I live amongst a veritable smorgasbord of deer hunters. My across the road high fence absenteeism neighbor doesnt really care about deer as much as he does his elk and buffalo. He kills a few does to keep the population in check - but to my knowledge, they have not killed a buck in the three years he has owned the place. They would if big enough - 150” - but have yet to get a chance. He keeps the backstraps out of the does and gives the rest of the meat away. He does not have deer on his place like you would think - for some reason - not nearly the density that I have.
I have another 1200 acre cattle ranching neighbor that lets his nephew and his buddy hunt - and me on 100 acres. Kill anything you want, bow only, and you have to mount it. Usually one buck killed per year - some years, two. Usually around 150”. G&f biologist rode through that property one day and saw just over 150 deer - that is what they SAW - not what there was. I suspect about a deer per five acres. Living proof you can have a ton of deer, and quality, with doing absolutely no intentional management - other than trigger control
Another neighboring land - 1000 acres - has 12 members plus wive’s and kids. They usually kill low 20’s number of bucks and every other year a really nice one - but very few does.
On the other end of the scale, ten or so properties of ten to 20 acres - 8 of them are hunted - by families. Most of these folks are below average income to downright poor. They kill deer for food - many of them from their back porch under the feeder out back. They dont see quality buck management and filling the freezer as compatible - and they would rather eat. Some of the families kill five or more deer a year. They cant afford to buy 100 acres or pay an annual lease fee.
Then, a short distance from my property is a large acreage of public land where folks camp in a campground and hunt a week at a time to see a legal deer or two - and they kill what they see.
Within a mile you have ground with a deer per five acres and a deer probably per 50 acres. Back in about 2013, I was so disappointed with the condition of the deer herd on my land, I arranged to have the state head and assistant deer biologist, and the regional biologist spend the day at my land. They agreed there was a problem with low deer density on my place. But, they also pointed out the fact within a two mile circle, there was land with almost no deer and land that was overpopulated. Their final comment was “we cant manage every corner of every county”.
They have a point. Our state g&f considers baiting as a management tool. It is not allowed on public land - which is a plus. We are one of the few states where baiting in cwd zones is allowed. Our harvest has been very consistent. We have deer to hunt, but we arent running over one on the highway every year like we used to. I dont know if the g&f did this by design - but the land owners control their own hunting so it all evens out. We dont hardly kill a doe so the small land owner neighbors can - without ruining the herd
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