Hi guys, In my mind, a lot of folks in the Midwest, specifically Illinois, have complained about the slow 2013 deer season, while I personally had a great year. Either way, the general consensus is that this season was terrible, the numbers are down, two many tags given out, EHD, blue-tongue, etc. and the list goes on, which has a lot of hunters, again particularly here in Illinois, screaming for changes to the upcoming deer seasons. IDNR is already threatening significant changes for the 2014 season, which are yet to be determined. All that aside, I just read a post from the Heartland Lodge pro-staffer Corey Wilkinson, who has an interesting interpretation on the reason for reported "slow" season and I thought I would share with you all. Coreys-Whitetail-and-Turkey-Hunting-Blog I think its a great read and makes a lot of sense. Hope you all enjoy it as much as I did.
During the good years I saw crops in late and lots of acorns. Not every year, but some years. It goes beyond this a little. I had one of my best years, but realize the herd is off.
I feel like if you approach this article with an open mind, and read it thoroughly (very important), it makes some VERY good points. Obviously, it isnt going to explain all of the issues, but it also states that. Good read
I have read about certain feed supplements... especially corn making deer sick or killing them. Is there a chance any hunters feeding deer are inadvertently contributing to the spread of diseases? Just wondering... diseased deer congregating around feeders etc...
My season was decent in terms of seeing deer, it's just that I passed on so many. Because I passed on so many I ended up hunting later than I ever have which is when my season went down hill and deer moved onto the bigger properties with more food.
Simply put... deer hunting has become political. They GROSSLY inflated herd numbers. They harvested too many deer. We have a couple thousand wolves and too many bears. Complete mismanagement of the herd. Truth.