What you guys think the ratio needs to be on a 2600 acre . Last survey we counted 120 does and 26 bucks by helicopter
What area/county in the state? I would run TC's to get an actual hard number count on bucks. Then do incidental blind counts to back up the ratio. Actual buck numbers ratio in to doe numbers will give you a better total deer number. Does your doe numbers indicate does only or just a total number of antlerless deer? If not then what is your fawn crop %? Depending on terrain and canopy IME I would not put any trust in a helicopter count for actual numbers. I would value it year to year for trend data though. For 3 yrs in a row we killed more bucks/does than I saw on the helicopter counts on a fairly large ranch in South Texas. As far as ratio I would shoot for a 1:1 buck to doe and anything under 1:2 buck to doe would be good.
What do i need to start doing started protein this past feb for the first time
I would get with my TPWD biologist to get CC for that ranch area. Then find out if there is any past harvest data available. I would get his input on what to do as far as harvest for this year. I would also get him to evaluate your habitat.