EHD and the deer kills

There are a lot of people very concerned about this in my area. Along with this, they are concerned that the drought has left pastures so short that there isn't much for them to eat over the winter.

Pheasant population could be decimated for the same reason.

 
what pheasants??? there are virtually none in nebraska anymore anyway. compared to 15-20-30 years ago when they were everywhere before every farmer took out all rows of trees and ditch shrubs to plant from road to road... EHD has hit the deer hard. some areas up to 70% death loss. Personally i have only seen one deer dead from EHD, but i havent been out in the woods looking for them either. I think this season should be scrapped. Dont go out and shoot does, dont go out and shoot little bucks... let them grow, let them repopulate. I would be ok with no rifle season allowed this year... but that wont happen because the idiot game and parks has their money. They could make a ton more money if they didnt allow a season for a couple years and let the bucks mature, the does repopulate, and all the non residents would pay 400 or more for a permit like down in ks. o well i guess im not running this thing anyway but it would be nice! haha Good Hunting!

 
I agree with the pheasant population but in my area, they actually were starting to come back.

The rest of your post sounds like you're a bow hunter :)

I think shutting down the season might be a good idea but I would shut down all of them and not just rifle season.

 
I've seen a couple pheasants this fall but by far the fewest that I've ever seen. Coyote and coon populations are way up. Should make for a heck of a fur check.

Unfortunately, also found a 140 class 5x5 dead on Saturday. Still in velvet so he probably died a couple months ago.

Between the trajectory of the football season, the scarcity of pheasants, and the EHD deaths . . . it's shaping up to be a crappy fall.

 
BigRedBuster said:
I agree with the pheasant population but in my area, they actually were starting to come back.

The rest of your post sounds like you're a bow hunter :)

I think shutting down the season might be a good idea but I would shut down all of them and not just rifle season.
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I agree with that. But it seems like rifle season is the time when the most hunters are out and the most deer are killed. i do bow hunt and i enjoy the muzzle loader season. Its a month long and typically the deer are bunched up. plus sometimes you get that late rut action for does that werent bred in nov. I always thought that before EHD hit if we just had a true earn a buck system like state residents had to shoot at least 1 doe each of 2 years to earn the opportunity to earn a buck in year 3. Then we would have way more bucks. much more mature bucks which as i stated before would draw more out of state people to pay $400 for a permit and the Game and Parks would earn much more money from the permits. Just my thoughts. I hate seeing people have to shoot the first deer that walks by and not manage the deer herd as a whole. unless of course it is a 12 year old kid shooting his first buck. But then we could have youth season for that alone.

 
Last year I took my 12 year old son out for the first time. Yep, he shot the first Buck he saw. But, I agree with the management of the herd.

I'm a little different in that my main reason for hunting them is actually for the meat. If I get a trophy out of it then that's a bonus. So, I really don't have a problem shooting does.

 
i have a few roosters on the farm i live on, but its nothing like the past. the only problem i have with Nebraskas rifle season is its during the rut. this is why this isnt a deer destination state like Iowa ,Kansas ect. move it the dec 1

 
Man, that IS pretty stupid of Nebraska to have the rifle season during the rut. As I mentioned earlier in the thread, one of our officers is a huge deer hunter and would rather be a guide for a living. He has probably 20 different pieces of land he can hunt, has aerial photos of that land, knows how the deer move through those areas, and knows how to set-up the perfect push-and-post attack plan. He literally had me stand next to an old fence post in the middle of a field................I thought he was crazy. Sure enough 20 minutes later here comes a big doe with twins............needless to say I still have part of her in my freezer. :wasted

 
What did people find this weekend hunting deer? It appears that the population is WAY down in the area that I hunt. This is southern Custer County.

This is either due to EHD or the drought or both.

 
BigRedBuster said:
What did people find this weekend hunting deer? It appears that the population is WAY down in the area that I hunt. This is southern Custer County.

This is either due to EHD or the drought or both.
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I've heard about some of the guys around here have already gotten some good bucks. I checked the area I'm going to hunt during our first shotgun season the first week in December and we seen 11 deer in an hour and a half. I haven't gotten as many calls at work for car vs. deer accidents so that tells me the numbers are down. Usually I'm running my arse off with accidents during the rut.

 
Didn't see any deer opening day.Heard a fair amount of shooting around me.Did take a doe,Sunday afternoon.Went out again this morning.Two does.Still haven't seen a buck.(Butler county,near Brainard)

 
BIGREDIOWAN said:
BigRedBuster said:
What did people find this weekend hunting deer? It appears that the population is WAY down in the area that I hunt. This is southern Custer County.

This is either due to EHD or the drought or both.
Click to expand...
I've heard about some of the guys around here have already gotten some good bucks. I checked the area I'm going to hunt during our first shotgun season the first week in December and we seen 11 deer in an hour and a half. I haven't gotten as many calls at work for car vs. deer accidents so that tells me the numbers are down. Usually I'm running my arse off with accidents during the rut.
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I shouldn't have said anything................back-to-back nights with car vs. deer accidents. :lol:

 
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