For you buck hunters...what's your opinion on killing does?

[BobcatMan]

i never shoot does, they dont taste as good to me and i like the trophy buck & meat. i watch and wait untill the youngens are big enough and dont thin the bucks out. got 2 this year and theres still several, and momma and her 2 does i been watching all year are still going strong. i figure once rut is over, they have done their job. i leave the mommas alone.

 

[chrislibby88]

I try to shoot mature does and bucks, but my standards change depending on how much meat I have on hand. I usually let my young to middle age bucks walk. Took one niice mature buck off public land in north GA. Took 3 does off my property, and probably one more that wasn’t recovered, a large button head by mistake, and one 2 year old male (my brother shot another) there are a ton more deer out there, several 1-2 year bucks, and one maybe 3 year old. I’m gonna let him grow until next year. Kinda wish I had let my 2 year old buck walk, but I eat a lot of deer and was getting close to a meat crisis. I would like to put one more in the freezer next week.

I could have taken ALOT more shots this year, but I made 2 bad shots early in the season and started playing t a lot more conservatively. Observed more deer this year than ever in my life. We have a very healthy population in my neck of the woods.

 

[Bushwhacker]

I was a QDMA kool-aid drinker for a long time. I then realized that their opinion is just that, an opinion. I understand the thought behind a 1 to 1 ratio. Thats all well and good, but there are other factors at play. If you are on a 100-1500 acre lease your ratio is irrelevant because the deer are freely and easily moving across borders daily. The other side of the borders not express your views and there ratio mog ht not be anywhere near 1 to 1. Secondly but to me the most important. Does are the givers of life. I like to play the odds. Not that a higher number of does will attract more mature bucks (which it very well could), but that the more fawns I habe hitting the ground regardless of land size will mean that the majority of the fawns dropped will be male. This in turn means that just by sheer number alone, the more bucks I have being born every year the greater chance I have of at least one making it to a mature age of 5+ years old. I do agree with QDMA that the three things that it takes to make a quality buck are age, genetics and nutrition, I can only impact 2. So I say the more bucks born every year increases the odds that they reach that ripe old age.... just my .02

 

[Vincent Vega]

Thanks for the comments y'all.

The same club I referenced brought in a wildlife technician several years ago and based on the club's management plan (ie geared towards growing trophy bucks) he concluded they needed to take out more does. The technician did not do a population survey or attempt to gather a buck to doe ratio but rather did a walk-through on the property and noticed that the native browse was moderately (not heavily) grazed up to 5 or 6 feet from the ground. With this bit of information they have taken out roughly 3 to 4 does for every buck in the several years since. This club has never done a population survey or attempted to determine what the buck to doe ratio is. They manage by feel. One year they think they over did it and the next year their doe harvest was half of what it was the prior year so they policed themselves and the population seems to have rebounded and balanced a little better.

For you guys that try to balance your doe population, how do you do it? Have you called in a wildlife technician to do a study or do you do it yourself? If you do it yourself how do you know specifically how many to kill?

 

[Psilloh1]

I was a brown its down guy untill I bought a cabin with 56 acres in 2005. Decided to start QDM and manage the doe herd..

Since then, I now have 140 acres. We see quality bucks consistently every season. My 23 year old son has put the 2 biggest on that wall, as well as his first buck ever.

By using trail cams we try to establish the volume of deer we have and how many we think we need to harvest..

 

[chrislibby88]

I was a QDMA kool-aid drinker for a long time. I then realized that their opinion is just that, an opinion. I understand the thought behind a 1 to 1 ratio. Thats all well and good, but there are other factors at play. If you are on a 100-1500 acre lease your ratio is irrelevant because the deer are freely and easily moving across borders daily. The other side of the borders not express your views and there ratio mog ht not be anywhere near 1 to 1. Secondly but to me the most important. Does are the givers of life. I like to play the odds. Not that a higher number of does will attract more mature bucks (which it very well could), but that the more fawns I habe hitting the ground regardless of land size will mean that the majority of the fawns dropped will be male. This in turn means that just by sheer number alone, the more bucks I have being born every year the greater chance I have of at least one making it to a mature age of 5+ years old. I do agree with QDMA that the three things that it takes to make a quality buck are age, genetics and nutrition, I can only impact 2. So I say the more bucks born every year increases the odds that they reach that ripe old age.... just my .02

Your thought process is all good, but bucks are territorial, especially in late summer leading up to rut, and very much so througg rut. How many young males are the dominant bucks going to tolerate around his doe herd? Perhaps more does will keep him busier, but there is one thing that drives a buck crazier than a doe, and thats another male deer messing with his ladies.

There is a school of thought that only certain habitats or conditions are preffered by big mature males. They dont just pick any spot. They prefer a certain type of cover in the winter, so their summer range may be different than their winter range. So even if you try to manage your property for large mature bucks, they may just prefer another property to yours.

 

[Allsmiles]

We hunt in a QDM county and take both. Our normal rule is small does (see their hip bones) get a pass all year. Any doe over 90# that comes by has a good chance of taking a ride to the cooler. We are only hunting 64 acres and know that the people around us tend to be brown its down hunters. The smaller bucks (6 or less) get our attention; but continue on their way. If it has 7 or more points; its most likely taking a dirt nap because the next hunter will give it one. The only time that does get a pass is last week of Oct and first week of Nov when the bucks are chasing.
We have a healthy yote population in the area; so we are also noticing a drop in young deer and lack of turkeys.

 

[Psilloh1]

Your thought process is all good, but bucks are territorial, especially in late summer leading up to rut, and very much so througg rut. How many young males are the dominant bucks going to tolerate around his doe herd? Perhaps more does will keep him busier, but there is one thing that drives a buck crazier than a doe, and thats another male deer messing with his ladies.

There is a school of thought that only certain habitats or conditions are preffered by big mature males. They dont just pick any spot. They prefer a certain type of cover in the winter, so their summer range may be different than their winter range. So even if you try to manage your property for large mature bucks, they may just prefer another property to yours.

Absolutely agree to this. Infact we have only killed 2 bucks that have shown up on Trail Cam... we have seen alot of the same smaller bucks on cam and Hunting. Every monster was infact travelling thru either trailing or cruising for a hot doe..
During the rut Dominant territory’s I think go out the window.
We also see them Bachelor back up now in late season

 

[Fatal_Bert]

If it's brown it's down, I hunt to put meet in the freezer. I hunt private property though, obviously if you join a club you should respect their rules.

 

[chrislibby88]

Absolutely agree to this. Infact we have only killed 2 bucks that have shown up on Trail Cam... we have seen alot of the same smaller bucks on cam and Hunting. Every monster was infact travelling thru either trailing or cruising for a hot doe..
During the rut Dominant territory’s I think go out the window.
We also see them Bachelor back up now in late season

Yea, they roam pretty far and spend alot less time in their home ranges during rut, unless by chance, they have a doe rich home range, but they probably still go out for some strange.

The young 6 point I killed was buddied up with a an 8 point the same age. The 8 ran right to my brothers stand and he got him too. Theres a big 6-8 point I saw 4-5 times during rut runing does hard, but havent seen him since it slowed down. Hoping he turns up again next year.