How many deer on average do you see per hunting day?

[Deleted member 16014]

I'm not sure if this is useful at all but I'll play. WY public land, general tags, high country. Maybe 3-20 bucks/day during the season; might see a handful one day, get a new angle on things with glass and find a dozen tucked just around the corner. YMMV

 

[lastlight]

15-20 mule deer on average seen per day, even when I’m hunting California. Most I’ve ever seen is north of 40. Now if we are talking mature bucks that’s another story

 

[kenton]

Did you gain access to a new property in 2016? Do you mind explaining the jump?

I can explain it but keep in mind that its a secret. I stopped baiting! The hard truth, if you're willing seek it, is that if you learn where you should be hunting instead of trying to alter where the deer are moving you can have better results. But again, shhhhh. Its a secret.

 

[hank4elk]

Too many deer to count and 10 shooter bucks in a day in old days CA. I'd see a dozen deer just getting to the hwy 3 mi away on way to work or back,10 years ago.
Same with UT,old days. Tons of deer in a day with several shooters.
SW NM, 40 deer with 2 smoker bucks in a season,old days. I saw 2 does this year in 5 days.
I can see 100 elk on any day tho with half dozen big bulls.

 

[Walkathon]

Hunting in Nebraska on private, usually 5-10 / day. Usually 2-3 smaller bucks

 

[elkhnter]

In Illinois on private I see an average of 7 per sit from the stand. Add another 10-20 on the drive to and from.

 

[TheTone]

Whitetail hunting in the timber 0-5 total deer a day, my favorite muley spot 20-60 deer a day

 

[OleRedbeard]

I'm not sure if this is useful at all but I'll play. WY public land, general tags, high country. Maybe 3-20 bucks/day during the season; might see a handful one day, get a new angle on things with glass and find a dozen tucked just around the corner. YMMV

I have group text with several hunting buddies who are scattered all over the country. From Arizona to Maine and everywhere in between above and below. We usually let each other know how the day went and what we saw since many don't have social media.
Over the last few years it's been really interesting to see how many deer they were seeing per hunt vs hours afield. Some guys have moved around for work and it takes roughly two seasons it seems like to pick up on how to properly hunt a new area in a new state. Others are mule deer guys in big country so it's interesting to hear from them on it.
Funny thing is almost all of us have saw a big downward swing since the late 90s with whitetail mule deer and blacktail. Some of that is habitat loss some CWD some of it is simply areas that are losing hunters and no longer have the deer being bumped around. The forum question was just to see what everyone else was experiencing outside my group of probably 10 or 12 guys.

 

[LCH]

Probably average 2-3 in Indiana. Plenty of days I see more, plenty of days I see zero.

Most places I've been out west, probably 30-40 average, not counting all the deer you can see from the roads.

 

[jlmatthew]

I primarily hunt the Craig area here in CO and deer numbers are getting less and less each year. This year and last year were terrible. I see deer every day, but not in the numbers like 10 years ago where they were everywhere. And I hunt on private

Have a good friend who hunts more the central part of the state and he says numbers are down each year in his area too.

 

[MNElkNut]

On opening day this year in MN I saw 57. After that it drops pretty quickly into the teens to low 20s. by the last day of our 9 day season I am down to 5-10. no shortage of deer here.

 

[Mtnhunter1]

Too many deer to count and 10 shooter bucks in a day in old days CA. I'd see a dozen deer just getting to the hwy 3 mi away on way to work or back,10 years ago.
Same with UT,old days. Tons of deer in a day with several shooters.
SW NM, 40 deer with 2 smoker bucks in a season,old days. I saw 2 does this year in 5 days.
I can see 100 elk on any day tho with half dozen big bulls.

Direct correlation?

 

[hank4elk]

Direct correlation?

No not in big picture, not in my opine. Overhunting,poaching,cats & canines mainly.
NM was The Best muley country I saw in early 70's,quality wise & close to numbers wise. There were less elk.
Some units gave out thousands OTC mule deer tags a year for years. Elk and antelope the same. Neighbor said one year they handed out hundreds of tags to ranchers along with draw tags in my unit.
Elk & antelope have come back in numbers,from my observations. Deer keep dropping like a rock still. I heard of 2 big bucks taken in my unit this year during the whole season so far.
I see twice the antelope as 10 years ago too. 3 times the elk,easy.
I would see elk & deer in same areas,in large numbers in UT,CO,MT,NM. Northern NM still somewhat. But not in the Gila/SW anymore. SE was a good area 10 years ago. I do not see the numbers or quality there at all like it was,same with NW. Fracking has taken big toll in NW & NE. Like subdivisions,but no people & poop,just poison & roads covered in TX oilworkers.

Only place like old days I have seen is the Jicarilla Rez. Only place run right for Game in NM,IMHO.

 

[Deleted member 16014]

I have group text with several hunting buddies who are scattered all over the country. From Arizona to Maine and everywhere in between above and below. We usually let each other know how the day went and what we saw since many don't have social media.
Over the last few years it's been really interesting to see how many deer they were seeing per hunt vs hours afield. Some guys have moved around for work and it takes roughly two seasons it seems like to pick up on how to properly hunt a new area in a new state. Others are mule deer guys in big country so it's interesting to hear from them on it.
Funny thing is almost all of us have saw a big downward swing since the late 90s with whitetail mule deer and blacktail. Some of that is habitat loss some CWD some of it is simply areas that are losing hunters and no longer have the deer being bumped around. The forum question was just to see what everyone else was experiencing outside my group of probably 10 or 12 guys.

I didn’t mean the whole thing might not be useful, just my personal data (knowing how much it varies). I’ve enjoyed reading through the posts.

 

[Mtnhunter1]

I see twice the antelope as 10 years ago too. 3 times the elk,easy.

Only place like old days I have seen is the Jicarilla Rez. Only place run right for Game in NM,IMHO.

My observations are that when elk numbers increase, and the herds expand to new areas, the mule deer numbers decrease. No doubt, your other observations have a huge effect on the mule deer herds. Why are these items not effecting the elk herds? My guess is that the expanding elk herds are out competing the struggling mule deer on the ever shrinking needed habitat.

 

[hank4elk]

My observations are that when elk numbers increase, and the herds expand to new areas, the mule deer numbers decrease. No doubt, your other observations have a huge effect on the mule deer herds. Why are these items not effecting the elk herds? My guess is that the expanding elk herds are out competing the struggling mule deer on the ever shrinking needed habitat.

That is the general consensis.
There is a group of ungulate biologists from most western states recently discussing the mule deer collapse,if you will, in the SW in general.I believe there is a link on AZ G&F site. While some areas in AZ are on increase other areas are still declining.
SW CO has been hit. All have elk too. SW CO elk are in decline I hear.
Coues are on increase in AZ & NM, heading up to my area,north of the Gila too. Elk are all the way down to desert units now.

 

[OleRedbeard]

I didn’t mean the whole thing might not be useful, just my personal data (knowing how much it varies). I’ve enjoyed reading through the posts.

My apologies. I misinterpreted it.

 

[OleRedbeard]

That is the general consensis.
There is a group of ungulate biologists from most western states recently discussing the mule deer collapse,if you will, in the SW in general.I believe there is a link on AZ G&F site. While some areas in AZ are on increase other areas are still declining.
SW CO has been hit. All have elk too. SW CO elk are in decline I hear.
Coues are on increase in AZ & NM, heading up to my area,north of the Gila too. Elk are all the way down to desert units now.

Elk numbers increasing and deer population decreasing is something I've noticed in my neck of the woods. Eastern KY. Southwest Virginia have what is probably the biggest elk herd east of the Mississippi. The elk keep to the old strip jobs and those fringe areas for the most part. However where they are you don't see the deer numbers you used to see in that same territory. (Mountainous meadow/timbered ridges reclaim land) This may not have any correlation however considering deer numbers in general have really went down around here since the late 90s early 2000s even where there are no elk.

 

[thusby]

10 years ago we were killing 300,000 deer/year in Wisconsin. This year we are killing 130,000 deer/year.

 

[HandgunHunter]

Wyoming. Whitetail...in the zones that are over run...10+ deer in a day

Mule deer. I expect to run into 1-2 groups of them. A group is normally 5-8 deer. I’m always in hopes of bumping into that batcher that is hiding.