Don't Forget the Does

A lot of the hunting world today revolves around bucks.  You'll see on websites "How to get a bruiser in the early season" or "Where to catch the big boys" and so on.  And many lose sight of the does.  And actually, they have a lot to do with genetics and herd health.  Not only that, but they offer more opportunities to shoot and give kids an opportunity for a deer.  And, you hunt does to find bucks in the rut.  But here we go...

• Does give half of the genetics to the fawns.  So they give just as much genetics as bucks.  An unhealthy or sickly doe will not give great genetics even if a great buck breeds her.  
• Not only that, but the more does there are, there is less rut activity.  If there are more does, then it will be harder to pinpoint where a buck will be if there are a lot of places does could be.  If there are less does, then bucks will have to search out for them more, leading to more buck activity.  
• The more does there are, the higher the population of deer.  You may ask, "Isn't that good?"  Yes and no.  More population means more deer which mean more hunting opportunities.  No because if the amount of food a deer population eats exceeds the amount of forage a piece of land produces, then the herd suffers.  Less food means less nutrition.  Less nutrition leads to smaller deer and unhealthier deer and smaller racks and fawns. 

Yes, I did read about some of this, but all you need is a little logic to get to those conclusions (I mean no disrespect to anyone).

Till next time!