# Deer are few and far between



## 730waters (Oct 1, 2009)

I don't know about you all  but I am seeing less deer every year here in the mountains. I've hunted these mountains just about all my life and I don't know why there is  still  such a thing as a 12 deer limit? I have a buddy who is retired and he covers a LOT of ground. He says he has seen only ONE deer track in an area with plenty of food , Cover, and Water!! But, and here is my argument for no deer ,PLENTY of bear sign! When Bear are present the deer either Leave or their fawns are a source of food for the Bears!! Pretty soon you will have to like Bear meat because the deer are practically gone here.
Try it up here and you'll see what I am talking about!  Just my 2 cents!


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## revrandyf (Oct 1, 2009)

This year, probably because there are no muscadines and I haven't figured out what they're eating yet, I have seen very few; exactly four (4) in the woods while hunting.  Last year if I didn't see that many almost every time I was in the woods I was disappointed.  But even though I think my failure so far this year is just not finding a concentration of foodstuffs, I am seeing less sign as well.  Don't know what's up.


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## Luckybuck (Oct 1, 2009)

I agree for most areas the 12 deer limit is too much.  Maybe we are taking the herd back to the days of the 60's when excitment was from just finding some deer tracks.  Hunted for days and never saw anything and when you did it wasn't one of maybe three doe days to take that doe you saw.  Then about mid 80's if you could not take a deer it is probably because you were asleep in your stand.  I personally think the deer population is way down for some areas not all.  Just my 2cents (just the change I have left).


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## xhunterx (Oct 1, 2009)

i think the does have been shot out on the mtns for years cause of the liberal doe days. this year at least some of the national forests have less doe days then the counties their in. i agree the bears are probably part of the problem. used to be a rare thing to find a bear track or see a bear. now on cohutta i see bear sign everywhere. i'm trying to encourage the flatlanders in georgia that want to kill a bear, its probably peaking now. come on up, get on a wma or national forest and get ya a bear. we don't need so many of em


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## Inthegarge (Oct 1, 2009)

I am overrun with Does. Taking 9 to 10 a year and still not putting a dent in them. Must be the difference in location. Most people won't climb the areas we do to hunt. JMHO  RW


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## Coon Dog (Oct 2, 2009)

you dont no us mountain men to well


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## BIG HUNT (Oct 2, 2009)

hunted in habersham county this past monday. 3 of us was huntin and only 1 deer was spotted a spike. friend of mine hunted the same location the week before and saw nothing but a bear. so i think if there is a bear around you wont see many deer. i was hoping to see the bear monday. i was gonna put an arrow in'em.
got my october issue of gon today. on page 19 there is an article about the bear population this year. dnr estimated about 1,200 bears this year but the local people are sayin there is way more than that. WE NEED TO BE THINING SOME BEARS OUT!


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## dawg2 (Oct 2, 2009)

I am in W central GA.  There is NO SHORTAGE HERE.  I get over 100 pics on my cam in 3 days.  About 30-40 different deer.  What I have noticed is deer are going NOCTURNAL, not disappearing.


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## 385xp9108 (Oct 2, 2009)

same here,people arent sending tags in,but i dont either and its hurting the population,hopephully its better by muzzeloader season here


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## GA_SPORSTMAN (Oct 2, 2009)

Maybe I will get my bear this year .Going to try for the first time.


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## cliffdweller (Oct 5, 2009)

I agree with the first post; I grew up in Morganton, and it was nothing to see 10-20 deer per hunt in the 1990's.  On 5 hunts this year I have seen 1 bear and 1 deer- a small spike.  I'm not seeing the amount of deer sign as I did in years gone by.  I set my camera up for a month and got 3 deer pics - lots of bear pics, though.  We need to give the does a 5 year break in the mountains to bring back the numbers cause right now, they ain't there! My penny's worth.


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## irocz2u (Oct 5, 2009)

i hunt  suchees  ga  have all ways seen deer   just  not  in bow range  with only  3 doe day  for the  past 4 or 5 year   use to be  none


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## xhunterx (Oct 5, 2009)

i don't know if less doe days are the answer. management areas are only open for gun hunts a few days per year and i see about the same amt of deer on them as on the national forests off the area. you would think there would be lots more deer on cohutta then on the ajoining forest but its about the same


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## Jeff Phillips (Oct 5, 2009)

Good luck!

WRD's long range plan calls for continued reduction of the deer herd. Their computer models are better than feet in the woods at determining the status of the herd.


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## kornbreadNmilk (Oct 5, 2009)

If you build it, they will come.


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## THWACKG5 (Oct 9, 2009)

Im hunting just north of Jasper ( Pickens county) and havent seen a deer yet!, Tons of bear pics on all the cams though, I would love to take a bear especially if they are effected the local deer herd. But what do you do with it after you shoot it besides make a rug... is the meat worth going through the trouble to eat? I heard its not good to eat unless properly prepared?


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## Retired Army Guy (Oct 11, 2009)

cliffdweller said:


> I agree with the first post; I grew up in Morganton, and it was nothing to see 10-20 deer per hunt in the 1990's.  On 5 hunts this year I have seen 1 bear and 1 deer- a small spike.  I'm not seeing the amount of deer sign as I did in years gone by.  I set my camera up for a month and got 3 deer pics - lots of bear pics, though.  We need to give the does a 5 year break in the mountains to bring back the numbers cause right now, they ain't there! My penny's worth.




I don't know how many folks actually read the new hunting regulations but this year N.F. land IS NOT under the same doe days as the county that portion of the N.F. may be in.  Most of the mountain N.F. land this year has about (3) doe days!!!!  I hope people SEE THIS and understand it.  Just because the N.F.  land you are hunting on is in a certain county that has a doe day Does Not Necessarily mean the N.F. land you are hunting on has a doe day!

Loss of habitat is killing the mountains!  Almost the entire mountain N.F. land timber is all the same age.  About 70 years old.  All canopy means no sunlight hits the ground which means no cover for wildlife to hide in and nothing to eat!!!  One would think the Forestry service would sell some timber to help pay the bills and help wildlife!  A healthy forest is ALL STAGES OF GROWTH not all the same age of growth!  Thanks Tree Huggers you've done more DAMAGE than good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## xhunterx (Oct 11, 2009)

talked to a game warden today at cohutta about the same thing, loss of habitat. he agreed that groups like "forest watch" protesting and halting timber sales etc was what was hurting the deer population.  used to see lots of ugly clearcuts that were game meccas a year later. grouse, turkey, deer, everything had lots to eat. now nothing but hemlocks, pines, tall mature trees with acorns about every 3 years. a place like cohutta with 90,000 acres is too big for deer to walk off and eat at a nearby farm


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## Bushhog Bob (Oct 12, 2009)

*Bear Sightings*

About 7 weeks ago, my grandson went trout fishing at 3 different locations , 3 weekends in a row and seen bears all three times.  One had 2 cubs with it that climbed a tree, so he left in a hurry.  Got to be a lot of bears to be seeing them this often.  He does not go fishing anymore without a can of pepper spray.  My daughter and I have been seeing 2 or 3 does under some sawtooth oak trees almost every day for the last 2 or 3 weeks. The field road is covered with sawtooth acorns.


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## birddog52 (Nov 22, 2009)

Here is the problem as I see it true too liberial on Deer limits but another thing you got to remember no major Timber cutting in the mountains which is determental to all Wildlife species plus we are over run with Wildhogs which compete with deer for food plus Iam sure that they eat a fawns also. DNR needs to delacare war on this wild hogs trap them out  and make the laws tougher on these rednecks who have been stocking them


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## DAVE (Dec 8, 2009)

Loss of habitat. To much of old mature forest and wilderness set asides. Good for owls and woodpeckers, not good for game animals, hunters or people who like to watch wildlife.


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## NGa.MtnHunter (Dec 8, 2009)

Its the same with me too I dont see near as many deer as I use to. You got to figure in the yotes up here too.. They take just as many or more deer than bears.


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## FerrisBueller (Dec 8, 2009)

You can say the same thing about the Oconee National Forest (Redlands and Cedar Creek WMA). It was better in years past. And there were alot less doe days plus the forest service had clear cut alot of timber in the mid to late 80s. Clear cuts were everywhere and so were deer. 
Now the forest is getting old and cant support the herd it once had. Plus DNR thinks you should shoot every doe out there and man do people shoot the does down here. Realy lite them up. Well now deer on Redlands and even Cedar Creek are getting spotty. Where as years ago youd have a string of 8 does walk under your stand now your lucky to see 2. 
What I dont get is why DNR pushes the doe days so much.  Redlands has been trashed for years and now Cedar Creek (both part of the NF) is starting to get like Redlands.


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## jinx0760 (Dec 9, 2009)

*Mountain Deer?*

I used to hunt a lot near the Holly Creek Check station at Cohutta.  We still have a cabin up there, but no deer.  I believe we need some cutting to stimulate the ground cover.  You don't find an abundance of deer browse in a mature hardwood or conifer forest.


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## kevin17 (Dec 10, 2009)

I agree 730waters. I live in Fannin county and see less deer as the years go by. Not only do the bears eat the fawns they eat the acorns before they even start to fall. I think the outa be a bounty on bear and coyotes.  I don't think any body should be able to kill 12 deer  anywhere in GA.  If someone has to many deer catch them and stock them where it is needed but i know what DNR would say to that "to expensive". Bulls@*#.  They could get voulenteers to help DNR want a lower deer population.


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## Wes (Dec 10, 2009)

Retired Army Guy said:


> Loss of habitat is killing the mountains!  Almost the entire mountain N.F. land timber is all the same age.  About 70 years old.  All canopy means no sunlight hits the ground which means no cover for wildlife to hide in and nothing to eat!!!  One would think the Forestry service would sell some timber to help pay the bills and help wildlife!  A healthy forest is ALL STAGES OF GROWTH not all the same age of growth!  Thanks Tree Huggers you've done more DAMAGE than good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!




Retired Army Guy is right! The Technicians and Biologists at the DNR will tell you the same story about the need for early successional growth that provides forage and protection for game species and the problem is the people at GA Forest Watch, Sierra Club, etc have taken over the Forest Service and now there is not timber being thinned (who would have thought you would be thankful for the pine beetle - its the ONLY thing clearing any timber on the NF). These guys are organized and we need our own organization to help force the FS manage the forest not just the trees. I wish GON would help drive this organization.


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