EHD. Epizootic Hemorragic Disease. Caused from parasite

Come to think of it they mentioned something about them bugs.. I know they were disappointed about how many deer they were finding dead & its like no one wants to talk about it....

Yea it's been around a while. And when u figure in what the coyotes are doing as well then it can affect certain areas bad in some years and other areas another year. It kinda gets hard to pin point every year on whether its disease or coyotes or both causing the issues. We still have plenty of deer but how many are we loosing to disease and coyotes. The coyotes get the young and disease gets all ages. Then we filter hunting pressure.

Well at least i know someone is reading my post, great catch! Yes 20 does would be the correct answer.

Bingo, we have a winner. Coyotes follow the game, and do the job that we don't do. As deer numbers drop, so do coyote numbers. It's nature, it doesn't need us, it works out its problems. Some years i see twin fawns, some years i don't.

I read ur posts & I have to say I disagree on the coyotes population numbers dropping because of one species.. Coyotes are scavengers & movers...I've already heard this excuse no one wants to admit when their "wrong" I've read several articles where this is mainly being blamed on the predators now..And has nothing to do with the season long doe season Well that's bull chit & I think they are insulting our intelligence.

CNC is correct on how the numbers are calculated in a photo census. The photo census technique is one of the most valuable techniques available for determining many aspects of a local deer population. If the survey is done correctly, it can provide accurate information on fawn production and survival rates (recruitment rate), adult sex ratio, buck age structure, and the number of unique bucks that visit a given area over the course of the census. However, what it CANNOT tell you is the deer density per square mile. Deer move around too much over several weeks' time to produce an actual density number. For example, when censusing a square mile area, the cameras pick up not only deer using that square mile, but most of the deer from all of the 8 surrounding square miles. This produces a highly inflated deer density number.

WMA's around here in the 80's and early 90's had a large hunter turnout during the short 2-3 day deer season every couple of weeks. A lot of deer were killed during that short time.

I'd guess cause so many more hunters were in the woods at the same time, stirring it up so to speak.

BSK, thank you for jumping in. That's good info. There are a lot of us "arm chair quarterbacks" trying to be wildlife biologists on here. I think that's a good thing. Regardless of someone's position, the open minded hunters on this site can always learn useful information from these passionate debates. I would guess the number of open minded hunters to only be about 1 in 10, but every little bit helps. In all seriousness, it is interesting to see so many different viewpoints on these issues and how each one seems to be driven by one's own personal experience in their unique hunting properties.

Predator population rises and falls, just like game populations do. They run in cycles. Thats natures way of keeping a balance.

Correct but u only mentioned whitetail.. I've hunted heavily populated areas with deer & never seen or heard a yote, but totally opposite when hunting an area with a heavy small game population like wabbits...

We have no rabbits, but we sure have a lot of coyotes. I suspect the majority of the coyotes diet is mice, voles, etc. But they will certain eat a bunch of newborn fawns as well.

Oh yea no doubt.. And they've sure got used to our gut piles too! Lol

I grew up in Mobile. I left Mobile at age 19. I just got back. I spent the last 30 years in South Carolina.
I am AMAZED at the changes!!! From the growth of Baldwin County to the rules and regs regarding fish and wildlife.

The cost to lease land - WOW!!!
Who done this? Hunters? Non Hunters?
Land got expensive because hunters were/are willing to pay, so we have to blame ourselves.

One thing I do not (NOT!!) understand is how the state does not know what the deer densities and/or the harvest densities are across the state.
I called and asked. I sent emails. I stopped by a district office and asked.
I did get a good response from someone out of Montgomery, who sent me a density map for deer and turkey from 05 and 06.
Good information! But, hardly up to date.
What about the harvest densities? How many deer are being killed per sq mile, per county?
I see the info on the state's web site, but who in the world measures and records HARVEST info by number of man days spent to kill a deer??? Id rather know how many deer were being killed per sq mile. If hunters knew how many deer their were per sq mile (live) and what the harvest rate was, WE hunters would have a better idea of what WE needed to do, or not do.

I personally dont want emotion, based on what individual hunters want for themself or their hunting club. To manage deer and turkey you have to have hard core factual data, stats and figures. You have to know how many deer you have, and then have a harvest plan to ensure the resource is not taken advantage of, and to keep their number in check (REAL management).
And I am not referring to QDM and/or BIG antlers. States regulate wild game to control populations, not to grow big antlers. I am ALL for a BUCK limit to help manage the deer. When I was a kid here in AL, it was a buck a day, every day, for the entire season - that is CrAzY - that is NOT wildlife management.

Iv read here that some say the state is saying the overall deer herd has grown in AL. I spoke to a regional biologist last week and asked this question: "Would you say that the overall deer density has decreased in Alabama over the last 5-8 years?".
He answered "Yes".
So now I am ...... ??? ??? ???
Both SC and GA have seen a 30% decrease (on avg) in the states overall deer herd in the past decade. Changes in habitat, changes in timber practices, coyotes, QDM (shoot the does, shoot the does, shoot the does ...) have all been contributing factors.
SO, has the overall number of deer in AL increased or decreased in the past 3, 4, 5 years???

Another question ..... Why the BIG difference in the number of days allowed to harvest UNantlered deer between public and private land??????
WOW!! If my math serves me correctly, there is something like 12 days for public land, and 70 for private land. What the ......????
Did I read and count that correctly????

Does the state know what the sex ratio is in the state (LOL!!)???
This could open a can of worms!!
Male to Female Ratio??

Do they know what % of the buck harvest is made up of 1.5, 2.5, 3.5 year old bucks? Anyone know? I do not see this info anywhere. Anyone have any ideas?

OH, on avg, the number of hunting license sold in America has been on the decline. I did my own lil research on SC and it declined a few years ago and then has been holding steady for the last 8 or so years.
Something that really stood out was the age of hunters in SC was increasing. It would be GOOD news to hear that the avg age of hunters (in any state) is 18, but that is not the case.
In SC it is around age 50. Fewer folks hunting and the age of those hunting is increasing in age.

Financial situation of our nation has had a BIG impact on outdoor recreational activities. Fewer and fewer folks have the ability to but boats, guns, GAS ..... so they do without. This is a FACT!!
Get with your local game warden and ask him if he is seeing fewer folks in the woods and on the water then years gone by.

CPiper,

Why do you need all that information you are claiming that it is ridiculous for the DCNR not to have?

Good posts CPiper. Every state SHOULD know how many deer are being killed per county, and the age structure of bucks being killed. However, that requires data collection, and unfortunately, hunters in AL (at least those on this site) appear to be dead set against providing that information.

As for deer density, sex ratio, etc. most states have some rough estimates of that region by region of their state, but the method they use to estimate those numbers require harvest data. As far as I know, TN is the only state that is attempting to actually MEASURE deer density by region (and that is amazing time consuming and somewhat expensive).

A lot of things have been on decline since Obama & his liberal army took over..Hunting has got expensive, people have to take care of their top priorities...

Nationwide, hunter numbers have been declining for a long time. But in the "deer hunting belt" of the Southeast, hunter numbers have not been declining much, if at all.

Surely you don't think it's only gotten bad since Obama's administration got into office six years ago. It's been expensive and regulatory far longer than that.