I have been hunting for many years, although I am only 19 hunting, and mainly bowhunting is my life. I shot my first buck with the bow this year after hunting archery for 5 years. It wasnt a monster but at 5 yards a couldn't pass em up. Now that I got my first one down and out I wanna start looking into trying to manage and keep the bucks on their feet and the does to a minimum. I have also heard a 2 to 1 buck to doe ratio is like standard but I wanna know what you guys think. I have alot of work to do since I watched about 23 doe and 4 buck in the field last night. How do I go about fixing this? I know it is ridiculous but should I be shooting does early season or later in the season? I would guess earlier due to the rut factor. Please help!! haha Merica
First off...sounds like you have to start whacking does. As others on here will probably share with you as well, if you have plenty of meat in the freezer and kill a doe or two and still aren't satisfied, maybe think about letting a family member or first time bow hunter come hunt with you and try to kill a doe with them and get their first deer for them. This accomplishes two great goals and as long as it is someone you trust you won't have to worry if a 150" buck walks past them....if they have been told only slick heads they should comply. On my property we have about a 4-1 ration of bucks to does. I would like for the number to be a little more even, as if you don't have enough does most of the time some of those bucks are going to tire of the competition and start to roam different areas (aka get killed by the neighbor). We have a no doe rule on our place for the time being unless it is a youth hunting then it is fine. We have put this rule in place for the last 2 years and I will say the number of does have increased quite a bit and I think we are almost to the point where we can lift the rule in moderation. As with anything...don't go over board smoking does. Kill a few off and see how things change the following year. Good Luck and congrats on the first Buck with a bow!
Am I missing something, or are both your ratios backwards? 2-1 / 4-1 Buck to doe or do you mean doe to buck?
You have to always remember that when talking buck to doe ratios they're talking mature deer. If you had 23 does in your field and didn't deduct all the fawns I could easily see 10 of those does being fawns. Now you're looking at a 1:4 ratio. Trying to obtain a 1:2 ratio in a wild herd is pretty unrealistic and in my opinion unnecessary just keep wacking does and enjoy your hunts.
