Casey Posted December 3, 2008 Report Share Posted December 3, 2008 Past years and this year I have seen more does over the 4 years than bucks. I believe I have only seen two or three big bucks in those 4 years. I have way to many does on my parents property. I would like to take more does and get those bucks up and moving, but I do not want to take to many off. How many should I harvest?? The doe to buck ratio is way out of wack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aujack Posted December 3, 2008 Report Share Posted December 3, 2008 at our camp this year we have wacked probably 25 does between 6 or 7 members. and we still see more does than bucks. its agrivating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted December 3, 2008 Report Share Posted December 3, 2008 Think it really depends on your area and the hunters around you and on what the limitations of your regs are. We have liberal limits here which means 3 does a day can be harvested throughout the season, has been that way for a few years now. There were special doe hunts during gun seasons in prior years which was enough in my opinion to control or keep the balance, the liberal limits in a county that supposedly has a deer density of 15 deer per sq mile is a huge mistake, and they have done it yet again this year. Think the biologists are making poor decisions here. Pretty crazy really, and there are some hunters around us with the "brown its down mentality", so the does have been on the decline in this area(overhunted) and in turn deer numbers are also down. Harvest data reflects that too, but the excuse we get is that the mast crop is the reason, they have used that excuse a few times when they have made poor decisions. We used to kill does and bucks on our property close to 1 to 1 ratio, but probably 3 or 4 years ago we started to see a significant decline in the overall number of deer we were seeing, so I stopped shooting does. I have seen as many if not more young bucks this year than what I have seen does. Think the best thing you can do is try to find out what the ratio is before deciding how many does to harvest. Do not think anyone can really tell you how many you need to take without knowing that information. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casey Posted December 3, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 3, 2008 Think it really depends on your area and the hunters around you and on what the limitations of your regs are. We have liberal limits here which means 3 does a day can be harvested throughout the season, has been that way for a few years now. There were special doe hunts during gun seasons in prior years which was enough in my opinion to control or keep the balance, the liberal limits in a county that supposedly has a deer density of 15 deer per sq mile is a huge mistake, and they have done it yet again this year. Think the biologists are making poor decisions here. Pretty crazy really, and there are some hunters around us with the "brown its down mentality", so the does have been on the decline in this area(overhunted) and in turn deer numbers are also down. Harvest data reflects that too, but the excuse we get is that the mast crop is the reason, they have used that excuse a few times when they have made poor decisions. We used to kill does and bucks on our property close to 1 to 1 ratio, but probably 3 or 4 years ago we started to see a significant decline in the overall number of deer we were seeing, so I stopped shooting does. I have seen as many if not more young bucks this year than what I have seen does. Think the best thing you can do is try to find out what the ratio is before deciding how many does to harvest. Do not think anyone can really tell you how many you need to take without knowing that information. Thank You Sir. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texan_Til_I_Die Posted December 3, 2008 Report Share Posted December 3, 2008 I was visiting with my local biologist during the Summer and he said something that I found really interesting. He said that in all of his years of professional deer management, every single landowner, even those who said there were way too many does, would balk at the number he recommended be killed. If the guy owned 1000 acres and it was recommended that he kill 50 does, the landowner would always think that was too many. Odd how that works... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevebeilgard Posted December 4, 2008 Report Share Posted December 4, 2008 most game managers i know think you should shoot lots of does. we're allowed 5 per year here. sure, they can be over hunted like anything else, but that's doubtful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adjam5 Posted December 8, 2008 Report Share Posted December 8, 2008 Wouldn't your local DNR be able to help you with achieving that goal? I shoot at least 2 does a year on different properties, and we were lucky to kill a few dry ones too. Just consumers, not producers. So in the freezer they go! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fly Posted December 8, 2008 Report Share Posted December 8, 2008 The number of deer I've seen this year is down compared to previous years. I too am seeing more young bucks than doe's this year. I've let every small buck walk and once I had 1 doe from each of the 2 farms I hunt I let the does go as well. The buck I took this year was from public land so he doesn't factor into the ratio. My dad didn't get a deer this year and wants one. Therefore I'm once again hunting for one more doe or mature buck. I think the number of deer is down across much of the US and holding off on excessive doe harvesting will only boost the numbers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
csualumni21000 Posted December 9, 2008 Report Share Posted December 9, 2008 Get a census of what you have then you will know or can find out what to take. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dakota Posted December 11, 2008 Report Share Posted December 11, 2008 I have noticed that deer numbers seem to be down everywhere. I've seen a lot of sign, but have only seen maybe twenty whitetails all year and only three when I've been out specifically for them. Mule deer numbers are down too, usually I see thirty or so when I'm out after goats but maybe saw fifteen total this year. Dakota Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoyt03 Posted December 11, 2008 Report Share Posted December 11, 2008 is this a trail cam survey or just from being out hunting. Big bucks are way smarter then the does and usually move at night. so if your basing your buck to doe on field hunts and not camera surveys then who knows what's going on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elnor Posted December 15, 2008 Report Share Posted December 15, 2008 I agree with everyone that's indicated you should talk to a wildlife department biologist and use data from your property to figure how many does to shoot. In the case of our property in southeastern Oklahoma, we participate in the OK Wildlife Department's "Deer Management Assistance Program" (DMAP). As a part of that, we are paired with a regional deer biologist. We do nighttime spotlight surveys in late summer and pull jawbones of all deer killed during hunting season. We provide both the survey data and jawbones with harvest data (weight, sex, antler circumferences, etc.) to the biologist each year, he crunches the numbers and provides age and other statistics back to us. He also factors our specific stats in with overall regional trends and data to make a recommendation as to how many does we should harvest each fall. This year the recommendation was 20 for our 1300 acre property; we're getting close, and I can tell you there are still a lot of does, so I don't expect a deer shortage come next year. YMMV of course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParrotHead2005 Posted December 17, 2008 Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 I am in SE Indiana and I have taken 40 does off of a 200 acre piece that I huntin the last 4 years. It is split by two counties that are each and 8 doe county. That doesnt count the ones taken by my buddy. There are just a boat load of deer in the area and rough land. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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