Virginia’s Deer with Justin Folks: The Importance of Doe Harvest

By Justin Folks/DWR

It’s no secret that the prospect of a big buck is what gets most of us in a deer stand each fall. It’s also no secret that overabundant deer have negative effects on forests, farmlands, front yards, and Fords (I like alliteration). We, as deer hunters, need to look beyond “grip-and-grins” and taxidermy bills, and think more about the big picture of deer management.

It’s hard to grow new oaks to replace the dead and dying ones in our forests (we all know how important acorns are to deer and other wildlife). No one likes kill permits (including most farmers I’ve talked to), but they are a necessary evil in a growing number of situations. Deer are overwhelming suburban and urban neighborhoods—I see far more deer each year in town than I do in my old hunting grounds. While I don’t drive a Ford, I can say that driving most evenings about anywhere in the state is a high stakes game of “dodge the deer” (my wife’s van lost this game this past winter). Virginia has been one of the top 10 U.S. states for deer-vehicle collisions in recent years.

All methods we use to monitor deer population trends indicate an ever-growing deer population on private lands, and the “eyeball test” supports that. We’ve thrown just about just about every regulation we can at private lands in several counties, including Earn-a-Buck and extended antlerless seasons, but deer abundance still isn’t at desired levels in many areas. Those levels were determined by a diverse stakeholder group representing a broad range of interests related to deer—not just farmers and insurance agents.

It’s a much different story on public lands, especially west of the Blue Ridge (WBR). Public lands WBR are predominantly mountainous areas with poor soils, poor habitat, and much lower productivity than the private lands in the valleys. The difference is so striking that we separate our regulations accordingly, trying to address the specific deer population needs on each land type. Contrary to what some believe, we don’t like private landowners more than public land hunters—we’re simply trying to reduce deer abundance where it needs to be reduced, and grow or stabilize deer numbers on many public lands through much more conservative seasons. We are actively pursuing ways to facilitate getting more hunters on private lands where deer herds need to be reduced, but that is a long row to hoe.

In addition to alleviating damage to forests, crops, residential plants, and vehicles, reducing deer abundance helps improve the condition of the remaining deer in the herd, including those bucks most of us are after. Lower deer densities mean increased forage and nutrition for each deer in the herd (you generally can’t have more deer AND bigger deer). Bucks are able to enter the rut in better condition and rebound from the rut more easily, giving them the ability to put more resources into antler growth. Does are in better condition and can produce bigger and healthier buck fawns, giving them a head start towards reaching maturity and maximizing antler growth. Having a more balanced doe-to-buck ratio helps ensure does are bred during their first estrus cycle, which shortens the length of the rut, reduces stress on bucks, and leads to a shorter period of fawning. A more condensed “fawning season” makes it more difficult for predators to prey upon them (i.e., there’s so many fawns hitting the ground at the same time that predators can’t possibly eat them all—this is sometimes referred to as “predator swamping”).

Fewer deer hunters make it harder to keep deer numbers in check, and more and more places are becoming refuges for deer. If hunters fail to adequately manage deer herds, more deer will be taken under kill permits or killed by vehicles, CWD will likely spread more quickly, and hunting as a recreation will suffer. We ask that Virginia’s private land hunters take more does in counties with deer populations above objective and to recruit new hunters to help.

Recreational hunting has historically been the most cost-effective management tool for deer (and an enjoyable one at that), but if we, as hunters, don’t do our part in meeting population objectives, the future could look a lot different.

Read Part 1 & 2 of this series:

Virginia’s Deer with Justin Folks: Breaking Down the Harvest Summary

Virginia’s Deer with Justin Folks: Deer Populations on the Rise

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Justin Folks is DWR’s Deer Project Leader.