Deer harvests

[richmanbarbeque]

What are your harvest goals for your property?
On my 60 acres it's 4 does and at least one mature buck. The does should be achievable, I'm over due for a buck.

 

[jmb4wd]

What are your harvest goals for your property?
On my 60 acres it's 4 does and at least one mature buck. The does should be achievable, I'm over due for a buck.

You and me both Richman! I have never killed a doe on our 225 acres, and the last buck I killed was when my daughter was in Kindergarden, and she started 6th grade yesterday!! I need to get busy!! But then again, we dont have near the numbers of deer as you have in and around your farm, or we dont appear to.

 

[PickettSFHunter]

Fentress 85 acres- I honestly dont have any harvest goals. Very few deer to begin with. Ive taken 1 deer, a buck, there in 4 years. Obviously Ive passed quite a few though. I would like to get to where I could kill a buck every couple of years though. Dont worry about killing does because its just not needed at all.

Morgan Co. 55 acres- I think averaging 2 does and 2 bucks is very doable. Get the does with a bow, no does allowed in rifle. Deer everywhere, at least in the eyes of someone that is used to few deer. Could kill many many more does there but it is a Unit B county.

 

[Bayou Buck]

On my 350 acres I want to take about 5 does and 2 bucks. I should probably shoot a few more does but I think the locals might keep the population down now that we are in unit L.

 

[BSK]

No real harvest goals other than maintaining an equal buck and doe harvest. Although I'm hoping our population has bounced back enough I can increase the doe harvest. I'll get some idea from the camera census running this month.

Buck harvest is more whatever each hunter wants. Half our hunters will kill a good 2 1/2 year-old while half hold out for anything 3 1/2+. I would like to see another decent mature buck or two killed.

 

[BowGuy84]

No real harvest goals for my land. We have killed 3 deer off it in 3 hunting seasons. Two does in early muzzleloader then I killed a buck with a bow 3 years ago.

I think well try and take a doe or two this year early if they cooperate, but mostly focused on 3.5 or older bucks. EDH hit the area hard and we are zone 3 for KY so I don't think controlling the heard is a big priority, but I do think it is starting to bounce back.

 

[woodchuckc]

I need to check my cameras (it has been a month since I have pulled memory cards), but based on sightings the total deer population has really bounced back big time this year. Up until this year, the rebound from the big EHD die-off has been very slow. I'm seeing 3-10 deer every morning and evening in the field behind my house, compared to just an occasional sighting in the past few years. I had 4 small bucks in my garden eating my purple hull peas and okra mad at one time a couple of weeks ago, and had 4 separate bucks and 3 does with fawns cross the road in front of me yesterday evening in the 3 miles from Hwy 100 to my place.

I think I should be able to take 3 does and 1 or maybe 2 bucks easily on my 142 acres this fall.

 

[richmanbarbeque]

BSK, Are your doe sightings down? Or are you just being careful?

 

[BSK]

I need to check my cameras (it has been a month since I have pulled memory cards), but based on sightings the total deer population has really bounced back big time this year. Up until this year, the rebound from the big EHD die-off has been very slow.

That's what I'm HOPING to see. The bounceback has been extremely slow due to very poor fawn survival since the outbreak. However, we saw much better fawn survival last year, so I'm hoping to a see a significant population increase this year.

 

[BSK]

BSK, Are your doe sightings down? Or are you just being careful?

Although we didn't experience much of a dieoff on my place (we lost only 15% of the resident population to EHD), much of our hunting season deer population moves up from the neighboring bottomlands once the crops have been harvested and the acorns begin to fall up in the hills. And the bottomland deer populations took a whipping from EHD (probably because of all the stagnant swamps in the bottoms). So we have had very little migration of deer up into a our hill country the last few years. In addition, fawn survival has been terrible since the outbreak (generally only about 20% fawn recruitement). However, last year the fawn recruitment jumped back up to around 60%, so I'm hoping to see a better population this year. That's still not the fanw survival I want to see (80+%), but it is a major improvement.

 

[richmanbarbeque]

On the fawn survival is that been from a lack of cover? With your logging do you expect that to increase? by how much if so?

 

[JCDEERMAN]

On our 700 acres, I personally want to kill several does with a bow and a few with a gun...maybe 5 or 6 total. Also, any good 3 1/2+ yo buck. I passed up a 3 1/2 last year on the last weekend of hunting season and I dont know if I can do it again

 

[megalomaniac]

I want to see if I can kill 10 does out of a wide-open 40 acre field over the season. It's not gonna be easy after the first couple, but I've got a few new tricks up my sleeve for this year (legal, of course).

Last year on the last day of my hunt over T'giving, I saw 22 doe/fawns all at one time in this field. There may have been more that came/went during that morning hunt. I didn't have time to butcher deer that morning as I had to leave by 10AM back to MS, so I didn't get to thin any out. This year they're gonna get a hurt put on them.

Can't wait to see what 250 acres of waist-high soybeans are gonna do to the bucks on another farm. I'm hoping to go from average antler scores of 105" on mature bucks to at least 120".

 

[BSK]

On the fawn survival is that been from a lack of cover? With your logging do you expect that to increase? by how much if so?

I think it was due to the severe late summer droughts for several years in a row, and a cyclic explosion in the coyote population. Luckily, the coyote population appeared to be falling off last year.

Although the quality of our cover had fallen off some in the last few years, I was seeing low fawn recruitment even from the bottomland deer (and several of my clients scattered around the area were also reporting low fawn recruitment).

 

[Football Hunter]

Whacking does,no kidding,no mercy this year after last years trail cam,and field observations,I wont type what I think my buck to doe ratio is,cause I know BSK will say its impossible BUt I sure have plenty,and now IM unit L,blood bath is coming soon.

 

[richmanbarbeque]

Whacking does,no kidding,no mercy this year after last years trail cam,and field observations,I wont type what I think my buck to doe ratio is,cause I know BSK will say its impossible BUt I sure have plenty,and now IM unit L,blood bath is coming soon.

You know where I'm at.

 

[Football Hunter]

Lets do it!The death toll will rise!Can you see 6 stacked up one bow evening/morning?I got em.

 

[Boone 58]

What are your harvest goals for your property?
On my 60 acres it's 4 does and at least one mature buck. The does should be achievable, I'm over due for a buck.

On our 3000 acres it is for all 25 members to harvest one buck at least of acceptable size and at least 2 does.

Of course we usually only harvest around 10 or 12 bucks but then that is why it is hunting and not everyone scores on the "shooter" bucks.

 

[HOOK]

175 acres I have been taking 5 does a year and one buck. Last year I gave it a rest and decided not to take any does and took 2 bucks. Still not sure what I'm going to do this year. Seeing what's on foot will help me make a decision.