simply a case of their not walking past the cameras like they normally do. Maybe they'll change their behavior back to normal once it gets cold.

Hope it's not an EHD outbreak again like we had three years back. It was a pretty major wipeout for us like it was along the Missouri.

Anybody else seeing a sudden drop in activity out west?

 

[Retired-Guy]

I think they are becoming an endangered species in ND!

 

[bravo]

Below average. Only one buck on camera, but an encouraging number of does with fawns.

 

[Ruttin]

Numbers are extremely low in my area. With almost all the crop off i figured they would start showing up in greater numbers....not the case at all.

 

[Jiffy]

CWD and mountain lions….DUH!!

 

[risingsun]

CWD and mountain lions….DUH!!

You left out Juanr DUH.....

 

[Wirehair]

Agree. We are not seeing what we had hoped for on our cams in 3C. On the plus side we are seeing an increase in pheasant population!!

 

[Kurtr]

Its bad down here i have a tag that took 5 years to draw so i will be chasing east river mulies unless a monter whitetail walks out. Either way its a taxidermy bill or tag soup

 

[Paddledogger]

Areas of Stark, Dunn and other various counties, had several reports of finding dead whitetails in areas of stock dams or ponds with stall water. A good hard rain with some runoff into some of the waterholes sure would have helped.

 

[guywhofishes]

 

[luvcatchingbass]

Pretty rough around me, numbers are slightly better than last year but far from the hay days a few years ago. Camera's all year have been fair but since beginning of October when the beans came off one of our quarters my camera's that were hot are not and my buddy has his that really died off. Lots of deer in the dark on the neighbor field by my house that has radish and volunteer rye after harvest, just vehicle headlights is all I got to go by. Trying to figure out best bets for a good quality doe for my daughter, think I got a couple bucks that aren't quite right looking in their racks that I am going to keep an eye out for but they are being pretty elusive, good number of young bucks and couple decent that hopefully my buddy son notches his first rifle tag on or they live to breed.

 

[johnr]

I have been seeing plenty o mulies in my vast travels in western ND

 

[Obi-Wan]

barely more than a handful of deer left in the area of Apple Creek WMA, South of Bismarck. I can't even remember when the last time we had deer come through the yard.

 

[Shockwave]

I talked to a couple landowners in the area I hunt this week. One said he's consistently seen 6 does in his pasture but no bucks. The other said he's seen deer in his yard all year but has not seen any in a while. They must be around though because they've been rubbing on his trees. I plan I going down this week to check things out.

 

[Allen]

I'm stunned at how few deer we're seeing on camera in our hunting area (north of Killdeer). Summer numbers seemed normal - and now in Oct it's like they've vanished.

I was thinking it was due to poor acorn output and alfalfa staying green so long. Could just be the odd year (weather) and it's simply a case of their not walking past the cameras like they normally do. Maybe they'll change their behavior back to normal once it gets cold.

Hope it's not an EHD outbreak again like we had three years back. It was a pretty major wipeout for us like it was along the Missouri.

Anybody else seeing a sudden drop in activity out west?

While EHD is certainly not out of the question, there's a chance you have a cat in the neighborhood. I can think of a couple of times where our neighborhood mountain lion sets up shop near the farm and within a few weeks the deer stop showing up. Cat goes away, deer come back. IMHO, it's one of the reasons mountain lions have such a large home range, their mere presence changes the habits of the deer.

In the Bismarck area, I was pleasantly surprised at the number of deer showing up at my place this fall. Friends of mine have already taken a couple of nice bucks, and there's still enough bucks around to where I'd expect there to be a couple decent bucks next year as well and there have been a goodly number of does as well.

Then again, a neighbor has said she's not seeing hardly anything, so maybe what has been visiting my place is something of an anomaly this year as I'm not seeing them on the roads during the witching hours. Note, the neighbor's corn is still standing, and that's where I have seen them come and go at my place which may explain why they haven't been on the roads.

 

[Rowdie]

I've hunted pheasants 4 days and didn't see any dead ones. A few years ago I walked half that and seen 4 or 5

 

[Eatsleeptrap]

Numbers are low in east central ND. First year since we bought the farmstead in 1996 that we have not had at least one doe and fawn in the shelterbelt all summer. Most of the miles I drive for work are 2F1 and 2K2 and we see nothing.
PS. That is even now with a lot of corn coming off.

 

[scrotcaster]

Lands all posted,, deer are all gone.. best all stay home this year

 

[Pheasant 54]

I know of 2 very very nice 5 x 5 youth bucks taken where I hunt.

 

[701FishSlayer]

Def down. I've only shot 4 this year so far. Normally around 10 this time of year.