Drought

[cjclemens]

This is one of the worst droughts Illinois has seen in decades.  For some reason, I've been wondering how that might effect hunting this fall.  I think we might be seeing a lot of skinny deer out there.  Any thoughts?

[luckydawg13]

so far all the deer that i have seen looked o'k
but man do we need the rain and the heat wow

[hillbill]

the deer will be ok here in mo. we have not had any rain but did have a mild winter that did not stress them at all.with a good mast crop last fall and tons of corn in my area. this year however, no corn at all in my area.everybody went to barley, which made for a good winter for them.im expecting to see lots of deer but for sure they will be no where near as fat as they have been the last couple winters. mite just draw them in tighter to my food plots im gettin ready to plant.

[cjclemens]

I think the deer might be OK here, too....but this year is gonna be a different game altogether, in terms of strategy.  Corn is maturing FAST. I expect to see a lot of acres harvested in late August and early September.  Beans wont be far behind.  There are some alfalfa patches here and there where I hunt.  Deer graze them all the way into late fall, but they're even looking stressed out, dry and thin.  I guess some of those late summer and fall planted feed plots could really draw deer in, but it'll be tough finding enough soil moisture to get them to take off.  Not to mention the seasonal watering holes that don't normally dry up till September.  Regardless of what condition the deer are in this fall, i still see a challenging hunt coming up this fall.

[hillbill]

we have had mild winters with good mast crops but yeah this summer is dry.here in MO.im thinking all the does threw twins for the last couple years cuz of the corn planted round here and the mild winters with a lot of food.this year no corn just barley so im hoping they will home in on my food plots this fall.

[cjclemens]

How's things looking down there in MO, anyway?  Hopefully its not quite as bad as we are here.  I just saw on the news that we're just shy of 12 inches short on rain since the first of the year.  It got pretty dry last summer too, so I reckon we're a few inches short from that as well.  This drought wouldn't mean much if we hadn't already started the season behind.  Oh, well.   Just gotta take things as they come.

[1sourdough]

 It looked pretty bad when I was down by Putnam a few days ago. Some fields of corn were already cut down, others had a lot of dead corn. I did see a few fields up close that had plenty for the deer to eat. We saw a few deer & had some nice ones on film. I was down helping hang a bunch of stands.  I'll be there for the gun opener again in Nov.

[cjclemens]

I haven't been out to even do any scouting.  I don't think heading out now would do me much good.  Corn harvest has already started in a few places, and with the crops dried out from the drought, I think we'll be in full swing by the mid September.  I suspect there wont be but a few patches of corn here and there by the time October rolls around.  This is gonna be one of the earliest and quickest harvest seasons on the books, and once that corn is gone, deer are probably gonna change up their patterns drastically.  On the bright side, with harvest coming on so soon, I may actually get a chance to do some bow hunting this fall, rather than spending most of the season in a combine.

[JBlk]

I don't think that it will make any difference.I have often sat in my stand and watched deer eat weeds while standing crops were beside them.Weeds never have a problem growing.They have sure grazed in my garden with my beans, okra and hot peppers the main target, while they ignore my turnips, radishes and melon patches..

[cjclemens]

Well, I was thinking more along the lines of standing corn as cover.  This late in the season, I don't think deer eat a whole lot of dry corn, and the plants are starting to turn yellow and die back.  However, I see deer using the end rows of corn fields to move around and stay out of sight.  They also seem to prefer grazing waterways with standing corn on either side - whether its a cover or shelter kinda thing.  Once we get corn fields harvested, the deer in my area get a lot more timid about stepping out into the open.  It seems like they stick to the timber during daylight hours, and step out to browse later in the evening or early in the morning to avoid being out in the open during full daylight.

[bremraf]

Here in Henry county, we have a good and early crop of acorns.  Deer had been hitting my summer food plot even with all the corn and beans and acorns available to them. I did plant a fall plot as well, and we got a couple good rains to start it off so I'm hopeful. I think I'll have a decent early archery season, but after the corn comes down itll be harder, as the deer get more skittish and sit tight.