Saturday, September 17, 2011

Mama and the Twins

Been seeing this family unit pretty regularly.  Also another doe and her slightly younger twins. 

I have mixed feelings about deer in large enough numbers that eat my trees.



Nevertheless, they are fun to see and are mighty tasty!

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2 comments:

  1. SinissippiGalSeptember 17, 2011 at 5:17 PM

    I was just noticing "my" deer are hanging around across the road, relatively near some deer stands, which makes me wonder, just how far can you be away from a deer and still hit it with an arrow? And, do bowhunters always use a stand, or can they shoot from the ground? If "my" deer were smart, they'd mosey on over to my side of the road, where they'd be safe! And, do you ever shoot the fawns, or only the adults?

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  2. Swamp GasSeptember 18, 2011 at 8:59 AM

    Good questions.

    Most archers restrict their shots to no greater than 30 yards - give or take - as all shots need to be made within an 8-inch diameter heart-lung placement. You can certainly hit a deer with an arrow at a greater distance but the probability of wounding (rather than a clean kill) increases significantly.

    An elevated stand is good for scent control and concealment-but so is a ground blind. Ground blinds are easier to move around. I use both.

    The rules here are as follows:

    A hunter taking their first deer can kill anything they want.

    Otherwise, we allow the little bucks (spikes, forks and fawns) to walk. A doe of any age can be taken anytime.

    Roughly 85% of the doe fawns will be pregnant in their first year and many of the does are giving birth to twins. We really have too many deer and since farmland has a greater carrying capacity than the north woods and we don't have large numbers of predators population control is important.

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