[crazy wolf]

I do some reading from time to time,..

Anyways I have read articles about decline of Turkeys in the mid west,. and Mule Deer in the West.

Elk numbers too are down,.

Along with Whitetails in some of the well known states that at one time held many deer.

So, my question is are we loosing our Natural Resources ? Are the animals trying to tell us all something we dont want to hear ......



Crazy Wolf

 

[BaxMaine]

All the turkeys must be moving east, cuz we have a ton of them. Just had a flock of 50-60 in our backyard the other day. Biggest ive ever seen around here.

Deer numbers seem to be down, but I think that is in part because of all the turkeys, they eat similar food. We have also had a few harsh winters the past few years, and a boom of coyote population.

 

[teamorion22]

the only natural resources most humans care about is sunlight, water, oil, and maybe now natural gas. As our population expands the woods are destroyed.

 

[hunting170]

So, my question is are we loosing our Natural Resources ? Are the animals trying to tell us all something we dont want to hear ......

No we aren`t. Modern day hunters have just become accustomed/spoiled to an abundance of game animals, and in alot of cases an over-abundance of game animals. Once they go on a few hunts, and don`t see as many animals as usual then they start screaming that the sky is falling. I realize that a few areas are experiencing a major decline in whitetail numbers, bet we`ll never see them put on the Endangered Species list.

 

[BOE_Hunter]

I am not so sure about that report. The turkey population is getting stronger and stronger in Minnesota. Our deer numbers are down in the north but overall numbers are good. With the mild winter we are having I am guessing our numbers should be up again next season.

 

[BDHUNTR]

No we aren`t. Modern day hunters have just become accustomed/spoiled to an abundance of game animals, and in alot of cases an over-abundance of game animals. Once they go on a few hunts, and don`t see as many animals as usual then they start screaming that the sky is falling. I realize that a few areas are experiencing a major decline in whitetail numbers, bet we`ll never see them put on the Endangered Species list.

I agree with you 100%. The problem was some folks got used to seeing 45-60 deer in one herd browsing in a field and came to expect such things as normal. When in reality it was simply too many deer.

Those 30 and younger really have no clue what it was like to get ONE buck tag for the entire season and that was it. And if you saw 3-5 deer in a year...that was fan-tastic!

 

[z79outlaw]

The moose harvest is down 60% in Wyoming, directly attributed to wolves. Elk numbers are not down, but rather are up throughout most of the west where wolves and agressive cow tagging are not present. Mule deer numbers are down last winter was an absolute brutal winter in the west after most herd still hadnt rebounded from a terrible winter kill in 08 and western Wyoming for example may have lost 60% of its deer population because of it, they are loosing there winter range in other areas, others they have incompetent game departments issuing to many tags, to many anterless tags, unchecked predator numbers, restrictive predator hunting laws, no like hounds or bait or a combination of both in many states out west.

You could certainly spin it to make it sound like animals are suffering at the expense of expansion, but really even without game department being run with a serious lack of common sense most species are thriving.

 

[PassYoungBucks]

I agree with you 100%. The problem was some folks got used to seeing 45-60 deer in one herd browsing in a field and came to expect such things as normal. When in reality it was simply too many deer.

Those 30 and younger really have no clue what it was like to get ONE buck tag for the entire season and that was it. And if you saw 3-5 deer in a year...that was fan-tastic!

What is normal? Not your opinion of normal. What is a normal deer herd? Who says 40 or so deer in a field isnt normal? Its what your brain decides that determines normal, for some like you 3-5 may be normal but some might say 40 is.

 

[Canuck Archer]

The black bear is our number 1 predator on moose calves. The MNR in all their wisdumb (yes spelled incorrectly on purpose) took the spring black bear hunt away because of the 2.5 million tree huggers that vote from Toronto.
Our deer population is down because of a couple of harsh winters. The re-intoduction of turkeys has been almost too successful. Turkeys everywhere.

The moose harvest is down 60% in Wyoming, directly attributed to wolves. Elk numbers are not down, but rather are up throughout most of the west where wolves and agressive cow tagging are not present. Mule deer numbers are down last winter was an absolute brutal winter in the west after most herd still hadnt rebounded from a terrible winter kill in 08 and western Wyoming for example may have lost 60% of its deer population because of it, they are loosing there winter range in other areas, others they have incompetent game departments issuing to many tags, to many anterless tags, unchecked predator numbers, restrictive predator hunting laws, no like hounds or bait or a combination of both in many states out west.

You could certainly spin it to make it sound like animals are suffering at the expense of expansion, but really even without game department being run with a serious lack of common sense most species are thriving.

 

[Kb83]

Turkey population in Michigan is insane. They are everywhere. It's nothing for me to see 50-100 birds in the fields during my 20 min drive home from work. I think they are at the point where they need to lower the amount of tags they sell and maintain the deer herd. I think their are other factors that play into this aswell. Not going into that but I find it odd that in 09 no one saw deer and the deer herds were "down", in 2010 most people said they were "up", and in 2011 they were "down" again. Am i the only one who noticed this? I think the chances of deer herds being decimated nation wide at the sane time are pretty slim? I think there are more reasonable explanations for this. Now I do beleive that deer numbers are lower than they used to be. Just not as low as many people seem to think. I think our natural resources are working. There are things I would change but I think it's just too easy to say "there are no deer" when people just aren't seeing them.

 

[DaveMI]

I will agree that whitetail numbers seem to be down in my area but as far as turkeys go there's no way the numbers can be down. Flocks of 20-40 birds around the places I hunt are the norm. Its a rare day for me to sit in the woods and not at least hear turkeys.

 

[slickstalker]

Cycles...

 

[prairieboy]

Cycles...

This...........X2

 

[zmax hunter]

we have nearly zero Pheasants here compared to what we had 10 and 20 years ago. but you can still kill 4 of them.
]
our Quail numbers are up, i dont see as many Prairie Chickens but still some decent flocks

Turkeys seem to be doing just fine, imo

our coyote numbers are going up

deer seem about the same to me, little to no ehd in this area