Deer kill numbers
Contributors to this thread:West Virginia
From: Babysaph
19-Jan-20
Anyone know how many bucks were killed during the firearms season?
From: JayD
20-Jan-20
JayD's Link
From: Babysaph
20-Jan-20
Thanks
From: Babysaph
20-Jan-20
Wow. Deer kill way down. Going to be a lot of bucks next year. I'm still seeing a lot of bucks. Have seen 4 along my road where I live that got hit by cars., finally getting the deer kill numbers down. Should start seeing bigger bucks now., I wonder what the hunter numbers were compared to previous years., One good thing about people not hunting is that it will provide more opportunities for the remaining hunters., also looks like I was wrong about the 3 buck limit. Doesn't look like it hurts the buck kill.
From: hookman
20-Jan-20
I personally like the electronic check in system but not so sure it gets a good kill count, except for the honest hunters. I know we can’t do anything about the hunters that cheat, well they are not real hunters.
From: Babysaph
20-Jan-20
I agree. I like it too. But unfortunately the DNR has to make management decisions on it. But I guess there were always guys that didn't check deer in with the old system as well.
From: lost run
20-Jan-20
I miss the old check in system. It was a tradition and helped small mom and pop stores.
From: Babysaph
20-Jan-20
It has put a damper on my buddies mom and pop store.,
From: Big-Otis-Jeff
21-Jan-20
Even with the electronic system, we still stop in the mom and pop stores, buy some stuff.....Usually several people in with everyone showing off their bucks....
From: JayD
26-Jan-20
Like most - I like the ease of the electronic system now but I miss the old days stopping and checking my deer in, then grabbing a soda and a snack. looking at the posters they would put up on the wall of everyone who had checked in a deer and how many points the buck had. Watching everyone go out and check the back of a truck when it looked like someone had harvested a really nice one. Seems like we just keep looking for the easy way and traditions get left behind.
From: babysaph
26-Jan-20
I agree JayD. My buddy owns one of those stores in Pendleton County. On opening day you could not find a place to park. We used to do the same thing. I also enjoyed looking at the deer. Times have changed. I even remember back in the 60's and 70.s it was nothing to see a deer on a car hood.
From: gobbler
26-Jan-20
Yeah, that wasn’t a real good way to cool out the meat
From: babysaph
26-Jan-20
LOL. It wasn't.
From: Coop
27-Jan-20
There is only pretty much TWO type of people that check in deer. Those too lazy to butcher their own meat and those that want the deer they killed mounted. Both require check in tags. PERIOD.
From: gobbler
28-Jan-20
I don’t think there is any data to back that up. If there is please share
From: WV Mountaineer
28-Jan-20
I cut my own deer and do European mounts. I still check my deer.
I personally love the new system. It was getting hard to find places to check deer that weren't miles and miles out of the way. Get out of the woods late with one and many times it took taking time of work the next morning in order to check it. It is simply so easy to use the computer or phone now. And, there are still some mom and pop stores every where that will let you check them on their computer or phone if you are hunting somewhere with no service.
From: hoppies56
29-Jan-20
From: Babysaph
02-Feb-20
We were talking at a bow shoot today. Anyone have any ideas as to why the deer kill numbers are going down. One of the guys suggested that maybe hunters were not using the electronic system. I think it's because there may not be as many hunters.
From: 1buckurout
02-Feb-20
Maybe folks not checking; not as many hunting and not as many deer--maybe?
From: gobbler
02-Feb-20
I don’t think there is any one answer but a combination of multiple reasons Plus , nothing can be assessed from 1 year of data . You have to have several years of data to see a trend
From: hoppies56
02-Feb-20
When will final numbers come out for all seasons combined buck and antlerless I believe that will show a decline also over last 5 years. Some areas have more deer than others ehd was bad in some areas .
From: Wayne Boone
02-Feb-20
We definitely have fewer deer in some areas I hunt. Baiting has affected travel patterns too, resulting in fewer sightings on our private property. Lots of factors I’m sure.
From: babysaph
02-Feb-20
I agree with your assessment Jimmy. I do not think that everyone is checking in deer like they use to with the mom and pop checking stations. As we were talking about it someone in the back said " I check mine in. I check them into the cooler." But I think the trend each year is downward. Starting with a few years ago. What is the deer kill numbers since the online check in system.
From: babysaph
02-Feb-20
I am just interested in the buck kill for the two week buck season.
From: babysaph
02-Feb-20
I know you guys will know but is there a place I can go to look at the last 20 years buck kill for the two week buck season?
From: hoppies56
03-Feb-20
Babysaph , just google WV BIG GAME BULLETIN plus year , has what you would like read plus much more. it will show the year plus five previous , I check all my deer , i believe it to be a regulation and think it helps DNR with record keeping which as a hunter and sportsman i think we all should do' with that said i must be lazy because i take my deer to a local processor he does a great job. Deer can hang in cooler after skinned for few days plus grinds burger tenderizes my steaks and vacuum seals it
From: Babysaph
03-Feb-20
Thanks Hoppie
From: hookman
03-Feb-20
There are a number of reasons why the deer kill is down. Not as many hunters and the ones that do hunt are older and pickier about what they shoot, the diseases are cutting down the deer in certain areas of the state and the coyotes are taking a toll on the deer. There are more vehicles on the road so more deer are being hit.
From: Babysaph
03-Feb-20
All good points. I see deer each day on the road.
From: btnbuck
04-Feb-20
I hunt Doddridge Co. There were a lot of people absent from the woods this year in my area the first few days of rifle season when I was there. Locals told me they found 36 dead deer over the ridge from camp in September this year. EHD knocked down the herd before season. First time since ‘98 that I haven’t killed anything. My buddy never saw a deer in two days and I let 5 does walk on the 2nd day. I’d rather let them repopulate than take them out in a bad year.
From: hookman
29-Feb-20
This is a little off the subject but a friend of mine saw 3 bucks fighting and 6 does standing nearby watching. This was last week. Seems a little late in breeding season.
From: babysaph
29-Feb-20
global warming has everything messed up
From: JayD
02-Mar-20
JayD's Link
JR here are some of the final numbers. If I recall about 6 or 7 years ago the archery harvest in OH passed the gun season harvest numbers and it was largely accredited to the crossbow. For 3 years now the crossbow has surpassed the bow in WV archery season. Archery numbers are going up - gun season harvest is going down. Will the archery numbers surpass the gun harvest numbers here in WV? At the current rate - maybe within the next 5 years?
From: HUNTMAYNARD
02-Mar-20
i know it has nothing to do with deer hunting but its DNR related. have you seen the size of the trout they are stocking so far? they should just save money on the gas for the hatchery trucks.
From: Little Bear
02-Mar-20
and JayD, in OH the xbow numbers surpassed bow kills I believe in 1970's and haven't looked back.
From: Babysaph
03-Mar-20
Yea because killing a deer with a crossbow is almost as easy as a gun. And look how long they can hunt with the crossbow.. But if you put the crossbows in with the guns where they belong those numbers would change.
From: WV Mountaineer
04-Mar-20
I never dreamed the average, healthy bowhunter would ever become lazy enough to trade in a vertical bow, for a crossbow. i just never dreamed it. After picking one up, I couldn't imagine anyone voluntarily carrying the thing very far in the woods versus a trad or compound bow. It just makes no sense to me. I guess I was wrong.
From: Babysaph
04-Mar-20
Agreed.
From: JayD
05-Mar-20
I think the big question is how will our and other state’s dnr deal with this. I think having a crossbow season was inevitable and I don’t really think it’s a bad thing. Still glad WV kept it separate from bow season even though it runs concurrently with bow season.
Always before I think most biologist did not look at archery season as a means to control deer numbers. Look at Ohio where more deer are killed during there archery season then what is killed during the gun season! Will our biologist be ok with the same results? Rifle season here has been a longstanding tradition - what happens if crossbow season and bow season surpasses or comes close to equaling gun season? Will NR gun hunters continue to come here and hunt? This just brings a bunch of questions and what if’s for sure! Going to be interesting to see what happens if archery and crossbow seasons continue to grow by 10 or 12% and gun season continues to slide down.
From: Babysaph
05-Mar-20
I’ll tell you what happens. We will Lose some of our bow season. You surely don’t think they will reduce the gun season so you? It shows you how effective the crossbow is and how many people that never bow hunted now hunt with a crossbow
From: Babysaph
05-Mar-20
Well if the gun season slides down then nothing will happen unless we kill too many deer
From: JayD
05-Mar-20
JR - with the way it’s set up as long as it is the crossbow adding to the increase harvest numbers - bow season will not need to be shorten because even though the seasons run concurrent - they are considered separate seasons.
From: Babysaph
05-Mar-20
Bow season will not need to be shortened but I think it will.
