Impressions of Deer Population 2014

Just wondered what everyone's impression are of the deer population this season thus far are?

In my hunting area it is not bad, it is not as good as it was last year(they were running over us last year) but I can still find a few large bucks in the hunting area that I normally use. There are a lot of young does with fawns, I've had to pass on a couple already.

normal up north here......my spots that hold good #'s still have good #'s.......my spots that are spotty....well they are still spotty....buck wise....my cams show no bucks from 110-150 but below and above i have pics.....good luck this season wheeze!!!!!!

up.....minus one

There are definitely no deer in Jackson County where I hunted. I mean I was out Friday evening and all day Saturday and didn't see one. I'm sure it had nothing to do with the blustery winds and my overall lack of hunting ability

Youth hunt went well in Parke. We saw a bunch of deer so my daughter and son must be better hunters than me.

My brother saw a bunch in Monroe County so he is also better than me.

My impression is that I am not a very good hunter but there are probably deer around.

Sorry I am being too flippant. It looks to me that deer sign is abundant in the 3 areas I have hunted thus far. Those are Parke County on private land, Jackson County on State Forest, and Monroe County on National Forest. The tremendous mast crop has probably shrunk ranges down as food is abundant so movement may be less than normal. I don't believe winter kill had much effect despite the brutal '13-'14 winter. I suspect that the decreased harvest last season will lead to a few more deer being killed this season. My prediction is somewhere between the 2012 and 2013 harvest. Rough guess, 5% above last year.

Overall population of deer in Indiana is between 250K and 1M deer.

Take a shower once in a while John….it helps!!!! :p

This is a little bit of a loaded question since it can vary so much from area to area. I went out last two evenings. Had five does and four fawns (those are both twins dropped in June with two specific does), last night. Sat. had same mommas and fawns, one small spike. No decent buck activity as I expected. We have four 130+ deer around us and many small bucks. This is the most I've seen, but I am also blessed with neighbors with similar philosophies and we have all improved our properties over the last three years. We need to thin the mommas, and I had chip shots at them, but I am waiting because they cycle late and may help with secondary rut. Really the only info you can get from this is if you had a decent deer population, northern indiana excluded, most made it through the winter and are doing well.

I saw a lot of young bucks this weekend. 7 to be exact all but one were 1.5 yr old deer. The 2.5 yr old deer I saw was maybe 125". Also saw a good number of does. I'd say numbers in my area are about average this year.

Forgot to mention activity, scrapes and rubs everywhere. Also acorns pretty much blanketing the ground any and everywhere you find the oak trees.

I know one is still walking in Montgomery, I shot her sidekick! Seeing plenty of tracks on this farm but no idea what kind of numbers I'm starting with. My other farm has corn torn up all over it, I think the numbers are strong there.

saw 2 deer in Montgomery county the first hunt then none the second, I think the population must be down 100% or so.

I went last Saturday morning and evening. I did not see or hear a single deer.