AHHHH So this is what happened to Jerseys Deer Herd!!!!

[Rusty]

 the herd is down because of the long season and allowing unlimited anterless deer to be killed. those that kill many deer per year are the ones at the end of the season to bitch, then come september they go back  to killing, and the cycle repeats

 

In some zones yes, but up here in zone 3 the herd is also down from where it was years ago but the seasons have always been shorter and the bag limits very limited.  In this area I think it is more a combination of maturing forests, coyotes, and bears, rather than hunters.

 

There are noticeably less hunters now than there were back when the deer herds were higher. 

[Matty]

In this area I think it is more a combination of maturing forests, coyotes, and bears, rather than hunters.

 

So often the importance of what Rusty mentioned is overlooked. It's easy to blame hunters or predators, but loss of quality habitat is probably the biggest killer.

 

The impact of the maturing forests alone can be extremely significant. It has a significant ripple effect.

 

- the higher the trees grow, the lower the carrying capacity goes

- decreased availability of nutrition/ lower carrying capacity = lower fawn recruitment (fewer births & higher fawn mortality) as well as higher mortality rates among adults

- declining health of the entire herd =  does with lower body fat have lower natality rates

- inadequate cover & declining health = greater susceptibility to predation 

 

Now throw in a booming predator population as Rusty also mentioned, and you are significantly impacting the whitetail numbers.

 

Which in actuality is quite natural and can be healthy for habitat regeneration, as long as landowners do their part while the population is low. Cut, burn, plant, and eventually the population will swing back in the other direction with a healthy habitat to support it, again reaching a pinnacle of health and numbers in the near future.

[Bucksnbows]

On the maturing forests issue, one thing a lot of us don't realize is that not only do we have mostly mature forests in NJ, but our forests are in a narrow age range.  What I mean by this is that we cut over our forests (more than 99.9%, in fact) several times.  Most forests today in NJ are between 75 and 110 years old.  If man had not cut them entirely, you'd have forests with trees of all ages, from saplings to middle aged trees to old growth.  Instead, we are now basically seeing only old growth forests since we've more or less stopped logging, especially on public lands.  To add to that, former farm lands that have been allowed to become mature forests are full of invasive plants like Autumn Olive, Japanese barberry, etc.  Disturbed soils from farming are notorious at allowing invasives to take hold once they go fallow.  So we have garbage growing that seldom gives good habitat or food for the game species we love to hunt.   

 

As Matty said, it's having a ripple effect and not just for deer, but for lots of game and non-game animals as well as for plants.  It is the reason we need the Healthy Forest bill to pass and get signed into law.  The last one passed our state legislature only to see a conditional veto of the 3rd party certification clause in the bill.  So it is once again back to the Senate (Smith) to see if they want to pursue it again and this time without the 3rd party certification.   

[BowhunterNJ]

I can't believe no one has commented on my picture of the yote with the state farm ear tag!!!

[Rusty]

I can't believe no one has commented on my picture of the yote with the state farm ear tag!!!

 

I gave you a "Like", what more do you want?  

[BowhunterNJ]

Haha no discussion? C'mon, a guy saw one while hunting, State Farm is importing coyotes!!! PROOF!!!

[Hatchet]

lol I remember a guy on the other site say'n that he saw a helicopter fly'n  with a large black bear in a cage near Chatsworth ,came back n the cage was empty.

[BowhunterNJ]

There's nothing to see here folks...

 

[Bucksnbows]

Think of all the WMAs we could get planted in food plots if the Division would only stop all of those helicopter trips to transfer in bears, coyotes and mountain lions!  

[Hatchet]

found the thread it was a guy who heard from a guy who heard from a turkey hunter.