Deer management
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sdb, you really need all of the above as well as it will most likely fit those who really use quality deer management principles as guide lines...
http://www.qdma.com/qdm/
Check this out and you'll see what I mean.
Pat
http://www.qdma.com/qdm/
Check this out and you'll see what I mean.
Pat
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COuldn't realy pick one from your poll,
I'm a meat hunter, so most of the boys in the hunt club ask me to come late in the season when Doe days open, they have a thing about shooting them and I don't.
Spikes and buttons are given a pass, and the club regs say at lest 3 points , before you drop a buck,, now this is for any one over 18.. With the long seasons here in Virginia and the bouns tags ,we can on a good season end up killing 12 deer per man..
If I take 2 or 3 in the year and they are good and fat, the others are donated to the "Hunters for the Hungery"
I'm a meat hunter, so most of the boys in the hunt club ask me to come late in the season when Doe days open, they have a thing about shooting them and I don't.
Spikes and buttons are given a pass, and the club regs say at lest 3 points , before you drop a buck,, now this is for any one over 18.. With the long seasons here in Virginia and the bouns tags ,we can on a good season end up killing 12 deer per man..
If I take 2 or 3 in the year and they are good and fat, the others are donated to the "Hunters for the Hungery"
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I don't understand why you have included "passing on does" in the same choice with "passing on yearlings." :? :?: :?
Other than soil types, the easiest way to increase the numbers of older age class bucks, and give those older aged bucks a better chance at big headgear, is to SHOOT DOES and pass on all bucks under 1.5 years. Even 2.5 year olds haven't reached their real potential as far as antlers go, but they can have some big sets.
I would say that anyone that passes on all does even when they're legal is NOT managing the herd. If you are doing QDM, then you are throwing the herd into an unnatural imbalance, gender wise; if you are doing trophy management (which is NOT the same as QDM), then you are keeping too many does around that will take nutritional resources away from the bucks.
Furthermore, having an excessive number of does around will make the rut less pronounced and, most importantly, will allow the older aged bucks to breed without traveling nearly as much in search of does. About the only time you will have a real chance of killing a 3.5 or 4.5 year old buck is going to be during the peak of the chasing phase of the rut. If you minimize that by giving them too many does, then you are making it harder to kill the good bucks, even if you have let a lot of young ones get old.
I can't vote for any of those poll answers because none of them represent what I consider to be good herd management, except in those few areas where the herd size has not yet reached the near-max carrying capacity.
Other than soil types, the easiest way to increase the numbers of older age class bucks, and give those older aged bucks a better chance at big headgear, is to SHOOT DOES and pass on all bucks under 1.5 years. Even 2.5 year olds haven't reached their real potential as far as antlers go, but they can have some big sets.
I would say that anyone that passes on all does even when they're legal is NOT managing the herd. If you are doing QDM, then you are throwing the herd into an unnatural imbalance, gender wise; if you are doing trophy management (which is NOT the same as QDM), then you are keeping too many does around that will take nutritional resources away from the bucks.
Furthermore, having an excessive number of does around will make the rut less pronounced and, most importantly, will allow the older aged bucks to breed without traveling nearly as much in search of does. About the only time you will have a real chance of killing a 3.5 or 4.5 year old buck is going to be during the peak of the chasing phase of the rut. If you minimize that by giving them too many does, then you are making it harder to kill the good bucks, even if you have let a lot of young ones get old.
I can't vote for any of those poll answers because none of them represent what I consider to be good herd management, except in those few areas where the herd size has not yet reached the near-max carrying capacity.
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Mountian Man, very well put... That earns you a point for menber of the month!!! Our goal here, (my managed property) is a ratio of 2:1, bucks to does.... If I were to go one one direction between QDM or Trophy management, I go QDA as it favors a ratio closer to my way of thinking and gives the heard a chance to mature.... We strive for 140 class deer in our area. Unfortunely not all the hunters work towards this same goal. We fill our freezers with quality corn feed Indiana does and work towards harvesting mature bucks.... I'll be hunting in Tennessee this fall as well and will only shoot a 140 class or better while I'm there...
Pat
Pat
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Pat, where in the Volunteer State will you be hunting? Private land, I assume? Guided/paid hunt, or just a lease you or a friend are on, or some land belonging to a friend?
I may have once seen a 140-class buck on hoof. But it was the first year that I got really serious about hunting as an adult and I had no experience in field judging racks (or age) at that time. I just stood there with my mouth open at the 10 point staring back at me. It was less than 18 hours before season opened, and of course I didn't see him again the next day. :cry:
I would love to get on a good QDM lease in the future, but I'm having fun hunting the deep woods and mountains on our WMAs and state forests. My best so far is a 120 or so buck, but this will be only my fifth year hunting seriously. 140+ bruisers are few and far between in the mountains and public land around here at least.
I may have once seen a 140-class buck on hoof. But it was the first year that I got really serious about hunting as an adult and I had no experience in field judging racks (or age) at that time. I just stood there with my mouth open at the 10 point staring back at me. It was less than 18 hours before season opened, and of course I didn't see him again the next day. :cry:
I would love to get on a good QDM lease in the future, but I'm having fun hunting the deep woods and mountains on our WMAs and state forests. My best so far is a 120 or so buck, but this will be only my fifth year hunting seriously. 140+ bruisers are few and far between in the mountains and public land around here at least.
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Pat, another question: Have you done any photo census or other un-biased surveys of the buck:doe ratio on the land under management? Have you actually achieved a 2:1 buck:doe ratio or is that still a goal to work toward? Most managers I have talked to have a hard time getting better than 1:1.5 or 1:2 buck:doe ratio.
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I'll be deer hunting just outside of Crossville, TN Many of us here have gone to Loshbough's for their hog hunts but this will be my second season going down for whitetail deer. They manage 15,000 acres for their deer hunts and I believe Daniel and his staff can get me close to the elusive 140-class buck...
As for our goals locally for our hunting property we are limited to controlling our 160++ acres of an area approaching 1000++ acres. Corn, beans, winter wheat, and CRP ground everywhere. Thick woodlots, like ours, and a large creek running through the middle of everything. Unfortunately, we cannot control the other hunters in the area. I believe most would look at a nice 2 ? year old 120-class buck as a shooter. Our area, considered by many to be a quality buck area, has harvested many bucks meeting the criteria for the Indiana record book, which just happens to be 140 pts of better. Our current deer per square mile estimate is 15 to 30 deer per square mile, as found on the QDMA web site. I feel that to be a bit low as we can have that many in our food plots when we drive up to the gate.
We feel, as does our DNR that our county as well as state has a disproportionate number of does, as we are able to harvest 8 does and 1 buck with over the counter tags and several more with special draw hunts? Now that might not seem like a lot compared to some of the stories I hear from the Carolina?s, Alabama and other states. However, if you take into consideration with the exception of a few parts of Southern Indiana we are a very densely populated area with millions of people in relatively small area you can see our herd is very large by comparison? We legally harvest over 125,000 deer per year and have a reported 15,000 deer / car accidents annually.
As for our goals locally for our hunting property we are limited to controlling our 160++ acres of an area approaching 1000++ acres. Corn, beans, winter wheat, and CRP ground everywhere. Thick woodlots, like ours, and a large creek running through the middle of everything. Unfortunately, we cannot control the other hunters in the area. I believe most would look at a nice 2 ? year old 120-class buck as a shooter. Our area, considered by many to be a quality buck area, has harvested many bucks meeting the criteria for the Indiana record book, which just happens to be 140 pts of better. Our current deer per square mile estimate is 15 to 30 deer per square mile, as found on the QDMA web site. I feel that to be a bit low as we can have that many in our food plots when we drive up to the gate.
We feel, as does our DNR that our county as well as state has a disproportionate number of does, as we are able to harvest 8 does and 1 buck with over the counter tags and several more with special draw hunts? Now that might not seem like a lot compared to some of the stories I hear from the Carolina?s, Alabama and other states. However, if you take into consideration with the exception of a few parts of Southern Indiana we are a very densely populated area with millions of people in relatively small area you can see our herd is very large by comparison? We legally harvest over 125,000 deer per year and have a reported 15,000 deer / car accidents annually.
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How about "none of the above"
I shoot more does on my property than bucks each year to properly manage the herd. I do let the young ones live another year.
I shoot more does on my property than bucks each year to properly manage the herd. I do let the young ones live another year.
Guess this year I can "Legally" harvest two does, and I will.......but! I try to take either the very old does, or the does that just don't look right. My herd has "problems", been feeding them for almost three years on Bio-Logic(I know it's not a magic feed, but it helps), and usually a food plot of clover near the pond(doesn't get much action?). Ground gets tested for proper fertilization every year, and I add whatever I'm instructed to the ground to make things grow.
The bucks are mature, and showing signs that they will never be anything other then big spikes! Unfortunately, spikes with antlers longer then two inches are NOT legal to shoot? Game and Fish rules.....go figure? Don't see a lot of 100+ class deer on my gamecam......just don't think they are around? So I'm still learning from experience and testing.....
Should have made a few more options on the poll? Maybe.....but I didn't want to have 30 options to vote on. Questions was more or less: Do you manage the herd or Not?
Thanks for all that have posted so far! Keep it coming!
IndianHunter......thanks for the link!
Scott B
The bucks are mature, and showing signs that they will never be anything other then big spikes! Unfortunately, spikes with antlers longer then two inches are NOT legal to shoot? Game and Fish rules.....go figure? Don't see a lot of 100+ class deer on my gamecam......just don't think they are around? So I'm still learning from experience and testing.....
Should have made a few more options on the poll? Maybe.....but I didn't want to have 30 options to vote on. Questions was more or less: Do you manage the herd or Not?
Thanks for all that have posted so far! Keep it coming!
IndianHunter......thanks for the link!
Scott B
We manage our herd in cooperation with our neighbors because none of us own huge peices of land. We just cooperate with each other to acheive a common goal.
Bucks ALL get a pass unless they are over 130". If you need meat you can shoot does, but yearlings get a pass because it's hard to tell if that yearling is a buck or a doe and we don't want to kill any bucks prematurely.
I must admit I have one brother who is hard to control! :shock: and he has been known to break the 130 inch rule. :x He is there for one thing........to shoot deer. He never helps with food plots or stands hejust takes and takes and takes every year. Frustrating to say the least. We are a very close family so it's hard to set our foot down.
So I guess I will say, yes we manage our herd.
Bucks ALL get a pass unless they are over 130". If you need meat you can shoot does, but yearlings get a pass because it's hard to tell if that yearling is a buck or a doe and we don't want to kill any bucks prematurely.
I must admit I have one brother who is hard to control! :shock: and he has been known to break the 130 inch rule. :x He is there for one thing........to shoot deer. He never helps with food plots or stands hejust takes and takes and takes every year. Frustrating to say the least. We are a very close family so it's hard to set our foot down.
So I guess I will say, yes we manage our herd.
whitetailslayer
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Spitpatch said:
We used to have few people in our group like that, guess what, they aren't in are hunting group anymore. we have a rule you don't shoot a buck unless you plan on putting him on the wall. if you want meat shoot does.
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I shoot whatever is legally allowed. If it is a doe, then so be it. I hunt for meat .
The deer herd, particularly mule deer is getting out of hand. I take what ever comes by depending on the tags I have. Since I don't have a buck tag this year I can only shoot antlerless. If I have to choose between a doe or a fawn, I'll take the fawn. The doe stands a better chance of surviving the winter here that the fawn and it's chances go down if I shoot the doe. With the number of tags I have filling the freezer isn't a problem and the fawns are better eating. As far as white tails go I'll only have one tag. I'll save that for a mature buck. If none seen, I won't fill the tag. As I said before, I have enough tags to fill the freezer.
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