Aldeer.com Forums Alabama Deer Talk Serious Deer Talk Forum Charts and Graphs

The next few weeks to come is where the numbers should get really interesting as the rut kicks in across most of the state

I’m glad it’s down…. Hope it stays that way. Next year is gonna be bananas….🍌

I’ve been wondering why Marengo Co is always running worse numbers than those other western counties around it……Looking at the map I think it may have something to do with more “urban” areas in that county than the others around it and a higher concentration of people and smaller parcels

Just go ahead and say that you've never spent any time in Marengo county and know less than nothing about it, without actually saying it. Dang CNC. Calling Marengo county "urban" is beyond a stretch, even for you. Small parcels??? Have you ever hunted or even passed through Marengo County? LOL

Well.....iffin you do the math it has nearly twice as many people per sq mile as many of the other counties around it

Just looking at Google Earth it would also appear that the population of Marengo is pretty spread out across the county too from Demopolis to Linden to Dixon Mills with lots of small communities.....Compare that to say Dallas Co where it appears the vast majority of the county's population is centered in Selma

And most of that overall population in the county is wedged into the Demopolis proper area. It's been that way forever. All concentrated around the river and downtown area. LOL. Demopolis has expanded west some over the years but all that is commercial and probably no more than probably 1000 or so acres, exclusively fronting Hwy 80. No urban sprawl or real estate boom happening in Marengo County. It's far from fragmented and outside of Demopolis, it's like time has stood still. Thomaston, Linden, Dayton, Old Spring Hill, Dixons Mills, Sweetwater, all drying up and blowing away. There's less now, in all those areas, than there was back in the 80s and 90s. Try again.

I first started hunting in Marengo in the early eighties about 4 miles west of Linden. It was way overpopulated back then and the herd needed thinning. I think it was over thinned in some areas but has since recovered to a healthy population.

Linden probably hasn't changed much in the last 40 years since I hunted there. The landscape is definitely not fragmented into small parcels around that area, a quick look at OnX will reveal that.

This doesn’t give you the entire story but its definitely a factor when looking at why baiting has impacted some areas a lot more than others…..Its the number of people per square mile in each county…..


People per square mile

Did you that into account that the counties with the highest population per square mile are the counties with some of the biggest cities?

There is population per square mile and then there is population density (which is how many people are crammed into which square miles within the county). Density is the only thing that matters with what CNC is reaching to prove. Also, if there is any correlation between population per sq mile and harvest, then why havent Mobile, Baldwin, Coffee, Dale, and Houston counties crashed already. They are holding steady or increasing this year.

All I’m getting from that map is there are too many people in Alabama.

That increase you’re seeing in the southeast corner is most likely a further thinning out of the herd……Remember we have to look at this single year in the context of how it fits into our long term trend line……Below is probably how the trend line will end up looking for the southeast corner after next season……Much of the east and northeast parts of the state will likely follow suit but just take a little longer

The trend line will end up looking a lot like it did the last time we had a thinning……..This ^^^^ was the whole question from the beginning of this thread…….Would the 2 doe per day rule change create another “peak” on the trend line for these counties before declining??

Pitiful

Whatever

12/30 Update..........Gonna go ahead and post these tonight so y'all have them to discuss in the morning.


Bucks


Does

For those interested, the Woodsman Perspective podcast had Dudley Phelps from Nativ Nurseries on today discussing the historical abundance of acorns this year and the impact it's having on deer sightings. One of the hosts also owns a deer processing business, so he has great insights into it as well. Interesting listening.

Crenshaw is dead on and I would point out that we were and are not inundated with acorns this year. Just a normal year of acorns at best.

Just as a reminder in case it helps to understand this year’s map……..Here are the final tallies for last year……This was compared to the average……The asterisks represent 5 year highs or lows

2024 totals compared to average

Bucks


Does