New game in your area.

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jimmyraythomason

jimmyraythomason

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I know that is a poor title for this thread but I am interested in knowing if the type of game in your area has changed over the years. Any species added or disappeared? Here in Alabama,specifically in my county(Blount) we have added a number of species. When I was a boy in the early 1960s,the only game to hunt was grey squirrels(fox squirrels were found but were very rare),cottontail rabbits, bobwhite quail and the occasional dove. In the late 1960s the state started re-introducing the white tail deer which was VERY successful(TOO successful at times). Game and non-game species here now that weren't here when I was younger include,coyote,beaver,otter,wild turkey,armadillo,Canada geese,wood duck and mallards. How has your local wildlife changed over the years?
 
Our deer herd has just about disappeared around here. Way over hunted in the past ten years (to the point the DWR is going to cut the tags way back) and the local mountain lion population is on the rise.
 
Where I'm at in SC everything you listed but haven't seen Coyote or Otter. There are woods all around me. I live on a Pond. I've seen no Otters in the Pond. My three dogs love Armadillo's. I would say that all within 1/2 mile have been eaten.
 
the only new game species that I can think of is coyote. I saw my first coyote about 14 years ago. My dad and I didn't know what the heck it was. A dog, a really big fox, then we decided it looked like a coyote. We didn't even know there were coyote in our area, but since my dad has seen a few killed, and shot at a few. I actually only saw a coyote for the second time back in September, but there were 3 of them maybe 200 yards away from the spot I saw the first one.

Tennessee reintroduced Elk and some have come over into Virginia (nowhere near my area though). Apparently Virginia doesn't want them because they are legal to shoot just as you would shoot a deer.

http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/hunting/regulations/elk.asp
 
We've seen some changes in the TX Hill Country in the 30+ years I've been here on and off. Whitetail deer have always been plentiful and there seem to be more now than there were years ago. A lot of exotic deer have been introduced but the only ones I see much anymore are sika. Used to be a lot of axis and fallow but it's rare to see them now. Almost no bobwhite quail anymore. They've been gone for many years. Wild turkey were virtually gone until about 5 or 6 years ago but are making a big comeback. We have very few cottontails now, where we used to see dozens at a time regularly, but they are slowly starting to reappear. Armadillos were gone but are coming back too. Squirrels have always been pretty thick here, mostly tree but some rock types, and we have a lot of doves. We have more feral hogs than we did when I lived here the first time. We didn't have coyotes back when I first lived here, and there aren't many, but they're around now. Fox are fairly common and bobcat are around but you almost never see the bobcats. I have seen a few apparent crossbred cats, bobcat mixed with feral housecats. Cougars are pretty rare here, though they are more prevalent to the west. Only one killed here that I know of was back in the 1970s. My neighbor shot that one. Still a few ringtail cats around but they're not something you see often. Raccoons seem to be about the same numbers as always. Never were many ducks or geese here and that hasn't changed.
 
We've been seeing mountain lions and more bobcats in the past 5 years or so at my parents place in SW Iowa. Other than that, not a lot has changed that I know of. Now I'm in eastern SD...didn't grow up here, so I can't really comment on changes. I can say that there aren't ANYWHERE near the population of most game animals that I see in SW Iowa.
 
I forgot a couple animals too: Used to never see porcupines. There are quite a few of them now. At night from a distance the big ones look like small bears. We also used to see some javelina once in awhile, but I haven't seen any in at least 20 years.
 
In Iowa we have less rabbits, foxes and pheasants. We have more deer, coyotes, turkeys and Red Tailed hawks. I believe the two sets are related.............
 
Rio Grande turkeys were introduced into the lower Arkansas valley here back in the 1980s. We see as many as 60 or 70 at a time now. There were no whitetails in Colorado in the 1950s. Now there are thousands in the Platte and Arkansas river drainages. Merriam's turkeys have been making a comeback in the mountains. They used to be rare, now you see flocks in the hundreds in open areas.

We saw our first Eurasian Collared dove maybe six or seven years ago. Now there are thousands. Probably 75% of the doves we shoot on opening day are Collareds. Season is now open year round on Collareds, with no bag limit. All you need is a hunting license.
 
Mountain goats. Twenty years ago, you had to fly out into roadless country to find a goat. Now, they're everywhere, even on the 1500 foot hills behind my house.
 
There is a private game preserve very near here that has an elk herd. It is a high fence,high dollar hunting enterprise. They lost some whitetail during a tornado(we have a lot of those!) one year but none of the elk got away. Maybe one day.......
 
In Elk Creek Va, we have:
Whitetail Deer
Wild Turkey
Black Bear
Waterfowl
Grouse
Ringnecks
Bob White Quail
Doves
Rabbits
Coyotes
Bobcats
Red and Gray foxes
Red, Gray, and Fox Squirrels
Beaver
River Otters
Muskrats
Minks
Skunk
Opossum
Raccoon
Mountain Lions

That's about all I can think of at the moment. Probably a few interesting animals left out like hawks and the occasional eagle, but I dare not shoot those. Any of the above though...
 
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bang bang...try getting the VDGIF to believe you about the mountain lions. Those guys swear they don't exist but I've seen pictures of one taken by a local farmer on his land in Tazewell Co...
 
bang bang...try getting the VDGIF to believe you about the mountain lions. Those guys swear they don't exist
Click to expand...
Same is true with the Alabama Department of Conservation. We can include black bear as well.
 
We have more larger game from when I was a kid, especially bear and wolves and coyotes.
Moose became much more common by the 90's but seem to have disappeared except in the far Northern Areas of Minnesota.
 
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The swamp rabbits, horny toads and ring tails are gone.

Bobwhite quail are very rare.

The turkeys, road runners, snapping turtles, armadillos and gray fox are around but not very many.

The jack rabbits have made a big comeback.

There has been sightings of beaver, mountain lion and javelina.

At one time there was very few deer but now the herd is doing very well.

Hogs showed up about 10 years ago.

Always been a good supply of coyotes, bobcats, red ear turtles, skunks, cotton tails, squirrels, opossums and coons.
 
I forgot about the wild hogs! There were none here just a few years ago. They are becoming quite a problem.
Click to expand...

Im not to far south of you, and they have became a huge problem. One of our hunting leases have been overrun with hogs and coyotes. Been shooting them every chance I get.
 
Nothing new as far I can tell, deer becoming scarce, turkeys are still around same with wabits, squirrels, foxes woodchucks yotees howling every night feels like they are in the back yard :) DEC warns about pigs which are on the loose, just wish I seen one, and waterfowl's flying over from time to time...
 
I'm in eastern Kansas just south of Kansas City. 15 years ago there were quail everywhere, no pigs, and hardly ever seen a turkey. Now, you can rarely find a covey of quail, there are pigs in the river and creek bottoms, and turkey are everywhere. there has always been plenty of white tail deer, coyotes, cottontails, and fox squirrels.

I sure hope the pig problem does not get out of control. I would love to hunt them, but I would rather shoot them in Texas or Oklahoma than in my back yard.
 
West central MN: Deer numbers have increased drastically since the 70's, we've gotten wild turkeys and coyotes, foxes have all but disappeared, as have flickertails.
 
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