Re: 2014 deer
It was actually in 2012 but things are on the upswing. That summer not knowing what was going to happen we put 8500 acres in quality buck only so it was going to eliminate my cooler full of 1.5 yro spikes, forks and 6 pointers that people decided to shoot and donate. So the 1.5 and 2.5 get a pass now with the antler restriction on the big tracts. It rubbed the out of staters and the weekend warriors the wrong way but they were the problem. So it forces them to work a little and if effort isn't your deal oh well. You get 4 doe tags and people refuse to use them. Crazy! But I think it actually helped out the buck doe ratio. It’s hard to see rut behavior when the bucks don't have to work for it. So it will better balance out the age classes and sex ratios and we should see some really nice ones in the future. The densities are still low but, there are always a few floating around but overall it should make a better experience for everyone. We conservatively lost about 65% of the herd I found 186 dead in 10 days. It was tough to swallow. Just some giants dead in the tax ditches still in velvet. B&C class deer, non-typicals, all kind of stuff that a deer hunters wet dreams are made of. But what sucked was loosing the 120'''s and such that were just getting prime. You were pissed about the big ones b/c you didn't have the chance put an arrow through it. I still see evidence of it but the chronic cases where the deer survived allowed it to spread immunity to the virus to the herd and we shouldn't have any issues for about 7-10 years if the conditions are present. All the dry summers we had from 07-12 is what helped spur the outbreak. We had a little hit in 07' but nothing like 12'
It was actually in 2012 but things are on the upswing. That summer not knowing what was going to happen we put 8500 acres in quality buck only so it was going to eliminate my cooler full of 1.5 yro spikes, forks and 6 pointers that people decided to shoot and donate. So the 1.5 and 2.5 get a pass now with the antler restriction on the big tracts. It rubbed the out of staters and the weekend warriors the wrong way but they were the problem. So it forces them to work a little and if effort isn't your deal oh well. You get 4 doe tags and people refuse to use them. Crazy! But I think it actually helped out the buck doe ratio. It’s hard to see rut behavior when the bucks don't have to work for it. So it will better balance out the age classes and sex ratios and we should see some really nice ones in the future. The densities are still low but, there are always a few floating around but overall it should make a better experience for everyone. We conservatively lost about 65% of the herd I found 186 dead in 10 days. It was tough to swallow. Just some giants dead in the tax ditches still in velvet. B&C class deer, non-typicals, all kind of stuff that a deer hunters wet dreams are made of. But what sucked was loosing the 120'''s and such that were just getting prime. You were pissed about the big ones b/c you didn't have the chance put an arrow through it. I still see evidence of it but the chronic cases where the deer survived allowed it to spread immunity to the virus to the herd and we shouldn't have any issues for about 7-10 years if the conditions are present. All the dry summers we had from 07-12 is what helped spur the outbreak. We had a little hit in 07' but nothing like 12'
