Hunted Illinois two weeks ago, saw far less does there than I do here. I cant really explain it. The biggest doe group I saw was 3.

Hunted Illinois two weeks ago, saw far less does there than I do here. I cant really explain it. The biggest doe group I saw was 3.

Its really not as ridiculous as it may sound…..I’m very familiar with the area and have had other parcels that have had biologists tell them the same thing…..The caretaker for Enon told me a very similar number that they had recommended to be taken by the biologist…….And here’s the thing…..You could probably kill that many off of these properties if it weren’t for the hunting pressure it would create shutting them down eventually…..And why is the biologist telling them that? I’m guessing its so the habitat has some pressure taken off of it and so that the does will weigh 140 lbs like y’all are talking about instead of 80-100 like they do now……Meanwhile though the people who hunt these places are seeing 30, 40, 50 deer in an afternoon.....even 75 in an afternoon like doekiller mentioned... and still killing some golly whoppers here and there too like anywhere else…..


This is why I think while all well intentioned……a lot of this recommendation stuff is just a matter of opinions……There really is no one “right place” to manage….Why do these folks need to blast a bunch of does?.....So that the doe weights will increase?.....What does that get them? Seeing a whole lot less deer??? Meanwhile they’re just coming up with their own number anyways that they think is about right…..”Well the biologist said 100…..but we just shoot 20 instead……or 40……or whatever…….”…….I think most people would rather see 50 deer that weighed 80-100 lbs than 5-6 that weighed 140 if they had to choose between the two………There’s no right place to manage really though….its a sliding scale and its just a matter of opinion o….Some of the most coveted places to hunt though are where hunters are seeing 40-50+ in a sit……That is what brings some of the highest dollar lease prices….People don’t pay high lease prices for big does……I think we over prescribe a bunch of doe killing that isn’t necessary…….

That's live weight. Right ?

Quite sure it is live. We been managing or place for over 20 years and we get both live and dressed. Have the paperwork on every deer we've kill for the entire period.

I like to shoot 4-6 deer a year. Though some years I only shoot 2-4. Only one buck a year because I always save a tag for the monster that never shows. But one tract I hunt is 400 acres and between my friend, uncle, and cousin we take 4-5 does off a year and it has a healthy herd. The other is approx. 6000 acres and total doe kill a year has been 1-3 for the last 6-8 years and I kind of feel a little bad about killing 1-2 a year off of it myself (just a little). Then, I'll hunt some farms around city limits and pick up a couple more with my bow. Those populations need the pressure so I don't have any issue at all killing as many as I want off those farms.

OK , just a average healthy grown doe