The deer harvest is down by about 40% around here. Part of it is the standing corn.

Food and cover all in one! The deer love it. Squirrels, jays, turkeys and crows are pleased as well.

The other factor is the lateness of the season. The rut was mostly done, which means the deer weren’t moving around as much. We usually are done the first weekend of the 10 day hunt. This year we hunted all 10 days, and then the additional 4 days of the “holiday hunt.” There will be an additional six days right after Christmas. I don’t know that we can spare the time to devote to sitting in the cold for hours on end. Our freezer isn’t exactly empty, given our earlier duck and chicken harvest.

The deer have been very tiny as well. We harvested three deer off our land. We have almost 60 pounds of venison in the freezer. Last year we harvested two deer and had almost 90 pounds of venison. There are plenty of deer around, but last year was a hard year. The snow was deep and lasted well into springtime. The late spring meant a later planting time, reducing forage during birthing time. We have had early and plentiful snow this fall. None of our deer were very fat. Even though the corn is still standing, the cobs are short and few and far between. It is a lean year for both the deer and the farmers around here.