By Louie Stout

Bill Toth with an 11-pt.Now that we’re halfway through the deer firearms season, preliminary results indicate the deer harvest may be lagging behind previous years.

Is it the weather?

Did the EHD virus in previous years hurt the herd more than experts realize?

Was the rut running a little behind normal?

Or have the DNR’s liberal doe seasons in both states put a huge dent in the population?

It depends upon whom you ask.

The gun season occurs during the mating season when deer are moving around and bucks are taking chances. The opening weekend usually accounts for the bulk of the gun harvest, but this year opener appears to be down and we haven’t heard of many trophy bucks taken.

Naturally, the nasty opening weekend weather hurt. However, St. Joseph County hunters seem to be doing pretty well, says Steve Gill at DC Meats in Osceola, a deer check station and processor.

“Opening weekend was slow due to the weather but we’re seeing a bunch of bucks come in this week,” he noted. “The bow season was good for us; we processed a record number of deer.”

Jim Aldrich of Jaworski’s Meats in South Bend echoed similar results about the gun season. The biggest he saw the first week of gun season week was a 12 pointer.

“We’re getting quite a few bucks in since the weekend,” he said.

That hasn’t been the case in Marshall and LaPorte counties, where check station numbers were down. Some of that may be due to the fact hunters can now check in their deer online or via a smart phone. However, hunters in those areas say they aren’t seeing as many deer.

“I really think we’ve far exceeded our doe bonus limit,” said Scott Allison of Whitetail Creek Taxidermy in Bremen. “We’re just not seeing the deer like we once did. My dad is a hunter and farms 523 acres, and he’s not seeing any deer. I’ve been out every day, and I’m lucky to see one deer a day.”

Marshall County hunters can take up to eight does during a hunting season under the bonus county permit program.

Allison pointed out that Marshall County was once known for its quality bucks, but those numbers have dropped considerably over the past five years.

“Most of my taxidermy business now comes from Lake and Porter counties,” he said.

In Kosciusko County, Steve Roth at Tri-County Fish and Game Area near Syracuse said hunters say they are seeing substantially fewer deer this year.

“Based on what we are seeing, there are more antlered bucks than adult does being taken and quite a few fawns and button bucks,” he explained. “When you combine the number of antlerless deer permits being issued here, along with the impact of EHD and loss of habitat, you’re going to see proportionately more bucks than does.”

Kosciusko’s bonus permits were reduced from eight to four this year which could help the population rebound.

The heavy antlerless harvest has definitely put a dent in the size of deer herds. Last year, Indiana hunters killed more does than bucks for the first time since records were being kept (1989). In Marshall and Kosciusko counties that had high bonus permits, hunters killed more than twice as many does as bucks.

Annette Toth Harden at Kingsbury Fish and Wildlife Area in LaPorte said their numbers are down as well. LaPorte County also harvested twice as many does as bucks.

“We’re down 60 to 70 percent since the 1980s,” she offered. “some of that is due to the online check in, EHD issues, coyotes and the number of bonus antlerless permits we’ve had for this county.”

In Michigan, wildlife biologist Ken Kesson at Crane Pond Game Area in Jones said several hunters say they are seeing fewer deer, although the harvest has been average. Of course, Southwest Michigan was hit hard the past two years by EHD.

“The weather was bad opening weekend and a lot of the corn was up late and I’m not sure there are as many hunters out as normal,” he said.

Some hunters have said they thought the rut was running a little behind this year although in full swing now.

“The deer were a little late moving in the bow season, so that could be possible, but I can’t confirm that,” Kesson said. “Also, opening weekend was a full moon and the deer tend to move more at night during a full moon.”

Kesson said the majority of bucks checked in at Crane Pond were 8 pointers or better, healthy and dressed between 140-180 pounds.

And speaking of healthy deer, Sy Ignowski of Niles shot a monster-bodied buck near the end of bow season, but it carried only a 6-point rack. The deer dressed at 240 pounds.

“I’ve hunted 44 years and never seen one like it,” said Ignowski, who shot the deer in Niles. He shot it with a crossbow at 38 yards. You can see the deer and others killed in Michiana on this site’s bragging board.