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Tennessee Hunting Forums
Quality Deer Management
Managing Expectations
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<blockquote data-quote="BSK" data-source="post: 754543" data-attributes="member: 17"><p>From what I have seen in the ridge-and-hollow hardwood regions of TN, in a free-ranging herd, hunters would be doing <em>exceptionally well</em> to produce a buck population that is 10% mature bucks (4 1/2 and older). And let's assume a well-managed herd has a adult sex ratio of 1.5 adult does per adult buck and the fawn recruitment rate of 80% (8 fawns per every 10 adult does survive to the hunting season). So in this well-managed herd, 27% of the population is adult bucks (1 1/2+ years old), 41% is adult does, and 32% is fawns pre-hunt (for every adult buck there are 1.5 adult does and 1.2 fawns in the population).</p><p></p><p>With a local herd density of 30 deer per square mile, on average there are 8.1 bucks per square mile. If 10% of the buck population is mature, then there are only 0.81 mature bucks per square mile, or 1 mature buck per 790 acres. If you drop the deer density down to 20 deer per square mile there would only be 1 mature buck for every 1,185 acres.</p><p></p><p>Now lets throw in the fact that in this terrain/habitat region, the average mature buck is only going to score in the low 120s, with two-thirds of all mature bucks being +/- 10 inches of that average (67% of mature bucks will score between 110 and 130). If only 10% of mature bucks top 140 gross, then in a 30 deer per square mile herd there would only be one 140+ mature buck for every 7,900 acres and in a 20 deer per square mile herd one mature buck over 140 for every 11,850 acres.</p><p></p><p>I hope this example shows why it simply isn't realistic to think you can manage for mature bucks with only 300 acres to work with and gives some concept of why mature buck harvests are so rare, even on well-managed properties, and why top-end antlered bucks are even more rare.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="BSK, post: 754543, member: 17"] From what I have seen in the ridge-and-hollow hardwood regions of TN, in a free-ranging herd, hunters would be doing [i]exceptionally well[/i] to produce a buck population that is 10% mature bucks (4 1/2 and older). And let's assume a well-managed herd has a adult sex ratio of 1.5 adult does per adult buck and the fawn recruitment rate of 80% (8 fawns per every 10 adult does survive to the hunting season). So in this well-managed herd, 27% of the population is adult bucks (1 1/2+ years old), 41% is adult does, and 32% is fawns pre-hunt (for every adult buck there are 1.5 adult does and 1.2 fawns in the population). With a local herd density of 30 deer per square mile, on average there are 8.1 bucks per square mile. If 10% of the buck population is mature, then there are only 0.81 mature bucks per square mile, or 1 mature buck per 790 acres. If you drop the deer density down to 20 deer per square mile there would only be 1 mature buck for every 1,185 acres. Now lets throw in the fact that in this terrain/habitat region, the average mature buck is only going to score in the low 120s, with two-thirds of all mature bucks being +/- 10 inches of that average (67% of mature bucks will score between 110 and 130). If only 10% of mature bucks top 140 gross, then in a 30 deer per square mile herd there would only be one 140+ mature buck for every 7,900 acres and in a 20 deer per square mile herd one mature buck over 140 for every 11,850 acres. I hope this example shows why it simply isn't realistic to think you can manage for mature bucks with only 300 acres to work with and gives some concept of why mature buck harvests are so rare, even on well-managed properties, and why top-end antlered bucks are even more rare. [/QUOTE]
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