Fall topic. Loss of ALL wild life on my property. Anyone else ?

[cyclops2]

Loads before Covid hit. Had 13 does & 2 bucks. Now i buck and 3 does. Had + 20 turkeys. 0 now. No small game at all. No birds. No Turkey Vultures. Not even wild dogs calling.  Anyone else seeing a huge loss ?

[Tennessee Boy]

I have some property in the country and I have the opposite problem.  The deer are over populated.  I wish they would open the season on deer until the population is reduced by 80%.  I've given up on there being a solution to the coyote problem.  They will eventually kill us all and take over the world.

 

Other animals are doing well.  Lots of turkeys.  Had one bald eagle nest this past year.  I see rabbits but I don't know how they survive with all the coyotes.

[gim]

Two completely differing view points here so far.

 

I don't own any land myself but I spend a significant amount of time hunting, both fall and spring.  Last spring I saw more turkeys in a hunting season than I ever have in 16 years of turkey hunting.  It was over 50 in 4.5 days of turkey hunting.  I am positive that many of them were the same birds day after day, but they are clearly doing well.  Unfortunately, I couldn't get a single legal bearded male to come within shotgun range.

 

Deer populations are generally doing pretty well.  The further north you go, the less populated they are but that is not anything new.  Winter is harsher, there's wolves, and less food.  So naturally there is going to be less deer.  The bag limit where I hunt for the second half of the season on more agricultural land is 3, so they are plenty.  Seeing them close enough when hunting season is open is a completely different challenge.  The key to managing deer is to harvest mature bucks and anterless deer, while allowing small bucks to walk.  If you want to reduce their population, allow hunters to take more anterless deer.  There are some zones here in Minnesota that allow you to take up to 5 deer, 4 of which must be anterless.

 

Coyotes...I don't see many but that means nothing.  They are clever, smart, and can adapt.  There's probably a lot more than we think there are, even in a suburban setting.  Just because you don't see them doesn't mean they aren't there.

[Tennessee Boy]

I haven't hunted in many years.  I do lease the hunting rights on my property.   The limit on bucks in Tennessee is 2 per year and the guy I lease to usually get his limit on opening weekend.  There is a limit of 3 per day on antlerless deer.  My guy doesn't take more than he can eat so once his freezer is full he stops hunting.  He brings friends to hunt the property but the number of deer harvested every year is 10 at most.  That's not enough to make a difference in the population.  

[gim]

10 minutes ago, Tennessee Boy said:

There is a limit of 3 per day on antlerless deer.

3 antlerless deer PER DAY during the open season?

 

I usually split ONE antlerless corn-fed deer with my parents and that is more than enough to eat.

[GaryH]

Haven’t seen any drop off of any game other than ruffed grouse but that seems to go in cycles. I know over in New Jersey there having a CWD issue. 

[Tennessee Boy]

12 minutes ago, gimruis said:

3 antlerless deer PER DAY during the open season?

 

I usually split ONE antlerless corn-fed deer with my parents and that is more than enough to eat.

Yes 3 per day.  It's not state wide.  Only in middle Tennessee were they are overpopulated and some counties where CWD is an issue.

 

https://www.eregulations.com/tennessee/hunting/deer-seasons-bag-limits

 

 

[TnRiver46]

36 minutes ago, gimruis said:

3 antlerless deer PER DAY during the open season?

 

I usually split ONE antlerless corn-fed deer with my parents and that is more than enough to eat.

My buddies brought back 5.5 does last fall from @Tennessee Boy’s region. You can’t kill that many where I live but middle and west Tennessee it’s a free for all! I don’t even know if you can kill a doe with a firearm in East Tennessee. The other members of the hunting party took the rest and I guess they had an odd number, hence the .5 haha. They said I could have two, I’ve already eaten one. They also got an elk out west this year so my doe rations may be liberalized even further ! Mmmmm

 

 

moral of my story: make good friends. 
 

 

sorry for the hijack 

[roadwarrior]

In Tennessee we have too many deer, squirrels and WAY to many geese.

Turkey, hawks, eagles and osprey seem to be doing fine. I have not noticed

any change in the overall populations of wildlife.

[TnRiver46]

2 minutes ago, roadwarrior said:

In Tennessee we have too many deer, squirrels and WAY to many geese.

Turkey, hawks, eagles and osprey seem to be doing fine. I have not noticed

any change in the overall populations of wildlife.

More critters = more work for me !!!! 

[Tennessee Boy]

I don't have proof yet but I suspect that @TnRiver46 is trapping coyotes in Knoxville and releasing them in middle Tennessee.  

[roadwarrior]

10 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

More critters = more work for me !!!! 

Good for you!  I feed two feral cats, a coon family, chipmunks, squirrels and an

occasional possum.  My bird feeders are wildlife magnets. We also have deer

and coyotes in our parks, but don't spot them as often.

[TnRiver46]

Just now, Tennessee Boy said:

I don't have proof yet but I suspect that @TnRiver46 is trapping coyotes in Knoxville and releasing them in middle Tennessee.  

Now that’s funny!!! I’ve heard of catch and release in many realms but never with coyotes ha ha

1 minute ago, roadwarrior said:

Good for you!  I feed two feral cats, a coon family, chipmunk squirrels and an occasional possum.

My bird feeders are wildlife magnets. 

There are certain times of year where almost all of my trapping is done at birdfeeders

I should add a potential explanation for @cyclops2. Hunting season is just now getting started and a lot of creatures will go nocturnal when that happens

[gim]

29 minutes ago, Tennessee Boy said:

Yes 3 per day.  It's not state wide.  Only in middle Tennessee were they are overpopulated and some counties where CWD is an issue.

I kind of figured it was for a special reason like CWD.  We have a couple zones here in MN that have extended seasons with no limits too for that very reason.  In addition to carcass movement restrictions in CWD zones.

[GaryH]

3 hours ago, cyclops2 said:

Loads before Covid hit. Had 13 does & 2 bucks. Now i buck and 3 does. Had + 20 turkeys. 0 now. No small game at all. No birds. No Turkey Vultures. Not even wild dogs calling.  Anyone else seeing a huge loss ?

A friend shot this yesterday in N.J.

[TnRiver46]

3 minutes ago, GaryH said:

A friend shot this yesterday in N.J.

What a bruiser 

[Scott804]

4 minutes ago, GaryH said:

A friend shot this yesterday in N.J.

That is one heft boy right there. 

[GaryH]

Just now, TnRiver46 said:

What a bruiser 

 

He’s a stud. 16 points. 

 

 

 

[GaryH]

Here’s a beauty in Pa.

 

[the reel ess]

The place I fish is so close to town you can hear the train there. I see deer and turkeys aplenty, rabbits, snakes, ospreys, eagles , hawks and owls. What I haven't seen in quite a few trips is a big bass though. They seem to have moved out. 

[TnRiver46]

1 hour ago, roadwarrior said:

Good for you!  I feed two feral cats, a coon family, chipmunks, squirrels and an

occasional possum.  My bird feeders are wildlife magnets. We also have deer

and coyotes in our parks, but don't spot them as often.

I just left a Bird feeder job with two more skunks. That’s six this week

[roadwarrior]

Never see live skunks, just roadkill.

[TnRiver46]

19 minutes ago, roadwarrior said:

Never see live skunks, just roadkill.

They do most of their damage when the whole world is asleep 

[WRB]

We can send you an abundance of mountain lions to thin out the deer and coyotes.

?Tom

[PressuredFishing]

12 minutes ago, WRB said:

We can send you an abundance of mountain lions to thin out the deer and coyotes.

?Tom

have you seen any up in your neck of the woods? I have only seen two in my lifetime, alot of the cattle guys shot them up around here and at one point there where rumors of them being gone, maybe they are coming back?