Anyone have any idea on deer populations in Llano county? I’m just looking for rough numbers. I’m in the southwest part of the county. What is a ballpark for population per 1,000 acres?
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We are in SE Mason Co, so not far from you I bet. Our surveys show 6-9 ac/deer on our property. And we kill quite a few does every year. We are a little over 1000 ac. -
I have no number but there is more deer than there needs to be.Comment
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I heard the average was 160-230 deer per 1000 acresComment
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Our MLD survey this year estimated 149.9 deer per 1000 acres off of 2323 in SW Llano countyComment
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Thanks for the responses. If the average is 150 deer on 1000 acres, how many deer should be taken on 1000 acres? I know there are other variables, I’m just trying to ballpark the number for now. I will probably reach out to the biologist at some point. Thanks for the info.Comment
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You could kill 40 (5-6 bucks) and never know you did it the following year in Llano county. Especially if you have lite hunting pressure around you.Originally posted by 98ag View PostLast edited by PondPopper; 12-20-2023, 02:57 AM.Comment
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I know it isn't very reliable but TPWD MLD tag estimator says on 1000 ac low fence you should harvest 224 does, 40 regular bucks and 13 spikes for a total of 277 deer per year. Again, I don't trust it and it seems extremely high.Originally posted by 98ag View Post
Without a deer survey, doing the quick math says 150 deer, ~90 does and 60 bucks. Obviously that isn't exact. If every doe has .75 fawns (this accounts for twins vs non-survivors, etc) that means you have ~70 new deer (new fawns) to get rid of just to maintain the current population without working on your ratio. With a 50/50 buck/doe birth ratio that puts you at 35 does and 35 bucks that need to be killed just to stay at your current number (to cancel out the new fawns). With that said you would hopefully be looking at trying to correct your doe to buck ratio at the same time so if after having fawns you are at 125 does and 95 bucks it would be more like 20 bucks and 50 does to get closer to a 1:1 ratio for your 150 deer population. Again, that is just to maintain the current population. If you want to decrease to a better acres per deer then you would need to harvest more does. So what others said above seems to work out if you put pencil to paper.
Assumptions include starting population (150 deer), starting buck to doe ratio (1.5:1), fawn production rate (.75), 50/50 buck to doe fawn rate and more. The big deal is if you are low fenced and your neighbors don't kill enough deer they will just move to your place and you will need to kill more deer. A fence doesn't always fence "your deer" in but fences "your neighbor's deer" out. I don't want this to turn into low fence vs high fence, just trying to make the point that it is hard to reduce deer numbers as much as deer move to "greener pastures" and you likely need to kill more does than you think.Comment
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I have no idea the numbers but I’ve been blessed to hunt South Llano county for most of my life.
The ranch has been on MLD for about 15 years and we have never filled all the tags.
What I have noticed is an overall improvement on antler quality.
I arrowed an 8 in the 120’s and saw 1 in the 140’s and 2 in the 130’s and lots of 🦃 turkey.
Besides the brutes in South Texas Llano is my favorite place to hunt free range whitetail.
And the owners are some of my best friends and favorite people.Comment
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So, by this point in time, you know you made an error somehow, right?Originally posted by cehorn View Post
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It didn't sound right but I don't hunt Llano and didn't go back and check. Looks like I did 10,000 ac instead of 1,000 ac. so that is the discrepancy. I just did ~1000 ac again and got 55 total deer w/ 45 being does which lines up a little closer to the rest of my post with my buck number being a little high. This is a random place in Llano though and I can't remember where I originally drew it. Either way, yes I was way off by adding a "little more acreage".Originally posted by Top Of Texas View Post
As we have discussed in other threads, I am not a biologist and am still learning on this. What are your thoughts on the rest of my post as far as numbers that I calculated?Comment
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That's the general approach of converting a density estimate into a population estimate. But definitely need actual demographics. I doubt the sex ratio is 1:1.5 with an annual fawn crop of 75%.Originally posted by cehorn View Post
A buck to doe ratio is first bucks then doe, like 1:1.5, or maybe easier to just say 1.5 doe per buck. Same thing, just depends on how you best perceive it. But I knew what you meant.
Once you have a pop, then throw out 10% of everybody to account for natural mortality.
Fawn crop does not equal recruitment so shouldn't harvest at fawn crop, unless high fence.
Never harvest doe for the sole purpose of adjusting sex ratios. Rather, only to control population growth for habitat quality purposes. If doe harvest is appropriate for habitat quality and buck harvest of only mature bucks, then sex ratios will align on their own. And if they don't, so what.
Most importantly, what are the deer doing to the high quality browse?
I do have my own consulting business now and offer my services throughout Texas, well...west of I-45 anyway. Y'all can holler anytime. 806-662-3357.
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