09 Deer Season

[yoodle dog]

How did everyone do in Manitoba this deer season?  Do you think the deer numbers are down in your area?

[yoodle dog]

Am I the only one that went for deer in Manitoba? 

[fly-in]

It was a tough year the deer weren't moving much this year, but its not just Manitoba that was tough, everyone on this forum seem to have had a hard year. But I think it just seperates the boys from the men.

I don't think the deer numbers were down though, they just didn't move much, and I think the lack of wind didn't help at times (it just was swirling).

For me it was a reminder to spend more time scouting for next season, its hard to just walk into an area, sit and expect the deer to walk by. I also thought this was a season that reminded me to move deeper into the bush to intercept the deer long before they reach their feeding grounds.

I shot two deer this season. One was from a stand @ 30yards about 200yards from my field after sunset. The second I shot at 233yards after rattling him in from a half mile away.

[camoshack]

I didn't see alot of deer but I still took a large bodied 4x4.  He was close to 1/2 mile into heavy bush, travelling with the south wind 1/2 hour after sunrise.  Last year I saw deer moving in this same area every hour throughout the day but not this year. 

Alot of guys think the coyetes and wolves are dropping the numbers.  I've also read that the coyote population is exploding.  Several friends who have seen deer crossing a road also observed coyotes not far behind.

[fly-in]

I got a 22-250 last Christmas, and got my trappers license this fall, I want to start singing in some dogs soon.

[thedeerhunter1982]

yes last year was very bad hunting.lack of cold weather and the availability of food kept most deer in the woods until after dark and well out of the Fields before sunrise. yes coyote numbers are way up due to the last few years low  fur prices and trappers numbers are steadily declining.most people that i talked to who hunted by stand/sitting vs movers/bush pushers was a deer kill ratio nearly 10 to 1 . lots of old timers said it was the worst year they had seen. plus three full moons phases from early Oct till DEC kept it bright all night. i probally hunted 30 plus days in those months and only had one shot at a doe at 70 yards with my flintlock but missed. oh well for last year hope we get some fast cold weather this year to get things moving. good hunting everyone .... and be safe.

[fly-in]

One thing that did seem to help last year was to look more at water holes then at the food sources. There wasn't much snow so the deer were looking for water.