Why is there a significant difference in many counties between how much buck harvest is up/down versus doe harvest??
First, it may not be different compared to years past... it could be the norm for several years. Second, in my corner of Bama, I'm seeing fewer does on any given plot than the past two years. If you caught a post I made a week or so ago, the less sightings have nothing to do with less does, but everything to do with acorns being in the woods this year (no acorns past two years). Because the does are more spread out this year, I'm not removing my "live bait" from any one place until rutting is over. For instance, at one particular plot/feeder I've got 4 does that regularly show up (as compared to 7-8 last year)... ain't no way I'm harvesting a doe there! Third, because does are more spread out across our property, bucks are having to travel further to find receptive does than in the past - when basically bucks could stay in one area and never exhaust the "doe supply" the past two years. The more they travel, the more opportunities to be seen and shot - and that's exactly what we've done this year on my private lease and in the club I'm in. We've had FAR more buck sightings on stand this year than in the past two - and we've already killed more bucks this season than we did in either of the past two years (no decrease in age/size either). IF the acorns eventually play out and does return to the plots/feeders en masse, then the number of does havested in my little corner will most certainly increase.
