SC - D/B Ratio Out of Control

[sccoyotehunter]

I have heard from several different reliable sources that the doe/buck ratio in the piedmont of South Carolina is close to 25:1. Exactly what is an acceptable ratio?

[LASTBOYSCOUT]

i live in INDIANA and around here the normal ratio is 8 doe to 1 buck if this is any help there you go

[yeoman]

You need to be more specific about ratios. The are few if any doe=female to buck=male ratios over 3 to 1 in this country. That is because the herd consists of 40% young of the year. Of every 10 deer, 4 are fawns of which 2 are button bucks. One of the 10 is a buck 1 1/2 or older. That makes 3 males. If 3 are males, and 7 females, the ratio is 2.33 to 1. Even if you had no males over 1 1/2 which of course means the deer will be extinct by Spring, the ratio would be 8 to2 = 4 to1.

What you are describing is seeing 10 to 1 antlerless deer. Antlerless does not = female. Your problem is with age structure. If the fawn bucks in your herd lived for 1 or 2 or 3 years, you would see more "antlered" deer as a percentage of the herd. So....you don't have a buck/doe ratio problem, you have an age structure problem.

[BIGBUCKfan]

It's hard to tell whether the deer population is exactly a certain size. Although if you have hunted hard during the season and haven't seen many bucks or any bucks at all, and this pattern is a repeat of the previous year, the hunters on your property need to adjust their type of hunting. If they have been taking only bucks for quite a while then chances are doe numbers are up. You don't want the doe numbers to be high, and you don't want them to get too old. Because then they start to get smart and if they spot you in your stand, and they have fawns with them those fawns will be taught to check that stand each time they come in to your area. You need to take those type of deer from the heard. And the main concern you need to keep in the back of your head is that the older a doe gets the higher the chances are that they will have a doe fawn rather than a buck fawn, so this can raise the does population rather quick.

[lemond33]

if that is the ratio...it is out of wack. the bucks would have no competition during the breeding season.