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Outdoor topics => The Outdoor Board => Topic started by: Qweaver on December 31, 2013, 10:54:39 PM

Title: Deer Season Over
Post by: Qweaver on December 31, 2013, 10:54:39 PM
Deer season is over for another year.  We have a big herd of deer on our newly bought farm.  I'll spend some time this summer with food plots and building blinds.  I want an insulated, heated blind for these old fragile bones next winter.  It just about froze me out this afternoon.  But I did snooze my way thru the last hour of daylight.  The whole herd probably walked by while I was asleep.
Title: Re: Deer Season Over
Post by: drobertson on January 01, 2014, 07:07:59 AM
Any chance to archery hunt?  and I will agree with the blind situation as well, been talking about it for too long,
I think its time to do it as well, we had a wet season coupled with wind, no fun swinging in a tree,   david
Title: Re: Deer Season Over
Post by: chain on January 01, 2014, 07:33:30 AM
We need another 30 day gun season, especially for doe. I sat in a blind last Sunday and watch at least 25 deer come out of the USDA "Private lease" wetland area into our fields. Of course they were on the other side out of range. I'm thinkin', twenty or so are doe + 2 fawns, they gotta eat [our soybeans] this summer.  ???

But no support from anyone. Another factor is most all hunters in the private lease area have feeders, plots, and cameras. The videos show the big trophy bucks and that's what they want, no does. As one hunter told me, "inside of every doe there could be a trophy buck waiting to be born. Hmmmm, I guess he has a point.

Title: Re: Deer Season Over
Post by: Qweaver on January 01, 2014, 08:39:25 AM
" As one hunter told me, "inside of every doe there could be a trophy buck waiting to be born"

A lot of research has shown that if you want big bucks, kill lot's of doe.  I have friends that manage their deer herd that way and they have big bucks galore.
Title: Re: Deer Season Over
Post by: coxy on January 01, 2014, 09:25:36 AM
ok don't want to get anyone mad but this is what I came up with    if you shoot a doe they say your killing 2-3 deer ok ill go along with that BUT you shoot a big buck how many deer are you killing 30-40- 50 that buck don't just mate with one doe   is this wrong to think this way ???
Title: Re: Deer Season Over
Post by: chain on January 01, 2014, 09:53:20 AM
Quote from: Qweaver on January 01, 2014, 08:39:25 AM
" As one hunter told me, "inside of every doe there could be a trophy buck waiting to be born"

A lot of research has shown that if you want big bucks, kill lot's of doe.  I have friends that manage their deer herd that way and they have big bucks galore.

Yes I've read that somewhere but I hunted a Deer Club in Mississippi several years back. They were very , very, strict about rack-points, couldn't shoot less than a eight pointer. I saw a hunter dismissed from camp for killing a six pointer, and another fellow killed a buck with one complete rack missing. He was sentenced to killing does, no bucks! :D

Maybe MM can lend his expertise later. But Coxy, I don't know but thought Bucks bred every doe they could find?
Title: Re: Deer Season Over
Post by: doctorb on January 01, 2014, 10:05:56 AM
Coxy-  Sure a buck can impregnate many does, but I would take your thinking one step further.  Do you think that he's the only buck in town?  I can assure you that, with does in heat, bucks will travel miles for her.  So killing a buck, even killing the dominant buck of the area, does NOT prevent the does from being impregnated.  It just prevents the does from being impregnated by him.  So the concept that killing bucks is the way to decrease deer population numbers is a false one and has been shown to be so by many studies. 

There are numerous reports on deer population control.  My recollection is that, to decrease the number of deer in a healthy population, one must kill about 50% or more of the does every year.  Now I don't have that reference, and if you would like me to research it I will, but the ability of this species to grow and expand, without any real predators but hunters and the automobile, is astonishing.  Killing a buck and thinking you just stopped a large number of fauns being born is erroneous, IMO.
Title: Re: Deer Season Over
Post by: beenthere on January 01, 2014, 11:16:35 AM
Quoteif you shoot a doe they say your killing 2-3 deer ok ill go along with that BUT you shoot a big buck how many deer are you killing 30-40- 50 that buck don't just mate with one doe

As said, the doe are not going to go in heat without some buck finding out, i.e. she is not "holding out" for one buck that is now missing from the herd because he was taken by a hunter.
Title: Re: Deer Season Over
Post by: clww on January 01, 2014, 11:33:39 AM
Correct. The doe will come into estrus for a 3-4 day cycle once each 28 days. This will happen repeatedly until she breeds, or spring starts. Some does may breed all the way into February or March, if they were not successful earlier during the rut (normally in October or November). She may start out hoping for the "Best Buck" until later, when she'll settle for a less-appealing suitor for the instinct of carrying on the species.
Title: Re: Deer Season Over
Post by: wesdor on January 01, 2014, 12:26:07 PM
We have a couple more weeks of doe only season here in Illinois.  I'm with others - if you shoot a buck, there are several others waiting to do his job.  When you shoot an adult doe, you typically are removing three deer that will be eating crops next summer.

I have 4 very good hunters that have been with us for the past 8 years.  They don't shoot a buck unless he has at least 8 points and know they have to take 2 doe for every buck or they won't be back next year.  So far this has been a slow year - 10 deer - 7 of them mature doe.  I try to pamper the hunters - when they shoot a deer, I drive the tractor with loader to the spot and pick it up for them, bring it back to the house and load it into their truck.

The farm just north of us is about 400 acres, allows only some cousins to hunt the place (and only that for the past 3 years).  Unfortunately, they will only shoot a trophy buck, so that doesn't help with the population control.  We have a huge herd in the area.

The deer really hit our crops hard every year.  I'm happy to have the herd numbers decrease, but not sure that is happening.
Title: Re: Deer Season Over
Post by: coxy on January 01, 2014, 04:54:35 PM
let me try this again I think it came out wrong  :) I under stand what every one is saying  but where I live there is nothing for them to eat (not very good stuff that is) once in a while we get a whopper but not to often  what I am trying to say I think is I tell every one here that when they see a whopper to let it go so as it will mate but every one has to hunt with in a mile or so of where they see it and kill it    and  is all we are getting is little bucks we have deer here that is 2-3 years old that are only 4 pointers this is not what we want so if you kill the monsters off the little ones are all that is left   this year the only bucks that were shot was two 8s one 9 and a 10 within about a5 mile square    there was herds of does 4-8 in each     the problem is (I think) is no one wants to kill the does because of killing 2-3 at one time  but in fact they must go at least 50%     but the state does not give out enough permits  so what is one to do   and as far as food plots to get bigger ones is a joke I spend my money and time for the next guy to get the deer     no one wants to help >:(       hope all understands what I am trying to say ;D
Title: Re: Deer Season Over
Post by: Red Good on January 01, 2014, 05:51:26 PM
Prety good setup for someone, I feed them all year and somebody else gets paid to harvest them on my land lots of time without permission.Then my insurance goes up if I hit one ! :(
Title: Re: Deer Season Over
Post by: Chuck White on January 02, 2014, 09:40:21 AM
Research has shown that "most" does are bred by small to medium bucks, not the big rackers!
Title: Re: Deer Season Over
Post by: terry f on January 02, 2014, 02:51:05 PM
   This is all managing for numbers, if you want less deer, kill does. If you want bigger bucks, you have you take out the dinks and lesser bucks (bad genes), but it takes everyone in a area being on the same page. This is where hunting leases seem to be a good deal, they can control what gets killed in their area, and they have a goal of bigger bucks.