Age of antlerless deer harvests.

[hard county]

Ok what is best, as far as I can tell there is some dispute among qdma members with this topic.
My questions:
What is the best age class doe to kill in an overpopulated area?
What is the best (if any) age class doe to kill in an underpopulated area?
What is the best age class doe to kill in a heavily skewed buck/doe ratio environment?

 

[BSK]

Ok what is best, as far as I can tell there is some dispute among qdma members with this topic.
My questions:
What is the best age class doe to kill in an overpopulated area?

Every last one you can put your sights on.

What is the best (if any) age class doe to kill in an underpopulated area?

Probably the youngest, as older does generally produce more surviving fawns than young does. But in an underpopulated herd I would probably keep doe harvests low and equal to buck harvests.

What is the best age class doe to kill in a heavily skewed buck/doe ratio environment?

Every last one you can put your sights on for a year or two, then re-evaluate.

 

[hard county]

Thanks, that seems to be the answer from most, and in my opinion the most competent one, But Ive also heard the "shoot the old ones who are the most fertile" argument. Does QDMA have a pat answer?

 

[BSK]

Thanks, that seems to be the answer from most, and in my opinion the most competent one, But Ive also heard the "shoot the old ones who are the most fertile" argument. Does QDMA have a pat answer?

Nope. There answer would be "every situation is site specific."

 

[hard county]

Ha! Thats a safe answer. I appreciate the reply.

 

[Hillbilly Hunter]

many variables

 

[BSK]

The biggest problem is field judging the age of does. Most can pick out yearling does from older does, but after that, aging gets tough. Not until a doe becomes a real old nanny can I really tell the differences in the older age-classes. Basically, 2 1/2 to 4 1/2 or 5 1/2 I really can't tell.

 

[Bob S]

The biggest problem is field judging the age of does.

I think the reason for that is does don't always increase in body weight as they age like bucks do. In the 8 years I have owned my property, the average field dressed weight of a harvested doe is 101 pounds. The two oldest does harvested both had field dressed weights below the average.

My records are at camp, but from memory, I think the heaviest field dressed doe was a 3 1/2 year old.

 

[BSK]

Yearling does are sexually mature but the big variable is female fawns. In excellent habitat, a high percentage of female fawns reach sexual maturity. In moderate to poor habitat only a small number of fawns breed.

In TN's hardwoods, you would be doing good to see 25% of female fawns breeding. In Iowa, 80% of female fawns breed.

 

[BigGameGuy]

Also, yearlings may or may not get bred where as mature Does usually always get bred.

Like Brian said, yearling does get bred, upwards of 95% according to our reproductive studies. The question mark are the fawn does, in good areas, a larger percentage of the fawn does get bred.

 

[Boone 58]

I killed an aged 6.5 doe at Laurel hill WMA some years back and i can tell you that was the worst looking animal i have ever laid eyes on. Her coat was ragged and rough looking like i have never seen. The oldest known age of a deer i have ever killed. I still wonder to this day if she was really even older than that.

 

[BSK]

From Mickey Hellickson's research into the accuracy of the Severinghuas Tooth-wear Aging technique, he found that as tooth-wear indicated age gets older, there is an increasing chance the deer is actually older than indicated. By the time tooth-wear indicates a deer is 4 1/2 there is actually a better-then-even chance that the deer is actually 5 1/2. By the time toothwear indicates 5 1/2 almost all deer are actually 1 to 2 years older than that. By the time you hit 6 1/2 by toothwear, a deer can be several years older than indicated.

Generally that's where most tooth-aging ends. The deer is simply classified as 6 1/2+. Anything beyond that is an educated guess, and every time I've seen these very old deers' ages guestimated, cementum annuli testing suggest the deer is much older. My ex-boss killed a buck in Kansas we both thought was probably 7 1/2 by tooth-wear aging. Cementum annuli indicated the bucks was actually 11 1/2 years old.

The toothwear aging technique is quite good at producing minimum ages, so I like the technique for that very reason. From a management standpoint, I would rather under-age a deer than over-age a deer.