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The quantity and quality of deer browse on your hunting property can indicate whether you need to shoot some does xe2x80x94 or let them go.

By Steve Bartylla

If you ever want to get a good argument going, go to any rural or small-town Wisconsin bar and make a definitive stand on doe removal. Pick a side. It doesnxe2x80x99t matter which, because those patrons on either side of the issue will have extremely strong feelings on the subject. With deer numbers still well below what most of the state can handle, youxe2x80x99ll have plenty of those tavern regulars telling you they are sick of doe removal ruining their hunting. No worries, therexe2x80x99s still plenty left who will argue that every doe shot is one more sacred young buck living another year. And that pockets of the state truly have deer numbers ridiculously higher than what Mother Nature can support long-term. No matter which side you pick, youxe2x80x99ll find an argument.

You know what? Both sides are right. It doesnxe2x80x99t matter if wexe2x80x99re talking my home state of Wisconsin or any other region deer are found in, their populations arenxe2x80x99t spread evenly across entire areas. There are naturally going to be pockets of higher and lower deer densities and those pockets can even change from year to year. As with most hunting and management issues, there isnxe2x80x99t that one right answer for everyone, because the situation and circumstances vary from case to case.

The beauty of hunting and deer management is that there isnxe2x80x99t just one right way. What follows is an explanation of how I determine whether does need to be harvested or treated as sacred cows on the various properties I manage. Ultimately, my goal is to achieve my clientsxe2x80x99 goals, which almost always share a common theme. They want the best hunting they can experience, while still having something to be proud of to pass on to their kids and grandkids. I believe the method Ixe2x80x99m about to describe helps them achieve those goals.

1. Identify Goals

Between all of the seminars Ixe2x80x99ve given over the years, time spent on hunting and management forums and now the fantastic interactions Ixe2x80x99m able to have with so many of you on both D&DHxe2x80x99s and my own Facebook pages, I know a lot of you and a lot of you know me. Because of that, I feel confident in saying two things. First, you all are awesome and way too dang nice to me. Thanks! Second, you generally share the same goals as most of my clients. You want the best hunting you can have, while leaving the population and land in better shape than you found it.

In order to do that, itxe2x80x99s important to keep deer numbers low enough to allow the habitat to naturally regenerate. If you donxe2x80x99t, long-term habitat degradation occurs.

2. Grasp Carrying Capacity

Biologist use the term carrying capacity (CC) to describe the relationship between animal populations and their habitat. In its most simplistic terms, CC is the max number of deer a habitat can support, where for each birth, one way or another, one deer will die. When ground is at its CC, it simply canxe2x80x99t handle any more deer. The ground is producing all of the food it naturally can and that is the minimum amount required to keep the deer numbers at that level. Social stress is through the roof, and deer are literally just scraping by. In fact, naturexe2x80x99s long-term ability to produce food is being destroyed, when deer numbers are at or even marginally close to CC. Natural regeneration of any preferred woody browse species is next to nonexistent.

In simple terms, that means when oaks die, they donxe2x80x99t have replacements. You have one less acorn producer on your ground. We can relate to oaks because we understand the value of acorn production, but the same premise also applies in varying degrees to any preferred woody browse species. With that in mind, itxe2x80x99s easy to see how having deer numbers at or even close to the groundxe2x80x99s CC has a negative impact on the groundxe2x80x99s short- and long-term ability to feed deer, and that doesnxe2x80x99t even address the incredible social stress levels theyxe2x80x99re experiencing.

Unfortunately, it gets worse. As the preferred browse species are wiped out, deer are left with plant species they donxe2x80x99t typically eat, classified as starvation browse. These plants are left alone to thrive and flourish. As they do, they further stress, stunt and choke out the plant species that deer do value. Frankly, habitat destruction from high deer numbers becomes the proverbial snowball rolling down the mountain, destroying everything in its path.

One of the basic rules of biology is that when populations get too high they kill themselves off, due to habitat destruction and/or disease. The trained eye can clearly see the long-term devastation that deer numbers nearing CC cause.

That said, I want high deer numbers as much as I want healthy habitat and deer. So a balance must be struck. Deer numbers at about half CC is that sweet spot. At that level, you can actually tag as many deer annually as you can from ground at max CC, because fawning success is so much higher than when at CC. At the same time, deaths from disease, social stress and starvation are greatly reduced.

Add it all up and, as I said, half CC allows you to remove as many deer as when the population is maxed. The difference is that the habitat is able to sustain itself and the resident deer are generally healthier. Their body weights and rack sizes are bigger, fawning recruitment is significantly higher and social stress levels are greatly reduced.

Thatxe2x80x99s a long way of saying that when at CC, both the habitat and deer are experiencing long-term degradation. At half CC, both are able to thrive, and you can still kill as many deer each year. They just happen to be bigger and healthier, and youxe2x80x99re allowing the habitat to thrive.

3. Know Macro vs. Micro

The catch is that deer numbers arenxe2x80x99t evenly distributed. Just because your numbers are low doesnxe2x80x99t mean state or province officials are wrong when they say deer numbers are too high. The reverse is equally true.

The reason is that they are looking at the macro picture, while hunters operate at the micro level. As it applies to your hunting experiences, it doesnxe2x80x99t really matter that the statexe2x80x99s deer numbers are too high if youxe2x80x99re  not seeing deer on your grounds. Youxe2x80x99re going to feel, and rightly so, that deer numbers are too low.

The states and provinces have nearly an impossible job. All they can do is average the deer numbers for the area, try to balance a bunch of interest groupsxe2x80x99 wants and come up with something that no one is truly happy with.

At the same time, land managers and hunters are even more woefully unqualified to come up with population goals for the state or province, based on what theyxe2x80x99re seeing on their grounds. If theyxe2x80x99ve done a bunch of improvements, theyxe2x80x99re far more likely to believe deer numbers are good, despite most everyone else spending their hunts watching tree rats bury nuts. If their habitat is poor, even when the bigger area generally has high deer numbers, theyxe2x80x99re likely to believe they need more deer, and be right, as it applies to that ground.

Hunters are not set up to see the macro. And state biologists arenxe2x80x99t in a position to deal with the micro. In my mind, that leaves it up to each of us to determine if we need to shoot more, less or no does each year on our hunting grounds.

4. Estimate Browse Impact

Figuring that out can be simple: Let the habitat set doe harvest goals for that ground. To pull that off, walk the ground and generally inspect what deer are eating. Let the deer tell you what they do and donxe2x80x99t like. When theyxe2x80x99re chewing off the ends of most every tree of one species thatxe2x80x99s within their reach, itxe2x80x99s a fairly safe bet they consider that a preferred browse species. When they are virtually ignoring a different species right next to it, they probably donxe2x80x99t care for that type much. If you just study what deer are and arenxe2x80x99t eating on your ground, theyxe2x80x99ll tell you whatxe2x80x99s good and whatxe2x80x99s bad.

Next, take a loose inventory of how much of the easily reached foods they like are left after that seasonal food production low point. This is typically winter in the North and summer in the South. No, you donxe2x80x99t have to inventory every preferred deer food on your ground. Instead, get a general feel for how much of the easily accessible food that deer like is left untouched.

If you find deer are regularly eating the woody browse of seven different species of brush, about what percent of the combined total of those seven species that they can reach is eaten vs. left alone? If therexe2x80x99s somewhere less than 20% thatxe2x80x99s not browsed, itxe2x80x99s a pretty good bet that the deer numbers are too high for that piece of ground and that they could use a reduction. When the preferred foods within the deerxe2x80x99s reach that are untouched falls in the 20 to 50% range, the numbers are probably about in line with the habitat. If more than 50% of the food deer indicated they like is still available after the seasonal food shortage period, odds are your ground could support more deer.

The catch is when deer are immigrating or emigrating in mass. A classic example is when Northern deer migrate to winter yarding areas. If you happen to own that winter yarding area, youxe2x80x99re likely going to have under 20% of prime browse left over before spring. And therexe2x80x99s next to nothing you can do to drop deer numbers.

At the same time, you really have issues if the local deer are leaving your ground to yard elsewhere over winter and your preferred deer browse is still under 20% availability come spring. In fact, itxe2x80x99s quite possible that the overall deer numbers should be reduced, even when 20+ percent of browse is available come spring, because the deer left in December or January and few if any were left to feed during the peak of the food shortage.

Thatxe2x80x99s part of why this method applies only to property-specific deer numbers and not the overall area. You have the ability to figure out how deer are stacking up to your propertyxe2x80x99s ability to support them. But that very often doesnxe2x80x99t always line up area-wide goals.

5. Process Everything

Just like the statesxe2x80x99 and provincesxe2x80x99 methods are flawed for the micro, unless conducting it area wide, the browse inspection method is equally flawed for the macro. Heck, it even has some flaws for the micro, in the case of traditional yarding areas.

That said, the browse inspection method has worked well for me and my clients. It tells us when our habitat canxe2x80x99t support current deer numbers and we need to remove more does. Every bit as important, it tells us when we need to lay off. 

Deer numbers fluctuate on properties for all sorts of reasons. The browse inspection method of determining if we need to remove more or fewer does isnxe2x80x99t perfect. But itxe2x80x99s the best answer Ixe2x80x99ve come up with to date. Hopefully, it can help answer your questions on setting doe harvest goals as well.

xe2x80x94 Longtime Deer & Deer Hunting contributor Steve Bartylla is one of North Americaxe2x80x99s top deer hunters and private-land deer managers. Contact him at bowwriter@yahoo.com.

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Determining Doe Harvesting for Better Habitats