I know a lot of folks say shooting alot of doe will make the rut more intense. My question or statement is this: I've shot several doe on my land and I dont see any change in the rut or big buck sightings(plus the neighbors shoot EVERY doe they see),But my father-in-law and his neighbors ,which own together i think 1,200 acres, never shoot anything but deer with atleast 8pts and they have many many deer! They kill atleast 2 great bucks a piece each year and my son's 1st deer was a 9pt from there last year! Is this a better practice?

Just shooting all your does leaving only a couple will not make a more intense rut. The bucks would just move on to the next property for the does.

Certainly more qualified people on here than Me but I would think a more balanced Doe to Buck ratio makes a healthy deer population.

I am not more qualified, but a healthier deer population isn't necessarily healthier deer population to hunt. As already stated deer sightings may go down and it may be significant.

Absolutely. Not only may the deer density be lower, but by placing intense harvest pressure on the does, you can drive them far more nocturnal than they were before you applied the pressure.

When I hunt my in-laws place I'd see at least 20 does a hunt and most days there would be a 2.5 yr old buck cruising through also, and on my farm before the thumping of does I would see many 1.5 bucks and does but now The sightings of all deer is way way down! Last year it seemed like the place was dead and the habitat is wonderful.

Changing the social dynamics of a local deer population is matter of what is being killed over a fairly wide area. What deer you see on your property are also travelling across many other properties, where they are subject to different harvest strategies.

Your father-in-law is probably pretty lucky that someone nearby is shooting does or that population would get too high, greatly reducing body and antler growth.

BSK.....we used to try and take several doe every year because of the idea it was good for the dynamics of the herd but we got away from it because we could not see much changing . We have maybe killed 3 doe in the last 10 years and the quality and numbers of the bucks has gotten better with each passing year. I am sure that bordering hunters are taking some but just not sure of how many but I do not hear many shots as I did years ago. I guess the selective nature of the surrounding hunters is one big factor in the quality of the bucks also.

I mostly kill does with a bow,seems less intrusive,but that may be just in my mind

Since bucks don't breed as many does as most hunters think, taking out more doe will likely have little affect on the rut. IMO. many bucks may only breed one doe per year and some will not breed at all. once a buck finds a hot doe and gets with her, he takes himself out of the race, so to speak. Sure, bucks run around crazy during most ruts, but they can also disappear with a doe and then it's game over....


JMO

We have maybe killed 3 doe in the last 10 years and the quality and numbers of the bucks has gotten better with each passing year.

I have no facts to support it but last year was a really strange year.

You can say that again! But I don't think it was due to changes in hunting dates. I feel strongly it was driven by environmental conditions (climate).

year before last were'nt no picnic either...least not where I hunted..

Yup, that was the EHD year, which threw another monkey wrench into everything.

that was also the year that we had many of the oaks and other trees around here keeping and holding their green leaves looong after they should have been gone. even the robins didn't act like they normaly do to me....it seemed like almost every sign of fall missed the que.......it was crazy...