I hunt deer & have a cottage nearby in WMU 54. Last 4-5 years deer population has been way down compared to the previous 10 years. Some blame the wolves & bears but I'm sure there are other factors like long deep snow winters & at least locally the forest becoming more mature with less undergrowth. This summer I saw 1 deer all summer on the access road and very little sign at all while 8-10 years ago they were cleaning out the flower garden and sleeping in the back yard of the cottage. Saw 2 wolves hunting in 2015 & none in 2016 & only a sow bear & cub in 2016. Anyone hunt or up in WMU 54 and what is your experience in the area?
WMU 54 Haliburton Ontario
- Thread starter halhunt
- Start date
I hunted Moose and Deer in WMU 56 adjacent, I didn't see many animals either. During the Moose I saw nothing! During the deer I saw 2 moose one cow at distance and a bull at about 10 ft before putting some shots in the air to scare it off. We hunted in a group of 4 and 3 of us saw deer but we're unable to connect with them. There were will dogs/wolves of some time present for a few days in the area I hunted which I did not see but kept animals away or at ground for a several days. I agree numbers may be low, though I have not been hunting there long so in reference what I'm writing may not be worth a lot
I hunt near you (57) and the deer numbers certainly are down. It all started with the two harsh winters we had a few years ago... What we find is the population has thinned into "pockets" of animals. If you have the good fortune to find one then you will have some opportunities. We have access to a large chunk of property and we had to go long and deep to access deer. It was a lot more effort for us.
I was out walking the property yesterday with the snow cover, looking at tracks. In a normal year, established deer runs would be present. I only found one solitary doe trail. On the other hand, there were lots of wolf, coyote and fox tracks .....
I was out walking the property yesterday with the snow cover, looking at tracks. In a normal year, established deer runs would be present. I only found one solitary doe trail. On the other hand, there were lots of wolf, coyote and fox tracks .....
I'm in 57 as well and you may be on to something with the "pockets". Deer in our corner of 57 seem to have rebounded, and we have moose all over the place... cows, calves and bulls. Of course there are no moose in 57 so says the MNR. Sure saw a lot in deer season.
Could be dangerous!
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blasted_saber
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- A blue part of Ontario
Wolf predation is effected by snow depth.
Access to food is effected by snow depth.
Ease of travel is effected by snow.
What did we have in the winters of 13/14 and 14/15? Lots and lots of snow.
Its a pretty simple equation. You can blame a lot of things, but when it comes to deer, WINTER is the hammer that controls the herd.
Access to food is effected by snow depth.
Ease of travel is effected by snow.
What did we have in the winters of 13/14 and 14/15? Lots and lots of snow.
Its a pretty simple equation. You can blame a lot of things, but when it comes to deer, WINTER is the hammer that controls the herd.
I've seen more moose & moose sign along with the decline in deer. Less vulnerable in the snow & maybe less deer =less brain worm in the moose. I've been surprised to see moose sign, but none in the flesh, as far south as the Simcoe County forest in Ramara township.
Ramara is pretty close to QE II Wildlands and plenty of wilderness and forested rural land surrounding it and along the Severn and Black rivers so not that surprising. Moose are sighted in Orillia about once a year so sometimes they go to town and then got 'relocated'. I was reading one story where they tranked one and drove it west to Severn Township to let it go.
I hunt at a moose camp in WMU 56. In three years, I have not seen a moose. And this year, they stopped all coyote & wolf hunting in our area. I imagine I won't be seeing a moose for years to come...
Regards
Jay
Regards
Jay
Northaways
Regular
- Location
- Northaways
Deer population in our neck of Haliburton waaayyyy down from 6-8 yrs ago! But more hunt camps and new hunters in our area as well over the last several years. So more than wolves and winter putting pressure on deer population in our region.
My camp is in WMU 54 in Algonquin Park and we've noticed a big drop in deer population in the last few yrs.We use hounds so always have lots of chases but only end up with a couple deer for the weeks hunt.The last couple yrs the CO has said we've done good compared to other camps in the park.This yr a lot of camps didn't even get 1 for the 2 weeks.Moose sign was up big time compared to the last few yrs so that has something to do with it as well as they don't like to intermingle.
