If you want to know how many does to harvest, you have to know how many deer you have.
QUESTION: How many does should you harvest per 100 acres to increase your total deer population? Also to decrease or keep the population the same? — Eugene W.
ANSWER: I’m afraid you might not like my answer, but a friend of mine once said, “You need to know where you are before you can figure out where to go.”
I own 100 acres in southern Maine where deer densities are roughly 12-14 per square mile, and I’ve asked the folks who hunt my land not to shoot any does so we can build the local herd. I annually hunt places in Alabama and Texas where the management plan calls for removing 100 or more does annually.
Before you can determine how many does to remove, you need to get some idea of your population, which you might be able to do with a camera survey, or by hiring a biologist. Short of that, looking at the habitat, the relative abundance of preferred food species and the degree of browsing, as well as measuring yearling antler beam diameter and weights of harvested deer, will at least give you a rough idea where your herd is in relation to habitat. You need to know if it’s high, low or just about right.
Once you know what you have, you then determine what you want and whether you need to increase, decrease or stabilize your herd. It’s better to err on the side of caution for a few seasons until you see the impacts. Don’t despair if you overharvest since populations should recover in a season or two.
You didn’t mention where you live, but I suggest talking to your regional state wildlife biologist and perhaps consider hiring a consulting biologists to develop a management plan.
— Recent Ask the Biologist Question:Seeing Spots: Several factors make the Southern rut a confusing, drawn-out process.
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