Originally posted by js2397: I continue to believe the problem is this is a big state and it has diverse habitat. In the south there are plenty of woods and places for deer to go and avoid humans. Those counties are doing very well with deer numbers.
The northern part of the state is a different story. When corn prices went up a lot of the deer habitat was bulldozed to create more tillable land. That's why many of those counties have a reduced herd. Hopefully with corn prices down farmers will put their land into CRP and other programs. Habitat is as important a factor as hunter harvest in my opinion.
You've made a lot of good points.
We spend so much time fussing on forums and social media over seasons, equipment, the DNR and reading the same old "just you wait till next year" posts year after year, that perhaps if we spent a good portion of that wasted time and energy on habitat improvements, it might actually help the situation...
You can have the best food plots, cameras, hunting clothing, bows, guns, optics, etc. But, if there aren't places for deer to live, there aren't going to be many deer to hunt.
