How's your local deer herd doing?

There are tons of deer and elk in Alberta. Recently I spotted 225 mule deer does in a five square mile area and they haven't even dropped their fawns. The same applies with elk, two herds of 70 to 75 and calves haven't arrived. Alberta had three mid winters in a row........it should be a good year!
 
mrgoat said:
Lost one yesterday to wolves. I was out around 5pm and noticed many eagles and about a doz. ravens circling up river a ways. Took the Argo for ride to check it out. Young doe, one of last years fawns. Not much left. The wolves heard the Argo coming and disappeared before I got there.
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I saw a doe two days ago up at my place with a 6 inch by 8 inch piece of hide missing from just behind her right shoulder . We have two wolf packs working the area and have been since early winter . One pack of 5 or 6 and another of 6 to 8 . Each pack needs a deer per day to survive so that's a lot of deer gone . My food plots are coming up fine but very few deer foraging on them . It was a fairly easy winter but the population has not bounced back compared to several years ago . I have 8 trail cams up and am seeing about half the deer compared to last year at this time . Buddy lives about 5 miles south of my property and he feeds all winter and the numbers at his place aren't down from last year .
 
I recently moved into a farm south of Hamilton and I can't believe how many deer there are in this area. I literally trip over them every time I go out whether it was while hunting turkey, doing chores, or just going for a walk with the family. I'm very hopeful and excited to get out there this fall and get some venison in the freezer.
 
I just have to stand at the end of my driveway and wait for one to get hit. In the last 5 yrs...two 10pt bucks, and 3 does. As I stated above cars & coyotes have decimated the deer heard. We used to have a herd of around 15. Each year its less & less. Its too bad because they used come eat the pears, apples, and crab apples in my backyard. Saw an 8pt buck in velvet which was really cool a few years back! This year I have seen 3 does.
Even at the camp where I hunt the numbers have dropped and its not because of hunters
 
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I just spent a month on the tractor seeding, our land is spread out over a 20x30 mile area, and I am thoroughly impressed by the number of whitetail, mulie and pronghorn im seeing. Far more than I expected. My drive from my home to the farm is about 120 Kms and if the deer and pronghorn I'm seeing just from the highway are any indication,were in for some great hunting opportunities again. Here's hoping for another mild winter.
 
NO real whitetail deer surveys here in Manitoba these days other than hunter questionnaires. Bucks only again this fall which is OK for my hunting style... except IMO stupid for the youth hunter programs. First deer a kid kills is the ultimate trophy. Sat with my 12 year old in a blind 3 evenings last season as I took him out of school early for the hunt. We saw at least 20 antlerless deer during this time...none of which he could take. Manitoba has some of the stupidest hunting regulations in the nation. So generous for some and restrictive beyond belief for others.
 
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