Realistic expectations

[SwampCat]

On most properties, there are not enough bucks to go around for the numbers of hunters. There may well not be enough does. To be honest, I am more protectful of my does than my bucks. We have very low fawn recruitment - we actually went seven years without killing a doe off the home 350 acres - including not letting the grand daughters kill one.

Common word on the street is your buck fawns leave your property and half your doe fawns stay with the family group. If there is any truth to that - killing a few subpar bucks shouldnt matter - theoretically more new bucks will move in to take their place. I dont know if that is fact, but our buck numbers dont vary as much as our doe numbers.

I like my buck:doe ratio where it is right now. To maintain a static buck:doe ratio - theoretically you need to shoot bucks and does in the same number - which we usually come close to doing. I think it is important to kill deer - and not just does - to maintain the excitement of deer hunting. Those 125” mature deer are hunted just as hard on our place as the 150” deer - and they are just as smart.

I dont want my grand daughters thinking killing a buck is all about passing 99% of the bucks in the woods. I dont care if they become 100% trophy hunters - if that is what they want to do. I just hope they dont think everyone else should do it, too

 

[Angus 1895]

I totally agree with West Fork

Here in Idaho the Elk and Hunting Pressure has made Mule Deer a tough deal.

So I am giving up buying a tag

Idaho don’t sell many white tail doe tags in my unit, I like venison.

I don’t expect a Booner…but I wanna eat!

I am more satisfied at the dinner table than looking at antler on the wall.

So I try to thump dinks .

Unless a really good one comes by.

 

[Mortenson]

I just read through this thread again since it popped up below in the "similar threads" area of the one I was reading. Of the 7 mature bucks I mentioned, 6 of them either died from ehd or just failed to return and most likely died from ehd. Makes it hard to get a group of 150+ to sort through.

 

[Da U.P. 'eh]

I've enjoyed reading this thread again. It reconfirms what we are doing on our 120 acres in the U.P. of Michigan. We have owned and hunted this land for 15 years and originally intended to improve the habitat, plant food plots, and let small bucks walk. Our hope was to increase the age, size, and racks of the bucks we kill. In all that time the best buck we have taken was a 4.5 YO 8 point that scored 128. The next biggest was probably 115. We now have resolved to take "the best we've got" and be happy with it. We are happy to let all our fellow hunters turn old and gray (like me) waiting for that vaunted 150 to come along. I wish you the best of luck!

 

[omicron1792]

I'm in the same boat in MN as what you describe in KY, Dawgs. My limit in MN is 140" and I'm almost 11 years at my home place there have probably been 4 or 5 bucks that even clip 140 and only one or two that break 150. My property down the road has nicer class deer on it and can probably add 10-20" to those numbers but those deer are still few and far between. It has led to tag soup for me in MN the majority of the time since I started hunting with those guidelines.

Part of the fun for me is building the properties up to see what the ultimate potential can be, I think in a few years I will be closer to a 140" harvest potential annually in MN.

WI is another story and why I've continued to invest more time and money over there. More topography, bigger tracts, better season structure all equals bigger deer.

Watching your journey has been cool Brian. Thanks for keeping us a part of it.

My big buck was 138 1/2 this year. I couldn’t have been happier with it. My property size makes letting that deer walk almost impossible, just little chance he would hang on my 320 and not wander off or be killed somewhere else.

I agree with premise most have gotten jaded watching guys on tv hunt. I think getting out and hunting and killing more deer often is the key to success more than just letting everything walk. But I know my situation in the south is different than some of y’all’s.

 

[omicron1792]

I agree 100%. I should have specified my 400’acres is two different pieces of property - 350 acres and 62 acres - eight miles apart. There were three bucks using the 62 acres that were mature deer and the others were on the 350 acres. I am a firm believer that there is a better chance of having more mature bucks on ten 40 acre tracks than one 400 acre tract. That would be a logistical nightmare - but I digress.

We have cover. We have cover everywhere. Dog runners are becoming a thing of the past - so when you have a 200 acre, five year old grown up clearcut - a buck never HAS to leave cover - oftentimes there would be food, water, and plenty of does right there. We have fawn predators, but no real serious adult deer predators. We dont have winter kill. Very little ehd. We are not in a cwd zone - yet. And I believe most of our hunters who own or control 100 acres or more have at least some thought of trigger control - at least going into season. I also believe that our hunters, in general, dont hunt with the fever they used to hunt with when seasons were shorter. They are more laid back, not many take a week off to hunt like they all used to - and I believe we are also experiencing a small amount amount of declining hunter numbers like most states.

I think we are at the best we can be here right now. We do have a few areas of big ag in the state that turn out some really big deer - but those are high dollar lands confined to less than 20% of the state - not in the wheel house of most of us.

There are some positives to not owning deer property in the most noted areas: little NR interest, lower land prices, lower lease prices, little deer hunting publicity. If my main goal was killing 150” deer every year, no, I would not look to most of AR for my hunting land. But to be honest, knowing that us deer hunters are fairly accomplished complainers - it doesnt sound like many areas check all the boxes - except Native’s ground

I’m combining strategies, partly from reading your stuff. Bought 80 acres 2 miles from my 320. I think I want to end up with 3-4 huntable areas rather than just expanding my home farm.

 

[SwampCat]

I’m combining strategies, partly from reading your stuff. Bought 80 acres 2 miles from my 320. I think I want to end up with 3-4 huntable areas rather than just expanding my home farm.

I think that will be perfect - far enough away not a lot of the same bucks and easy to drive to on your equipment without having to trailer it