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  email: cblara@noble.org.

Use These Methods to Increase Doe Harvest
Wildlife specialist Grant Huggins offers these tips to get the numbers up

ARDMORE, Okla. — Many deer managers have goals for their deer herd that require an increased harvest of does, according to Grant Huggins, a wildlife specialist at the Noble Foundation.

"We have used various methods to increase doe harvest on Foundation properties, and have communicated with other managers concerning the methods they use," he said. "Here are some ideas you might incorporate into your operation."

Hunter education — No other approach yields as many benefits as an educated group of hunters. Hunters who understand deer management, the goals for the ranch, and the fact that doe harvest is in their own best interest, are invaluable. Time spent educating hunters is a great investment.

"Create educational opportunities for your hunters — show videos, distribute good publications, invite a wildlife professional or other successful deer manager to a meeting, or attend an educational meeting with your hunters," Huggins said.

• Conservative buck limits — Hunters who cannot fulfill their desired level of venison harvest from bucks naturally shift that harvest to does.
• "Doe(s) first" rule — Require hunters to harvest a doe or does, either within a year or within an individual season (archery, primitive or rifle), before they are allowed to harvest a buck.
• Doe quota — Require hunters to harvest a minimum number of does from the management unit.
• Harvest ratio — Require hunters to harvest does as a multiple of the number of bucks they harvest. For instance, for every buck harvested, three does must be harvested.
• Fee rebate — Where deer-hunting privileges are leased, charge a relatively high price up front, with the opportunity for hunters to earn a rebate of a portion of the lease fee with a certain level of doe harvest.
• Special group hunts — Find ways to allow access to the property for additional doe hunters. Youth groups, women’s groups, physically-challenged groups or others can sometimes fit with existing hunter groups during specific time periods.

"However, such hunts tend to be relatively inefficient in harvesting does, although they can be good public-relations events," Huggins said.

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The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, headquartered in Ardmore, Okla., is a non-profit organization conducting agricultural, forage biotechnological, and plant biology research; providing grants to numerous non-profit charitable, educational and health organizations; and assisting farmers and ranchers through educational and consultative agricultural programs.

To learn more, visit the Noble Foundation Web site at http://www.noble.org.

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