| Whitetail Shed Hunting Tips | | | | bucks seen during hunting season. |
| The deer management techniques that we use on | | | | Leave an area of sanctuary during the hunting |
| our property have changed a lot over the past thirty | | | | season so that the deer are not pressured. |
| years in relation with the changing deer herd. | | | | Provide a limited amount of shelled corn with |
| Whitetail deer numbers in the entire state of West | | | | automated wildlife feeders. |
| Virginia have grown considerably and our land has | | | | On some occasions we also cut down trees to |
| been no exception. | | | | provide browse in the winter and fertilize plants |
| We started shooting does in 1997 after the pictures | | | | growing along the edges, especially the honeysuckle. |
| from our scouting camera revealed that we were | | | | The Results |
| overloaded with does. Since then we have shot 22 | | | | Since changing our hunting strategies we have |
| does and only 7 bucks. Three of these bucks, two | | | | noticed some changes for the better. We have seen |
| 8-points and one 10-point are the three largest | | | | bucks fighting, which we had seldom seen in past |
| antlered bucks that we have taken in the last thirty | | | | years and bucks have started reacting to calling, |
| years. We had noticed that there were larger | | | | particularly grunting. We are finding shed antlers now; |
| antlered bucks when the deer population had just | | | | sheds are hard to find when they're just spikes. Also |
| started to climb in the eighties and then antler sizes | | | | the numbers of bucks as compared to does caught |
| began to decrease as the deer numbers grew too | | | | on our scouting camera pictures has increased |
| high and we were shooting the young bucks each | | | | dramatically. This tells us that our buck to doe ratio is |
| year. | | | | improving. |
| All of this made us realize that we needed to lower | | | | On the other hand, we still feel that our total deer |
| the deer population by shooting does and letting the | | | | numbers are too high. The body weights of the deer |
| young bucks grow up. | | | | we are shooting are still low. The body weights of |
| We are currently doing several different things in an | | | | the three does that we shot in 1997 ranged from 65 |
| attempt to have a well-balanced, healthier deer herd | | | | to 85 pounds while the weights of the four does in |
| on our farm. These include: | | | | 2003 varied from 55 to 82 pounds. Although we are |
| Harvesting does. | | | | not deer aging experts we do look at tooth wear to |
| Letting young bucks grow up. Whitetail Shed Hunting | | | | determine the approximate age of the deer. We |
| Tips | | | | usually look at the lower front teeth. A couple of the |
| Planting food plots to help boost the nutrition. | | | | does that we've shot have had these lower front |
| Mineral licks. | | | | teeth worn all the way to the gumline. |
| Keep records on the deer harvested and a log of the | | | | |