......Do you happen to have an estimate on the B/D ratio in Treasure Lake? I found an interesting quote from your hunt chairman online that makes some pretty strange claims. See for yourself:
To show some of the evolution from the beginning to where it is going, here is what the new Chair of the Wildlife Committee at Treasure Lake has to say:
http://www.camospace.com/archer58inPA
I am also lucky enough to Chair a Wildlife Committe in the suburban community I live in. We oversee a deer management program in an area that has only been bow hunted by a group of residents and guests for the last 2 years. The 6000 acres here has not been hunted for 40years until 2006.
Our challenge is
herd balance. buck to Doe ratio within the area is 1 to 30. Not very good at all.
Our goal is to take 400 does and 40 bucks.
I read an article a while back from none other than Kip Adams that pretty much stated that any ratio beyond 1:4 is impossible in a natural setting, and taking it one step further, wouldn't an unhunted population be closer to 1:1 due to lack of any kind of focused hunter effort on the buck herd? I'll try to find the link to Kip's article, but interesting that Ms Davis (GTF) supported this same doctrine as she was the one referencing the quote by your chairman in the first place. I think it's kinda scary how close she came to being appointed to the BOC, if she truly believes that such an outrageously skewered B/D ratio could exist. I'm also concerned that the guy in charge of managing your hunt could be so uninformed as well. Curious if you have any other insight into how they reached that stunning conclusion.
Here is the quote from Kip Adams.:
<H1>Understanding deer sex ratios
By Kip Adams, Quality Deer Management Association
Hunters often ask about the sex ratio of the deer herd where they hunt and then compare that ratio to herds in other areas or states. There are a lot of misunderstandings regarding sex ratios and this article will help clarify some misconceptions.
What is a sex ratio and how is it determined?
The sex ratio is a number describing the number of adult females for each adult male in a population. The number includes deer 1.5 years and older (all deer except fawns) and describes the population immediately before the hunting season . When comparing ratios, make sure you are referring to pre-hunt adult sex ratios. These are the ratios biologists most often refer to, and they should not be confused with observed or post-hunt ratios as the latter are nearly always heavily skewed towards females.
Understanding deer sex ratios
I often hear hunters, outdoor writers, and even biologists refer to 10:1 or 15:1 doe:buck ratios. These cannot be pre-hunt adult ratios because as long as the deer herd is reproducing, the ratio cannot become more skewed than 5 does per buck. The biological maximum is about 5:1 because even if no does are harvested, 15-20% of the adult females in the population will die each year from old age, vehicles, disease, predators, etc. Also, about 50% of fawns born each year are male (it's actually slightly more than 50%), thus the sex ratio gets an annual correction when fawns are recruited.
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