bowhunterlimerick

definately i think this would be a great idea were still over run with deer here in PA

portable ladder

yes, with a ten-point limit on bucks, in case the big boy walked by

newman1

I'll support any season that let's me put sausage in the freezer

killer243

always used to be that way in pa and i loved it. saw lots of deer everyday, bucks during the two weeks of doe and doe's in the 3 days of buck season.

now that it is buck/doe if i am lucky i will see 1 deer a day during rifle season.

if i had it my way this is how it would be setup:
-1 week of bow bucks only
-5 weeks of bow bucks/doe's
-two week break and then a week of junior/ senior doe hunt
-during the jr., sr. week you could also use muzzeloaders for doe's
-3-4 week break then two days with rifles of buck only followed by 4 days doe only.
-then 2 weeks of buck/doe with a rife
- finnally a 3-5 week break and then 3 weeks of late muzzeloader + bow for buck/doe

and the tag system would be
-1 achery only buck tag
- 1 doe tag and 1 rifle only buck tag. after filling your doe tag you send it in and get you recive a second and finally doe tag tag

killer243

oh and i just thought i should mention. before the buck/doe season's here in PA we would normally take 4-5 bucks and 8-11 does. now that it is buck/doe and 3 doe tags we kill about 4-6 bucks a year and 10-20 does

uphunter15

I would have no problem with that!!! Heck, I usually end the season with a doe only anyway!!! I will be hard to convince the older generations though, they like to get their buck in my parts no matter what size or age.

hunter9022

We have a doe only season the last 15 days of archery. But, i think because of the weather and stuff most people dont go. And we have doe only rifle seasons in december. I dont know if u could get away with a strict doe only season for a year though.

Sylvan

[This has been posted before but I thought it might be appropriate for this discussion]

With regard to doe:buck ratios.....

The term doe to buck ratio is thrown around a lot but it’s a number that needs to be qualified in order to be understood. There are actually 3 distinctly different doe:buck ratios that are of significance. They are total, mature and perceived. Total is the ratio of all females to males, mature is all sexually mature females to sexually mature males and perceived which is what most hunters generally mean when they use the term. The perceived ratio is not a doe:buck ratio at all but rather the ratio of antlered to non-antlered deer. These 3 ratios are quite different and are most meaningful only in their proper context. For example if your talking about breeding, the mature ratio is of more significance than perceived and inversely if you are talking about hunter satisfaction, the perceived is more meaningful.

Another EXTREMELY important qualification in regard to understanding the doe:buck ratio term is WHEN in the yearly cycle it is being applied. A 4:1 ratio just before hunting season opens can easily become 15 or 20 to 1 by the end of the season so it can be quite misleading to use a mid or late season perceived ratio as THE doe to buck ratio. Especially during hunting season and especially in heavily hunted areas the doe:buck ratios can change a lot and they can change fast.

You will often hear hunters talk about the doe:buck ratio being 9 or 10 to 1 in there area but to put in perspective how misleading this statement can be, consider this. If in a population of whitetail deer we make the following assumptions. These assumptions will tend to make the doe:buck ratio as high as possible:

- NO females die until they are 5 ½ years old
- ALL 1 ½ year old males are killed during hunting season
- All mature females give birth to 1 buck and 1 doe fawn that survive to 1 1/2 and 5 1/2 respectively

then the following is a mathematical certainty for the beginning of hunting season:

- Total doe:buck = 1.61
- Total mature doe:buck = 2.57
- Total perceived doe:buck = 5.71

Because this scenario will tend to make these ratios as high as possible we can say that in any realistic scenario, the total doe:buck ratio can not exceed 1.61 at the beginning of the season.

Please think about all this when you use the term doe:buck ratio.

vangunsmith

Doe hunts have been a proven tool for good management of deer herds in many states were the herds are helthy and thrive. Some of the old timers think its wrong to shoot does.They are sadly mislead in there thinking. Healthy herds in other states,have big incomes with out of state hunters,as well.Most states fish and game dept,or conservation departments have complete control over this management tool. Some states were there F&G depts do not have control,show this because of the states lacking deer herds,and because of that lack of hunters interest. In the state of confusioin were i live the F&G must submit a application for any deer hunting to the local caounty boards of superviosors for there approval.As of date there are 58 counties in this state. Some conties that really need a doe hunt harvest,isn,t passed because the supervisors want to be re-elected and the pressure put on them buy non-hunters and all these bleeding heart groups. So the bottom line is that only the state,and hunters suffer. vangunsmith

thesource

I also agree not in NY - we have whacked the hell out of does for years, and it caught up to us last year. Harvest is down 35% in 2 years - both does and bucks. Some areas are likely to be nearly buck only next year, like the old days.

Don't overdo a good thing!