We have a high volume of deer on our property in North Central WV. 400 acres, multiple water sources, good forage of acorns, apples, and other fruits. We have established 4 food plots this year also. I don’t have an exact buck to doe ratio, but I do know there are a lot of does on our property. What do you guys think would be an adequate number of does to harvest a year? I do believe deer move to our property as well. Thanks for any input! Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
Best live bait in the world is a doe ready to be bred. I will also add the bigger the doe the better bait she is.
If it were I, my plan would ( and does) be to take as many doe as legally possible and that will be consumed via my family and friends. Kill only old nanny doe without fawns. I would not kill to kill. Cull only the doe that meet your dietary requirements and it's a win win. Good luck
This is a good article/guide on Doe harvest https://www.deeranddeerhunting.com/articles/hunters-5-step-guide-to-a-better-doe-harvest
I agree with Fix - except for limiting to old does. Here in Kansas, for whitetail we are allowed only one buck but can get 5 doe tags. That's probably a good ratio to take, five doe for every buck, if your intent is to keep the population at a healthy level. Just keep an informal census from game cams, and if you see the deer activity growing, take more does the following year.
Hunters need to use their heads when it comes to killing does. Sometimes just because tags are issues doenst mean does need killing.
I read a really cool article once ill have to find it. But from memory 1.5 year old does ususally have 50/50 buck to doe fawn( usually 1 fawn first year) 2.5 year olds usually 50/50 buck to doe ratio fawns( usually twins ) if heard is healthy. 3.5-5.5 year olds have 90/10 buck to doe ratio. 6.5+ have 10/90 buck to doe. That being said if you want more deer shoot younger does. If you want more bucks to balance ratio kill old does. Numbers may be off it was a long time ago that i ready article but just look at the fawns in your area for my area this is super true to life numbers. We have practiced this and we have more bucks running around every year then last year until gun season that is. Sent from my SM-N920P using Bowhunting.com Forums mobile app
