Thread: Big deer numbers being taken out of the Ruapehu/Wanganui?

Originally Posted by Friwi

The shooting of females is essential to reduce numbers, but it is still hard to comprehend for some. Look on YouTube how many more males get taken than females….

Have been wondering lately why hunting comps dont have a class for heaviest hind ?

Very good point. Or hinds only. Or best price goes to a hind shooter.

how rich are ya donate a prize start a trend and no we will not accept a night out with dear old Aunty Nelly ( well send a photo for appraisal dont want to miss out on what could be a ding dong evening especially if she is shouting )

Originally Posted by Friwi

The shooting of females is essential to reduce numbers, but it is still hard to comprehend for some. Look on YouTube how many more males get taken than females….

attitudes need to change. Unless it is a cracker stag in velvet. if it is brown it's down (after ID etc) needs to be the norm. I certainly shoot the first deer I come across no matter what it is

same here Russian 22 unless on private and then follow the owners rules ( some places we hunt we not allowed bucks with heads since we are hunting free and they have clients to pay for them )

Originally Posted by Russian 22.

attitudes need to change. Unless it is a cracker stag in velvet. if it is brown it's down (after ID etc) needs to be the norm. I certainly shoot the first deer I come across no matter what it is

Yea this took awhile to sink into my head , have access to places with numbers but were finding ourselves coming home without anything ! Realised that we expected to always see more around the corner so were getting to selective . Now first one is in the freezer and from then on we pick an choose unless we have been instructed otherwise

Shooting stags if population control is the aim is very inefficient.
If you have one hundred deer, fifty stags, fifty hinds, and you shoot forty nine of the stags, you still have the potential for fifty fawns.
Shoot forty nine hinds and you have the potential for one fawn.
And that fawn will be sired by the strongest stag. Not some weak inferior animal which gets to breed when hind numbers are to high.

As others have pointed out, you need to concentrate on shooting hinds to have a long term influence on population levels. It’s a concept that many fail to get their head around. Some use the excuse that a hind might dependant offspring but that only
applies for 3-4 months of the year. Open season on hinds for about 8-9 months maybe. Personally, if hunting for meat I target young hinds/stags then older animals. Most of my hunting for last few years has been culling so anything identified as target species gets dropped with females taking priority. Some situations stags are to be left as an income source for landowner. Long story short, to reduce population take out the needing females otherwise you may as well piss into the wind. Short term reduction, take out whatever you come across. I know some people will get a worked up with this concept but that’s the reality. Shooting to waste versus meat recovery is another conversation altogether.

Originally Posted by Russian 22.

attitudes need to change. Unless it is a cracker stag in velvet. if it is brown it's down (after ID etc) needs to be the norm. I certainly shoot the first deer I come across no matter what it is

Cracker stags in velvet are normally the fattest, hence the cracker head haha…..down it goes. Delicious

Read any Quality Deer Management tome from the USA and they all advocate shooting hinds to maintain trophy quality.

My friend in South Carolina shoots about half the mature hinds off his property each year after the buck hunt season.

Originally Posted by 7mmwsm

Shooting stags if population control is the aim is very inefficient.
If you have one hundred deer, fifty stags, fifty hinds, and you shoot forty nine of the stags, you still have the potential for fifty fawns.
Shoot forty nine hinds and you have the potential for one fawn.
And that fawn will be sired by the strongest stag. Not some weak inferior animal which gets to breed when hind numbers are to high.

Yes but by removing 49 stags the remaining 50 hinds will only replace what was shot...you didn't get ahead but did hold the line where it was...you did SOME good.

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

Yes but by removing 49 stags the remaining 50 hinds will only replace what was shot...you didn't get ahead but did hold the line where it was...you did SOME good.

That's only if you look at it across 1 year - then by year 2 you have 50 more then the hinds from the first spring may be reproducing also

Correct. Maybe shooting wallabies is a waste of time and ammunition as we are not selecting gender.....,same logic applies,any dead one is a good one.

Originally Posted by Russian 22.

attitudes need to change. Unless it is a cracker stag in velvet. if it is brown it's down (after ID etc) needs to be the norm. I certainly shoot the first deer I come across no matter what it is

Attitudes not on private land already are that as the norm, there aint many hunters that wander into public land and pass on hinds because they want a stag.id say 90 % of public hunters take the first animal they see.Attitudes dont need to change on private land-Owners can do as they please heck most want heaps of deer floating around and the ones that dont will let plenty of hunters come knock them around.

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

Correct. Maybe shooting wallabies is a waste of time and ammunition as we are not selecting gender.....,same logic applies,any dead one is a good one.

Thats irrelevant to the proposed example