TreednNC

burgmans rule or however it's spelled.....used to know back in college when i wuz a smart feller

TreednNC

I dont get how he says the 2.5y/o -3.5y/o does are the largest. GMMAT, you live in NC? Ive worked for the NCWRC before, and those guys arent always the sharpest knife in the drawer. A lot of what is told is personal opinion just like on here. While obtaining my degree in wildlife management, nowhere do I remember anything about does getting osteoporosis. I'm not saying they're wrong, because chances are they have a masters degree and FARRRRR more education than I, but I dont know how the bone structure could get smaller as age increases, making the older deer smaller, with the exception of how fat or healthy they are? Having said that, I have seen deer, does in particular,out of the mountains of Haywood and Jackson County NC, where reported harvests are generally below 100 each year, that were 9 years old, teeth almost worn flat, that were absolute muleheaded and looked like a cow

WV Hunter

In VA & WV (where I hunt) we have ALOT of deer, and our does will (typically) continue to grow in size with age. They certainly don't get huge like up north, but do grow each year. That said, I've seen some younger 2.5 - 3.5 yr does that were big, and older 7.5yr does that weren't as big. Nothing is 100% for sure. I don't doubt what Jeff is saying, but honestly I don't see how it could work that way. My limited brain power tells me they will continue to grow if they are healthy (to a point - maybe like 4-5yrs) then level off. Jeff....maybe yours grow faster and are "full grown" by then????

I will agree, around here the does heads get big & long when they get old - a surefire way to know you have a really mature doe.

TreednNC

I feel the same way. I mean there are always going to be people and deer with large frames that might be larger than somebody much older than them, but I dont feel or find a logic in the fact that they'll get smaller as they pass 3.5, except fat/stomach

burniegoeasily

A close friend of mine found a fawn one summer. The mother was hit by a car. He raised that fawn and let her go behind his house after she grew up. He lived on 10,000 acers, so she had plenty of room to roam. He left a feeder out all year behind his house so she could come back and feed as she pleased. Before he released her, he put a nylon collar, which was saftey orange in hopes that no hunter would shoot her. She came back year after year. Many times she would come back with her fawns. It was pretty neat. We watched her for 8 years. After 8 years she never came back. i can only assume she died. She never got over 130+lbs. That is a estimations, but never got very large. Even with high protein feed, mixed with corn. On the other hand, he and I have both shot doe on his land that easily would run around 160-170. I think i boils down to genetics and nutrition.

jackflap

I have no idea how old our mature and biggest doe are as I never age them. I quickly determine a "mature" doe in the field by her behavior attributes not her body size.

However, based on this "unstatistical" methodolgy, I can say that the "smarter" doe are NEARLY always the biggest. Whether that be 2.5,3.5,4.5 or older I don't know.

This is a well established fact within the cattle industry and it only makes sense that it is Mother Nature's way in deer as well. Cattle grow bigger the farther north and west as compared to being in the South or East.

As a general rule, you can move cattle from the South to the North or from the East to the West, but if you try to do the opposite, the cattle go backwards real fast.

Has to do with cattle needing more internal body fat and larger circulatory systems in North/West as opposed to needing to be more "efficient" in the South/East where they have to fight heat, humidity and in some place alligators.