On the schedule for this off season:
1) Predator control. We have already eliminated 1 coyote, coon and possum. Many more need to go before fawn drop and poult hatch.
2) Rake and seed with grass/clover the newly mulched area.
3) Cut maples out of the clover plot and frost seed.
4) Replant alfalfa field and clover field
5) Trail maintenance
6) Scout/shed hunt
7) Continue trail cam inventory
Most of our major projects are now completed with the last mulched area. We have no more big changes for the property in mind.
We have not taken a doe in our 3 seasons here. I have read over and over about taking does and know how most feel about it. We just aren’t in that camp. If we had 500 acres it would be different. We have 100 acres. Going from X number of does to 1/2X is not going to increase the number of bucks using our land. They aren’t going to run back and forth looking for a doe on us. If they aren’t here they will keep going. There are a lot of bucks using what we have. Until that changes we aren’t going to do anything different. When we started this thing we didn’t have many mature bucks and an ok number of does. Next season the age structure should be much better than when we bought the place…even though we lost some 2-4 year olds this fall. It’s probably good to be my neighbor if you are into killing 115”-135” bucks.
I think shooting does is one of the most misunderstood dynamics of land management. I credit this to a few things.
1. QDMA purposely or mistakenly presented this idea that only a dead doe is a good doe - this was majorly misunderstood.
2. Most scientific research is around buck movements, antler growth, etc. Very little to no research is around doe dispersal. I recently emailed Dr. Bronson Strickland and Dr. Steve Demaris about this very fact and the answers I received were somewhat vague. Rightly so, as the research just hasn't been conducted to present facts. What they do know is that when a doe is removed from prime habitat, the replacement time of that doe is directly correlated to the surrounding habitat, deer density, and how prized of a territory said harvested doe was taken from.
To me, this is why doe harvest is endlessly complicated. If you extrapolate that idea out, you are constantly having deer shift from one sq. mile to the next based on habitat changes, pressures, etc.
I think with doe mgt - we need to understand a few things
1. What are the goals of our property
2. What are the neighbors doing - Not just next-door but within a few mile areas
3. What food options do we have vs. the surrounding sq miles
4. What is the browse pressure on native habitat and are we concerned with the degradation of said habitat. There is 100% a direct correlation to degraded habitat and reduced antler size, fewer fawns, fewer fawns coming into estrous in their first year (further reducing fawn crop), high predation on fawns, etc. Not to mention the epigenetic triggers that will be released over time, further impacting the health of the deer herd.
All that to say, I think it absolutely absurd how many people advocate for shooting does without any information about a property and surrounding property. I love seeing deer and I don't want to shoot every doe I see, I am sure many here can agree with this feeling.
I will share with you (if this is redundant I apologize) how I decide if/what doe harvest looks like on our farm.
1. Farm is around 250 acres - I communicate with all the neighbors (around 2K acres) - last year one neighbor shot 13 does, this year 2 - very important to understand what they are doing a year in and out to understand how I want to proceed.
2. Study browse pressure on native flora (green briar, mfr, etc.). If I am finding green briar as thick as my pinky ate up, I am concerned. Likewise, if every stump sprout is browsed, etc.
3. Study exclusion fences in food plots. I have some fields that you might think are failures, but inside the fence, the deer have eaten FEET of the tonnage from the fields.
4. Camera observations - I try to overlay timestamps on cameras throughout the farm. For example, 5 pm - I will look at 4 different cameras and mark the number of does on each camera. This is something I found to be interesting because often most assume the same doe groups are going from one field to the next. When you look at the time stamps often we can be amazed at the number of deer that are spread out vs. huddled together.
5. Hunting observations - again comparing this to camera observations
All of this sand I still tend to be fairly conservative in my quota for doe harvest each year, typically between 2-4.
I am not saying one way is right or wrong - just wanted to try to provide a little information I have gathered over the years in hopes it might help someone a bit.
