What Are Your Thoughts About “Doe Days”?

[rferg84]

Already do this in several counties. Works well. Not nearly enough does are harvested in general IMHO.

Agree with that.

Our ratio in West Texas seems to be 4-1, it's probably not quite that bad but that my guess.

[JMKro]

We hunted on Rocky Creek south of Hallettsville back around 05'. One hunt I saw 33 does at one time. Literally.

[Red Man]

How many think 4 doe days during rifle season will be game over in these counties, will it really be like a 2nd season opener? I don't hunt this particular area but we did get picked for a draw hunt there in january, I can't imagine pressure thats that bad but maybe it is.

I think it will be game over in areas that have a low population already or a population that is struggling to recover. I can only speak on areas I have hunted ( Washington, Colorado, Fayette, and Austin) and many tracks, especially the area around Round Top to Brenham have high hunting pressure and low acreage. You kill 25%- 35% ofthe doe population in year one and you will have a big problem in upcoming years. Many of us have been down that road in the 90’s and remember having very low numbers. Now we get decent deer numbers in this area and we are ready to kill em again with a higher population of people in this area. Seems that is poor judgement in my opinion. I think allowing a single doe in year 1 would be much better than 2. Reassess and change again if need be.

I think also from what I am reading on hear is that counties on the southern and weatern boundaries can handle a doe season very easily while the eastern counties may not. Hopefully this will be taken into account with TPWD.

[JMKro]

Texas parks and wildlife officials like to repeat ideas that don’t work. Just ask people that fish for bass on lake conroe. Lots of small acreage in Austin fayette Washington and Colorado county will result in overharvest and slow repopulation. Couple that with a fairly high number of predators and we will have a priblem not seen since 1993.

Hydrilla or the 16" size limit?

[JMKro]

I will chime in. I don't like the idea after mulling over it. I remember when they did this in the 90's as well, and it did put a huge dent in our deer population. I personally think youths should be allowed to kill ONE doe during youth season.

That being said, I would be for it on my exact place, but my place has 10x the deer as a place 5 miles down the road. Point is it doesn't make sense for the whole area. Sounds like the state doesn't want to deal with MLD tags.

I personally believe that the state needs to step up and address the fragmentation of land and hunting. I would like to see something put into place where you have to have at least X amount of acres to hunt. I would LOVE to see all places get MLD tags based on acreage, but I realize this would never happen.

I know for a fact that a family a mile down the road from me killed 5 bucks during Thanksgiving weekend in 2017. They were hunting less than a 30 acre cow pasture, and I know at least one of those bucks was under 13"....

So I am strongly against it! Where can I comment online?

What do you think the minimum amount of acreage should be?

[Hockley]

What do you think the minimum amount of acreage should be?

30+

[JeffK]

We hunted on Rocky Creek south of Hallettsville back around 05'. One hunt I saw 33 does at one time. Literally.

What is wrong with this?

[JMKro]

30+

That would knock a lot of average guys who own land/want to own land but can't afford the big money places out of the game.

We had 46 acres in Gonzales County that we used for hunting and that was about it. Eventually, my Dad & I decided to get something more universal and closer to home (Austin County) that he could make into a weekend place while still giving me a place to hunt. This property is less than 25 acres, but still cost over $200,000 due to the location. And this was the cheapest per acre price we found in the area. A property down the road from us sold around the same time and was $11,000+ per acre. Some of the places for sale on the internet in the general area were $15,000+ an acre, and not for anything special.

[JMKro]

What is wrong with this?

Believe me, I love seeing 30+ deer at a time, but there were 33 does and no bucks. That seems excessive, but I'm not an expert.

[Huntin Addict]

What is wrong with this?

The issue with this number is, if you use a deer density of 10 acres to support 1 deer, those 33 deer need 330 acres to sustain a healthy population. At the time, I would be willing to bet that the density in that area was more like 5 acres to every 1 deer, this situation is not conducive to promote a healthy overall herd.

Believe me, I love seeing 30+ deer at a time, but there were 33 does and no bucks. That seems excessive, but I'm not an expert.

I'm no expert either, but with this many does and, from what you are saying, no bucks or few bucks, what this causes is extreme stress on the bucks to try and cover all the does, (which doesn't happen) which translates into a smaller fawn crop which translates into less mature deer five years from now. It's a vicious cycle.

[doeboy11]

I combined my lease the lease next to it and the farmers next to that for a total of 400 acres. According to new MLD rules= 1 doe tag. The farmer used to get 3-5 tags 2-3 years ago and he would put down less deer than he saw.
Example
Monday night=20 deer
Wednesday=He would see 30 deer but only put down 10 because he figured he already saw 20 so it was only 10 extra
Saturday=He would see 20 but only put 15

So he would get less tags.

I see 10-15 does every sit after archery season, I only saw 1 during. So I would like to see it. I only take 1-2 deer a year and only older bucks. This year I took an older spike. I could use 1 more deer. So I would like to shoot a doe but can't.

[Ca$ey]

It would definitely be beneficial in Wilson. I shot 2 myself during archery this year and know of 5 that were killed by vehicles just in front of my house. That happens every year and still there’s 30 doe to 4 bucks at a time at every feeder or any given time you feed the road. Heck I’ll have 15 doe out eating before I start to climb into the blind.

[bossbowman]

I'm no expert either, but with this many does and, from what you are saying, no bucks or few bucks, what this causes is extreme stress on the bucks to try and cover all the does, (which doesn't happen) which translates into a smaller fawn crop which translates into less mature deer five years from now. It's a vicious cycle.

It also results in a spread out fawning season instead of all the fawns dropping at once. Spread out increases fawn mortality due to predation. This is one of the big reasons areas with the antler restrictions with more liberal antlerless bag limits have seen stready deer density increases, more fawns are making it because all the does get bred/give birth in a smaller time period.

[Huntin Addict]

It also results in a spread out fawning season instead of all the fawns dropping at once. Spread out increases fawn mortality due to predation. This is one of the big reasons areas with the antler restrictions with more liberal antlerless bag limits have seen stready deer density increases, more fawns are making it because all the does get bred/give birth in a smaller time period.

You are correct sir!

[Ca$ey]

Took these pics at my place in Wilson county about 10 min ago. Over 40 deer out right now. 4 are yearling bucks rest are doe.
I’d love me some doe days!