Negative

I could understand if someone has said "that when young men grow up into adults they will all be over 5'6" tall" your feelings be hurt but I didn't

I am over 5'6 so no problems at all

We hunt on a managed ranch....and we don't go by width at all. To each his own but as previously stated the width of a bucks antlers has nothing to do with his age. We don't shoot anything under 3.5 yrs old unless its a cull/mgmt. buck, they can be shot at 2.5yrs old. Young spikes, deer that are say 1-1.5yo, we normally let them go, just depends on what each individual spike looks like, if it looks like a fawn its off limits. Longhorn spikes 2.5yo or older...get shot. We usually don't cull any buck unless its 2.5 at least....first ones to go are the ones missing one or both brow tines.

The best advice on mgmt. is SHOOT YOUR DOES!!! I've seen both sides of this on the same ranch...we've been killing the prescribed number of does for 4 seasons now and its made a big difference. The best doe to harvest is the one standing broadside, don't over think it.

Also, do all you can to control predators to help your fawn crop. Some counties have trappers that work for the county that will be glad to come help you out, and there are several guys here on the forum that can help too.

We try to have min age of 4.5 for bucks, and shoot all your does. Thinking about a shoot coyotes on site rule.

matt

Yes, "Streamside management zones", for those that don't know. I loved hunting those areas in east Texas. We just kinda' moved more west.

This theory that if you shoot more Doe then everything will magically fall into place, has me baffled. If you don't see deer, how are you supposed to shoot them? Some places need to have more Doe shot, but not all, by any stretch. It takes a Doe to make a Buck.

It does require that, which is why on any new place I get ahold of that's had the bucks shot up I'll leave the does alone and let them produce those bucks. Once the bucks numbers start looking promising, then whittle down the doe side of the equation.

Very true. Same can be said about age, width, score or any other method used for management. No two areas are the same and no plan will work for everyone. But most places can limit the deer to 4.5 yo before they can be taken and most places do not have a buck/doe ratio that is ideal. Especially LF.

I agree with the doe kill off. it dont take to long to get over populated. Ive seen it several times. Were thats all you see everytime you turn around hunt after hunt. Heards of 10 or heards 20.

If you are at CC with doe only on your land then you need space for bucks. If you kill off does to what you want when your ratios are what you want, you will create more feed for the deer left. This under normal conditions should create higher fawn survival rates. That creates more bucks. Only keep the amount of does you will need in the future. It is easy for folks to say they can kill them off later, but in reality it is very hard to accomplish. Start early and it can be accomplished much easier.

That's bc it is easier to kill them off later...also plays into feeder training those young bucks w/I them being in a war zone.

If a person owns say 1000 acres. He does not lease it but charges hunters by the animal. How does he net the most money per year.#1 Doing very little feeding except at feeders with corn.#2 Feeding protein free choice and charging by B&C score. #3 Buying genetic engineered deer and charging by the deer.

...leasing at ridiculous prices with no guarantee they kill anything, and they fund the feeding and water situation.

I never thought of that but you are probably right on the money.

Agree, we don't even shoot that many and its harder than we thought.

My doe tags get filled pretty quick.... mainly just cuz im hungry

Go in and run all the deer off, the ones that come back are fair game. I bought my place and made it hog un-friendly so they wouldn't come around 1 year. Fed the deer now for 3 yrs. Place hadn't been hunted for 5 yrs before that. I think we finally managed to get the age structure where we want it. We have some old deer now that have to come out to give the younger ones a chance.

They could also fund TTT deer. But I'm sure you've thought of it, just probably don't like the idea of unsupervised folks on said 1000 acres

I can tell you have never managed a place under that scenario. Pipe dream. Once the numbers get that high it is really hard to get the numbers off. Especially in your area with all the rainfall and cover. If you start with 100 does but only need 60 then you will be overrun with to many young bucks with average fawn crops in a couple of years and no space for mature bucks. IMO I would shoot the doe numbers down to what you want to start.

I have been since 05...it's working, it's the luxury of all that cover and all that browse. I'd imagine you've never had to manage a place surrounded by public land

No that would be called "I'm to lazy to shoot a deer and clean it management"

Hey, that's my management plan also.

It's called growing nice bucks..but hard to get them shot when everybody is off hunting out of state.