Thanks guys

tlk, I just ran the numbers from your post and was surprised by what I came up with. I would like you get your thoughts on these numbers and see if it correlated with what you had planned.

The ranch I bought last year is 1,300 acres. I am only wanting to high fence about 650 of it. Right now we figure the carrying capacity at 1 cow/calf pair per 20-30 acres depending on the mother nature. I looked up the deer equivalent of a cow and found it to be 6.67 deer per cow. That would put the deer carrying capacity at 132-198 deer at max capacity.

If you start with 3 bucks and 3 does with the does having 1.5 fawns per year (half being does) and everything went perfect you would have 6 deer year 1. Year 2 you would have about 11 deer total half bucks half does. Year 3 18 deer, year 4 32 deer, year 5 56 deer, year 6 98 deer, year 7 172 each year half bucks/half does.

My thinking is that it would be ideal if we took 10 bucks per year off the place. In order to keep the buck doe ratio right you would also need to shoot 10 does per year. It looks like between year 4 and year 5 you add 24 deer to the ranch so that is where you need to start taking deer at a pace of about 10 bucks and 10 does each year to keep the herd at around 32. If you let it get any larger you will have to take much more deer off the place to keep thing from getting out of control.

I don't think I would want to wait until between year 5 and 6 because you would have to take 20 bucks and 20 does in order to keep things right. I don't know if I have enough people I would invite to hunt for free.

No comment, this thread isn't about hunting.

200 deer on 650 acres sounds crowded. But I don't know, never managed a zoo.

I really like this post and am following it closely as our landowner for our lease which is 416 acres is planning on high fencing the property over the next year.

A HF in certain situations if fine. As far as when I did it I was surrounded by multiple small neighbors who shot every deer they saw. That is fine - to each his own. However having the desire to enjoy growing some big deer on my own property that was not for commercial purposes was what I chose to do and I had a blast doing it. We also had blackbuck, oryx, etc.

I currently lease a 9000 acre LF property where we grow some big deer. So I have had the opportunity to do both and I enjoyed them both.

To me it is no different from someone choosing leave their back yard open to the neighbors versus fencing off your back yard for privacy. Neither is wrong or right - it is freedom to chose. Don't we live in a great country!

200 deer on 650 acres sounds crowded. But I don't know, never managed a zoo.

I think you right on the money - I would cull as I go. Also, killing all the native deer off on 500-600 acres is not as easy as one would think. The does get really skittish and the deer will go nocturnal in some cases.
I also assume you plan a feeding program with protein stations, cottonseed, etc. I had two food plots on my place that helped plus I fed bales of alfalfa.

I have a 50 acre cultivated wheat field in that 650 that I would plant specifically for the deer and have already set up free choice protein feeders.

That was the max based on cow units. I have a cow/calf operation now but don't know much about raising deer.

The more I looked at the numbers it looks like 30-40 deer would be a good number to shoot for if the buck/doe ratio was around 1:1

I know very little about this and am putting my ideas out there for people to talk about and help correct my assumptions.

I'm not a high fence owner, just the next door neighbor.

Same principal and from the laws I have read, they do not distinguish the difference. I have been on a lot of HF operations, but have only been involved with one from the beginning. Only time I have heard of a HF operation clearing out the native population is for management purposes, never because they are the states deer and you can't trap them.

I will look to see if I can find the codes that address this, but surprised some of the HF owners on this forum haven't chimed in.