Whitetail doe season... is it time to take end it?

[Wild one]

Yes the data in the tables provided by AB shows this. Interesting that the doe harvest ration in both provinces if very close.

If you see the population of WT in the 400s they are still stronger then a lot of BCs WT populations

All for keeping healthy buck vs doe ratios this is something BC was failing at with WT in the past. This is where I support the WT doe harvest. How BC manages its lower WT populations I don’t support

In my opinion WT doe harvest is good for the herd health in BCs larger populations. I see no issues with a slight drop in doe numbers in these areas. I also have experience hunting pressured WT does so know some reports of less WT being seen is because does got smarter

Now If BC gets smarter about mule deer ratios that would be nice to see. But I doubt it because the only reason we are seeing it with WT is a by product of another goal

[Wild one]

Overall BCs issues with deer management are down to 2 major issues and not just inregards to WT but all species

1) apply blanket style management vs adjusting for habitat and populations

2) poor buck vs doe ratios

This has been BCs style of deer management for ever( slight changes in regs but same results) and until this is realized as flawed nothing will improve

Habitat is an overall game populations issue that is why it’s not included

[Ourea]

Overall BCs issues with deer management are down to 2 major issues and not just inregards to WT but all species

1) apply blanket style management vs adjusting for habitat and populations

2) poor buck vs doe ratios

This has been BCs style of deer management for ever( slight changes in regs but same results) and until this is realized as flawed nothing will improve

Habitat is an overall game populations issue that is why it’s not included

Funding and pushing public awareness is the fix.

[Wild one]

Funding and pushing public awareness is the fix.

Agree but public awareness is going to be tough with the on going propaganda pushing the same old theories

This is something that is costing support big picture wise there is a lack of trust that this will not be dumping $ into the same management style

Funding is good but without different goals it is the same path carrying a bigger wallet

[Fisher-Dude]

We have >90% pregnancy rates among our deer populations. We can get >90% pregnancy rates with much lower buck:doe ratios than we manage to (20:100), too. Both species will give you >90% pregnancy rates with ratios below 10:100.

Are people saying there are "poor" buck to doe ratios because they want a bunch of bucks wandering around to shoot? Or are they concerned about buck:doe ratios that would cause a conservation issue with deer populations?

[Wild one]

We have >90% pregnancy rates among our deer populations. We can get >90% pregnancy rates with much lower buck:doe ratios than we manage to (20:100), too. Both species will give you >90% pregnancy rates with ratios below 10:100.

Are people saying there are "poor" buck to doe ratios because they want a bunch of bucks wandering around to shoot? Or are they concerned about buck:doe ratios that would cause a conservation issue with deer populations?

Do some reasearch on the health of fawns increasing when does are bred earlier resulting in fawns being born earlier. Higher buck vs doe ratios result in does bred earlier this is one of the reasons you will find management for higher ratios

Stronger fawns going into winter higher survival rate

More to it then just number of does bred

[wideopenthrottle]

and strong does well fed over the winter will have healthier and maybe even more fawns...if you want to make some observations about deer herd health ask yourself how many twins and triplets you are seeing in the spring

[Wild one]

and strong does well fed over the winter will have healthier and maybe even more fawns...if you want to make some observations about deer herd health ask yourself how many twins and triplets you are seeing in the spring

What I am stating is a deer management practice used outside of BC

This is not my personal theory it has be studied and put into practice. The claim is stronger survival rate of yearlings and overall health. Not stated in study but could see does benifiting as well as they will have more time to rebuild their own health after giving birth. This is giving both fawns and does more time to build fat reserves during months of food sources of highest nutritional value available

Stronger health and bigger reserves going into winter VS slightly more nutrition over winter

Really not a crazy theory

often hear claims of fawns being born late in BC as well


Continue down the same management theories in BC or consider other options that’s the call that BC needs to make

My opinion you cannot expect different results doing the same thing over and over.

[Islandeer]

^^^ another example of not hunting WT effectively then making assumptions (no disrespect intended).
Another hunter could have approached the same area(s) differently.
Sit.

Walking around trying to fool a WT's radar......you lose 9 out of 10 times....and I am being kind with the 9 out of 10 assessment since we can toss lead at does. I don't hunt the Kootenays but hear such conflicting experiences.

A contact of mine was sharing his 80 yr old dad's latest Kootenay hunt. That batch of cronies were 5 for 5 yet some that hunted the same area are outspoken over the lack of deer. Somewhere there is a consensus.

Share similar experiences, our family has hunted a well known EK whitey area for 35 yrs, have seen huge population swings, the most dramatic was after 1996 winter kill. Remember that one? We had a hard time finding leh does that next season!
Then they rebounded for about 10 years or so until the elk took off which softened numbers slightly. So we would see up to 100 does a day then.

Jumping forward to the last 5 yrs our camp averages 3 to 4 whitey bucks in the 3.5 yr class, the occasional bigger one.


Our mule deer family hunt averages one to two 4 pts a season.

Note, our deer are earned the hard way, sitting or still hunting timber.

[Fisher-Dude]

We should note that Alberta, that panacea of deer breeding, has 40% of its land privately held, with hunting at the discretion of the landowner, and with huge tracts of land under agriculture providing a smorgasbord of deer feed.

Compare that to BC, which has 6% of land held privately, with the other 94% held by the Crown for purposes other than growing crops that feed sojourning wildlife.

Is it any wonder that the harvest and management regimes are different between the two jurisdictions?