I have a theory. I’m not speaking statewide. I am simply referring to the NW corner.
Like I’ve said before, warmer days are normal. Timing of those warmer days does matter though. People struggled early in the season because of acorns and warm weather on the weekends ppl normally hunt. Doe harvest started out behind. Ppl normally base doe harvest on what they see. They see less, then they shoot less. They will however, kill a buck, just because it’s a buck and not a doe.
The rut rolls around, and people certainly aren’t going to kill a doe with bucks running all the country with their tongues out, but because they’ve seen fewer deer, they’re less selective on bucks, so a lot of those numbers are not considerably less than most years. Doe harvest continues to do down, while buck harvest slightly inches upward. There’s been a lot of bucks killed up here in the last two weeks, and ppl still aren’t killing does, out of choice, not because they’ve disappeared.
The need and or desire to kill horns is overwhelmingly the hardest part of managing. I honestly think it’s innate as a hunter to seek horns aka antlers. Even cavan drawings were of huge antlers/horned critters. 😆
I know folks consider hunter sightings as relevant and it is to some degree.
I wished I had a dollar for every time I’ve had a hunter or a group of hunters mention they’re not seeing does. Then someone hunting that same area say they’re haven’t seen a buck anywhere but seeing a ton of does Everton they hunt. 🤷♂️
