Page 2 - September/October Outdoor Oklahoma Magazine

PANORAMAS

HITTING A GOAL is an awesome feeling. intense condensed rut, or breeding season,
Doesn’t matter if it’s a small goal or a major, com- which allows bucks to conserve energy and
plex goal. That feeling is always one of accom- which can improve antler quality.
plishment. A job well-done. • A deer herd with an excess of does depletes
Oklahoma’s deer hunters should collectively the nutrition available in an area, which con-
share in this feeling of a job well-done. Last year, tributes to poor body condition and poor
we asked them to help us reach a goal — and herd health for all deer.
that’s just what they did. For the second consecu- • A balanced herd results in more fawns being
tive year, deer hunters managed an antlerless deer born in a shorter period, actually increasing
harvest of more than 40 percent. the odds that more deer survive predation.
Dallas Barber We cannot overstate the impact this statistic • A more concise rut means fewer late-born
can actually make in assuring the overall good fawns, which are often undersized and under-
health of Oklahoma’s wild deer herd. nourished as they enter their first winter.
Congratulations hunters! You nailed it! Our goal As a deer hunter, the best thing is you get to
was to realize an antlerless harvest of between 40 decide, within the seasonal limits, what animal
and 45 percent. We did our best to let you know you want to take. It’s just fine if you want to tar-
what was needed in the way of deer management, get a buck. But as a hunter, you are making a
and you responded. deer management decision each time you pull
“Hunters in the Know … Take a Doe!” the trigger. If your primary goal is to put meat
Well, now is no time to take our foot off the on the table, antlerless deer is a great way to
accelerator, so to speak. The need to continue go about that.
that rate of harvest for antlerless deer isn’t going To encourage antlerless harvest, we have liber-
to fade. It all boils down to creating a more even alized several seasonal limits and open areas.
buck to doe ratio across the state. We only ask that our hunters consider antlerless
One of the best things about hitting our antler- harvest as an investment that you can make this
less harvest goal last year — and the year before year and every year for even better deer hunting
— is that our hunters did it voluntarily. And that’s in Oklahoma.
the way we want to see it.
What we saw was that when we clearly explained
why antlerless harvest is important, our hunters
came through and served as our boots-on-the-
ground deer managers. We hope that will contin-
ue this year and in the years ahead.
Some of you might be wondering about the Dallas Barber, Big Game Biologist
“why” behind our antlerless harvest goal. And Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation
many are probably skeptical because they’ve
grown up with the mind-set that “you just don’t
shoot does.”
But antlerless harvest actually can have oppo-
site effects of what the average hunter might think.
It can allow the bucks that you see to have more
impressive antlers. And having fewer does can
actually increase the deer population!
Here are the biological facts supporting robust
antlerless harvest:
• A skewed buck-to-doe ratio where more does
are present is detrimental to herd health.
• A more even buck-to-doe ratio means a more