Another deer

[maple flats]

During rifle season my grandson who was hunting for his first year, at age 21, shot 2 does at my blueberry fields. They were between 150-190 yds away. The first, at 190 yds was from a shooting house I erected to help get the deer population reduced in the blueberries, and he shot it from a rest. The second he shot off hand from 150 yds. as he was going to check out his first deer.
Yesterday, he hunted the first time on nuisance permits I got and he shot another doe, from my shooting house again, but this one was only at about 70 yds. Not bad for a first year hunter!
He says he will go out again, likely next Fri or Sat.
I Hope he gets 2 more, then I'll put in for 3 more permits. According to an article I read a few years ago each deer eats approx. $1000 worth of future crop during mid-late winter, as they find the buds very easy picking as well as nutritious. With the real deep snow last winter we saw no deer nor tracks in the blueberries past mid Jan. until about Mar. 20-21. Those permits were not received until after Jan 20, 2015. Then on Mar. 28 and 29 my nephew shot 3, 2 on the 28th and one on the 29th. There was not time to get more permits because they all expire on Mar. 31 of each year. This year I contacted the NYS DEC the first week in Jan and had to contact them 3 more times, once each week. Three permits were finally received Feb. 2. We still have lots of deer remaining in the fields.

[Woodsrover]

Hi new best friend!

Our deep population is WAY down here in NW CT...I'd say easily down 50% if not more. I used to take 3-4 deer a year with ease. The last two years I've taken none and will not shoot a doe if one came my way. A friend who has a farm and makes hay gets crop damage permits so I may get a chance later in the year but for now I'm getting a little low on venison!

[DuncanFTGC/SS]

Our Ag damage program awards 10 or 20 permits at a shot. We have lots of deer!

[maple flats]

We had a real hard winter last year, I expected to have a large loss in the deer population, BUT after not having any in the blueberries last year from 1/10 until 3/21, they moved back in. A nephew shot 3, 2 on 3/28 and 1 on 3/29 on nuisance permits in the blueberries. Then on Apr. 1, I drove by the blueberries and there were 9 in an open field adjacent to the blueberries. We could not shoot after 3/31.
This year, the deer management unit where my blueberries are had a med. large number of doe permits in hunting season, and the unit where my sugarhouse is (just .7 mile away) had a very large number of doe tags available. We have an over population, as evidenced by the browse lines in the trees.
Deer love blueberry buds this time of year, and they are all within reach. As we walk the rows, every row is loaded full of deer tracks and there is a very significant loss of crop. I wish I could afford to fence it in, like I did our large (3/4 acre garden) but that would cost many thousands of dollars. My fields are really in 2 areas, one block would need a fence 525' long by 400' wide and the other would need a fence 525' long by 190' wide. That would cost a large fortune.
Even during hunting season we have loads of deer in there and every year we take a good number of deer out of there and we always target does. I have never shot a buck there and would only if it was a "wall hanger". 3 winters ago a hot air balloon sailed over in mid winter and he later told me they counted over 25 deer in there, no telling how many they missed seeing. To my knowledge, that was the only time he has flown over. I only heard about how many he counted when he came to pick blueberries the next summer and we talked a while.