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- #41
so true.I like deer hunters that harvest does. If a deer herd gets overpopulated you can have a lot of problems: disease, overgrazing, more road kill, and such. Harvesting a buck removes one deer. Harvesting a does removes her and the two fawn she will probably raise the next year. You can't manage a deer population by just taking bucks.
I was fortunate to draw a bull elk lottery tag in MI last year. Got a very nice 5x5 bull that DNR said was the largest antlered elk they had tagged for the year. His dressed weight was a shocking 400 lbs. He was hanging out with a young 3x4 atypically bull that was also taken weighing a whopping 550 lbs as the scale didn’t go higher. The reason, I learned, was weight loss during the rut… my bull was b-u-s-y!! And it was the toughest meat I have ever had.. the tenderloin was even tough. pressure cooker? ha..not much better. The hormone surge and fat loss of this bull toughened him up, so we have a ton of jerkey and sausage now. It was a good experience though so not complaining.As I've told my husband, you don't eat the antlers.
DH has never gotten a deer (possibly this fall we'll get some revenge for our devastated orchard), but I've often been given deer. Those trophy bucks are like venison-flavored chewing gum. Really suited for nothing but jerky or sausage.