Deer Management

Hey. I believe in quality deer management. I feel that it is important to not shoot every deer. Don’t get me wrong, I am not the type of hunter to pass up every buck saying it needs another year, but I normally tend to wait until they score in the 130’s. I was just curious how other hunters feel about this. What’s your opinion?

nice post proshedhunter! i am strongly against quality deer managenent. i mean it would be nice to shoot that big wall hanger but if your gonna wait around and wait for that big one to walk by what are you gonna feed the household with until you do? sure i don’t shoot the little basket racks if i don’t have to, but i need to fill my freezer. for all you big buck hunters out there, i have yet to find a recipe that calls for antlers. just my opinion.

I very much agree with you sam. I do believe in quality deer management. But i do know someone from in my area who doesn’t take does on their land, and that is a VERY big part of quality deer management. I’m not saying shoot every doe but one or two a year on your land would be good for the herd. Not to mention good meat for the freezer. I also think if your worried about genes on your land you need to take that buck that won’t make that 130 mark and most likely never will but that’s a whole different discussion. Quality deer management is one of the best ways to grow them big bucks but you need to take does to control the herd and have a good doe to buck ratio.

You have a very good point tygu11, but I ask you this. What are you gonna do when you shoot a small right pointer before the rut and during the rut, your trail cam takes pics of these bigger bucks yards from your tree stand? I have been hunting for many years, and this exact situation has happaned. But then again, you may not see any bigger ones. But you have a better chance if you let four or five decent sized two and a half year olds go the previous year

I will pass up average bucks all year long. If I want meat, thats what the doe tags are for.
DT

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I will pass up average bucks all year long. If I want meat, thats what the doe tags are for.
DT

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I agree 100% To me hunting is more than just killing the 1st deer that comes into range. To me it’s a sport and the enjoyment of being out away from the day to day hastles of the work week. I would rather sit and watch the 6 or 8 pointer doing it’s thing than drilling it the first chance I get. Come late season and I haven’t filled my tag, then I will focus on taking a doe or two for the freezer. The smaller bucks are for the kids in our hunting party!

We will NEVER agree on deer management 100%. Everyone has their own opinion, and everyone hunts for “different” reasons, holding different expectations. Its like that with everything in life, that is what makes the world go round and round, instead of tilting to one side. I watched my dad arrow a 2.5 year old 8 point buck this past November. We were about 100 yards apart, hunting a transition area between two bedding areas. The perfect place to sit during the rut, looking for cruising bucks. I passed this buck 9 times earlier that fall, according to my notes, and have dozens of pics of him. I couldn’t be more happy that he got hammered. Forget the forums, the deer contests, hunt for YOUR reasons and be happy with yourself and your hunt, that is why we do it!

i agree 100% with Les! like i said, i will let the smaller bucks go until the end of the season if i haven’t filled my tag. i agree with iberg30 to shoot the bucks with the bad genes but to still shoot does in order to keep a good doe to buck ratio.

let me start by saying that everyone has different ideas when it comes to deer management. alot of it depends on whether you have set goals for yourself and achieved those goals. My goal is to shoot a mature buck 4.5+ years old.One of the biggest problems we have had in trying to improve the age structure of our herd is that when people see a 2.5 or 3.5 year old 130″ buck they get excited and shoot it.. In all reality this buck probably only needed one or two more years to blow into something very special!
In our area myself and my new neighbor won’t shoot any buck unless it’s a mature buck. I would rather see a 1.5 year old buck shot than a 3.5 year old that only needs 1 or 2 years to possibly be a buck of a lifetime! this along with selective doe harvest has improved our sightings of mature bucks in the daylight. both myself and my new mangement partner shot mature bucks this year and the trail cameras from late winter show that we have a good supply of 3.5-4.5 year old bucks for next fall! Again this is only my feelings on this and thought That I would share them.

I believe in quality deer managment for the experienced hunter. If you are a beginning hunter i think you should take a shot at a deer that is with in range no matter the size. It could take years to shoot a deer if you are waiting for giant buck to harvest for your first years hunting. After a few years of hunting I believe that you should wait for a mature deer before shooting it. If i myself see a deer that has bad genetics i will try to take it out of the herd for the future. I will also try to take 1-3 does off the land every year.

My first objective is to put a doe down. Second, I won’t shoot a yearling buck or a buck with 6 or fewer points. I haven’t been bowhunting, or hunting in general long enough to limit myself to 130 class deer.
As the years pass and my buck harvests grow, I will become more selective. I’m proud of what I’m able to harvest & that is where I’m at right now with QDM.