YOUR buck to doe "harvest" ratio?
06-12-2007, 08:30 PM
#23
Boone & Crockett
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Michigan/Ohio
Posts: 11,682
RE: YOUR buck to doe "harvest" ratio?
ORIGINAL: _Dan
Hold your head high, thats nothing to be ashamed of.
ORIGINAL: mobowhuntr
I've been seriously bow hunting for 3 years now.
6 does
0 bucks. [&o]
I've been seriously bow hunting for 3 years now.
6 does
0 bucks. [&o]
30 does 20 bucks
And 0 button bucks
I was lucky my first deer was a doe fawn. Could have done either way
06-13-2007, 05:37 AM
#29
Dominant Buck
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location:
Posts: 21,043
RE: YOUR buck to doe "harvest" ratio?
This is really my fourth year of serious bowhunting. I've taken 4 bucks and just one doe with the bow. Now that I've got a few archery deer under my belt, I'll be more selective about the bucks that I take. At this point, I think I'll only shoot a buck if it's worthy of going on the wall. Otherwise, I'm taking a doe.
This will be my 3rd deer hunting season. The 1st year....I took nothing. Last year...my buck/doe ratio was 4:1. Well that's just pitiful (I know, now). I shot a 7 pointer for my first deer ever.......a 2.5 yr old that I'd never shoot, now, but for my first deer...I sure was (and AM) proud of him. My second deer was a piebald BB. No regrets, so far. My third was a buck I shot outside my hunting area....on the Eastern side of our state (2 hrs from my home). In this zone...it's a 4 buck area (can legally take 4 bucks a season), and I had a family of 14 that I was going to donate anything shot to. The guys told me to shoot anything. I did. Back home....I took a doe in late Oct. I then took my 8 pointer on 12/9.
After the season....I started asking a lot of questions towards my GW....I went to a QDMA seminar.....started a dialogue with my wildlife biologist (NCWRC biologist for my area). I wanted to learn how to make the herd HERE healthier.
Knowing what I know, now......I wouldn't change a thing (about LAST season). Knowing what I know, now.....I'll approach this and subsequent seasons a LOT differently. At the end of THIS season.....my overall buck:doe ratiowill likely be better than 1:2 (yes....I plan on shooting 7-8 does, THIS year). I'll adjust for '08, accordingly.
I have never taken a deer that I wished I hadn't. I hope to always be able to say that.