BearCreek
Member
I have owned my farm for almost three years and have not taken a doe off it. I'm in west central Illinois, so I should be able to stack my place with deer but I'm still trying to get a feel for my carrying capacity. I've converted 50 acres (farm is 190 acres) of over-grazed pasture to pure habitat and am still getting good oak seedling regeneration and no visible browse line. I have other farms I hunt that I harvest does on to keep the freezer stocked. So until I notice pressure on the vegetation I won't be harvesting any quantity of does. When the time to harvest comes I have no shortage of in-laws to assist.
I probably value seeing a lot of deer when I hunt more than harvesting giants, so that weighs on my management goals as well. My ultimate goal is to get to the point that I experience one of those hunts that you see guys in Iowa capturing on film where 4-5 140"+ bucks enter a food plot. Perhaps that's unrealistic, but who wants realistic goals! But back to topic, as others have mentioned, limiting the number of does might increase buck sightings as they search for does, but that movement puts them in the cross hairs of my less discerning neighbors. It also increases fighting, which I think leads to more mortality than we know. I certainly know that from a calorie/pleasure standpoint I would assume bucks would prefer to have to breed 5 does versus breeding 1 doe and fighting to near death against another suitor. Additionally, if you know your property, you know the areas the bucks will be breeding the does and can hunt accordingly.
The comment above about the basketball players and the number of offspring they would have is hilarious and accurate. I hope there is a trend amongst landowners, where appropriate, to limit doe harvest.
I probably value seeing a lot of deer when I hunt more than harvesting giants, so that weighs on my management goals as well. My ultimate goal is to get to the point that I experience one of those hunts that you see guys in Iowa capturing on film where 4-5 140"+ bucks enter a food plot. Perhaps that's unrealistic, but who wants realistic goals! But back to topic, as others have mentioned, limiting the number of does might increase buck sightings as they search for does, but that movement puts them in the cross hairs of my less discerning neighbors. It also increases fighting, which I think leads to more mortality than we know. I certainly know that from a calorie/pleasure standpoint I would assume bucks would prefer to have to breed 5 does versus breeding 1 doe and fighting to near death against another suitor. Additionally, if you know your property, you know the areas the bucks will be breeding the does and can hunt accordingly.
The comment above about the basketball players and the number of offspring they would have is hilarious and accurate. I hope there is a trend amongst landowners, where appropriate, to limit doe harvest.