It all depends on your buck to doe ratio. Most places there are alot more does than bucks, and your gonna see more does because they are generaly more active than bucks during daylight. The best way is to try and get as acurate of a estimate asyou can from sightingsof number of bucks compaired to number of does. The ideal ratio would be one buck to no more than two does. I hunt a 775 acre farm and from the best I could tell last year the ratio was somewhere around 1 buck to 6 or 7 does. So myself and the other guys who hunt the farm went on doe patrol and ended up taking somthing like 20 does and 5 bucks. I was doing a little summer scouting last weekend and Ill tell you this, we didnt even put a dent in them.
This is GREAT information right here, guys. This is what I'm up against. When talking to my wildlife bio......he told me we could shoot EIGHTEEN and probably not notice a discernable difference. I may be whackin does for a few years.
This.....and I'm only hunting deer that are ranging over about 1 square mile+. Keep a good log (re: Sightings per hunt...and the ratio)....contact your wildlife biologist.....and let him tell you what you need to harvest.
Then....you just have to be disciplined enough to stick to the plan. I hope I am. He also told me, though.....that taking a buck wasn't a bad thing. My suggestion was to not take one, this year. HE told ME to go ahead. It's another mouth eating, to him.....and theres another buck (fawn) to replace him in the dynamic. Maybe I will....maybe I won't.
GREAT thread!