Fallow deer at LBL?

[EKY.MTN.HUNTER]

http://www.easterncougar.org/pages/camsurv_LBL_07.html

Read this link and check out the pictures on the left. I didn't know anything about fallow deer.

[quackrstackr]

Did you not know they had those?

There used to be a lot more of them than there are now. They are not legal game anymore since their numbers have gotten so low. Most of them have died off from something that doesn't effect the whitetail. I forget whether it was some virus or parasite.

Back in the 70's and 80's they were a highly coveted trophy if you could draw a tag for them during the quota hunts.

Now the remaining population is primarily centered around the nature station.

[Xi Bowhunter]

Did you not know they had those?

There used to be a lot more of them than there are now. They are not legal game anymore since their numbers have gotten so low. Most of them have died off from something that doesn't effect the whitetail. I forget whether it was some virus or parasite.

Back in the 70's and 80's they were a highly coveted trophy if you could draw a tag for them during the quota hunts.

Now the remaining population is primarily centered around the nature station.
Have you ever seen one of the "wild" ones? My dad got drawn for a tag back in the 80's, but never harvested one. I saw a fallow buck in the late 80's early 90's when I was on a youth hunt. They are very cool looking animals, and it is too bad that there numbers are so low. my dad and neighbor used to talk about seeing 20-30 of them in some of the fields at LBL in the late 70's early 80's , but I have only seen the one in the wild and the few they had at the nature station.

[Xi Bowhunter]

here is a pic from a fallow deer at one of the camera surveys:


http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a231/xibowhunter/LBL07007.jpg

[quackrstackr]

Sorry, I was talking about the wild ones primarily still being around the nature station. Although, they do have some in a pen there as well.

I've seen a lot of them. Your best chance to see the wild ones is still around Hematite and Honker Bay region but there are a few strung out into the adjacent areas as well. Those ones up around the nature station are darn near tame from all of the traffic and no hunting pressure. You can follow them around in the parking lots and they'll come mill around camping areas in broad daylight away from there as well.

The one and only time I had an "any species" tag for a quota hunt, I never saw a single one of them. I wanted one so bad I could taste it. There were (and I assume still are) some huge fallow bucks up there. That one in the picture is no slouch.

You can actually smell those things out in the woods when a big group comes through in the fall. They smell a lot like goats.

[Xi Bowhunter]

The research I can pull up puts the wild herd of LBL fallow deer at 150. I wonder why they don;t do something to try and get the numbers back up? It also said that at one time LBL had the largest and oldest population of fallow deer in the nation.

[WildmanWilson]

I saw one back in the 80's that was huge. His rack layed over his back like an elk. He was chasing some does up and down a field. Very aggressive deer.

[killer]

I have seen several the last 7 years around honker. Saw to huge bucks togeather one morning wish I'd had my camera.

[dead eye]

If you want to see some, camp at Taylor bay camp grounds they are all over the place & You can walk to about 50 yards from them at least I did . They even woke me up rumaging thrugh the camp grounds in the AM.
Dead eye

[Xi Bowhunter]

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a231/xibowhunter/1242356274_1bf4c40c8f.jpg

[Xi Bowhunter]

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a231/xibowhunter/1035785809_ed668a8e25.jpg

[INKYHUNTER]

Back in the 60"s their were alot of them in the wild at KY Woodland now known as LBL. In some area's you saw more of them then whitetail. I missed one at about ten yards that was as big or bigger than the one shown in the previous post. My heart was in my throat and he came straight to me and walk directly under me. He would have been a real trophy. When they are in rut they make a very loud throaty roar. I remember the first time we hunted down there we walked around one because it sounded to bad to tackle with a recurve. It's to bad numbers declined because it really added to the hunt. I believe they get brain worm and that has hurt there numbers. Also I heard that coyote are tougher on them then whitetail. A big buck is usually around 140# and the doe 80#. The buck look large because of the palmated racks. They tend to herd more than whitetail.

[quackrstackr]

I wonder why they don;t do something to try and get the numbers back up?

Non native species.

I'm sure if the things would die out altogether it would make some of the "native forest" zealots that keep getting everything except old growth forest management stopped ecstatic.

[JDMiller]

I think I'm telling this correctly but its some sort of brain worm transmitted by a fly that has depleted the heard. Apparently whitetails are immune to this. Kind of ironic with blue tounge caused by a gnat/midge taking a lot of animals statewide.

As far as non-native..... I believe the Hillmans.. of iron furnace wealth brought the fallow deer into that area. Most of the remaining animals are still found up around the old Empire Farm / Silo Overlook area.

[Valley Station]

Whitetail deer have developed an immunity to the effects of brain worms.
With the fallow deer at LBL having survived for 60-80 years, they have apparently developed some immunity also. A per centage of the elk we have stocked in eastern Kentucky have been dieing from brain worms, but, also seem to be developing immunity, losing smaller per centage now than in the beginning.
Major loss of Fallow deer at LBL - @#%&* COYOTEs .

[EKY.MTN.HUNTER]

I know I could do a quick google search but Id rather just hear about them from you all. Whats the deal with these fallow deer? Where are they from? Where do they still thrive? I would assume they are more of a northern species. Are they a lot bigger then a whitetail? Thanks

[Multidigits]

I killed one back in the mid 1970's up behind the Evironmental Station that had 13 points. Also killed a doe in Racetrack Holler the following year. both with archery. There really wasn't too many of them back in those days either but they were legal game at that time.

[longtimegone]

I saw a few in Texas...simply amazing. Also saw some enormous red stag.

[Xi Bowhunter]

I know I could do a quick google search but Id rather just hear about them from you all. Whats the deal with these fallow deer? Where are they from? Where do they still thrive? I would assume they are more of a northern species. Are they a lot bigger then a whitetail? Thanks
From what I read, they were imported from Europe and parts of Asia where they are most common. The LBL site says there are still 150 or so fallow left, and most roam in the no hunting zone around the nature station.

[wademup]

I have killed two of them myself back in the early 80's,both does,1 on a quota hunt and one back when they were legal during regular deer season,I will try to find a pic.


Wademup

[Xi Bowhunter]

I killed one back in the mid 1970's up behind the Evironmental Station that had 13 points. Also killed a doe in Racetrack Holler the following year. both with archery. There really wasn't too many of them back in those days either but they were legal game at that time.
Multi, that must have been a very cool harvest. Have any pics?

[Multidigits]

Probably do....somewhere. I'll look.

[Duster]

Back in the early 70's a friend and me made a trip south to LBL for archery season. We were hunting near a cutover off Woodson Chapel road. He came out to the truck one afternoon eyes real big and told me this story.

He was watching a small 6 point whitetail work his way towards him along the edge of the thick suff when he heard a noise to the other side of him. He said he looked and all he could see was a spotted fawn and directed his attention back to the 6 point. After the small buck made a turn away from him he took one more look in the direction of the fawn...Problem is now that spotted fawn had grown a rack the size of a elk and was now moving out of range. Sure messed up on a good chance of one of those quite large fallow bucks because as he said deer that big are not supposed to have spots....:D

[teach27]

My dad told me the story of a huge fallow deer he saw when attending Murray State in the early 70's. Of course, this was the time when it was legal to harvest the fallow deer. Anyway, he told me he had climbed up in his stand waiting to see a whitetail. As he was in the stand, a monster fallow deer walked right under his tree. He said it would have been an easy shot but did not shoot because it was still before shooting ours. I am sure he was tempted but declined the opportunity. Also, the local game warden was right down the road from where he was hunting. He said the size of the fallow deer was unreal. He said it was much bigger than any other fallow deer he had seen while driving through LBL and watching them in the fields.

[Blevins Gap Outdoors]

I got drawn to hunt the first quota hunt held in area 17 (nature center) for archery. It had not been opened to hunting since becoming LBL. We saw fallow deer everywhere, lost track of how many I saw. They are a very neat deer to hunt. We also use to see them in area 4 and 5 but then they started to decline in numbers. Was lucky enough to see several hugh fallow bucks from the stand over the years back then but never was able to connect.

They have always had a problem with brain worms but the herd was stable. I agree with Valley that it seems like the coyote problem is what happened to the fallow herd. What a shame to loose such a great animal.

[mchunter]

i heard several years ago, back when the numbers started to decline, that the does only come in heat once every two years,and they only have one fawn. dont know if thats true but if it is it would take a long time for the herd to recover.