Wow. Anyone else here live in Maine? It used to be that I could go out and see anywhere between three to ten deer on any given time here in Maine but the last few years there are so few deer. Winter kill, coyotes etc. I am going to lose my mind. I guess that this is not so much a post rather than a rant. This post should be entitled trying to handgun hunt. Thanks to anyone for reading this. If you are a Mainer than I think you can feel the pain. We are losing our big buck reputation up here.

If they really are "damned" then maybe that is the problem.

Sounds like Pa.

Sounds like SD also.

Larry

Really guys? Is the deer population down accross the board eveywhere? I used to see 10 or more a day always. Here the last few years we have had bad Winters and many died but we have always had bad winters... Its Maine, but this is crazy. The Woods are silent. Desolate. Trying to my boys into the sport but there is nothing to get their hearts racing. Squirrel hunting just doesn't do it. I hope you all have better luck than we are having. This is the third year on the trot.

Maybe it's time to start up the trapline, if the coyotes are really doing that much damage?
I know in NY there are only about 7,000 of us trapper's in the entire state, and the predator population is growing by the year.. Not to mention that my 3yr. old son loves to run the trapline with me. Kinda gives me an added reason to do this.
Time to get after them coyotes guys!!!

Foxpro plus your handgun? sounds like it could be a fun time. Been seeing lots of predators here too, yesterday morning watched a bobcat make an attempt on a fawn, he got ahold of her rump but got knocked lose. Hopefully you start seeing deer I know right now is a rough time since the moon is pretty bright.

There are more coyotes here than ever before. It might indeed be time. Even the gov in my state is wanting us sportsman to get on it. I read that today.

Maine is a tough state for hunting deer. There have been a number of changes over the last decade or so. What is happening isn't necessarily in order but are reasons why the deer are less in number in the Pine Tree State.

1. The coyote problem. For a while Maine trappers were allowed to snare the coyote. I remember one guide in the Grand Lake Stream Area who told me that their deer kill doubled when they snared coyote. The Grand Lake Stream Area is not noted for a high deer population so when it doubles it must be working. That successful program ended when some animal fruit group tried to sue the fish and game. So the snare program ended. Needless to say the coyotes came back.

2. Destruction of Deer yards. Over the past two or three decades many deer yards have been cut over by commercial timber companies. Granted that the deer yards are on their land and one can argue that they have a right to cut them down but it did have the effect of taking away critical winter shelter for an area noted for some gorilla winters.

3.Severe winters. This is related to the destruction of deer yards but recall the winter of 2010. I read that one half of the deer were killed in the northern half of Maine that winter. It takes a while for them to come back. I know in my area of Massachusetts the deer suffered( along with too many antlerless tags)

4. Poaching. I have been to Maine hunting deer, bear and small game for a number of years. I think we both know that some parts of the state have a big poaching problem.

In Maine, most of the deer are found along the coast and in the southern one third of the state in general.

Until something is done about the coyote, destruction of deer yards the deer don't have too much of a chance.

At least your problems are somewhat related to Mother Nature (yotes) and not your politicians being controlled by large insurance companies. Here in Alabama, gun hunters have 74 days to take a buck AND doe EACH DAY with an idiotic check and balance system (recording the kill in your rules book)for recording harvests. We no longer have to wonder where our large state-wide herd went--just wish the insurance rates would coincide with the small reduction in deer-related fender-benders.

It seems that the numbers in PA are decreasing also. Coyotes are a common sight around here anymore. Ten years ago you never even talked about them because they were just a myth.

big bore, you are absolutely right on all counts. all of those issues have come into play and even the counter acting force of fewer new hunters every year taking up the sport has not helped to balance the loss of deer herds across the state. I feel like part of our heritage here in Maine is slipping away and no one really cares. and from some of the responses to this post it would seem that across the country for various reasons the deer herds are smaller than ever before.
Kingfisher, that is not hunting that is a slaughter. I cannot imagine how your deer population could sustain something like that at least for very long. that is 158 dear per hunter per season! it is absolutely disgusting that an insurance company or companies should be allowed to be in the wildlife management business. car insurance companies indirect control of a natural resource. I am sorry to hear that Fisher. also I am sorry for any typos, I am sending this from my smartphone since I am on the road.

Ohio is trending this way also. The DNR claims that there is a deer behind every tree, but that's just not the case. Overissue of crop damage permits and cheap doe tags have caused great harm before the problems caused by coyotes. Here, it's all about the money for the DNR. Last year they changed the check in procedure from going to a check in station in person to calling on the phone or internet. That told us they don't care how many are killed as long as they keep selling the license. The main problem with Ohio is having the old world record and then getting the new world record again. Now the state has reason to market to out of state hunters regardless if we see any deer or not. It takes 5 resident tags to make up for one nonresident license, so you do the math and tell me who the DNR is concerned about. Last year a game warden told me he heard of more coyotes being killed during deer season than deer. But that is only one week out of the year where the nasty things take a hit.

Lucien, I'm seeing more deer in Maine this year then the years past. The hunters in the state percentage wise is the same as it has been for the last 50 so years we just are having a decreasing population. Filled tag counts has gone up the last couple years. Statistically 1 in 12 hunters in Maine fills a tag and not from the lack of trying.

Also do not take southern deer hunting to be the same as hunting up here. I have a friend from down there and he would visit family often. On a hunting trip down there over a long weekend him and his father got 6 deer. They all fit into the trunk of the honda civic. One was a 4 pointer that could be held up by the feet like it was a rabbit, couldn't have been more then 40 lbs dressed.

Buckeye, doesn't anyone know that these thoughts are going to in the long run ruin what they have as far as a natural resource? It just doesn't make any sense even from a business stand point. And they are, indeed, running like it is a business. I should think that it is almost like commercial suicide. Just my thoughts.

Humphrey, I think that you are pretty lucky. All the hunters that I know have been saying for the last four years that there is less and less in the woods other than more coyote sign. I'm not saying you are wrong or anything because you are seeing what you are seeing but the last few years have been pretty tough. I am going to fill my tag this year and hunt harder than I have in the last few years. I think that I will have to to fill that tag.

And of course, you are correct about the size of the deer, north vs south but I am not so much interested purely in the size of the deer but in the frequency that we see them. It is also about getting my sons interested in it more than their video games. Kids. They give me a headache sometimes! If we walk and sit, both forever, without excitement of some sort their attention wanders and they get bored.

Its about food sources and availability of habitat versus predation rates and disease. More food means more deer, more deer means smaller deer. Maine's deer herd has been low in comparison to the rest of the country for a very very long time, well beyond that of our lifetimes. The attraction and lore of the Maine deer has been the challenge and the shear size of an animal that is hardy enough to survive in brutal conditions. Also the reputation for deer hunting was developed when it was legal to drive deer in this state. We also had caribou at that point, but not anymore.

If you want to get your boys interested into hunting and hunting deer is not working do to lack of excitement, you should be looking at other animals to hunt. Turkey, bear, upland bird and waterfowl will all offer a lot more potential for excitement. In the winter months setup a heated blind so they stay comfy and a bait pile and start piling up the coyotes, foxes and bobcats.

One of the best states in the US to hunt black bear is Maine. I have taken three of them so far in Maine with a TC Contender handgun. Not too many states have a high success rate for black bear.

I recall reading something about black bear being an apex predator of newborn fawns in the spring. Also, Humphrey has a good point about predators. Winter must be a real down time in Maine. If I lived there I'd maintain some baits with trail cameras and an LED light set up for some predator hunting.

Actually I would suggest that if you want to get them interested in hunting, first get them interested in shooting. get into some of the active competitons like IHMSA, when their skills get honed, then start taking them hunting, teach them woodcraft. don't confuse the itch to shoot something with the urge to "hunt", and by all means there is nothing wrong with the urge to shoot something!!

Very true guys... All very good points. We do shoot a lot but they have wanted to shoot something more than targets. Maybe a squirrel hunt is in order. They have been before but it has been awhile. Thank you all for the good thoughts and I was born and raised here so I don't see the deer and bear hunting the same way someone from afar would. The lore of the monster buck. And I do think its time to start taking our coyote population down a notch, one at a time. Thanks again all! You are gentlemen and scholars.