Virginia hunters hit yet another total harvest record again last year. In the previous season, hunters killed 253,678 deer; last year there were 256,512 deer bagged. This represents a slight increase of about 1 percent. Delving further into the data we found that the doe harvest was 124,477, which represented 48.5 percent of the total harvest — a greater percentage of the total harvest than the antlered buck harvest was. Nearly 5,000 more does were taken last season in Virginia than were killed the previous season.

Antlered bucks made up 42.3 percent of the total harvest, with 108,443 animals tagged. Hunters also shot 23,592 button bucks. (These harvest figures do not include the late special seasons that run through the end of March. Those figures were not yet available at press time.)

As noted in last year’s outlook, VDGIF continued its liberalized doe days in hopes of thinning the deer herd to meet cultural carrying capacity in many areas. The increase in doe days certainly had an impact on the total harvest figures and biologists feel the harvest will now begin to level off in some areas.

Last year the first-ever youth day was a success, with 1,838 deer taken by youth hunters in September across the state. This is an investment in our future and appears to have worked quite well despite heavy rain and terrible field conditions.

Weather during the rest of the season made for interesting hunting conditions. Heavy snow just before Christmas stayed on the ground and blocked many back roads for the last two weeks of the season in parts of the state, limiting hunter participation. There were also many Saturdays during the early part of the season that were subject to heavy rain.

As we do each year we consulted Deer Project Coordinators, Matt Knox and Nelson LaFon, as well as district and regional biologists in each region to get the latest information from the field on deer hunting.

TIDEWATER REGION
Looking at the graphics accompanying this article, readers will notice that 11 of the counties in the top 20 are Tidewater counties. The region has a good mix of farms, pine cutovers, hardwoods, swamps and river bottoms. Even in areas where the land has been developed there are plenty of pockets of food and cover for deer and hunting is still a strong tradition in this region.

Todd Engelmeyer is a VDGIF biologist who works the region; he pointed out that the entire region has seen very good deer harvests and the herd is faring quite well despite the snow and colder winter that we experienced last year. Hunters would not be remiss to hunt anywhere in the region.

He did share that hunters might want to key in on lands that have agriculture on them mixed with other habitats such as pine thickets or clearcut areas rather than lands that are primarily hardwoods. Last season the mast crop was the biggest failure on record and the deer had to go to cutovers to browse or find agricultural lands to feed on. Finding that mix of habitat and food sources will ensure a hunter has a steady influx of deer no matter the mast crop. Counties such as those on the Eastern Shore are primarily agriculture and swamp, which makes for good cover and food sources.

When asked about the liberalized doe days hunters were able to use last season and this season, Engelmeyer responded that the extra doe days were being used as a tool to manage the herd for the cultural carry capacity (responding to the complaints of landowners and constituents for deer damage). In light of that he felt hunters may begin to see a reduced harvest in the Northern Neck as the herd is thinned somewhat. Some areas now have the full season as either sex days.

Engelmeyer had a few other suggestions for hunters wanting to fill tags.

“If you can find a place to archery hunt in a developed area during the Early Antlerless-Only Season, then please do so. Places such as Suffolk, Williamsburg and York could also really use some attention from hunters,” he said.

There is a list of the towns and cities that allow hunting in the special Early Antlerless Only Season in the VDGIF Hunting and Trapping booklet and online at the website www.huntfishva.com.

Finally, there are some public lands that need some attention from hunters as well. Cavalier WMA in Chesapeake has lower hunting pressure than one might expect and the deer herd density is quite high. The 4,485-acre WMA is characterized by lots of cutover and thick brush. The deer herd is robust and the chances of punching a tag are good.

Chances of pubnching a tag are very good in the northern tier of the state, as the author demonstrates here. Photo coutresy of Mark Fike.

SOUTHERN PIEDMONT
Drew Larson, a wildlife biologist working the region, was able to spend a little time with us and give us some insight from his perspective on the upcoming season as well as last year’s harvest. Larson pointed out that all of his counties are good prospects, with none having any huge advantages over the others. From a personal perspective Larson did say that he would likely head to the southern range of his district to hunt. In particular he chose Charlotte, Lunenburg, Mecklenburg, and Brunswick because they are large counties that are not heavily populated nor heavily developed. The habitat is good in those areas and hunters that put in the time and hunt the intersecting edges of terrain such as swamps, clearcuts and hardwoods will see plenty of deer.

Last year the mast crop was very poor, according to the mast surveys that Larson completed. However, he did note that there were some isolated areas where the mast was very heavy in Mecklenburg. That goes to show that any given tree or local area may have different conditions than the rest of the state. If hunters scout ahead of time and find a single tree or groups of trees that are putting off acorns while the surrounding area is void, they will have it made.

Given his observations, the data he collected and reports from hunters, Larson feels that hunters are looking at an upcoming season much like the seasons they have experienced in recent years.

The winter was a bit harsh, but as Larson pointed out several other things may balance everything out.