Goatkiller,,,, some thing kills the young bucks.

It comes down to trigger control. If you wanting mature bucks and more bucks .

Take human death out of the equation, how do you figure buck rates are higher?

I can't point my finger at it but theres a research out there that some what answers your question . Maybe Matt or some one post the link or give more info. The chances of bucks reaching maturity is pretty low .


I just dont remember the numbers

Bucks fight during rut would be my argument. Plus the stress of bucks chasing

Rut and dispersal related morality is considerably higher on the buck segment than the doe segment.

Some facts on deer management that can not be refuted because they are proven:

Does held below the actual carrying capacity of the habitat produce more fawns and recruit more fawns into the adult population. That’s not debatable. Opinions don’t matter on that one. It’s been proven everywhere.

Populations with a sex ratio that are between 1:1-1:2 bucks to does have shorter breeding seasons, healthier deer, higher recruitment and better antler development. Also proven facts.

So if those are facts why do they not seem to work in some areas? Misapplication of management strategies in POOR habitat.

Carrying capacity by MY definition is the amount of deer the habitat can support on moderate to high preference herbaceous material. What’s that number? It depends on habitat condition over a broad area, not just your acreage. Some places can support a lot of deer. Some not as many. There’s a lot of areas in AL that can not support many deer because of a lack of active and intentional management. You throw trigger happy hunters in the equation and deer populations are really just surviving, not thriving.

You can remove a LOT of deer in great habitat and keep recruiting more annually through healthy reproduction and ingress from neighboring populations. You can not remove a lot of deer from poor habitat, skewed sex ratios and areas with poor herd health. They can not recover as well.

There are two properties located 4 miles from each other with identical soil features, terrain, deer populations and hunter pressure. One produces bucks over 200 lbs with regularity, 130-150 deer are very common at maturity, recruitment rates are high and the sex ratio is close to even. There’s 40+ deer removed from this property annually and you can’t even tell it. The other only 4 miles away has an average mature body weight of 160 lbs, not once has a deer ever even been seen on camera over 130”, much less killed. Recruitment is far less. Total harvest is around 4-6 deer annually. What’s the variable that produces such different results only 4 miles apart? Habitat condition.

You contradicted yourself there. Sounds like you are the one that needs to talk to an expert. No need to be an A hole.

If the reason bucks die is because you kill them then why can’t you reach a 1:1 by simply not killing them?

Edited to say exactly what Matt said. Buck mortality rates are higher when man is taken out of the equation.

Matt ,,,,