TN Deer Harvest down 10,000 from same last year

[Guest TankerHC]

Anyone know why that may be? We had a similar dropoff in the 70's in MD. To fix the problem, Sika Deer were imported into the State, that was a huge mistake since they had already been there since the early 1900's, but instead of managing the White Tail populations and the small Sika populations, they brought more buck in from Japan.. Better management later and the White Tail populations in MD, Northern Virginia and parts of West Virginia today have exploded (Actually for the last 30 years).

 

 

 

[DaveS]

I honestly think it's due to weather and hunters not getting out as much as usual. My personal harvest is down by about 5. I usually get enough deer that I can donate 2-3 to the needy, but I was only able to donate one this year, because I couldn't get out as much due to the weather and disability. This really is one of the weirdest deer seasons I've had in a while!

 

Dave

[broox]

I blame George W. Bush

[TnShooter83]

I would say some might be the Draw Hunts  that closed during the Government shut down.

And the other to not as much pressure hunting, I for one did not get out as much as I did last year.

[gregintenn]

Chitty weather. It rained nearly every weekend during gun season. If it wasn't raining, there were gale force winds to contend with. No shortage of deer; at least not in my part of the country.

[EastHipster]

It would be easy to say there were no deer....I haven't seen ONE since Rifle season opened.

Had a few chances that I screwed up in Early Season.

But right up until the end of the season, i was finding fresh sign...tracks, scat and found lots of Rubs in just the last few days.

 

Also got a few Nocturnal/early morning pics of Bucks and does.

There are definitely still Deer there...but not standing in front of me.

[Wiljo05]

The funny thing is I saw no less than 40 deer on my home this evening. Like they know it's safe now! In all seriousness though, I only took 1 doe this year. And the only one I can blame is myself. I didn't "get" insert the honest word (make) enough time to have a productive season. Yes I could have killed more, but the real reason I didn't still falls back on ME. Either I was waiting on the buck I "knew" was behind the group of does, or that one looks a little small, ect. Whatever my excuse was to myself was just that, an excuse!

I feel like I have a great deer population, but all in all, I think the harvest rates are down for one reason. Us

[Handsome Rob]

It has been odd. I've seen more deer this year than I have in the previous 4 combined & only managed to kill one.
I process & butcher deer for a select few friends & last year did 42. This year I've only done 11.
Everyone I talk to has said that this has been the worst harvest year any of them can remember, although it's been a bumper year for deer seen.
My problem was a combination of cacky weather & seeing deer either just before light or just after it was too dark to shoot. Either that or the little devils were 50yds on the wrong side of the fence :( Edited January 8, 2014 by robtattoo

[chances R]

It is because WalMart didn't have any ammo or one couldn't afford it if they did.

[Sidinman]

Thats funny Chances R.

Edited January 8, 2014 by Sidinman

[Sidinman]

Tried to edit post; Anyway I only took two last year, this i got four. Hey I did my part.

[reed1285]

i wonder doing away with kill tags and the check in system change has anything to do with it? Like not everybody reporting their harvest? Last year, we had physical paper tags that had to be attached to the carcass in order to be legal. Now you can do it on your smart phone, on the web, or just go to a check station, no kill tags involved. Leads me to believe some people arent using the new system like they should, and not checking in their kills

[bersaguy]

I know several guys that killed a full limit of what they were allowed to harvest with no problems. Then I know a few other guys I spoke with that said they lost their land that they had hunted for years do to new construction and rezoning laws making it illegal to hunt those areas. Also I know several guys that hunted farms for years that lost their hunting locations because the farmers leased the land out to hunting clubs and closed the land to anyone not in the clubs. More and more larger farms have began leasing hunting privileges and making big bucks by leasing it. So actually I think the loss of areas for folks to hunt have had an impact on how many deer are taken. Also one other factor I have learned is there are less deer processors out there than there was say 4 years ago.  I know four guys that use to process deer and had done it for years. Because of costs of materials needed to process deer such as wrapping paper and cost of operation of coolers and freezers driving up the cost folks just quite paying the higher prices to get the deer processed. The shortage of processors makes it a deterrent for a hunter to go out and harvest a deer knowing they have to pay 65.00 to 75.00 dollars to get one processed. I think more and more deer hunters are doing their own and realizing how much work is involved ad how much it costs is also causing the lower harvests. I know my buddy that has limited out this year along with his wife limiting out said that he takes all his deer to the Mi-nites(spelling) and they process them for him but he shares a lot of the meat with them along with paying them. Most of his deer goes into deer jerky, deer burger and they make a killer deer summer sausage which he shares a few sticks of the sausage with me each year. Over all I think like I said above. There are several reasons for lower harvesting numbers...................jmho  

[geekitupsum]

I blame it on lack of places to hunt. I only have 1 place to hunt and can only go when invited but the land owner (maybe once a year) other than that I'm limited to the pumpkin patch of Yanali WMA.

[10-Ring]

I had a good year this year myself, actually the most productive year that I have had in several seasons.  That said I had to sit the season out due to a shoulder injury last year, and got skunked the previous year.  I'm rapidly losing hunting properties just like it seems everyone else here is.  I live in East Tennessee but travel to Middle Tennessee to deer hunt.  Being that far away it's hard to make more than a couple of weekends during the gun season.  I used to hunt archery and ML years ago and may get back into that this upcoming season.  It seems that access to private land, though always difficult, has gone from bad to worse over the past few years.  Most of my hunting is done around Wilson and Sumner Counties, which are growing at an alarming rate.  I'm seeing the really good places that I was hunting 10 years ago are now subdivisions.  I've never been kicked off of a property or asked to not return, everything that I've lost is due to development, or as some would call it, progress.  I did come into a really productive new property this year!  Another property that I have has deer on it but I can't seem to shoot them.  First day I hunted it this year the land owner had watched deer for 2 hours the morning that I got there.  I then saw a deer out the kitchen window while exchanging pleasantries, but it was gone before I could get my rifle and get around the back of the house.  They actually went from seeing deer daily to not seeing any deer at all since that day.  I swear there is a black cloud over me when I hunt that place.

[FJCrusing]

I blame the weather.  I did see my fair share of deer in Tennessee this year (not until end of season) but didn't take shots at any of them.  I am on a QDMA hunting lease and none of the deer were large/old enough to shoot.  On the flip side I do certainly agree with the statement about "White Tail populations in MD, Northern Virginia and parts of West Virginia today have exploded".  I hunt in West Virginia every year on a family farm and hunted two days during the week of Thanksgiving.  Day 1 I saw 8 deer and day two I saw 9 deer.  Since I had my pick on what I wanted I held out until I saw the right one and took the biggest due I've ever seen.  Farms does are huge compared to others.  She must have been at least 150lbs and after processing my freezer is beyond full so I wasn't too upset about not shooting anything back in Tennessee this season so I'm sure I helped contribute to the lack of harvest in the state this year.