buckmine

Thanks for the responses but I started getting confused on how the replies went off on topics I didn't talk about. As usual I don't get to the point and clarify my intentions for asking the question in the first place.

First of all I never mentioned that I didn't like deer meat or thought it was gamey. That is the furthest from my mind and taste buds. I love the taste. Secondly I didn't want to give the impression that I am whining about not getting deer.

I guess my main intention was the fact that so many people are thrilled to even see a deer they will shoot it even if it is a young deer or a group will have the mentallity that if is is a deer they will shoot first a see what it is later. My question that I asked about deer meat was provoked from reading about PA antler restrictions. People possibly shooting deer and letting them lay.

This deer season our group took a spike, small 8 pointer and a nice ten pointer that has taken over as the biggest deer since I have been hunting which is going on 22 years. I would have taken a doe if what came to me was a doe. Problem was that it was a fork that came to me one morning. Also I have my stand in an area I have dubbed big bucks only stand. Because it is so close to the deers bedding area. And during gun season I got a thrill with deer running all around me by a buck chasing them. I would have taken a shot at this buck if it would have presented a shot. I hope this clarifies my intention on asking the meat question............

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skeeter 7MM

Buckmine, the anti did still the post and still has it. In the future we should all just ignore the weasels.

I never got the impression you were whining, etc. I think you posed a good question and got some good responses at the start.

Everybody has there reasons, standards and own goals or objectives with hunting, it isn't one size fits all. I think thats what makes it such a great sport. I started out as first legal deer its down, than I went to a stage of a better buck than last year, then mature bucks only and finally trophy. I love the meat i just choose to shot a doe for the freezer or if down to the last day I will take a mature buck on the downslide to keep the breeding herd up in genetics(I guess Deer Management or TBM whatever you want to call it). I believe in letting all the young bucks walk and even if it is the last day I won't shoot one for the freezer, if I have to go without that is a price I pay for my choice. I hunt on public land, so I know every buck I pass may end up in a freezer, but I also know that evry buck I pass has a better chance to continue to grow. Like Lazyarcher I still dream about that monarch that hasn't come my way yet and know one day it will. I have shot some good deer over the past 10 years and have a few on the wall, while satisfied with my hunting thus far...I still crave more knowledge and just plain more. Just like the meat hunter or what have you. Basically we are all the same, just can't get that taste out of our mouth...um more hunting(to quote Mr. Homer Simpson)! It is an uncureable disease, but I don't mind.

BTW, sound like you have a good spot and had a great season...CONGRATS!!!

buckmine

Thanks for labeling me inbetween, because I think I am. I can hold out on dreaming seeing we got three bucks. It is amazing what is going on around our land. Our county is in the top five for high buck harvests. And this year bucks are all over the place. I have a camera out in the woods and have seen many bucks bowhunting that are not on any camera shots. Plus we shot three and our neighbors shot four bucks. Our three I never saw on film or bowhunting. If it weren't for us getting three deer I would have shot that fork buck that I was hoping was a doe.

I can only hope that me being an inbetween hunter(meat vs. antler) that someday I can get a bigger deer than my fathers 14 pointer. Who could say that a small deer might be followed by one of those big boys. Maybe the big deer have learned to follow and let the leading deer test the safest pathway. Still dreaming in Minnesota..........

MattInNH

I'm not at all versed in QDM, so this may be a stupid question, but I'm going to ask it anyway.

Is the trend towards shooting does for meat and letting the smaller bucks walk something that's occuring in areas where there is an overpopulation of deer?

In the areas I hunt there aren't many deer to begin with, and by my thinking if I shoot a doe for the meat I'm effectively killing two deer(the doe and the fawn she'd have in the spring). If I shoot a small buck for meat instead then I'm only killing that one deer, since another buck will certainly step up and take over any breeding that the buck I shoot would've done.

Is there a flaw in my reasoning, or is the 'does for meat, bucks for headgear' mentality mostly limited to areas with a very high population of deer?

buckmine

No flaw in your thinking but isn't it amazing how we think we devestated the herd when we see no deer after the season but next summer the deer thrive and it still is considered overpopulated. Is New Hampshires herd low? I feel for you Easterners because I get a feeling that urban sprawl is happening quicker in the eastern states. I see it here in Minnesota and I think it is out of control. I would rather see high rise apartments in the cities than houses with manicured lawns. Here in MN our traffic problems are increasing. The prices of houses closer to Minneapolis have sky rocketed because peopl want to move closer to the Cities to avoid traffic....

WThunter

There are people who know much more about deer populations than I do who make the laws and limits for harvesting deer. If someone wants meat, needed or not, they have a right to take a legal deer. I think some people underestimate deer's ability to survive. I saw a great quote, maybe on here, "Deer make a living staying alive". They are the professionals. The young deer that manage to live have better genes to survive. That is the same reason twin genes get past on and more and more does have twins. Chances are that 1 out of every 2 will die some how, by man or beast, but those genes survive through the other twin.

We as hunters shouldn't question what another hunter chooses to harvest. We all have our own ideas about what we are going to harvest. Those ideas change the longer we hunt. I have changed and matured as a hunter. I will not shoot young buck anymore. But I will shoot a doe or two or three for meat.

skeeter 7MM

Matt, I am not sure what the deer population is like in New Hampshire. Basically QDM is a 1:1, 1:2 (buck vs Doe) ratio. What this does is makes the bucks compete for breeding rights, thus increasing your gene pool for antlers and strong animals in general. Harvesting does where the ratio is 4 or 5, etc to 1 is essential. In areas that have a good buck to doe ratio, then harvesting equal amounts of each sex would be considered QDM. ie: 1 doe and 1 buck.

Your level of thinking is what many biologists and DNR dept. thought was QDM years ago. In areas where the deer population has thrived or in some case over populated this proved to be flawed. I am not saying your's is flawed, b/c it depends on the actual population and ratio in your area. (you can probably get est. number from the DNR in New Hampshire, just to check.)

I wouldn't say you must shoot a doe if the Ratio is out of control/check with only 1 tag available/year...I know I don't. But given the choice a doe or immature buck, the doe would be the right choice for QDM ( and TBM - Trophy Buck Management).

MattInNH

After a bit of reading, I've found that deer density in NH is thought to be below 15 deer per square mile across the whole state. Also, in all but on management district the state's management goal is to increase the size of the herd. The newest numbers I could find('01-'02 season) said we had a 1:1.5 buck to doe ratio.

So with a small herd and a good balance, wouldn't it make sense to take a small buck over a doe sometimes to help the herd grow?

What I found most interesting is that 27 percent of the adult buck population is 2.5 years old and 27 percent are 3.5 years or older. There are some real monsters up in the mountains.

JimPic

MattInNH,don't woory about shooting does.Here in Pa.,the deer pop.runs anywhere from 1-1.4 million deer-every year-and our annual kill averages 400,000-500,000.So believe me,they have a tendancy to bounce back.