MLD Does.....does age matter?

[Bear Charge]

Only if they have a 13" spread since that determines age

[HighwayHunter]

Younger does. Mature does are producing, and unless you know which ones aren’t then a young doe is mostly a mouth. A 3+yr old doe is putting more deer on your place. I think if I remember what Encinal said that about sums it up.


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[Bear Charge]

Wait....

[Dale Moser]

Biggest buck breeds the does
You shoot the does.
No good genes being passed.
Shoot before rut.
No genes lost.

You don’t think the bigger bucks breed the other does too?[emoji23]


They all get it in the end.


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[cfortner]

They all get it in the end.


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That's not how breeding works

[Dale Moser]

Waste of good sperm...why let them get bred by a potential B&C, then shoot them?

You don’t know if they are bred when you shoot them anyway, and you **** sure don’t know which buck they are bred by.


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[BrandonA]

I'll disagree, we always try and take our older does out especially if you're under any type of management program. Generationally your herd should be improving both bucks and does, so theoretically your more mature deer should be inferior to the previous generation. You want your bell curve to continually move go the right, both sexes.

I tend to lean this direction. As far as removing them sooner rather than later means more forage for the rest to get through the winter

[WS_AG]

You want to remove does across the entire age structure. Not just old does. You also want to remove them as soon as possible to conserve as much natural forage as possible.

[doghouse]

Older the better for me. I have my Grandkids kill me the biggest doe they can. To each their own.

[systemnt]

You don’t think the bigger bucks breed the other does too?[emoji23]


They all get it in the end.


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Precisely why you shoot your does early.
By math, youve increased the chances the does you want to keep on property are bred by the bigger bucks you want to pass the genes on. .(buck to doe ratio)..and you reduce the chances of shooting the does that are carrying the bigger buck genes...because you arent shooting preggo does.

But what do i know...

[Shane]

Biggest buck breeds the does
You shoot the does.
No good genes being passed.
Shoot before rut.
No genes lost.

If the biggest buck breeds the does, then the does you don't kill will be bred by the biggest bucks too. Doesn't really matter.

[deerwatcher51]

I'll disagree, we always try and take our older does out especially if you're under any type of management program. Generationally your herd should be improving both bucks and does, so theoretically your more mature deer should be inferior to the previous generation. You want your bell curve to continually move go the right, both sexes.

I am MLD and historically I have tried to take the older does for the reasons above. Having said that, four years ago I pretty much wiped out my native does and brought in 10 south Texas does. Since then I have not shot anything but younger does, including doe fawns since they are at best probably only 50% South Texas. As my South Texas does die off, I will go back to shooting the older does. I too like to take my does as early in the season as possible.

[systemnt]

If the biggest buck breeds the does, then the does you don't kill will be bred by the biggest bucks too. Doesn't really matter.

Does matter..in that you shooting does during rut.. you havent reduced the doe to buck ratio that helps insure the bigger bucks breed the does (nature of the rut)..because there enough does for errbody... and you have increased the chances of shooting the does carrying the big buck genes..

Its really not that hard.

[happy bowhunter]

We just knockem down. A doe is a doe is a doe is a doe [emoji23]


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X2

[Dale Moser]

Precisely why you shoot your does early.
By math, youve increased the chances the does you want to keep on property are bred by the bigger bucks you want to pass the genes on. .(buck to doe ratio)..and you reduce the chances of shooting the does that are carrying the bigger buck genes...because you arent shooting preggo does.

But what do i know...

Shooting a pregnant doe is no different than shooting an open doe. No doe, no fawn.

If the dominant bucks breed all the does then the ones left are just as likely to be bred by the dominant buck.

Also, the dominant buck isn’t always the one with the most desireable genes anyway.


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