My theory is that does concentrate heavily around food sources like fish schooled up on a brushpile…..Therefore, there arent as many “squares” with does spread out across them right now…..Bucks however travel and move around on the landscape a lot more than does especially during the rut regardless of food…..So they’re still getting shot and may even ben getting shot in place of the does that some hunters arent seeing…….In many of the northern counties you wont know what impact the 2 doe rule will really have until next year when the does are likely to be spread out again giving more hunting the opportunity to make that choice.
No… the bucks, especially our larger bucks, do not travel the same amount “regardless of food”. In years without acorns on our place, bucks (especially our larger bucks) travel less during the rut. When there’s 12-15 does in one area, there’s no way the most dominant bucks in that area can breed all the does in a cycle - there’s not enough time. They’re traveling more this year on our place because the does are spread out (we have acorns across our acreage).
