Harvest reports

[poorhunter]

If my calculations are correct, the '25 harvest is down 25% from last year. That is a big drop! I know that I have seen way less deer driving around as well as in the woods this whole fall, and friends and neighbors say the same thing. Hickman, Perry and Lewis counties.

What's everyone else seeing overall?

 

[jman 125]

My processor told me sunday of rifle opener from open of muzzleloader to then they were 200 deer less processed this year. I know it is slow with tbe shot count down where we are. Hickman Humphreys area

 

[BSK]

Our deer density was not down by much, but our sightings after opening weekend of MZ were. Very odd year for sure.

 

[redblood]

i live on the lincoln marshall line where the population is very very high. I have heard virtually no shots. part of that is many of the guys around me are bow only. the bigger part is there are just less hunters now than there were 20 years ago

 

[deerhunter10]

Imo less hunters around us at least. Deer movement as a whole has been very very hit and miss this year. The bulk of the rut around us hit before ml season. Giant mass crop. Ehd hit harder then we realized imo. Add all that together the normal hunter/average hunter isn't in the game on a year like this year.

 

[hammer33]

I think the weather had a lot to do with it. Cold and blowing snow MZ opening weekend and I heard 2-3 shots the whole weekend. 1 or 2 trucks parked at the WMA. Warmer than normal on gun opener. Foggy mornings too in Mid TN.
Heard a bunch of shooting Thanksgiving morning and Friday morning.

 

[vanleerbuckbuster]

Imo less hunters around us at least. Deer movement as a whole has been very very hit and miss this year. The bulk of the rut around us hit before ml season. Giant mass crop. Ehd hit harder then we realized imo. Add all that together the normal hunter/average hunter isn't in the game on a year like this year.

Nailed it

 

[Winchester]

Agree, the weather very warm early and minus a couple windy days early Nov continued warm through MZ. Bumper Mast crop limiting movement and an odd rut all equal a few less deer killed.

 

[backyardtndeer]

Read an article a week or so ago, that had numbers being down by nearly 40 percent from last year. There definitely hasn't been as many shots as years past. I'd guess there are less deer to hunt and kill in cwd areas, and perhaps less hunters even hunting deer in those areas.

Whatever the case, the state will probably blame the numbers on acorns.

 

[Boll Weevil]

Read an article a week or so ago, that had numbers being down by nearly 40 percent from last year.

This is the number I saw too.

 

[Savage]

I ran the number. Overall state numbers are down 11,369. That's down 10.9% over the same dates last year if I did my numbers and reporting correctly.

 

[Remington700]

I was telling my kids the other day how 20 years ago it sounded like a war zone opening day. This year I heard 4 shots and one of those was us. Also, we waited in line to drop deer at the processor. They were stacking them like cord wood. I am not sure if the CWD scared several hunters off or if it is just hunter numbers are decreasing. I tend to thing it is the later. I base this on the number of hunters I see in the highway early morning.

 

[redblood]

Hunting is becoming a rich mans sport. either you sacrifice to buy land, or you live in the suburb and try to hunt public or sink money into a lease. so many hunters are realizing that its not worth the expense and the hassle. i think how crowded the lakes have gotten is indicative that many of the more suburban /urban based outdoorsman have realized fishing makes more sense. it was slowing down and then their was a huge upspike in 2020 due to covid, then it has tailed off every yr. Im expecting alot of 3.5 and 4.5 yr old deer to survive this yr and next year with decent weather, it should be fantastic for older age class bucks

 

[BSK]

It was slowing down and then their was a huge upspike in 2020 due to covid, then it has tailed off every yr. Im expecting alot of 3.5 and 4.5 yr old deer to survive this yr and next year with decent weather, it should be fantastic for older age class bucks

We used to have one, maybe two mature bucks on camera in past years. This year, so far, seven, with six of them using the property during deer season. And the number of 3 1/2s? Crazy. Used to be 6-8 bucks 3 1/2+. However, that number has been increasing every year for the last 5 or 6. This year, 16 bucks 3 1/2+. But they all vanished after first week of November. I have no idea ewhere they went.

 

[6.5swede]

Well not in Northwest Tn. I think I've seen more deer this season than I can remember, both from the truck and the stand. I hunted all through bow season and muzzleloader, and I think I only had 1 sit that I didn't see a deer. But I did see both a bobcat and coyote that morning.

 

[killingtime 41]

Wish we had some decent WMA's over here in N east Tn. I use to have farms to hunt at one time. But that is gone. We have a couple wma but they are tiny. We have N Cherokee but it's steep as a cows face with very little deer. Due to it not being managed at all. If it would get logged and burnt it could be a great place to hunt. The state never buys land like they do farther west of me. And I don't have the money to buy enough land to hunt. So it's a bit discouraging anymore. I guess I'll keep trying what I got. Till I get disgusted enough to just stay home. Getting closer by the year.

 

[Quiver]

I can see that overall harvest being down because of mast crop up weather off, and hunter numbers down; however 4 of our 6 camera bucks were in the freezer by first week of rifle. I've seen just as many more deer this year than in the past. Our pipeline looks exceptional for next year: unless BSK pays his corn fee.

 

[Ski]

It's not just TN. I'm hearing the same frustration from several midwest states. Folks aren't seeing the deer numbers they are used to seeing.

 

[JCDEERMAN]

It's not just TN. I'm hearing the same frustration from several midwest states. Folks aren't seeing the deer numbers they are used to seeing.

How has the EHD panned out in Ohio this year? I know parts got it were bad up there. We got it some here in Hickman, just not sure how bad. Deer numbers are dismal. And I know it hit "descent" because I'm seeing quite a few deer limping.

 

[philsanchez76]

Just speaking of the middle TN WMA's- the number of hunters is definitely not down here. Seen more guys in the woods than even during the covid seasons. But all of my local buddies and myself have seen way less deer than previous seasons. My theory for my particular WMAs is that they planted corn literally on every field this year and left it standing through the rut. Along with a great acorn year, Our deer had endless bedding and feeding opportunities.

 

[Ski]

How has the EHD panned out in Ohio this year? I know parts got it were bad up there. We got it some here in Hickman, just not sure how bad. Deer numbers are dismal. And I know it hit "descent" because I'm seeing quite a few deer limping.

It got hammered. Several counties lost almost every deer and many counties lost a lot of deer. Fortunately my place went completely unscathed.

 

[WTNBowHunter]

Mature bucks pics/encounters are down greatly from years past where I hunt.

 

[megalomaniac]

Hunting was the best its ever been late Oct thru mid Nov... we took 5 mature bucks in 9 days. Heard WAY more shots than years past. Since rifle opened, we have killed 1 doe. Other than the opening morning barrage of rifle shots, woods have been quiet since.

In my area, I attribute that to the extremely early rut... if you weren't hunting early November, you simply missed out.

 

[deerhunter10]

In my area, I attribute that to the extremely early rut... if you weren't hunting early November, you simply missed out.

This. The best rut hunting I've ever seen to. Thankful I'm a bow hunter and got to witness it.

 

[BSK]

In my area, I attribute that to the extremely early rut... if you weren't hunting early November, you simply missed out.

Same in my area. I just wish we had had the chance to MZ hunt the first few days of November. That would have been awesome! But as it was, the first few days of MZ were pretty good. Then it turned off until a little blip around the normal peak (Nov 16-19). After that, quiet as a church.

 

[EastTNHunter]

I've not hunted much this season, but it's been famine or feast for me. Some areas and sits I've seen a bunch of deer. But others it has been little or nothing. I've had more chasing in my backyard (literally) than I've seen anywhere else. I just had a group of 7-8 does come through the backyard while I was working in my office.

Deer seem to be really grouped up this year. I've seen several bucks, and some were tempting, but nothing really good except for the 9 point that I killed the last day of ML season, and even he wasn't a huge racked buck.

 

[PickettSFHunter]

More people hunting here than I can ever remember, mainly due to the city people coming out this way to hunt. There just aren't near as many deer out there, at least here. TWRA has been effective at making an already low population lower in my county with more liberal doe limits.

 

[redblood]

The next 7 days there will be alot of mature bucks killed seeking out remaining does. im always amazed at the amount of mature bucks i see the week after thanksgiving. but most of these bucks are safe because hunters have lost interest in my area

 

[backyardtndeer]

The next 7 days there will be alot of mature bucks killed seeking out remaining does. im always amazed at the amount of mature bucks i see the week after thanksgiving. but most of these bucks are safe because hunters have lost interest in my area

Maybe not all of statewide.... Around here at least, many have seemed to switch gears to ducks.

 

[Griswold]

These next two weeks will be on fire here in the north east on the ky va line