deer numbers down

[rebal69972]

from reading everyones post on here it seems like the numbers are down everywhere. i hunt in 3 different parts of the west side and i havent seen half of the deer this year from what i saw last year        is everyone seeing less deer and if so why? i know ive seem more yotes but i wouldnt think that there numbers would be that high

[DeerThug]

We have seen maybe 20% of the deer as in past years.  BUT when we do see a buck the racks seem to be bigger than we are used to seeing.  Also they are way more skiddish.  Predators?

[KFhunter]

last saturday I really hunted an area I hadn't been in for about 5 years
wow, what a decline
 
not just because I didn't see any deer AT ALL (thats never happened before), but I looked for sign all day and didn't see anything.  no fresh deer droppings, tracks, rubs anything.  I did see one nice elk rub, but in years previous I'd see them all over.
I didn't see any deer rubs
 
what I did see were yote droppings full of deer hair, it was all over.
 
my theory is a cat or two moved in and started knocking the deer down, yotes scavanged the carcases, deer moved out.
either that or I was looking at wolf scat, but honestly I didn't study it much. 
 
 

[Ridgeratt]

 KF Hunter there were some in your Dad's old Field this morning.
Oh yes check with Campmeat! My calender is filling up. He saw last years. the way I keep track.

[smitty8202]

I agree. my dad has been out everyday since mf season started except yesterday and have seen 5 deer all does in 4 days of hunting 2 of which were in town behind a house. we saw alot of deer during scouting but once the season starts they go ghost. 

[blacktail luv]

Our deer herd really seems to be struggling in western klickitat county.   Definitely is getting to be less and less every year.  Sad to see the decline in numbers.  When you are trying like hell to get your 8 year old a deer and he walks his arse off for nothing it breaks my heart.

[dreamunelk]

Weather has a lot to do with it on the west side.

[demontang]

I haven't been seeing the bucks like I have in the past but yesterday I spotted about 80 doe's/ fawns but only 1 buck

[wreckerman5357]

Hunting sucked in Dayton over the weekend. We killed 2 deer from the same spot on our property last year and 0 this year. The fog and the rain killed us, scouting looked good but the bad weather brushed them up.

[Athomas0314]

Yea me an 5 others hunted 3 full days this weekend in the teanaway region an didnt see a single deer.

[500 long]

I have found animal sightings are always lower during a bright moon.

[rebal69972]

Our deer herd really seems to be struggling in western klickitat county.   Definitely is getting to be less and less every year.  Sad to see the decline in numbers.  When you are trying like hell to get your 8 year old a deer and he walks his arse off for nothing it breaks my heart.

i understand that i had my 10 and 11 y/o daughters out tring to get there first deer all weekend and seen nothing. even scouting through the summer i didnt see much sign and i only got 3 doe's on my trail cam. last year in the same spots i saw probley 200 deer through bow season and now theres nothing

[buck man]

Might not matter as much for you wet side guys but here on the dry side we have had 2 record breaking snowfalls out of the last 3 years. Winterkill baby. ...and wolves,cougars, bears, yotes,and cars. Been hard to grow the herd.

[rebal69972]

does anyone know what we can do to help our heards. i know we cant do anything about the weather but there has to be something we can do any ideas?

[JimmyHoffa]

does anyone know what we can do to help our heards. i know we cant do anything about the weather but there has to be something we can do any ideas?

More predator hunting.  You could also go feed the deer, but that would require a lot of effort--especially compared to removing a few predators.  I get those 50lb salt blocks from the feed store ($6) and toss them in certain areas for the off season.  I use the ones with selenium so their hooves are strong.

[deerhunter_98520]

ive been out everyday...seen 7 deer between sat/sun at my usual spot...weyehauser decided to yellow dot my huntin area..thats screwed me pretty good...my backup spot is to overgrown and there really isnt to many other places open close by....i havent seen 1 deer since monday...found lots of chantrels though..atleast i havent come home empty handed

[andrebeergog]

I think more predator hunting is the key. The Coyote population seems to be exploding everywhere leading to massive fawn predation.  The area we hunt south of Republic had coyote poop all over the trails/roads.  Way more than we have ever seen.  I also just saw my first Coyote ever this weekend while hunting.  I have never gone a single day over there and not seen a single deer.   I went 2 days in a row this year.  Something is definitely up.   We only saw 1 deer hanging in the state campground, whereas we usually see 10+.  Cougars have been almost unchecked for a good number of years. Do you think it is just a cooincidence that the WDFW has just reopened Cougar hunts in the eastern GMU's? 

[deerbandit]

Myself and 2 other friends hunted GMU 111 and 117 opening day and the next three days, and never saw a deer.  There was a lot of moon light all those days I know, but this is the first time we have never seen deer not even a doe at all. Three of the 4 nights we heard coyotes sometimes nearby sometimes farther away, seems like we might be going back there after deer season and try to thin the coyote herd a bit.  When we got back we heard about the guy who recorded a wolf on his I-phone up in 117 but I am not sure where in 117 he recorded it.  I like how people think re-introducing wolves wont cause any harm to hunting.

[dibbs]

I cant speak for the rest of the state, but in Okanogan county the numbers are down substantially in the past few years. I 'm out in the woods all the time, no animals, few tracks, very little sign!  I Part of it is predators, both the two and four legged variety, part of it is winter kill, and part of it is loss of habitat.
 However I believe the biggest problem is that our seasons are too freeking long, and the WDFW issues way too many special permits!   Our state population continues to grow, and the deer are hunted from September thru December.  While I love to hunt just as much as the next guy, I believe the wildlife comission needs to give each venue (rifle, archery, muzzleloader) a one week season, period.  Do this for several years until populations come back a bit, and manage for healthy herds, not dollars from license sales. 

The way the deer herds have dwindled, I may very soon not purchase a deer tag, and if WDFW thinks they are going to generate additional revenue with increasing license and tag fees, with crappy herd numbers, then they're sadly mistaken. My $0.02, rant off.

[muleracks2]

I saw a report that 20 years ago WA had about 55,000 deer hunters and now it's only about 11,000.  Even with increase technology I suspect that over harvest by hunters is not the problem.  We pack hunter drop camps, 17 camps with 22 bucks so far this season.  Deer sightings in our area does not seem to be down (dry side of the Cascades).  Antler growth may have suffered this year because of the late snow and stress that put on the bucks at a time when they should be storing energy for growing antlers.

Kudos to those who favor a prudent use of late season permits for all weapon classes.