I'm no biologist but I do know how to research and read what biologists say regarding coyote predation rates on whitetail deer. The general rule of thumb is a minimum avg of 1-2 fawns killed per coyote per year. Most of which takes place within the first six weeks of a fawn's birth. Everytime I hear a large pack of coyotes howling at night, which is a regular experience here in south Alabama these days, I'm reminded of just how many of our deer their killing off each year.

I know on our lease in north eastern fayette co just outside of carbon hill we have 1700 acres and we arent aloud to shoot any does with a rifle or any does what so ever in a green field and bucks if harvested must be mounted and we haven't seen hardly any deer this year we have planted some of this best looking fields I have ever seen our ph is right and we planted good stuff although this is just our first year on this lease we have been running trail cams since last febuary and have noticed that we have a very balanced buck to doe ratio and this is the fewest fawns I have ever seen anywhere if we had 100 pics of does we might have 10 that had fawns this summer. Everyone around is shooting the woods up every weekend. we also have a bad coyote problem and everytime we see deer tracks in the road the coyotes are trailimg them I shot 3 coyotes one am hunt they where trailing a doe. Also we have some very great quality bucks on our place several that would be a deer of a lifetime in this state. But I think all the shooting is idiots around us who just shoot what ever moves it takes about 4 days of hard hunting just to see deer on our place and we arent greenfield shooting house sitters either we hunt hard and arent affraid of a long walk. I think there should be a limit to the amount of does harvested in certain areas of the state.

Hoyt:
Welcome to hunting in this part of the state since doe season went all year long here and the coyote population has increased. I predict it will get worse before it gets better.

I've hunted Fayette County my entire life, and have to say we killed FAR more does in the last 5 years than we did in the last 20 combined. We still can't keep up. The more we shoot the more we get. I killed 7 out of one stand this year, and I can bet you a month's paycheck if I go back in there this afternoon I could kill two more.

I hear so much doom and gloom about the deer herd, but when I get out and visit some of these places there is enough deer sign to make me wonder what some of you are doing to not see deer.

You are cordually invited to come to my lease in Mobile and show me all this deer sign and enlighten me on what I am doing wrong. Maybe you can do a better job than our biologist.

Bigt, next time I'm down that way I'll let you know. I may not be be able to help you none, but I would love to see what you have to work with.

I hunt in Clarke County south of Grove Hill in the Bassest creek swamp on about 700 hundred acres. I have hunted the same land for the last 30 years and have seen a big change in how many deer we see now compared to 30 years ago with the increased amount of does killed each year. Also the increased amount of hogs in the area now drives alot of our deer out of the area. It was nothing to see 8 to 10 and sometimes up to 15 or 20 deer every time I went hunting. Now if you see 1 or 2 deer you feel lucky. I believe the hunting seasons on the does needs to be cut back to the one week during the Christmas holidays as it once was. I don't believe our biologist has a clue what the deer populations needs or don't need. Also we have coyotes real bad in the area and they can hurt the young deer bad. I have a friend who had a game camara on a coyota den for 14 days. In this time he had nine different deer taken into the den. If it is not one thing hurtin the deer its another. I myself would like to at least see more deer when I'm taken my kids hunting instead of nothing at all. Just my take on the doe killings.

Sat not very far from you this morning from 5:50 am until 9:45 am and never saw a deer......

Matter of fact, I only heard 1 shot!!!!

Warm weather, plenty of food, natural and man provided...food plots corn piles galore...when you provide them easy food, they'll use it at night..tons of pressure...does arent stupid...like on the Texas ranches where they shoot them a lot...Theyre there...just better educated...and well fed...

bet I saw 50 on the highway yesterday afternoon driving down Hwy 55 in MS...and about 20 dead

I know of an area knocked back, pretty sure know the reason. Guys wanting a February Season might have instigated some yearly research.

WELL i'll chime in. some people are not killing bucks so lets limit the buck harvest. NOW some people are not seeing the deer numbers they'd like to see so lets limit the doe harvest.
i'm not seeing deer on my greenfields either. i stalk hunted last monday and had two does killed by 8:00. get out and hunt, and don't change the laws to make it easier to sit on your butts and kill a deer! I feel better.

Definitely! Be glad to show you around.

Wow, Wish our deer were like that they are SO Spookie. We can have 20 deer coming to a field in eve and you shoot one it will take 2 weeks for a mature doe to poke its nose back out.No pressure on them either 3 guys on 2000 ac.Crossing,s are same way shoot one or two and they will not cross there anymore in daylight.But we do have a bad yote problem and big&small cats.

[=Matt Brock]The more we shoot the more we get. I killed 7 out of one stand this year, and I can bet you a month's paycheck if I go back in there this afternoon I could kill two more.

We have the same issue. BSK made a good point one time and said the down side of killing does on property with good habitat is for every doe you shoot one will likely move in if your neighbors aren't killing their share of does. I can't imagine where it would be hard to kill a doe if you have low pressure and good habitat. Now reverse that and say you have a lot of pressure and the only food are the greenfields, then yea, I could see the does becoming nocturnal and hard to see and kill.

Thats a big difference between these ole Alabama deer and those in the mid west. Hell, you shoot one in a food plot in most, if not all, of the midwest, if any run they will be back in less than 30 minutes. BTW, thats how it was in the 70s and 80s in Wilcox county. Not that way now. Shoot and you porbably will not see one on that field for a few days.

So why is the deer here so much more spooky than places like the mid west is it just the hunting pressure from just a long season or what.

IMO multiple reasons.
1. rut starts a lot earlier in midwest, so deer haven't been pressured for 2 to 2 1/2 months prior to the rut, as is the case in Bama.
2. most Midwest states have more limited gun season and some states don't even allow hunting with rifles. Also have always had much more restrictive limits, overall than Bama
3. more open country with woodlots. More huntable land over all. Easier to see deer, harder for deer to hide.

Then I think some deer are just more weary and cautious than other deer. No way to prove it but I think it's probably hereditary. For example bucks where I hunt rarely come out in foodplots during the day, even 2.5 year olds but in other parts of the state (same management, same amount of land, etc.) it's nothing to see several young racked bucks in a foodplot in the afternoon. Might have a lot to due with food available, etc. but I swear some deer are just smarter than others.

Still plenty of places like that in AL. I shot one in a field this year and the other 8 or so never left the field completely and were back feeding in 15 minutes around the dead deer.

I don't know if I would say plenty of places in Alabama like that maybe some. But plenty?