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Buck to Doe Ratio Question

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IowaDave

PMA Member
I've always heard & read that you want to keep the buck to doe ratio 'in check' and thin down the does so there aren't way more does than bucks (1:1 or something close to that comes to mind?), but I've never really heard why, and if I did, I forgot.

Can somoene please explain this to me because it seems to me that if there are a lot of does running around my farm, there are going to be a lot of bucks on the farm too when they come into heat.
I'm sure there is a scientific explanation for it, but without having it explained to me, I just can't see the reasoning.
 
keep the does in check so you see more buck activity, around here in western,ky the buck to doe ratio is probaly 10 does to 1 buck. You can't get people around here to understand that, they say wer is all the bucks at but then again they wnt shoot does. Yaw have got it alot better in Iowa then we do here haha. Atleast yaw have people that manage their farms and practice QDM i guess people around here don't believe in it, their motto around here is if it's brown it's down. I should move to Iowa and find a farm to buy haha
 
IowaDave - I think it is so the big bucks actually have to get up and move much more to find a Doe, vs just staying in one small area where they don't have to move. Gives a guy a slightly better chance of seeing them on their feet...
 
Yes that is one benefit.

Others include:

A shorter breeding season with a more intense rut as all the does are bred in a shorter amount of time. Doe's will continue to go into estrous untill they are bred and in areas of high doe ratios that could mean 2-3 months of breeding. A balanced ratio will this make a more intense shorter rut as dominate bucks want to make sure they are doing the breeding. The shorter breeding time frame allows fawns to be dropped at the optimum time when browse is most nutrient rich and plentifull this makes them healthier deer for the rest of their life. A doe bred in January here in Iowa is going to have a fawn two months later than one that was bred in November the fawn dropped later will never catch up and reach its full potential. Bucks breeding over a 3 week window instead of 3 months will be much healthier and go into spring putting on bigger bodies and antlers instead of being so depleted they just are making up what they lost. These are few reasons for having better ratios there are plenty more.

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Central IA, your answer makes scientific sense to me.

However from a hunting perspective, maybe I'm dense, but I still think I'd rather have more does on the ground I hunt than less when the rut hits.

Not to be sexist, but I think of it as a college bar scene. If there a lots of women all dressed up & smelling good in a certain bar & only a few scattered here & there in the other bars around town, chances are you're going to find the most guys in the bar with the most women.
From a hunting perspective, I'd like those odds a lot better.
But maybe I'm still missing something, IDK.
 
Well if you want to put it into those terms...its like sitting at a stool all night at the bar and having the ladies come to you...or you have to get up and walk around to mingle with the ladies around different bars...get it? Which means odds are I am going to see you more often when you are forced to be out on your feet searching for the ladies vs. sitting at the stool in one bar :D
 
And I bet we would be on our feet fighting for them as well.

If your dominate buck has a doe he just finished breeding and 5 more are in estrous 50 yards away and you are 200 yards away he will never need to walk by you.
The ruts still going on in areas where doe ratios are high but it may appear not to be. More balanced ratios make for a shorter more intense rut.
I have hunted both types of areas talk about some fun rattling in balanced ratio areas and mature sightings are much more plentifull.


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I wouldn't get caught up so much in what is the perfect ratio, most of what's out there is made up anyways. Just keep passing young bucks and make improvements to their habitat, that's the best thing you can do. Half the state is ruined now because of the DNRs quest for a healthier herd. I personally enjoy seeing a bunch of does when I am out, better than seeing nothing.
 
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