QDM question?

[tuffshot]

Lets say that a QDM plan has been put in place or just that a few area neighbors have decided to practice it. With several ajoinng properties the members have decided to take out several does this year. And so has the ajoining property. Neither are aware of the others plans.

By the end of the season the doe population has been cut by 70% because of the thinning of the herd. The buck to doe ration has gotten out of balance in a short time and the breeding does will have fewer fawns for the next season. What is the solution or problem?

Another question. The bucks antler design preferred is a wide rack in this area, but several basket rack type bucks have gotten in and their offspring became the dominant antler type for the area. Do you cull out the basket racks to give the wide rack bucks a chance to take back over?

I have a few more but would like to hear the answers to these first/ Thanks

[mrex]

This question is a little ambiguous so I’ll make a few more assumptions and take a stab at it.

Let’s say the acreage in question totals 2,000 acres and there were approximately 100 resident does of all age classes in the summer herd (and that would be a lot considering a fair amount of antlerless deer are BB’s). We take out 70. The 30 that are left give birth to an average of 1.5 fawns or 45 the following spring that make it through the summer. Half of those fawns (22.5) are female.

The next fall, where we once had 100 does, we now have 52.5 or roughly half as many as the previous year. The breeding bucks in the area now have to compete for the available does. With increased competition comes increased buck sign and activity. Making the bucks that are present more patternable and in theory, easier to hunt…..I doubt even Buckslayer would have a problem with that?

If it’s determined that the doe harvest was to high, the very easy solution, as the DOW learned in the mid 90’s, is to reign in the doe harvest the following year and within a year or two at the most, we’re right back to where we started.

As for the cull bucks, as was posted in an earlier QDM thread, genetics are probably impossible to manipulate in a wild deer herd.

[psse]

I would say taking 70% of the does in any 2000 acre in one year might be a bit drastic and could hurt hunting on that property for several years,after all it isnt much fun to sit in the stand and see 70% fewer deer. Take fewer ,but mature does,would seem to regulate the herd next year and still not deplete the numbers all at once.....?

[Big H]

Please move this thread to the new Habitat Mangagement forum.:whistle: