I need some advice on what deer you would recommend that I take for best herd management.
As I mentioned in my previous thread, I've lived in Oklahoma for awhile but I've always deer hunted in Kansas due to the quality of deer up on the family farm compared to this part of Oklahoma. This year I'm planning on taking 1-2 deer here on the land I have access to north of Tulsa. My boss owns the land and likes to run a feeder in the fall to see the deer on the pictures the game camera sends to his phone so I have good pictures of the deer. However, no one has taken a deer on this piece of land in at least 5 years. Its 160 acres but most of it is open land. This area is pretty open so theres not a whole lot of cover excluding trees on hedgerows or along creeks. The neighbors all hunt so there is a decent amount of hunting pressure. 95% of the bucks over the last 5 years on the camera have 1.5 year old spikes, some with a tiny fork at the top. Rarely will we see a 2.5 or 3.5 year old buck on the camera and usually only for a week or so.
Right now we have a group of 3 young bucks in a group, 3-4 does and 5-6 fawns. I have included some pictures below.
Assuming I don't get a chance at a mature buck, would you recommend shooting a young buck or a doe? I would normally shoot the doe for meat but considering the hunting pressure, maybe maximizing the reproducing does would help out the herd the best? What do you guys think? Getting a deer won't be a problem because I see them on the cameras all day long in different areas of the property.
As I mentioned in my previous thread, I've lived in Oklahoma for awhile but I've always deer hunted in Kansas due to the quality of deer up on the family farm compared to this part of Oklahoma. This year I'm planning on taking 1-2 deer here on the land I have access to north of Tulsa. My boss owns the land and likes to run a feeder in the fall to see the deer on the pictures the game camera sends to his phone so I have good pictures of the deer. However, no one has taken a deer on this piece of land in at least 5 years. Its 160 acres but most of it is open land. This area is pretty open so theres not a whole lot of cover excluding trees on hedgerows or along creeks. The neighbors all hunt so there is a decent amount of hunting pressure. 95% of the bucks over the last 5 years on the camera have 1.5 year old spikes, some with a tiny fork at the top. Rarely will we see a 2.5 or 3.5 year old buck on the camera and usually only for a week or so.
Right now we have a group of 3 young bucks in a group, 3-4 does and 5-6 fawns. I have included some pictures below.
Assuming I don't get a chance at a mature buck, would you recommend shooting a young buck or a doe? I would normally shoot the doe for meat but considering the hunting pressure, maybe maximizing the reproducing does would help out the herd the best? What do you guys think? Getting a deer won't be a problem because I see them on the cameras all day long in different areas of the property.
