ORIGINAL: charlie brown
Ok, I have read several times on here about people wanting to help out their herd, make it grow, get bigger bucks, etc. I am kind of at a loss as to what the reasoning is behind everyones thoughts. For example, Nevada (where I live) is 110,000 or so square miles. The deer herd last year was about 108,000.
Some good answers....
Concerning the "growing" or "bettering" of the deer herds. I think most of the posts here would talk about the "local" herds. The herd that is maintained is the one that stays within a few square miles from one central location. Most people will subliment natural food sources with food plots, feeders or licks. The concept is to help establish a "balanced" or "complete" diet. With the proper diet, good genes and letting the deer come of age then more "quality" or trophy bucks could be raised. More trophy bucks in a given herd then there is a higher chance to harvest them.
Does it work? Well some think so. Some don't. I think if you have a large track of land then you can manage a large portion of a herd. The balance of the herd will still wonder onto other lands.
Lots of deer here in Georgia. In our subdivision we have a herd of at least ten deer (seen 2 bucks and 8 does at one time) that I supliment thier natural food source with roses and day lillies! [:@] They were eating some lilies last night!! [:@] [:@]