Deer management question????

[gargetter]

Following this!

[txfireguy2003]

Thwackmaster, first of all, I would poll the members and figure out if the majority WANTS to manage for trophy deer, making sure that everyone truly understands the sacrifices and additional expenses that brings with it. If the majority decides it's something they want to do, then make a rule, say "Nothing under 4.5 years." and be done with it. Having plenty of study material, maybe some reference cards in the stands, etc would be helpful to those who don't yet understand how to age. I would also give a year or two, where mistakes can be forgiven, and used as teaching moments. After the first year or two, everyone should have it figured out, but mistakes will still happen, nobody is perfect. If I were managing something like this, I would probably look at it as....."The rule says 4.5....this deer is 3.5, I can see how you could make that mistake, let's try to be more careful." Conversely, "The rule states 4.5, and your deer is OBVIOUSLY a 1.5 or 2.5 year old deer.....you're going to have to pay the penalty (whatever that may be)."

On the other hand, if the majority of the guys on your place do NOT wish to partake in management.....then nobody, aside from the landowner/lease manager, should have the right to tell them to leave simply because they don't want to change something they have been enjoying for 10+ years, they have just as much right to enjoy the property any way they see fit (within the owner's guidelines of course) as anybody else on the property. Maybe the management guys need to move off if the majority just wants a place to go and pop a few deer each year.

Overall, I think every hunter would love to kill a trophy deer, and given the right information, I think MOST would be willing to endure the sacrifices associated with management. I think your problem is one of educating the "brown it's down" guys to understand that this type of hunting is counterproductive to having big deer. Once they understand that aspect of the situation, THEN, you can have the management discussion with them. At that point, it's up to the group to decide by majority rule, do we want to do management, or do we want to just come out and shoot deer every year? Once the group makes the group decision, everyone must be bound by said decision, or if they do not agree, they can take a hike.

Of course, that is just my oppinion, in a perfect world.

[sotx]

Its around 1000ac, one manager for the last 10 years, and 13 hunters.

I would think 13 hunters is your biggest problem. Id try and get that down to 4 people

[Black Ice]

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[BTLowry]

Thwackmaster, first of all, I would poll the members and figure out if the majority WANTS to manage for trophy deer, making sure that everyone truly understands the sacrifices and additional expenses that brings with it. If the majority decides it's something they want to do, then make a rule, say "Nothing under 4.5 years." and be done with it. Having plenty of study material, maybe some reference cards in the stands, etc would be helpful to those who don't yet understand how to age. I would also give a year or two, where mistakes can be forgiven, and used as teaching moments. After the first year or two, everyone should have it figured out, but mistakes will still happen, nobody is perfect. If I were managing something like this, I would probably look at it as....."The rule says 4.5....this deer is 3.5, I can see how you could make that mistake, let's try to be more careful." Conversely, "The rule states 4.5, and your deer is OBVIOUSLY a 1.5 or 2.5 year old deer.....you're going to have to pay the penalty (whatever that may be)."

On the other hand, if the majority of the guys on your place do NOT wish to partake in management.....then nobody, aside from the landowner/lease manager, should have the right to tell them to leave simply because they don't want to change something they have been enjoying for 10+ years, they have just as much right to enjoy the property any way they see fit (within the owner's guidelines of course) as anybody else on the property. Maybe the management guys need to move off if the majority just wants a place to go and pop a few deer each year.

Overall, I think every hunter would love to kill a trophy deer, and given the right information, I think MOST would be willing to endure the sacrifices associated with management. I think your problem is one of educating the "brown it's down" guys to understand that this type of hunting is counterproductive to having big deer. Once they understand that aspect of the situation, THEN, you can have the management discussion with them. At that point, it's up to the group to decide by majority rule, do we want to do management, or do we want to just come out and shoot deer every year? Once the group makes the group decision, everyone must be bound by said decision, or if they do not agree, they can take a hike.

Of course, that is just my oppinion, in a perfect world.

Well said


13 people on 1000ac seems very crowded to me but maybe not.
Also on 1000ac I would not think you could kill more than 1 or 2 mature deer a season if that many

[deerplanter]

We get one cull and one "trophy" on our place. The cull has to be approved first if possiable and the "trophy" requires that you have it shoulder mounted. This will make people think twice about whether it's worth another 550 or not. We are not in an AR county and we have does to take for meat so it may not work on your place. We all use the same Taxi and go to each others house so it is easy for us to manage.

[denowt]

There's got to be willingness for it to really work.

You can try putting a graduated width requirement in place; like, 13" for 4 points or less, 14" for 5 & 6 points, 15" for 8 & 9 points, 16" for 10 & 11 points and 18" for 12 or more points. It's not nearly as good aa aging them but it would help.

Over the years I've learned if a hunter can't age a deer on the hoof, they can't judge spread or score either.

Its around 1000ac, one manager for the last 10 years, and 13 hunters.

You're not going to manage much with that many hunters.
You pretty much have 3 options:
1. Enjoy it for a deer killing lease
2. Reduce your hunter quantity to at least half, which means lease fee will go up
3. Find another lease

[popup_menace]

Like everyone has said, if you cannot get everyone on board, you have already lost the battle. I have had a hard enough time getting the 5 people I hunt with to actually shoot doe, which has begun to ruin the ratio. They have finally caught on, but it took 3 years to convince them that leveling the ratio is optimum. Good luck with your management, and I hope you can get the lease the way you want

[Bigyummy77]

Tuning in....