2008 Harvest Goals?

[PrairieShadow]

I wish the owner of the land that i hunt on cared about deer. He is a cattle farmer so he has the attitude to kill as many as we can so they stay out of his feed lots in the winter. Although he doesnt hunt at all himself he isnt willing to let me do much to attract deer.
 
If i could get him to improve the deer herd around his farm that would mean about 2400 acres of QDM land that is all butted up to one another between him and the neighbor!!
 
I guess a guy can dream right??[8|]

[ranwin33]

ORIGINAL: JPH

For those of you who QDM, what are your 2008 harvest goals? How many does do you want to take and when do you want to take them? What are you looking for in a buck and how many are you going to allow? Most importantly, why? What are you baising your goals on?

For our 100 acres my goals are 3-4 does.  Two during bow season and one-two during muzzle loader season after the rut. 
 
Game camera pictures only indentify two bucks that I would consider shooters, and one is iffy, I need to see him in person to make a decision.  My goals are however different from my brother's who would take one of the smaller bucks we have pictures of.  He has yet to shoot a buck in the six years we have owned the property so I really can't blame him.
 
So between the two of us and my nephew we're looking at 3-4 does and 2-3 bucks depending upon size and age.
 
I base my goals on camera surveys that indicate a buck to doe ratio of about 1:1.  Tough to say since can't for the most part identify individual does.  But have identified 11 different bucks.  With 4 point antler restricitions five of those bucks are legal but only two meet the 3.5 year or better age requirement I have personally placed on myself.
 
With three people hunting it can be tough to have the same goals.

[djohns13]

Great post ranwin33, it sounds like you know your property and your herd very well.  Acquiring that much specific knowledge is very difficult.
 
Did you use cameras on buck trails or do you use some type of attractant to draw them to the camera?
 
I have a very hard time getting the cameras in front of the bucks.
 
Good shooting.

[ranwin33]

ORIGINAL: djohns13

Great post ranwin33, it sounds like you know your property and your herd very well.  Acquiring that much specific knowledge is very difficult.

Did you use cameras on buck trails or do you use some type of attractant to draw them to the camera?

I have a very hard time getting the cameras in front of the bucks.

Good shooting.

We run 4-5 cameras on our property.  Most all year long.  We do a camera survey over a game feeder beginning late January a week or so after the last season.  Just to see what survived.  Surprisingly we see a lot of "new" bucks at this time, ones we never knew existed.  We also place cameras near travel routes as well. 
 
We stop the feeder in early summer after spring green up has had a chance to take hold and crops are growing in the fields.  Then we move some cameras over mineral licks, which seem to be where we get most deer gathering.  There and on our Hilltop plot which is only 1/4 acre but forms a hub with several travel routes.  It's those pictures I like to use to get an idea of what's in the neighborhood and hopefully will still be around in September and October.
 
We also have the cameras placed in what amounts to a big loop.  It's interesting to see the same deer appear on different cameras at different times as they make their rounds through our property during a day or night.  Not all, but some.

[PrairieShadow]

[font=arial]As some of you may have read in one of my previos posts i try and work with a farmer a mile away from where i hunt. I found this reply to an email i had sent asking what his plans were for this fall deer harvest were. If only his plan would work!! He uses the term "cull" for excess does like most people do for bucks with unfavorable genetics. [/font]
[font=arial][/font] 
[font=arial]"Maybe we could get the violators and the road hunters to shoot all the cull deer. You think?"[/font]
[font=arial][/font] 
[font=arial]I just thought i would share this as it was a good morning laugh for me.[/font]

[OHhunter]

My goals this year are going to be set depending on my wallet, this thursday will be my last day of work, I going to join the thousands of other unemployed factory workers.  The slow economy and high diesel fuel has led to yet another layoff at our plant.  With ample time to hunt I plan on waiting for a real good buck, I also plan on taking at least one doe hopefully more depending on funds. 

[JPH]

ORIGINAL: OHhunter

My goals this year are going to be set depending on my wallet, this thursday will be my last day of work, I going to join the thousands of other unemployed factory workers.  The slow economy and high diesel fuel has led to yet another layoff at our plant.  With ample time to hunt I plan on waiting for a real good buck, I also plan on taking at least one doe hopefully more depending on funds. 

 
OHhunter, it's good to see you around again. You have been missed.
 
Very sorry to hear about work. I wish you well.

[JPA]

Been awhile since I have been on here, but is nice to see some familiar names still posting.
 
I have a doe permit for a farm that a friend owns "up north" so I will try to shoot a doe there.  I can get a doe permit for the small parcel of land we own hunt down where we live so I may try to shoot one there depending on deer sightings.  The two combo tags will be reserved for bucks 2.5 yr plus, and if one or both do not get filled then I can use them to shoot does in the Dec. bow season. 
 
B/c we really only eat two deer per year, may need to donate the extra if I am so lucky to get more than two.

[hunter480]

ORIGINAL: JPA

Been awhile since I have been on here, but is nice to see some familiar names still posting.

I have a doe permit for a farm that a friend owns "up north" so I will try to shoot a doe there.  I can get a doe permit for the small parcel of land we own hunt down where we live so I may try to shoot one there depending on deer sightings.  The two combo tags will be reserved for bucks 2.5 yr plus, and if one or both do not get filled then I can use them to shoot does in the Dec. bow season. 

B/c we really only eat two deer per year, may need to donate the extra if I am so lucky to get more than two.

 
JPA
 
Man, it`s good to see ya! Between you and JPH, you`re the "ol` timers" from the orginal site.
 
Come back often man.

[JPH]

Hey JPA! I was just thinking about you. It's been a while since anyone has confused me with someone else. I need the smoke screen from time to time. [:)]
 
Glad to have you back!