deer limits in the 80's and 90's

[Smo]

In NW Alabama the quail seem to have started to decline in the early too mid 80's.
We blamed coyotes, they had just started too become prevalent in that area..

Lots of smaller tracks of land were starting too be Posted as deer hunting became more popular than small game hunting.
So loss of habitat, hunting grounds & decline in numbers basically brought quail hunting in that area too a halt.

I hunted Alabama & Tennessee both in the 80's..
Deer & turkeys were starting too take off in those days..
I had never seen a wild Turkey in those parts until then.
TWRA did an excellent job with their Turkey relocation programs..

 

[Gravey]

I don't have the guides but the buck limits then were more than 2. 11 keeps popping in my head.

 

[megalomaniac]

I found this on the web, so y'all know it's gotta be true…

Extracted Article Text (OCR)

FOCUS THE SUNDAY TENNESSE AN Wednesdoy, November 9, 1 988 November should be rich for hunters i 4 WARREN IH7.AK hocus Wnlt'r November may be the best month of the year for hunters. No fewer than five seasons open this month, and according to Tennes- see Wildlife Resources Agency officials, the 1988-89 season will be a good one. During the first muzzle-loading sea-son which opened Monday and I runs through Sunday hunters are allowed to take one buck. The weeks' long hunt is growing in popularity eve-; ry year, a TWRA official said. "The prospects are going to be ex- cellent this year because we have an increased deer population throughout the state, and the popularity has just increased considerably in the last three years that we have hunted," I said Larry McGinn, the TWRA's Re-I gion II manager.
"We are going to find that a lot of people that formerly gun-hunted are now picking up a muzzle loader and getting involved." Starting Saturday, the muzzle load-: ers will be sharing the woods with ''t rabbit and quail hunters, and McGinn I said at this point their prospects look good. "The early dry weather we had in the spring seems to have created good conditions for reproduction of our rabbit and quail, and we are looking forward to good rabbit and quail seasons," he said. "It's a little early to say for sure because a lot of things affect what happens to rabbit and quail population, but right now it looks like we are going to have a good opener." The following weekend Nov. 19 deer hunters will put up their black-powder guns and break out their modern rifles for the opening of the 1988-89 gun season for deer, another season that McGinn said should be impressive. "It is going to be excellent, and we expect to break another record in the number of deer harvested," he said.
Four days after the deer opener, waterfowlers will get their chance at the well-established flocks of Canada geese on the lower unit of Old Hickory Lake and most of Percy Priest Lake. A two-goose-a-day limit should make this year's special hunt even more attractive, but McGinn urged hunters to remember that the use of steel shot is required. "They need to be cautious about using steel shot and be sure and use it," he said. The goose quota for all of Old Hickory Lake, including the early season and regular waterfowl season which opens Dec 10, will be 1,000. On Percy Priest, the quota will be 200, while at Cheatham Reservior where goose hunting will be allowed only during the regular waterfowl season the quota will be 300.
"But we don't anticipate reaching those quotas, so we do anticipate hunting throughout the season," he said.


I thought I remembered m/z season being two different dates with consecutive days for each..
I also think one hunt was bucs only and the other was either sex..

Other than bow season this was about the only opportunity too kill a doe in most Southern Border Counties legally.. ( Wayne,Lawrence & Giles)

Muzzleloader was 2 segments, one in mid Nivember, the other was during mid December when rifle was closed.

Back in the late 80s/ early 90s, the limit was 11 bucks.

4 with bow, 2 with ML, 4 with rifle. Plus there was a bonus either sex weekend for landowners in early January after regular rifle season closed.

My personal best was 9 bucks in one season, plus 4 or 5 does. All were 1.5yos, except for a broken rack 2.5yo. I stumbled into a whiteoak flat that season that was insane. I think i killed 3 does and 3 bucks off that same flat that bow season.

 

[mike243]

We never had many quail in this part of Etn when we moved here in the early to mid 70's, we bought our house in 95 and remember drinking coffee on the deck and listening to them call in the hay fields around the house , by 2005 they were no more, 4-5 years ago I heard some calling again and never seen the first 1 and no more calling soon after, this was in the springtime. I remember jumping coveys in white county back in the early 70's and seeing folks with birds dogs hunting, shot a few rabbit hunting and got fussed at by my step dad, said it would teach his beagles to run them., wish I had shot more of them lmao

 

[Smo]

Growing up in NW Alabama in the 60's &70's it seemed as if everyone had a decent bird dog and plenty of ground & birds too hunt.

As I mentioned above the coyotes got most of the blame for their demise..
However armadillo's and fire ants showed up along the same time frame and could have been part of the problem.

Less people were trapping & small game hunting which lead to an increase in all predators.

 

[Smo]

Muzzleloader was 2 segments, one in mid Nivember, the other was during mid December when rifle was closed.

Back in the late 80s/ early 90s, the limit was 11 bucks.

4 with bow, 2 with ML, 4 with rifle. Plus there was a bonus either sex weekend for landowners in early January after regular rifle season closed.

My personal best was 9 bucks in one season, plus 4 or 5 does. All were 1.5yos, except for a broken rack 2.5yo. I stumbled into a whiteoak flat that season that was insane. I think i killed 3 does and 3 bucks off that same flat that bow season.

That's in-line with what I remember as well…

I usually only killed 2 or 3 a year back then due to only hunting public ground and limited time afield..
Somebody had too work…

And most of those were 1 1/2- 2 1/2 year old deer as well.

I really didn't care for the split seasons , I'm glad that went away..

 

[Biggun4214]

Growing up in NW Alabama in the 60's &70's it seemed as if everyone had a decent bird dog and plenty of ground & birds too hunt.

As I mentioned above the coyotes got most of the blame for their demise..
However armadillo's and fire ants showed up along the same time frame and could have been part of the problem.

Less people were trapping & small game hunting which lead to an increase in all predators.

What about subdivisions and losing habitat? Subdivisions also meant an increase in pets especially cats. The development and increased use of roundup may be a factor. Quail got hit hard from all sides.

 

[knightrider]

The bush hog and spray boom got rid of the quail

 

[DeerCamp]

Here are the regs from 1959

 

[Bone Collector]

A little earlier.You can thank trap55555 for this. https://www.tndeer.com/threads/from-my-early-years.419943/

No ML and a sportsman's license was $30.30. Of course that was a lot back then.

 

[Bone Collector]

I killed my 11 bucks several years back in the late 80s through the 90s. It was a ton of fun hunting back then. No one cared about antler size and everything with horns was something to brag about. Deer were as thick as ticks here in Montgomery County. Everyone says now is the golden age but it was much more fun back then. Although I do enjoy a big buck, I really do miss that part of my journey.

That was the golden age. We're just in the golden age of herd #s. You say they were thick there, but in mid TN they weren't until the mid 90s or so, well maybe if you had a great spot, but most places didn't have many.

I do miss the "everything with horns was something to brag about" and while I like big bucks, I hate the downing of hunters for just wanting to shoot deer vs letting them get bigger, because that's what the person downing them wants.

 

[TheLBLman]

Growing up in NW Alabama in the 60's &70's it seemed as if everyone had a decent bird dog and plenty of ground & birds too hunt.

Similar to my experience growing up in West TN.

As I mentioned above the coyotes got most of the blame for their demise..
However armadillo's and fire ants showed up along the same time frame and could have been part of the problem.

I personally do not believe coyotes, armadillos and fire ants have had much to do with the near extinction of quail in West TN. For starters, the decline was already severe before we had armadillos & fire ants.

I believe the #1 reason was a loss of the adapted habitat and free range of contiguous adapted habitat for which quail had adapted over hundreds of years. This loss of that ideal habitat may have been most significantly the wholesale replacement of native grasses with fescue hay grass. Fescue created a food shortage for quail, as well as made it easier for quail to be caught by foxes and house cats.

Next, "clean" farming techniques eliminated a lot of nesting cover, and killed (or caused decline of) many the insects baby quail need to survive their first few weeks. Less cover, less to eat, made quail, especially young ones, much easier to see and catch by all predators.

Lastly, and perhaps the most overlooked or least discussed:
The Cooper's Hawk (as well as other raptors & owls) have had population explosions.
The Cooper's Hawk mainly eats birds, and may have mainly fed on quail when they existed.

Yes, many factors, but I believe habitat changes (not just losses) coupled with increased raptor predation may have been highest on the list.

 

[knightrider]

Similar to my experience growing up in West TN.

I personally do not believe coyotes, armadillos and fire ants have had much to do with the near extinction of quail in West TN. For starters, the decline was already severe before we had armadillos & fire ants.

I believe the #1 reason was a loss of the adapted habitat and free range of contiguous adapted habitat for which quail had adapted over hundreds of years. This loss of that ideal habitat may have been most significantly the wholesale replacement of native grasses with fescue hay grass. Fescue created a food shortage for quail, as well as made it easier for quail to be caught by foxes and house cats.

Next, "clean" farming techniques eliminated a lot of nesting cover, and killed (or caused decline of) many the insects baby quail need to survive their first few weeks. Less cover, less to eat, made quail, especially young ones, much easier to see and catch by all predators.

Lastly, and perhaps the most overlooked or least discussed:
The Cooper's Hawk (as well as other raptors & owls) have had population explosions.
The Cooper's Hawk mainly eats birds, and may have mainly fed on quail when they existed.

Yes, many factors, but I believe habitat changes (not just losses) coupled with increased raptor predation may have been highest on the list.

Yes!!!

 

[Lost Lake]

What about subdivisions and losing habitat? Subdivisions also meant an increase in pets especially cats. The development and increased use of roundup may be a factor. Quail got hit hard from all sides.

There used to be grown up fencerows and fallow fields everywhere back then, but not as many now. That, and clean farming practices probably contributed.

 

[Biggun4214]

I believe the #1 reason was a loss of the adapted habitat and free range of contiguous adapted habitat for which quail had adapted over hundreds of years. This loss of that ideal habitat may have been most significantly the wholesale replacement of native grasses with fescue hay grass. Fescue created a food shortage for quail, as well as made it easier for quail to be caught by foxes and house cats.

Next, "clean" farming techniques eliminated a lot of nesting cover, and killed (or caused decline of) many the insects baby quail need to survive their first few weeks. Less cover, less to eat, made quail, especially young ones, much easier to see and catch by all predators.

Lastly, and perhaps the most overlooked or least discussed:
The Cooper's Hawk (as well as other raptors & owls) have had population explosions.
The Cooper's Hawk mainly eats birds, and may have mainly fed on quail when they existed.

Yes, many factors, but I believe habitat changes (not just losses) coupled with increased raptor predation may have been highest on the list.

Grasses like Johnson Grass and warm season grasses grow in clumps and the young quail can easily move through and the adult birds to fly. Fescue grows and mats up making it difficult for young quail to move around and it's much more difficult for adult birds to escape.
Also beggar lice is all but nonexistent and was a preferred food for quail. Growing up there were times I would scrape beggar lice off my clothes in what seemed forever.

 

[Smo]

Those were great days ! I always enjoyed following a good bird dog.

 

[DeerCamp]

Similar to my experience growing up in West TN.

I personally do not believe coyotes, armadillos and fire ants have had much to do with the near extinction of quail in West TN. For starters, the decline was already severe before we had armadillos & fire ants.

I believe the #1 reason was a loss of the adapted habitat and free range of contiguous adapted habitat for which quail had adapted over hundreds of years. This loss of that ideal habitat may have been most significantly the wholesale replacement of native grasses with fescue hay grass. Fescue created a food shortage for quail, as well as made it easier for quail to be caught by foxes and house cats.

Next, "clean" farming techniques eliminated a lot of nesting cover, and killed (or caused decline of) many the insects baby quail need to survive their first few weeks. Less cover, less to eat, made quail, especially young ones, much easier to see and catch by all predators.

Lastly, and perhaps the most overlooked or least discussed:
The Cooper's Hawk (as well as other raptors & owls) have had population explosions.
The Cooper's Hawk mainly eats birds, and may have mainly fed on quail when they existed.

Yes, many factors, but I believe habitat changes (not just losses) coupled with increased raptor predation may have been highest on the list.

I bought a 40 acre farm last year in Southern Henderson county. The first time I walked it, I bumped several coveys of quail. Really, just about the first ones I'd seen in TN.

 

[wcw280]

Hater

Someone mad they only killed 2.

 

[Headhunter]

My nickname in high school was bird dog. If we still had quail I would barely deer hunt.