Maybe he needs to talk with Dr. James Kroll better known as Dr. Deer. He has research ranches in texas and Michigan and will tell you point blank that to have a successful deer herd you need old bucks and young does. If you would like to know more you can email him at [email protected]
or check out this web page http://www2.sfasu.edu/forestry/faculty/kroll/deer.html

Here about four miles the way a crow flies 24 does with unborn lambs were put on the ice by coyotes. This stuff takes a big toll on our deer population. For me to shoot a doe at this time will only further deplete what is left out there. We need to have our does to increase our herd.
So, yes, I have let does go by me and with our mild winter last year our
tagging stations are showing a good gain from the last 9 or 10 years. With
a few more mild winters perhaps our numbers will once again be back up where they should be. All I can say is we have some hope. So far this year our tagging stations have passed the mark of all of last years hunting. So some thing must be going right for us ,right now any ways.
Would I have shot a big buck if I was lucky enough come across one with
my bow? You betcha I would but, does are out of the question for me here.

Also for me it is more of a guestion of preserving and protecting what we have here today instead of waiting and wishing I did that yesterday.

The main thing that we face in Louisiana is over population and food. We have to shoot does in order to provide enough food for the herd. So in saying that if you shoot the does you will have a healthier herd as a whole. Land will only hold so many deer in a herd. If you reduce the amount of does that you have you will have a better herd quality. You may not see as many deer as you want to but, the ones that you do see will be a lot healthier.

Also it sounds like someone needs to do some predator management up there.

In your case I can understand what you are saying, however here it is far from that problem. We have a lot of room for our deer herd to grow in. The feed for them is there as well, with our wood cutting and all else combinded it could not be better for them. Predators and snow is the biggest problem for them, as well as poachers.

You are right on the money with this one, but, do to the save the wildlife groups and the feds our program has been put on hold for the last three years. Now they are trying to attack the trappers here saying protected spieces need more protection. Like wolves and the eastern mountain lion that the state says are not even here. So anyone can figure this one out,
we have a hugh problem up in this neck of the woods.

I live in the timber capital of the south and I know what you are talking about with having what looks to be plenty of food. Whether there is enough for what you have to have a healthy herd is different than having enough for the does to keep breeding and having multiple fawns. there is a big difference between a big herd and a healthy herd. We started this hunting club in 1992 after a few years of hunting this area. We got on a management program and were issued over 100 doe tags and even with us filling half of them every year we still get over 100. The thing that has changed is that we have somewhat equaled out the population and our bucks have gotten bigger and most importantly our herd has gotten healthier. I've never hunted up north so I really don't have a grasp as to what you guys have up there. But I was raised to not shoot does and since I have done research on my own and studied proper deer management I have learned different. All I can say is call your congressman and complain about them giving in to the PETA's and other wacko groups. We have to take a stand for what we believe in or we will lose it to those nut jobs.

what's that supposed to mean? lol

Sounds to me like he was enjoying the show.

I agree with this statement, and here our herd is in great health with some of our big bucks exceeding 265lbs dressed out. Our bucks are all fat right now from eating the beechnuts and acorns. Lots of berries in the summer months and the like. They have alot of room to improve. The snow and ice appears to be the big problem when the coyotes chase after them. We have a high black bear population that also take a few fawns. With the past winter being mild our deer population has started rising this year. That is the first time we can actually see a rise in about 9 years. So last winter was good news for us. We are hoping for a few more mild winters to really give the herd a boost. With alot of young bucks being tagged right now we are hoping that there is alot of young does to help give them a much needed boost.