Over shooting?⁹

[hunter399]

Curious about this.

Above numbers to me show that less hunters are killing more deer (by percentage)

Here is a chart.
Hunter numbers down
Harvest rate down.
That's for district 1 ,we traditionaly would stay about 5,000 deer a year harvested. That number dips way down from year to year.
Last year ,the numbers posted above,are the best they will ever get.
We had a very long late season last year,with snow.
I can almost bet the bank on it,that when you add in this year,short late season,with no snow . It will be a dramatic different than last year.

When I look at the numbers ,I see harvest down.
Most likely the same reason hunter numbers are down.
Nobody wants to buy a tag for a declining deer herd.
Even though I haven't added 2022 which is 4k ,like said above it was 4k for those reasons I listed above. And most likely will see a drop for this year ,same reasons.

[NOCK NOCK]

The hunters that are out there are more successful. Does that explain it better?   

With all things equal, 20% drop in hunters should also reflect 20% drop in kills.

[Mtnwalker]

The hunters that are out there are more successful. Does that explain it better?   

With all things equal, 20% drop in hunters should also reflect 20% drop in kills.

Which numbers are you referencing?

Per JReb's numbers on district 1

2013 had 18,396 hunters @ 26.7% success = 4911 kills
2022 had 14,166 hunters @ 22.3% success = 3159 kills

That means there was a 23% reduction in hunters but a 36% reduction in overall harvest. So the hunter to success ratio is going down, not up like you are stating

[baldopepper]

I wonder if the success rate is dropping at the same rate as the population decline. In other words, if the population drops 25% does the success rate drop by 25%?  Keep in mind also that I think in 2013 there were 2000 antleress tags in 121. 20,000 deer from a population of 100 000 is not as rough as 15,000 from a population of 50,000.  That's kinda what I wonder.

[10thmountainarcher]

Deer numbers have definitely taken a huge hit in the NE. We wouldn’t be having this discussion if it weren’t for the over abundance of predators though. Hunters obviously cause some stress on the herds, but the predators are putting extreme stress on them year round.

Edit to add: There was a wolf pack with over 20 wolves spotted a few weeks back in north 117. How many deer are they killing each day?

[NOCK NOCK]

The hunters that are out there are more successful. Does that explain it better?   

With all things equal, 20% drop in hunters should also reflect 20% drop in kills.

Which numbers are you referencing?

Per JReb's numbers on district 1

2013 had 18,396 hunters @ 26.7% success = 4911 kills
2022 had 14,166 hunters @ 22.3% success = 3159 kills

That means there was a 23% reduction in hunters but a 36% reduction in overall harvest. So the hunter to success ratio is going down, not up like you are stating

I'm using the same statistical process as WDFW's bonus point system.   

[hunter399]

The hunters that are out there are more successful. Does that explain it better?   

With all things equal, 20% drop in hunters should also reflect 20% drop in kills.

Which numbers are you referencing?

Per JReb's numbers on district 1

2013 had 18,396 hunters @ 26.7% success = 4911 kills
2022 had 14,166 hunters @ 22.3% success = 3159 kills

That means there was a 23% reduction in hunters but a 36% reduction in overall harvest. So the hunter to success ratio is going down, not up like you are stating

I'm using the same statistical process as WDFW's bonus point system.   

That's funny there.
I still don't understand the point system.
All I know is,I have points and never draw.  

[huntnnw]

I use to live in clayton years ago prior to the predator issue and peak of some great whitetail populations. I spent thousands of hours around Deer park, clayton, hunters and springdale and back then the buck to doe ratio around ag fields was way outta whack. I remember fields with 60-80 does and maybe 1 small buck at times. I lived on a 200 acre alfalfa field and we had near 80 deer out at times every night and maybe 12-15 bucks in its peak. One thing I noticed is when we got into the mountains to hunt the buck to doe ratios were very even and sometimes I had more bucks on cams than does. That still holds true today as I venture up away from farms there always seems to be a balance of bucks and does even if populations are down.

[hunter399]

I use to live in clayton years ago prior to the predator issue and peak of some great whitetail populations. I spent thousands of hours around Deer park, clayton, hunters and springdale and back then the buck to doe ratio around ag fields was way outta whack. I remember fields with 60-80 does and maybe 1 small buck at times. I lived on a 200 acre alfalfa field and we had near 80 deer out at times every night and maybe 12-15 bucks in its peak. One thing I noticed is when we got into the mountains to hunt the buck to doe ratios were very even and sometimes I had more bucks on cams than does. That still holds true today as I venture up away from farms there always seems to be a balance of bucks and does even if populations are down.

I agree with that assessment.