a friend of mine has about 200 acres of ground he has lived and hunted this place for close to 40 years , he only shoots bucks and the bucks have to be over 120 inchs to be considerd for harvesting , these does know that this is a safe haven for them , at any giving time you can see 20 to 30 does on his property , but he has a problem keeping big bucks on the property , my question is are the does running the bucks off cause there is to many , this property has enough food on it to support 50 or more deer , so why arent the bucks sticking round
deer management ?
- Thread starter uglykat26
- Start date
It doesn't matter how many does you keep on any one property... during the rut, bucks are going to roam anywhere and everywhere. It's not a "decision" made by the does, just a matter of deer behavior. However, one would think that the more does you have, the longer the bucks will stick around and the more bucks there would be during the rut. How is he sure that the bucks are leaving? Is it possible that they are just changing patterns and he doesn't have these patterns figured out yet? As far as running deer off, the only example of this that I know of are does harrassing their button buck fawns... which of course is nature's way of preventing inbreeding. I've never heard of does running adult bucks off of a property as a means of birth control, or for any other purpose. I've got a feeling the bucks aren't going as far as he thinks they are.
If he has that many does there is a good chance the bucks are just lockin down with does throughout the rut and never really have to spend any time actually searching for does....Too many does can result in alot less rut movement.
I am with Carpn. My guess is the bucks are tucked away in the thickest cover they have. They are sitting there with the does lining up and taking a number waiting to be bred. Instead of bucks chasing does, the does are going to the bucks.
early in the year and during the rut , you see bucks , but after rut is over but before gun season starts it seems like almost all the bucks hop a train and leave county , and we dont usually see them again till next summer , but a few do stick around , he said this has been going on for about 10 years , since he put the no doe rule on hunting on his property
Ohiosam
*Supporting Member*
If there was a house with 50 women it would you want to live there? Maybe visit occasionally
but then get out.
Probably needs to amend the no doe rule... Just seems to be too many doe to buck ratio.... What has already been stated is pretty much spot on.... And Sam that was friggin funny lol