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Deer Ratios
bustedknee
Member Posts: 2,002 ✭✭✭✭
In my life-long quest to learn more about game animals I have been tracking ratios of males to females.
Over 35 years of moose hunting in Alaska the year to year average remained fairly steady at 8 cows to 1 bull.
Since retireing and hunting these Virginia Whitetails (12 years) the ratio has ranged from 16/1 to 3/1 last year.
This year I'm experiencing 8/1 which is about an average year.
Granted, a lot of factors affect my count i.e. food supply time of year/day of observations, # of trips afield, location, etc.
Overall, here at my house so far, I calling it an 8/1 year.
My limited experience with Mulies yeilds a lower ratio (4/1?). Also true of Sitka Blacktails.
What are yall seeing?
I can't believe they misspelled "Pork and Beans!"
Comments
Just here on my place, we’ve killed 4 bucks 8 points or larger. Haven’t seen any spikes and but one 4 point. Also, at least 5 bucks have been killed on a one mile stretch of highway in front of my house, in the last 3 weeks. Only one was a spike.
I don’t know if that means anything.
I haven't tracked this with written logs. But 6-8 to one seems about what I have noticed through the recent years hunting white tails here in Indiana and Kentucky. Years ago deer where less than plentiful and bucks were even rarer. But that changed and for the last three decades 6-8 to one seems to be about what it is.
Edit: But this would count yearling button bucks that are still with momma as anterless/does. So maybe the real ration isn't that high.
At an 8/1 ratio you would have 80 does nibbling your lawn!
I'm guessing you are experiencing a 3/1 year?
Yee haw.
I forgot to mention poachers have a great effect on ratios and I know a couple right down the road.
Also a neighbor's buddy keeps shooting (at) deer but they can never find them.
Bustedknee is right on the money. Around here the deer all wear sunglasses, some mighty powerful spotlights on the market now. If the poachers don't get them, the coyotes do.
Buck to doe ratio is inversely proportional to the tags in your pocket. If you have only doe tags, 75% of the deer seen will be bucks. If you have only buck tags, all you see within range will be does.