EddieD

I am new to deer hunting and my question is how many deer should I harvest in a given season to maintain a good population. Of course I know I am limited by my county bag limit, but I have friends I like to invite and I don't want to over hunt the deer population. Here are some details:

1. I have 250 acres in central Texas right on the Brazos river. Very rural, surrounded by other farms for miles, so deer migration is easy and likely. Lots of coyotes too so that probably impacts fawn survival.
2. Last year I set up my cameras and started feeding. Last year's data showed 4 bucks, one of which is a legal spread, and one MIGHT be a legal spread. There were also does coming in, but just not sure how many individual does, my eyes and the pictures... I'd say between 3- 5 does.

I have set up my cameras again and will start seeing what deer come in, but for sake of argument let's say I have 2 legal bucks and 4 doe coming to my feeder. So my question is what limits should I place on harvesting in order to assure good population in years to come? 1 buck/2 doe? 2 bucks/2 doe? Something else? Is there a good rule of thumb to follow?

Thanks!