WMU48 Deer Population

[canuck]

My deer hunt was an absolute failure in 63A so me and the wife decided to go and do some partridge hunting in WMU48 around the Deux Rivieres / Bisset Creek area. We were hoping to get an inventory of how many deer hunters were up there and hopefully run into some hunt camp members and talk to them to get an idea of where they are set up so we can avoid them and not mess up what they have going on.

I was pretty shocked when we didnt run into a single deer hunter, and all the hunt camps were clearly not being used, they seem to all be moose/fishing camps although a bunch have deer antlers all over them so they were deer camps at one point.

I talked to some trappers and partridge hunters and their consensus on the area was generally the same amongst all of them, no more Deer in the area, its now moose country. The trappers both said that ever since they were stopped from trapping wolves, the deer have disappeared. One partridge hunter said he saw a single deer in the summer last year but thats all hes seen in the last 3 years.

Ive seen minimal deer sign when hunting up there in previous years and didnt see any this year. When i did see some in the previous years it was always accompanied by wolf sign.

I know some people here hunt the area and I was wondering if they have had similar experiences in WMU48 regarding deer, specifically between Mattawa and Deep River, I know south of Petawawa still has some good deer herds.

Ive been deciding between WMU48 and WMU58 for future deer hunts during gun season, WMU58 has some good chunks of crown land on the south east side and I have seen TONS of deer sign in that area, but I have also seen lots of established hunt camps in the area but I was trying to avoid hunting anywhere near hunt camps because of my experience this season. I have tried walking an hour off any logging roads in WMU58 and I still end up coming across permanent blinds/stands deep into the bush so I think I will struggle to find some privacy in WMU58.

[Sam Menard]

Good luck on your quest, it can be hard to find a huntable deer population that doesn’t already have a bunch of hunters in the area.

When I was a teenager I hunted north of Griffith in unit 58 a few times. Quite a few hunt camps back then. Been over 40 years since I was there last and I wonder how the deer hunting is now.

[canuck]

Thanks! Ive been thinking of picking up archery since crown land in the area seems empty during archery season but is a warzone during gun season. May stick to public for archery and then try to find a hunt camp or get permission on private for gun season, we will see how the scouting around Griffith goes.

The area im looking is also directly north of Griffith, some good crown to the east too, definitely lots of camps but there are also some fresh clear cuts, might try and see if I can find one no one has set up in and try to establish myself.