During which portion of the season should I harvest does from my 66 acre farm in Tennessee?

By Grant Woods,

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← Grant's Answers — Hunting Tactics
Question
About one year ago we purchased a 66 acre farm in southern Tennessee. It is strictly for deer hunting. We bought it around November of last year so we didn’t have time to plant any plots, but after the 2014-2015 season ending we put up out trail cameras around February. To our surprise we had pictures of plenty of does and some BIG mature shooter bucks. So come summer time, we planted over 20ish acres of food plots ( clovers, soy beans, radishes, winter wheat etc) our piece of land does not have much trees or major bedding area but the surrounding properties do so we aimed to make our property the “food source”. We have some good pictures on our trail cameras of some does and some good shooter bucks. My question to you is… Should I wait to kill does until I kill the big buck or should I go ahead take a doe. I just don’t want to add too much pressure on our small piece of land. Please help.
Also I’ve never missed an episode of growing deer TV and your show is such a huge help to me, thanks
Jake Taylor

Jake,

Congratulations on purchasing the 66 acre farm in Tennessee!  I’m glad you are seeing mature bucks and plenty of does!  

I harvest does if there are more deer than quality forage in the area and/or I wish for some venison.  If I’m going to harvest does, I usually start as soon as the season is open.  Removing does doesn’t mean the local bucks will leave their home range to find more does elsewhere.  

There have been 1,000’s of bucks fitted with GPS collars and it’s very rare for them to leave their home range.  They simply don’t know where the sources of danger, food, cover, and water our outside their home range. Deer often shift to using different portions of their home ranges to find the best food, cover, or water within their range.  However, they rarely leave their home range.    

If you current an opportunity to tag a doe, I would take advantage and get some fresh venison for your family!

Enjoy creation,

grant