Sorry to hear that, Fairchaser. I've always heard as Hunters get older they start dropping like flies. I'm frustrated myself but am trying to hold on until I retire and can get some "retirement" hunting done.
As for Ames/CWD/TWRA, its hard for me to say. I hunt less than 10 miles from Ames as the crow flies. We have seen our density numbers and mature buck sightings drop over the last few years, and I can assure you it wasn't a result of overharvesting. I point the finger at CWD and don't blame TWRA, as if you look at the harvest numbers, they have gone down. IF we're killing them all, it would show in the harvest numbers.
One wildcard is the depredation permits. This is something we know very little about. We spend all this time getting data and harvest numbers, but we have no idea how many permits are issued and how many deer are killed as a result of these permits. I had a farmer nearby tell me they killed appx 500 in one season. This was just as CWD was kicking in.
As for Ames/CWD/TWRA, its hard for me to say. I hunt less than 10 miles from Ames as the crow flies. We have seen our density numbers and mature buck sightings drop over the last few years, and I can assure you it wasn't a result of overharvesting. I point the finger at CWD and don't blame TWRA, as if you look at the harvest numbers, they have gone down. IF we're killing them all, it would show in the harvest numbers.
One wildcard is the depredation permits. This is something we know very little about. We spend all this time getting data and harvest numbers, but we have no idea how many permits are issued and how many deer are killed as a result of these permits. I had a farmer nearby tell me they killed appx 500 in one season. This was just as CWD was kicking in.