Big game kill totals are in; no real surprises
The DGIF has released its preliminary figures for this fall’s deer, bear and turkey kills.
There are no shockers.
The deer kill came in at 213,597, a drop of 8 percent from last year’s 233,104.
Most of the drop came from a decline in the doe kill, which was down 13 percent.
The buck kill, which was boosted slightly when my buddy Alfie Hammerstrom killed this Roanoke County 10-pointer while hunting with grandson Tyler in late November, was down just 3 percent.
Hunters in the mountain did our part. The kill was flat in the DGIF’s Northern Mountain region, and down just 3 percent in the Southern Mountain region.
It was a different story east of the Blue Ridge, where the decline ranged from 8 percent in the Southern Piedmont to 15 percent in Tidewater.
What gives? It appears that liberal hunting regs are really having an impact on deer populations in those regions.At the same time, the DGIF has been pulling back on doe days in many Western Virginia counties, so that’s likely contributing to the decline in the doe kill in those counties.
More info on the deer kill can be found on the DGIF’s web site HERE.
The bear kill was 2,144, with was up 7 percent from last year.
The turkey kill was 4,432, a whopping 28 percent better than 2011.
I’ll take a more detailed look at the numbers in my Sunday column in The Roanoke Times.
February 22, 2013 - 3:21 PM
This was a terrible year for EHD, 30-some states affected, western NC and southwest VA got hit hard; fewest deer I’ve seen in Grayson Co since the late 70′s. Do you have county-by-county data?
Can we factor in those hunters that that refuse to hunt due to non-lifting of the Sunday Hunting Ban. As long as the price of ammo going up and the targeting of banning of certain weapons…
I can only see that 8% rising.
And therein lies the lesson of the day, If you keep your mouth shut, you’ll never get caught.
Cliff Pace won the Bassmasters Classic on Sunday, finishing with a three-day catch of 54 pounds, 12 ounces at Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees.
I am very surprised that the coyote kill was not mentioned!!!!!!!!!