Tons of resources out there for deer mgmt. Read it, learn it, and live it!! Some of the posts that I have seen in this thread are off the wall lol.

You are correct davidmil, I did not put that in my post, but it was the the law then. A law aimed at increasing the deer population, which was sorely needed at the time. And it worked well.

The problem is that human nature is such that we resist change, and for the most part we get worse about it as we age. I know I do. It is hard to tell people that what they grew up with is not what is needed anymore, that circumstances have changed requiring new approaches. Especially if that land has been in their family for generations. To them it is the same place it was when they were a kid, why don't the rules stay the same? By the same token, my father-in-law is in his 70's and is one of the more open-minded people I know.

Now we could make this a real hot topic by getting into state wildlife departments and how regulations are set Well, maybe not.

And just for the record, my degree in wildlife biology was taught to me by old timers who had "seen the elephant", back before Holiday Inn Express even existed.

I was always told that if you shoot a doe that 3 less deer you will have next year.. blah blah blah.. my dad and grandfather were believers in that theory.. F that.

My theory is the first thing that walks by me is dead. Shooting a buck is nice and all, but i want the meat in the freezer. I am just as happy to shoot a doe as i am a buck. You cant eat the rack.

Another thing i was told by someone else is that you shoot the smaller doe (this years fawn) because its unproven whether she can breed or not.

Whatever.. I dont care young doe, big doe, Buck.. Its dead.. it goes in my freezer and feeds me all winter!

You can't hang'em on the wall and I don't like venison that much!





That outta start some discussion

I guess it depends on where you are. In my area, we had a 20:1 doe/buck ratio not too many years ago. It is more like 5:1 in my area now. Even with that, a lot of people won't take does. I guess it is a holdover to the time where we didn't see many deer period back in the 60's and 70's and a doe was like gold. These same people wonder why the quality of the bucks isn't as great. I have no problems sticking a doe (with an arrow).

Sure you can.....our local taxidermist said he does about 30 shoulder mounts on does/fawns a year. I personally wouldn't though.