Buck to Doe Ratio?

[deerstalker85]

I am a very avid and most likely OCD deer and property management supporter. Over the past several years I have seen great leaps in buck growth and size of horns on young deer by adding nutrition to the property and keeping a healthy herd...along with passing on smaller bucks. My question that has been eating at me for a few years now though, is, what do you consider to be a good buck to doe ratio for your property? In my opinion you want to keep enough competition that the bucks have to search and compete for does, but not so many bucks to a few does that the bucks leave your area in search of more does. It seems to me 3:1 or 4:1 would be about the highest an area could support without losing bucks...what are your thoughts?

[Deebz]

I can't speak from any experience with managing herds here, but in the timber I hunt I want as many does as possible around. It seems to me that the more does there are in an area, the more bucks will be attracted to that area.

I mean, if I show up at a shindig and there's 4 dudes to every girl, I'm not hanging around long.

[deerstalker85]

I understand what you mean, but I guess my thinking in regards to deer hunting is that if there is more does than bucks, or equal does to bucks...then a buck can simply find the doe that is hot, hole her up somewhere and not have to move. If there are more bucks than does, then a buck has to be on his feet more trying to find that hot doe that isn't already holed up.

Plus, I have noticed on properties where there are more bucks, it is MUCH easier to rattle a buck in.

BTW: I am with you in that any gathering I go to where there is a high guy to girl ratio it is not favorable

[Deebz]

good point about having the bucks on their feet and searching for more does...but when a buck is on his feet searching that guy is covering ground like nobody's business. Unless you're talking hundreds of acres, that means the bucks are actually going to be leaving your property to search for does.

When they hole up, it's only for a day or so. The doe will only stand for the buck for a limited amount of time, then that buck is going to start searching for another doe that's hot. If there aren't many does, the next hot one may be a county over. If there are still a good group of does who haven't been bred, that buck isn't going to have to go far and will more likely stay on your property.

I think most experts cite a healthy ratio at 1:1 as far as the herd is concerned. Specifically for hunting, I actually like to see more does than buck using my hunting ground as a "home area"... then the bucks from surrounding areas start sniffing around during the rut.

I've never tried much rattling... I tend to use calls only to draw in deer that I've already seen. Instead I rely on travel patterns between food/water/bed and pinch points that show heavy use. Put enough time in stand and a nice relaxed deer is going to stroll by rather than getting a buck all fired up and high alert looking for that intruder. Not to mention the deer who actually get spooked by the noise I'd be making... of course, this is simply my opinion and my preferred style of hunting.