MBuckH72

For the past couple of years, Maryland has had an unlimited doe season. Yes, thats right....you could harvest as many doe as you wanted without an extra stamp!! The first year was 2 years ago. It was Region C (central MD), Bow only.....Last year, Region C and D during any season....now its region C only, any season. I work at a sport shop here in MD where we are also a check-in station. I have seen a couple of guys bring in 4 deer and check ' em in. We have a lot of doe here in Maryland, and some guys feel we should get rid of some of them for a QDM (quality deer management) kinda thing. I' m for the unlimited doe season, but I dont believe it should last too many years. A lot of people are against it.



What do you all think??

halcon

I would imagine your fish & game dept. has some kind of program figured out to manage the numbers . I remember when they first opened deer season for does here , You wouldn' t believe the peoples reactions to it . I think the best bet is let them do thier job . They are supposed to be the experts .

Tazman

Virginia may as well have unlimited doe in most counties, I figured it out last year and if you killed your limit of deer every day of the bow, blackpowder and gun season you could kill 3 bucks and over 100 doe legally as long as you bought bonus doe permits which are $12 for 2 tags. I can tell you right now that we are not even putting a dent in the doe population, trust your bioligist, they will stop the unlimited once the numbers start to get back into line.

wimp

We have a couple areas in PA here that are basically unlimited doe tags. The reason this is so is becuase no matter how many are shot, you can' t shoot them all becuase there is always land that is unaccessable to hunters. These are typiclaly suburban type areas, where too many deer can cause many problems. I feel in these areas, archery season should run sept 1 to feb 1, unlimited does. That is the best way to get to these deer and would really help the problem to be sovled.

timbercruiser

We can shoot a couple of hundred does legally, but I honestly don' t know anybody that will shoot over 5 or 6. Nobody wants to mess with dressing a doe and everybody is waiting for a good buck.

JagMagMan

MB, I wouldn' t be too concerned about overhunting the does! The game bioligists know what they are doing. Take as many does as you want to, within the law. In a couple of years, you will probably be seeing better deer and more bucks too!
As for those that don' t like hunters taking more does, we have a lot of people like that here too! I call it " the cattle ranch mentality!" 30 cows to one bull! That works fine for cattle, but it is not a good way to get a healthy deer herd!
Here in East Texas, most counties allow 2 bucks and two does. With doe season being roughly about a third of the season.
So not as many does are killed as bucks, and then with nature providing more does to bucks, you end up with a herd that is way out of balance! The bucks that you do have, won' t have to move to find does, so you end up not having many bucks, or seeing the few that are there!
So, enjoy the extended doe seasons now, and enjoy better bucks in a couple of years!

Solax

I don' t think it' s for QDM purposes, I think it' s because the deer population is in MD is so large. You see them everywhere. I think it' s a good idea for a few years and then they' ll start to tone it down. I' d rather have it this way then give them birth control or have the White Buffalo come in and slaughter them.

You could take unlimited does in Region D last year???? I didn' t know that, I hunt in Region D. Not like I got close to too much last year though.

JagMagMan

I realize that in your area, this is for population control. A healthier deer herd will be the number one side benifit of this though! And I agree that more liberal doe limits are far better than birth control or professional hunters!

MBuckH72

Yup, last year in Region D was unlimited Doe.....

And this birth control thing....That is the most pointless thing to lower the deer herd I have ever heard. A mature doe goes through, I believe, 3 cycles a year to have babies. If they dropped birth control, that will take care of the 1st or 2nd cycle, maybe just the first, but that would mean doe wouldn' t get pregnant for the first 2 cycles...than what??? A doe will let a buck breed her til she knows she is pregnant. If she isn' t pregnant the first 2 cycles, she' ll try again on the third! Third times a charm Next thing you know, you have a bunch of LATE born fawns that survived the harsh and terrible winter since they were in mommas stomach most of the time, resulting in a high population of fawns....meaning a high( or higher!)population of deer the next year

I don' t believe in the birth control...The unlimited doe season is perfect for the problem were having here in MD

mauser06

i agree if thats what needs done thats the best way to do it.....but i also agree with timber cruiser....not to many people are going to take that many does...sure you can take tons but who want to?? unless you need the meat and butcher your own your not going to kill more then you need...like me and my dad....we took 4 deer together last year...being the only venison eaters in the house we stopped there...we could have tagged 3 more deer...