best time to thin out does and does it hurt anything?
11-15-2007 | 12:52 PM
#11
Thread Starter
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 156
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From: jorden lake, NC
RE: best time to thin out does and does it hurt anything?
the reason i ask is because i want more bucks on our land (about 200acres), and i also and to see more bucks looking for does next year. and.....i want to take a few more w/ the bow
11-15-2007 | 01:08 PM
#12
Typical Buck
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 830
Likes: 0
From: Northwest Missouri
RE: best time to thin out does and does it hurt anything?
I don't harvest until after the rut. I think if a doe has become comfortable in an area then they will frequent the area quite a bit. Well if that doe is being chased during the rut and runs into my area then of course, I have the chance to harvest a buck if he is a shooter. If I shoot that doe before then I have no chance. That is just my opinion.
11-15-2007 | 02:11 PM
#13
Fork Horn
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 179
Likes: 0
From: ny
RE: best time to thin out does and does it hurt anything?
From a managers stand point you want to take your does out of the herd as early as possible. That way you will reduce the stress put on the buck population. Think of it like this.... What good does it do the herd to have bucks chasing then breeding does that you are just going to remove after the have expended all that energy!
From a hunters stand point you want to leave the does till after the rut so you can draw in the bucks.
From a hunters stand point you want to leave the does till after the rut so you can draw in the bucks.
11-15-2007 | 02:24 PM
#14
Nontypical Buck
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 4,911
Likes: 0
From: Minnesota
RE: best time to thin out does and does it hurt anything?
ORIGINAL: Jawshooter
From a managers stand point you want to take your does out of the herd as early as possible. That way you will reduce the stress put on the buck population. Think of it like this.... What good does it do the herd to have bucks chasing then breeding does that you are just going to remove after the have expended all that energy!
From a hunters stand point you want to leave the does till after the rut so you can draw in the bucks.
From a managers stand point you want to take your does out of the herd as early as possible. That way you will reduce the stress put on the buck population. Think of it like this.... What good does it do the herd to have bucks chasing then breeding does that you are just going to remove after the have expended all that energy!
From a hunters stand point you want to leave the does till after the rut so you can draw in the bucks.
11-15-2007 | 02:26 PM
#15
Giant Nontypical
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 5,425
Likes: 0
RE: best time to thin out does and does it hurt anything?
If you take the does early, the bucks will spend more time cruising, looking for does...
25 years ago, I put a hunter in the Killing Field...He saw 37 deer, no antlers...This was during the peak of the rut...I started agressively killing does....In the same field last week, we would see 8-10 does each evening...Killed 2 nice bucks, cruising....
Bucks have no need to "look" for does when the ratio is too high....Inferior bucks also get to breed during this time, by lowering the doe to buck ratio, the better bucks are taken by the does....
In most areas of NC the ratio is way out of wack and it will take 3-4 years to bring it down to where it needs to be...
25 years ago, I put a hunter in the Killing Field...He saw 37 deer, no antlers...This was during the peak of the rut...I started agressively killing does....In the same field last week, we would see 8-10 does each evening...Killed 2 nice bucks, cruising....
Bucks have no need to "look" for does when the ratio is too high....Inferior bucks also get to breed during this time, by lowering the doe to buck ratio, the better bucks are taken by the does....
In most areas of NC the ratio is way out of wack and it will take 3-4 years to bring it down to where it needs to be...
11-15-2007 | 03:37 PM
#16
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 661
Likes: 0
From: Antioch, IL
RE: best time to thin out does and does it hurt anything?
i'm more of the early season type... imho, kinda useless to drop a doe that may already be pregnant with what could be a nice buck... get 'em before the rut so the bucks don't waste their time breeding does that aren't gonna be around to raise their fawns...
now, the down side to early season does is accidentally taking a doe that is still nursing a fawn... i'd hate to see a fawn not make it cuz it has no protection or food yet...
now, the down side to early season does is accidentally taking a doe that is still nursing a fawn... i'd hate to see a fawn not make it cuz it has no protection or food yet...
