Can you have too many does?

[VolHunter]

Yes, you probably have too many does and need to thin them out.

The general sex ratio that QDM suggests for healthy populations is 1 to 1. This ratio also (although not a goal) leads to much larger bucks. Depending on the area you are hunting you need to take out "x" amount (based on total acres and total deer counts of you and your buddies).

Also the comment of " if you have does you'll have bucks real soon" isn't actually true and not killing enough does can/will lead to smaller and smaller bucks. This is because does will keep coming into estrus every 28 days until bred. This means that your fawns will be dropped later and later in the season which will mean less time to get in nutrition. This means that they will never reach their potential because they started so far behind. Also, with a ton of does on your property, bucks don't have to move far to find breeders. This can lessen the chance of you actually seeing a buck.

Also, older does need to be taken out more than young ones because they are likely to drop more fawns (up to 4-5) while young does often drop 1-2.

However, "taking out" doesn't mean wasting the meat. If you kill a deer, you should use all the meat that you can. NEVER let them lay. There is NOTHING ethical or biologically sound about doing that. Even if you don't want the meat, many shelters will take it. Also, spotlight killing deer is a illegal in many states so it is not advise.