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Georgias deer herd by the numbers and by those who know
- Thread starter Mako22
- Start date
JB0704
I Gots Goats
I believe their stats. The problem is that their own numbers say the deer herd is less than 1 million. The target was 1 million. But the practices that they implemented to reduce the herd are still in place. If we have exceeded the target reduction, why are we still reducing?
Ask the guys in your club that. We aren't doing it on mine and the deer population is just fine.
JB0704
I Gots Goats
I am trying to get my own lease this year. Either way I am still at the mercy of my neighbors. Past clubs have all been responsible folks, but you can only control what you have access to.
But, the question remains, why is the state keeping the practices in place which reduced the deer herd if the statewide deer herd is already below target numbers?
Philbow
Senior Member
Good luck getting your own. When you do, approach your neighbors about forming a "pact". That's what we did and it is working.
They are leaving the regs like they are because not all areas of the state are experiencing population declines because the hunters in those areas realize the General Assembly has given us all the tools we need to be good stewards of the resource and manage it appropriately and they are doing that.
The big club next door to me is in transition. It might get picked up by a bunch of brown and downers. It's the risk you run these days. It is 95% pine plantation and I'm hoping the existing guys stay but I can understand if they don't. There are still plenty of 2 Y/O 8 pointers that made it through the season last year so this year should be excellent. There is an excellent chance more than 3 130+ 3 Y/O bucks will get killed next year. That would be huge for our neck of the woods.
JB0704
I Gots Goats
I currently got my eye on a bow only tract in Coweta. My 11 year old will have to learn how to hunt with a bow, but if the deer numbers are better, it may work out. It will make him a better hunter anyway. I have hunted down there before and had some good experiences.
If I get that particular tract, I will get with the neighbors and see what can be worked out. But, as with anything else, it will all be on the honor system. We have talked before, and it sounds like you got a good thing going. I have read about several tracts getting into "co-ops." That seems like a decent idea, but there will always be goobers sneaking deer off of leases and not telling folks about it.
I just don't trust folks to do the right thing. I grew up with "brown and downers." Every deer got shot. When a person tagged out on bucks, the kid's tags (often mine) got used. It is just the way it was. These were all "God fearing" Christians. Good decent people who could not control themselves when a deer walked in front of them. I just think it goes on more than DNR believes it does.
Philbow
Senior Member
Under the old system 2 bucks & 5 does the deer population continued to increase. Under the new system the population has decreased to about 900,000 with the rate of yearly decrease greatly slowed. The population will probably stabilize at around this 900,000. A state wide Pop. at this level is much healthier than the 1,000,000 and above occurring earlier.
JB0704
I Gots Goats
What will cause it to stabilize? As I mentioned in the above post, there are a ton of folks out there who are going to shoot whatever they see just because they see it. You may not know many of them, but I do, I don't hunt with them anymore because of it.
Coweta has plenty of deer so you are looking in the right spot. You might think about an extra 45 minute commute and look at Meriwether, Troup, and Harris. There are some big deer that get killed in those counties that nobody talks about much. Just stop by Ronnie Bulloch's taxidermy shop in Manchester and take a look at the racks waiting to be mounted. He has lots of them.
I grew up with the brown and downers too. The guys I hunt with are all close personal friends and have all "grown up" now and it ain't about the numbers anymore, me included. That is who you are looking for in your club. Hope it works out for you.
Here's a couple of mine.
Attachments
JB0704
I Gots Goats
Coweta has plenty of deer so you are looking in the right spot. You might think about an extra 45 minute commute and look at Meriwether, Troup, and Harris. There are some big deer that get killed in those counties that nobody talks about much. Just stop by Ronnie Bulloch's taxidermy shop in Manchester and take a look at the racks waiting to be mounted. He has lots of them.
First, those are some nice deer! Second, yes, I have considered driving a bit further, but have been limited this spring with time to get there and check out clubs. The few clubs I did consider down there were either full or out of my price range. So, when I saw this one Coweta property come available I focused my efforts there. The property is just a few miles north of Meriweather. IF it doesn't happen, I will look further south, for sure. Thanks, Elfii!
DeepweR
Senior Member
i dont see it changing at all my friend,,,i've been hunting in this county 20yrs and it aint changed yet! i see ur lookn' for a Lease,, word of advice,,, go to the southern zone where farmers still grow corn and soybeans. Deer dont eat pine trees brother,, thats about all thats farmed in the northern zone. to have alot of deer on ur property or around it,,, ya gotta have good food to support a healthy herd.
JB0704
I Gots Goats
I used to hunt in Jefferson county a lot when I was a kid. Growing up, we didn't camp. So, I am used to getting up at 2:30 a.m., driving across the state, hunting for one day, then coming home. I still have access to that property.
Problem on that property is that the locals always know who the Saturday only hunters are. Heck, they poach the property even when we are there. It's a mess. Not safe to bring kids (I found myself and my son in the middle of a poacher deer drive a few years back.....not a good situation, swore I would never go back). But, even there, with all the sotbeans and thick swamps, the deer numbers are down. But, that is not just the poacher's fault. Lot's of "brown and down" happening on that property.......
And I know as soon as I type this somebody is going to tell me how good the hunting is in Jefferson County. I guess our opinions are all relevant to our exeriences
shakey gizzard
Senior Member
I just checked mine and it says 55,890. Who you callin' "newbie" newbie?
I am not worthy oh great one.
tail_slider3d
Senior Member
I can't speak for everybody in georgia but there ain't much wrong with the population where I hunt. I keep up with every hunt in a journal and have done so for the past 15 years. I have had better years than 2011 but they have all been within the realm of normal. On average I see deer 70.8% of the time. not a whole lot has changed in 15 years. Some years it goes down as low as 65 and all those special years it goes up as much as 74. I always limit out all my books and haven't shot anything less than an 8 pt in over 12 years. I wilt attributes my success to the low hunter to acre ratio vat I demand.
doublelungdriller
Senior Member
These people are dreaming. How do they have a clue how many deer are killed each year. Its sad that our state wrd. make up this foolishness and some people are going by the numbers. I turned in no tags but they still knew how many I killed.
so true
Throwback
Chief Big Taw
Only 10% or so of tags were turned in when it was a legal requirement.
T
T
rnelson5
Senior Member
I used to hunt in Jefferson county a lot when I was a kid. Growing up, we didn't camp. So, I am used to getting up at 2:30 a.m., driving across the state, hunting for one day, then coming home. I still have access to that property.
Problem on that property is that the locals always know who the Saturday only hunters are. Heck, they poach the property even when we are there. It's a mess. Not safe to bring kids (I found myself and my son in the middle of a poacher deer drive a few years back.....not a good situation, swore I would never go back). But, even there, with all the sotbeans and thick swamps, the deer numbers are down. But, that is not just the poacher's fault. Lot's of "brown and down" happening on that property.......
And I know as soon as I type this somebody is going to tell me how good the hunting is in Jefferson County. I guess our opinions are all relevant to our exeriences
I just lost some land in Jefferson county that was prime deer real estate. We were definitely NOT a brown its down club and I happened to be lucky enough to shoot the only buck off of the property that year which was a 124 inch buck. It was a nice buck but with that being said the deer numbers on our 800 acres and the neighbors was definitely lower than it should have been. There was corn and soybeans everywhere but still lower numbers. Oh well, you will learn that you can't have an opinion on here.
DeepweR
Senior Member
Why can't u have an opinion?
