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Deer out tonight

Clay Showalter

Southern member northern landowner
6,400
145
Guilford County
I drove to Columbus this evening from meigs county. I got on the bypass around Lancaster at 5:10, from then until I couldn't see in more I saw tons of deer in the fields. I stopped counting at 50, it was nuts they were everywhere.


 

giles

Cull buck specialist
Supporting Member
I wasn't trying to be an ass this time. Just makes my head spin sometimes when we have 10 threads on how deer hunting Ohio is on the decline then something like this pops up. I'm glad you got to see a bunch or deer.
 

at1010

*Supporting Member*
4,943
139
Deer herd up in the winter. Almost always see more over food that doesn't mean the numbers are back up. If you took that same drive in 1999 you'd probably seen 150.
 

bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
Staff member
48,879
274
Appalachia
Deer herd up in the winter. Almost always see more over food that doesn't mean the numbers are back up. If you took that same drive in 1999 you'd probably seen 150.
This. 50 deer is a lot. But 50 out of 1,000 is not the same as 50 out of 10,000. What you saw is anecdotal and would have certainly been different in 1999, 1979 and 1909.
 

Jackalope

Dignitary Member
Staff member
38,841
260
Deer yard up in the winter around food. Six deer in one field might be the only six deer for two square miles who are there because it's the best spot for food.
 

bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
Staff member
48,879
274
Appalachia
We see deer a lot on our road. The other night I expected to see several as I thought conditions were right and I didn't see a single deer. Last night I saw 11 in the mile it takes to get from the main road to my house. Almost the exact same conditions. Funny how some nights they just seem to have the itch to be out and about.
 
We see deer a lot on our road. The other night I expected to see several as I thought conditions were right and I didn't see a single deer. Last night I saw 11 in the mile it takes to get from the main road to my house. Almost the exact same conditions. Funny how some nights they just seem to have the itch to be out and about.

In PA we are permitted to spotlight from a vehicle. We often make a quick loop around the country block which is a few miles. Some nights we may see 50 deer and some nights we would be lucky to see 5. Never can figure it out.
 

Joel

Senior Member
3,049
113
Centerburg, Ohio
We see deer a lot on our road. The other night I expected to see several as I thought conditions were right and I didn't see a single deer. Last night I saw 11 in the mile it takes to get from the main road to my house. Almost the exact same conditions. Funny how some nights they just seem to have the itch to be out and about.

That's a good point. I wonder sometimes what makes them do that but haven't figured it out yet and maybe I never will.
 
In PA we are permitted to spotlight from a vehicle. We often make a quick loop around the country block which is a few miles. Some nights we may see 50 deer and some nights we would be lucky to see 5. Never can figure it out.

I remember back in the 90's when we used to see 50 in each field with larger fields usually having (2) seperate groups of 30+......now I am lucky if I see 20-30 a night in all the fields combined doing the same drive we used to....things have changed and although adapting has become necessary it still sure is depressing.