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Deer per square mile?

9K views 16 replies 8 participants last post by  aroostookbasser 
#1 ·
I realize that the populations are very low up there. Roughly, how many deer are there per square mile from Bangor on north? How many do you guys see per season? The last time I was up there was in 98 and hunted in the Forks area. I sat for 6 days from dawn till dusk. I saw one doe and a 5 point that I let walk. I still had a great week!
 
#2 ·
I don't know the answer specifically to your question but I believe the Department of Fish and Wildlife have a goal of 12 -15 deer per square mile, maximum. I am sure that in most areas you are describing, it is less than that.
 
#5 ·
Up here in the northern region of the state--the ratio for bucks is 1 per 10 miles. Down in central Maine in alot of areas its 15-20 per square mile. East Corinth has alot of deer this time of year due to 2 huge deer yards. Everyone sees these deer out in the feilds and think it would be a great place to hunt come November, wrong!!! These deer will migrate back to their home range and then the deer population will balance out for that general area. We see the same thing here in the north, I hunt one area for 2 weeks and have deer galore. The 3rd and 4th week of the season I must pack up and head 20 miles north to get back into the bulk of the herd. Why? Because there isn't any deer yards in their summer range.
Enough out of me--I rambled on enough in this topic--sorry folks.
John
 
#6 ·
John,

First of all, you are not rambling on. Your responses are very interesting for me to read I'm learning even more now. So keep commenting!

What do you mean when you say 1 buck per 10 miles? 1 buck for every 10 miles?

Also, you mentioned the deer yards in East Corrinth. How large are these yards and how many deer do they hold now? what are they..stands of mature softwoods? How far will these deer travel when they leave the yards? I hope I'm not becoming a nuisance with all of these questions!
 
#7 ·
Yes, the last time I talked with a deer biologist, they stated 1 buck every 10 miles.
The yards in E. Corinth are about 20 acres of cedar and soft woods. No idea how many deer stay in the yards, but we did a count in one field in early spring of last year and there was 175 that we could count. If your ever in Maine in april, take RT 15 to Corinth and stop in to the Countryside Restaraunt. Have lunch and stare out the window at all the deer across the road.
John
 
#8 ·
Some deer will migrate for many miles. I have heard in some cases where deer have been tracked at migrating well over 50 miles to deer yards.
 
#11 ·
Hey, thanks Moose! That's a cool map. I wonder how accurate it really is but it sure works as a guideline, that's for sure.
 
#14 ·
I hunted Northern Maine for the first time this year, and it is really cool. We hunted the allagash region out of Mcnally's the last week of the season. Between the two of us we saw 1 deer. I bumped him off the top of a ridge, and had no shot. He was moving thru some thick pines, so I couldn't really see his rack. There was a lot more sign(tracks,rubs,scrapes) than I expected. The weather was lousy. It started raining Monday night, and didn't stop until Tuesday night. Than it snowed on top of that, so it made for very loud walking conditions once it froze. There were nine hunters in camp, and one buck killed(7 pt. 190 dressed). We're going back next year, but were gonna stay about 40 miles south of where we were this year. Anything to cut down the 22 hour drive. If you're gonna go up north, maybe check out Mcnally's. Really great camp.
 
#15 ·
Hey Trekker sounds like you had a great time. I tell ya, that hard crunchy snow your best bet is to stand or sit in a blind if you can stand the cold. You can hear them coming before you see them and not them hear you before they pick up a scent... :wink:

But then again I almost walked right into a herd of doe one day after I was crunching on snow for over an hour... Never heard me coming.

Welcome to Maine Hunting Forums trekker.
 
#16 ·
Scouting is essential up North. When you average out the deer per square mile it can seem discouraging, but there are pockets of deer. You just have to find them! During the first week of the season we saw does every day. Come the last week when we went back into the same spot we couldn't find any fresh sign. After some searching logging roads in the fresh snow we found them on the opposite side of the deadwater we were hunting. Tried to track down the same buck two days in a row, and thought I was going to get him the second day until one of the five does he was in busted me. Its all fun just the same!
 
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