JoeRE

From what I see, the reasons for Iowa placing relatively high in recordbooks are summed up in the following:

Relatively low hunter dencities
No rifle, just shotguns which reduce range (excluding S Iowa antlerless the last couple years)
Genetics, but more so EXCELLENT FOOD & MINERAL SOURCES coupled with 'relatively' mild winters (Limestone country + corn and soy = well developed racks, period)
Gun season not during the rut
2 or 3 (if landowner) antlered deer per year per hunter

Note other than number three, the rest are directly controled by humans. Number three is a geographic fact. IA (principaly NE, SE, and Western portions of the state as everything else is flat as a pancake with little cover) allows a good number of young bucks to grow up to big bucks. Thats the secret folks. The IA DNR does a decent job of balancing farmers, DOT, and hunters intests in deer management. This means the vehicle colisions are at a manageable level, not too many farmers are complaing about too many deer, and not too many hunters are complaining about not enough deer. What works for IA would not work for PA or WI with deer and hunter populations 2 or three times the size.

atlasman

Shoot a young buck and you lose just one deer

Shoota mature doe and youlosemany bucks for the future


I have a problem seeing the first as more tragic then the second.

GMMAT

Yeah, new.....but you also run the risk of people hunting less....if they're restricted to does.

THIS is what NC (IMO) is afraid of. They can't afford for that to happen.....even for a short time.

Charlie P

well that's sorta why I asked this.

Ok we have taken over as the predator in the ecosystem, and as far as we know good old mother nature has kept the birth rate of deer at 2:1 so isn't that what we should try to acheive in the herd?

If we do that then and set our kill goals for that ratio it doesn't matter if you shoot a BB,6pt or 4.5 yr old 10 pt right?

rybohunter

Yes. And the reason PA whacked so many does is becuase much of it is poor habitat. Some places still have good habitat, but from a state level it is very difficult to break things down that tiny.

Charlie P

If a state can't maintain their hunter numbers because they institute reduced buck kills then nature will take care of the problem, and that would not be pretty.

brucelanthier

The post I made earlier in this thread indicated that the ratio wouldn't get any worse than 3:1 barring some really extreme circumstances.

rybohunter

What's that say about the hunters who make up that population to begin with?

atlasman

I have seen very little with my own eyes that tells me ratios should be used as aguideline or recipe for success.

GregH

Well, theoretically, the bumble bee is not supposed to be able to fly either.

I've hunted in parts of Wis where the ratio was that out of whack.