How do you implement the selective harvest portion of QDM in an area with one buck tag only? The ratio is buck to doe ratio is something like 1 in 5 based on sightings over the last few years.

Dan O.

Start with taking the small does and the orphaned fawns... If twins, take the doe fawn. We have had customers that take does until the think they have taken too many and then take 25% more...

Dan O.,

Are you saying there are no doe tags?

NorthJeff; you' ve got it. You only get a doe tag if you get your name drawn. In some areas you' ve only got a 20% chance. You are guaranteed a buck tag. So if you can' t harvest does how do you implement QDM?

It may sound strange but I' d rate the choices as:

#1- plant food plots to increase the population but don' t hunt

#2- harvest only 8 points plus

#3 ?

Is this about the only two options?

Dan O.

Ontario regulations, you are allowed 1 tag(deer) per person,, you have to apply to be eligible to shoot a doe. Still only 1 tag but its good for either sex. Some units there are secondary tags availabe(limit #' s, some are good for archery only.. and so on and so on). Generally the mind set over here is,, its brown its down.

Some examples of success rate for a doe tag:
area 41 - 12%
area 36 - 15%
my old area 83A - 36% (This is with no chance for a second tag)

In these areas the deer population isn' t that high so the government is trying to prevent the harvest of does. As a result, if it has 4" of growth out of it' s head it' s dead.

And the buck to doe ratio gets worse.

Dan O.

Dan O. - Do you think the limited doe tags have anything to do with your winter mortality rate? In areas with high winter kill, talking a large number of does is not always recomended, because a good portion of population control is done by mother nature. Standard QDM guidelines sometimes need to be modified to accomodate factors that are not affected by deer density (like climate).

The general recomendation in those situations is to make a conservative herd reduction and check for improvements in recruitment. If there are no improvements seen, you may have to accept the situation as it stands.

Is there a difference in the percentage of doe kill versus buck kill due to the harsh winters? I would think with the bucks entering the worst of the winter being in a stressed state due to the rut that they would be more prone to winter kill.

Dan, You need to go South for a winter vacation. Here in Ms. you can take a combo of seven with gun, 2 more with bow. Tenn is more tolerant, and Alabama and Georgis have undreamed of limits. If you happen to come my way, don' t worry about a gun, I' ll fix you up. There' s a lot around here on the board from the south that would give you an invite. Be forewarned, if you shoot atraight, it make break you shipping all that venison back.
Russ

Dan won' t need a gun in Alabama, he can hunt with a spear.....