- Joined
- Jun 4, 2008
- Messages
- 11,728
- Likes
- 12,012
I remember when zone 8 was 100% and you could also get them over the counter.
I do the same in Connecticut. The numbers in southern Connecticut are way down from what they once were.
Bob
Yes...me too, but actually, they are doing a good thing in z8 by not over doing it.....I see way less deer than I used to here, I think its a step in the right direction. There are some very nice bucks due to the thin herd, but I'd like to see more deer.
I agree, Southern CT isn't the mecca it once was. The state opened a lot of state land in the towns that were once closed to hunting. (centennial forest, etc) Towns with a lot of closed state forest land, like Ridgefield, Redding, Danbury, Newtown, were once loaded with deer, are now getting hammered with bowhunting from Sept 15th to December 31st. Then they had shotgun hunts on some areas as well.... The deer population definately is getting thinner, add to that are now in where we'd never see them before and they are taking fawns left and right. I even see it in my urban 2-5 acre spots. We are shooting coyotes now, and they show up rather regularly on the cams now, where 7-8 years ago the same properties would NEVER have coyotes on them.
There are still sanctuary towns with very little state land that offer decent if not excellent hunting. That's where I hunt. Usually on small lots or lots close to town land or a large unhunted sanctuary type piece. But even on those spots, where I'd see 10 deer 5 years ago, it's now smaller groups of 1-3.
More people are hunting them now, and it's not like it used to be 10 years ago. I'm glad I filled my wall when I did, its a lot harder now that it used to be. Even though we passed many bucks, hoping they'd get bigger, the properties were too small, and you'd get some jack off shooting the deer you just passed up. Now I just go there to fill the freezer if I need to, and hunt bucks up north here. Honestly with the traffic, landowner BS, and worrying about where the deer is going to end up after you whack it, it's almost not worth the trouble anymore.
CT will always be better because of the private land rules, it helps with giving the deer sanctuary. The state in general also has a better food crop potential, as white oaks and oaks in general are super prevalent. But coyotes don't care about sanctuary, and game managers really don't interpret coyotes to be the problem they really are. Therefore the liberal rules that worked 10 years ago, pre coyote, are now a poison pill for the whitetail herd. Which is what they wanted, the insurance companies lobby for this bullshit, they want the deer/car impacts as low as possible.
Last edited: