Deer Predation Issue

[jimski2]

http://www.cleveland.com/outdoors/index ... he_pr.html

[Gill-T]

Since Coyotes have reclaimed the Southern Tier of NY, I have seen fewer does with two fawns. QDM tactics push for the removal of mature does so not to shoot button bucks. I think this is a mistake. A mature doe knows how to live with coyotes and teach their offspring how to survive. Since they taste better and are less likely to survive the winter, I try to shoot a yearling doe on my antlerless tags. I used to pass on shooting coyotes because I thought they would make the herd stronger. Traditional big-deer provinces and states have always had predators and yet they grow bigger deer. My thinking was flawed. Coyotes are opportunists, indescriminately killing any fawns weak or healthy. If you get a shot take it.

[jimski2]

Now we have bobcats running around on the southern tier, but I do not think they are as bad as the Amish boys who have no internet or TV to entertain themselves with.

[Time Out]

Bears put a hurting on the fawns. I have heard numbers as high as 50 percent of fawn kill comes from bears in areas of normal bear density. I hunt south of bath and hornell and there are no shortages of bear.