they need to err on the side of caution and pull back on the doe harvest. I think they need to get an accurate idea of what the coyote are doing to the population before making the call. we can always kill more if the population gets to high

As for the property we hunt, i have never had a year as good as this one- I have seen plenty of deer, maybe as many bucks as does. The deer herd is healthy, most of the mature does had twins or triplet fawns, and all the deer I see look fat and sassy, probably because of the acorn crop and a mild winter. I have heard no one complain except about the weather and there is no particular management technique applied in any of the acreage around us. I love having self discretion, and overall the current law hasn't hurt us a bit. So far so good...

looks like if this " wipe the does out" keeps going on that everybody is jumping up and down about we will be hurting to see anything in the next several years, the bucks will deffinetly go where the does are and if they aint many left then people will start to lose interest in going out and sitting in the woods for nothing then people will quit hunting and spending so much money in everything and the hunting economy will be in bad shape unless the state does somthing about it!

Thanks sloughfoot, I was getting lonely out on that limb.

Just out of curiosity's sake......what part of the State are you guys in that are seeing as many, or more, deer than years past???

I am glad you two posted your observations. I didn't ask for only those who agree with me to reply.

For the two of you, I'll ask this. Is your hunting land secured in such a manner that you have the control over the majority of the killing? Like, is your land surrounded by or joining property that is managed with limited does killed, or joining land that isn't hunted much, join a large river, or is the land around you pressured like it is for most of us?

I've spent 95% of my time in hardwoods setting up close to the thick nasty with a bow in my hand. I don't hunt spots when I know the wind won't try to cooperate. I guess my point is, this ain't my first rodeo. I've successfully hunted a long time. I'm not seeing deer and I'm hunting where they feed in heavy acorn years. Granted there are more places for them to feed but if I ain't seeing them and my camera ain't catching them, then I've gotta wonder if there is many of them.....left.

Last Sunday afternoon, my wife wanted to just go 'riding-around' on the backroads. It was warm and I didn't feel like going hunting. So, we loaded up around 3:00 pm and just slowly rode backroads. We went down Hwy 154 through the Chilton community, then through the Lower Road (dirt) out to Hwy 84 and then to Coffeeville. We left Coffeeville on Hwy 69 and came then turned back up the Tallahatta Rd to midway and then back thru there to the house. It was just after dark when we got home. We saw 1 (one) doe the entire trip!!!! And she crossed the road very near my house right as we were getting home.

In recent years past, at this time of the year, we would have thought it unusual to have not seen 15-20. 20 years ago, we would have seen well over 100. I know we WERE overpopulated at one time. BUT, it has not been in the past 6-8 years!!!

Me too. I've talked to people who are hanging it up, quitting clubs, etc all because they aren't seeing deer.



This worries me most of all. I'm hunting as long as there is something to hunt. I want to see deer, but don't have to. My 9 year old on the other hand?????

Going to look back in a few shorts years and say man I remember those good ole days when I could go and sit and see some deer.

No does = No bucks

Hills of Jackson Co for me.

From what I understand seeing deer on the road is the largest cause of the wide open doe season. Thanks to ALFA and their deep pockets the DCNR adopted this liberal doe season. ALFA's plan is working to eliminate deer/vehicle collisions, it's also working to eliminate deer/eyeball collisions.

I have come in from my lease in Tallapoosa county on Saturday night every time I've hunted there this year. This may sound like b.s. but out of all the trips home, 3 hours worth of driving (not interstate) I've seen 2 deer. 15 trips.....

Most of the propery near ours is leased to hunt, but not all of it. There are a few small blocks that get hunted on a limited basis. Everyone that hunts around us shoots with little to no restriction. I hunt in central alabama, south of montgomery. I have killed two bucks and two does on just over 200 acres.

Fur, I' ve got some good neigbors and a small area with not so good. Most of our neighbors kill does at about the same amount per acre as we do. The farmers in the area get crop damage permits and whack some in the summer. I was seeing does in bow season, then when gun season opened very few. Then during pre rut it was like flipping a switch, I started seeing plenty. Guess it was food, rut,weather combo got them moving. Business as usual on my place this year. Shot one this AM, would have got # 2 if she'd stood still bout 2 more seconds.

I think the areas of the state that were overpopulated needed a more liberal doe season. I use to hunt right on the Tombigbee river and by this time of year the woods look like a cow pasture with a browse line. In other parts of the state like where I live in Walker Co. they have never been over populated but when they extended doe season the people here started killing does just like they did in other places. The result in places that were overpopulated is less deer which was good but at some time you have to stop reducing the herd. Here where I live the result is so few deer that it makes hunting not very enjoyable. The DMAP program is not an effective tool in places where the majority of people hunt properties less than 500 acres.

I've hunted a 600 acre tract below centreville for about 17 years. In the beginning I rarely.hunted in the mornings without seeing 15 plus deer. 7 years ago in the "big" field I saw 36 deer at one time. I have hunted that same field three times this year and have only seen one deer. I hunted a nice field tonite that has not been hunted all season and saw nothing. I go 3 or 4 days on some fields without a pic. I am sure I have seen less than 10 deer all year. This is not a one year problem and it is a serious one.

I'm worried more about the dang coyotes killing untold numbers of fawns than I am a hunter shooting a couple of sausage nannies.

mike35549,


DMAP was designed for people on small properties to co-operate with each other to kill only the numbers of does needed to keep the population from increasing at an undersireable rate. It is a very effective tool if the people on those small parcels join together and give it a chance to work. The limit is set for a designated area instead of allowing an individual limit for each hunter.

There is one thing about deer management that is undeniable... killing does in large enough numbers works to reduce a deer population.

Kill one doe this year and there will be at least two deer less in the population next year. Three less if she would have had twins. It adds up quickly in an area of low population density, and it takes time to recover if too many are taken out.

I've hunted in an area of low population density all my life. I've gone weeks during deer season without seeing a single deer when I was growing up. I don't want to go back to those days.

If you guys are so worried how many does did you kill this year?
Deer management begins with YOU using trigger finger control !

I've killed none.

I let all I've seen walk because I think they needed to. I've encouraged the other members to lighten up as well. Most of them have.

I've let a few shooter bucks walk too. Fewer does means fewer bucks will be taking their place.

I might have faults, but nobody who knows me has ever accused me of not having trigger control.

I have seen less deer this year than in years past. I do remember in 2009 we had an extremely wet winter similar to this year and our deer sightings were lower than normal. I think it has more to do with the weather this year than hunters shooting to many does.