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How many deer per year?

DB4x4

DB4x4

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 25, 2018
Messages
1,870
On average, how many deer do you take each year? Do you have a goal number wise? If you reach that goal before the end of the season, do you stop hunting, hunt for something else, or pursue another hobby?

I know this is highly dependent on where you live and the surrounding deer population, so please include your home state, or the state(s) in which you hunt if you don't mind...

In terms of meat in the freezer, my wife and I shoot for (pun intended) 2-3 deer each year. Two is sufficient, three is ideal with a surplus. We have taken four on occasion, but at that point, we end up giving away a bunch of it. (Which is fine if you know folks who want it and will use it)

Does anybody here shoot deer specifically to donate them to food banks, Hunters Sharing the Harvest Programs, etc...?
 
I didnt kill any last year and didnt hunt as much due to not knowing much about public. This year after learning about public my goal was 7, but been struggling a lot so right now im just hoping for 1. If and when i get the 1 i will move that number to 2 and so on. Bama
 
Nutterbuster said:
I shot 4 last year. My wife and I ate it all by July or August.

I'm gunning for 10 this year. I firmly believe we could eat them all in a year. I'm from bama.
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I take it your hunting areas are crawling with them then? How many bucks can you take? My state only allows one buck statewide, but is fairly liberal with doe tags...
 
Me and my kids only killed two deer last year and we were out of meat by early summer. Luckily, my brother in law gave me some meat that we rationed throughout the summer. I've got two already this year, (my boys are slacking) and would like to get at least two more. Four is enough, if we get five I end up making some bologna. I'm from Western MD.
 
2-3 per year is an adequate number for us. We had four last season and it allowed us to share with some of my co-workers.

Sent from my SM-S727VL using Tapatalk
 
Last year, I shot 6 between to states. I kept 4 and this is the first year we had meat all the through to the following deer season. 3 years ago I made my wife a promise that the first deer I kill every year will go to HSH. Now that i hunt two states consistently that rule applies to both pa and wv, first deer gets donated.. I've since donated 5 deer in 3 years. I used to small game hunt or fish once I tagged out, tagging out has grown harder and harder every year. I typically always have a tag or two left so i am usually deer hunting to the end!
 
Last year I Bucked out (3 bucks) and took 1 doe and 1 hog. I hunt in Mississippi where the legal limit is 3 bucks and 5 does but our hunting club maintains antler restrictions and only 2 does per membership.
 
ThePennsylvanian said:
Last year, I shot 6 between to states. I kept 4 and this is the first year we had meat all the through to the following deer season. 3 years ago I made my wife a promise that the first deer I kill every year will go to HSH. Now that i hunt two states consistently that rule applies to both pa and wv, first deer gets donated.. I've since donated 5 deer in 3 years. I used to small game hunt or fish once I tagged out, tagging out has grown harder and harder every year. I typically always have a tag or two left so i am usually deer hunting to the end!
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HSH - Add that to the Saddle Hunter acronym list

So you try to fill every tag each year? Does the local deer population support that strategy?

EDIT: Support that strategy, meaning...do you have a ton of deer in your area?
 
Dylan9862003 said:
Last year I Bucked out (3 bucks) and took 1 doe and 1 hog. I hunt in Mississippi where the legal limit is 3 bucks and 5 does but our hunting club maintains antler restrictions and only 2 does per membership.
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What are your antler restriction requirements? Do you feel they are working?
 
DB4x4 said:
I take it your hunting areas are crawling with them then? How many bucks can you take? My state only allows one buck statewide, but is fairly liberal with doe tags...
Click to expand...
Alabama has a fairly large herd. Once upon a not-so-recent time our total population was 2nd only to texas. We can shoot a doe a day all season, and have a 3 buck limit.

Important to note that I believe in setting grandiose goals. I fully intend to shoot every deer I can and hunt hard all year. But I am not saying I'll achieve 10 deer. I have missed 2 so far, which is really setting me back. :(
 
Northern Virginia here, I shoot for 3-4 a year, and I donate to hunters for the hungry. I hunt farms with kill permits so I've been asked to harvest more by the farmers.
 
I am an antler addict and spend the majority of the season looking for a trophy. A decent buck will eventually get shot out of spite if the trophy continues to elude me long enough. As far as meat deer go my wife and I kinda just look at what we need to have through till next season. Some years a buck and doe will suffice. Other years when I have slacked do to an obsession with a certain buck and let the freezer get low I will shoot some extra does. The answer to this question falls somewhere between the common 2 a year or can be as many as 8 because the freezer is empty and the non hunters want venison sausage.
 
Nutterbuster said:
Alabama has a fairly large herd. Once upon a not-so-recent time our total population was 2nd only to texas. We can shoot a doe a day all season, and have a 3 buck limit.

Important to note that I believe in setting grandiose goals. I fully intend to shoot every deer I can and hunt hard all year. But I am not saying I'll achieve 10 deer. I have missed 2 so far, which is really setting me back. :(
Click to expand...

OK, I retract my statement about my state being fairly liberal with doe tags... Hey, when can I come down? :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:
 
DB4x4 said:
OK, I retract my statement about my state being fairly liberal with doe tags... Hey, when can I come down? :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:
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Haha! It used to be 2 deer per day of the season, one of which could be a buck. They’ve scaled back in recent years.
 
I try to take 2 per year now that I hunt far less than I used to. When I hunted more, my goal was as many as possible and give most to hunters for the hungry. It looks like I’ll be moving to Wisconsin by the end of the year, so my goal this year is just to kill one since getting ready to move has me pretty busy.
 
DB4x4 said:
What are your antler restriction requirements? Do you feel they are working?
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We don't do point restrictions what we have done is adopt the states more stringent restrictions for our own. The current restriction is 12" inside spread OR 15" main beam.

Do I think it has helped I would say yes but I think the largest contributing factor for us (IMO) we voted out running dogs on the property 2 years ago. And the hunting as a whole has improved dramatically.

Also we now limit the travel on the property to "Working hours 10-2" during hunting season so people are not running all over the place all day checking cameras and so forth.
 
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