Female antlerless deer, or does, are the primary driver of deer population growth. To ensure a healthy and balanced deer population, it’s essential that enough does are harvested by hunters each year.
Prior to 2015, New York deer hunters consistently harvested more antlerless deer than adult bucks. However, during more recent hunting seasons, only around 17% of active deer hunters harvested an antlerless deer, even though around 60% of hunters had an opportunity to. As a result, deer populations have been growing across much of New York State, in many areas to levels that are detrimental to deer, the habitat, the hunting experience, and the public. DEC developed the “Choose A Doe” campaign to remind all hunters of the important reasons why they should be applying for Deer Management Permits and harvesting does. When they “Choose A Doe”, hunters demonstrate their commitment to keeping New York’s deer populations healthy for future generations.
Important Reasons to Choose a Doe
Watch a video on why you should choose a doe this hunting season.
Help The Herd
Deer populations that are kept in balance with available habitat produce healthy deer that are in good physical condition. These deer tend to have larger antlers, heavier body weights, and produce more fawns. Additionally, deer populations that are kept at lower levels are more resilient to disease such as Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease and Chronic Wasting Disease. By choosing to harvest does, hunters help reduce competition between deer for available vegetation and resources, thereby increasing the physical condition of each remaining deer. Additionally, by lowering deer densities, hunters help reduce the likelihood that diseases will spread rapidly and have severe impacts on the deer population.
Help The Habitat
Deer preferentially feed on a variety of plant species. When deer populations increase, this can reduce the growth, reproduction, and survival of preferred plant species, while promoting species that are less preferred by deer. Forest understories dominated by ferns, grasses, invasive species, and other plants that are not preferred by deer are typical of forests with too many deer. If deer populations aren’t reduced, nearly all plants in the forest understory can be significantly reduced or eliminated, leaving a “park-like” setting where only trees and shrubs that have grown beyond the reach of deer remain. The loss of plant species diversity and abundance in the forest understory can negatively impact the entire forest ecosystem and many other species of wildlife. The future forest can even be put at risk if there are not enough young trees to replace mature trees when they die. Therefore, by choosing to harvest does, hunters help keep forest ecosystems and wildlife habitat healthy.
Help The Hungry
According to the New York State Department of Health (DOH), approximately one in four adults in New York State experiences food insecurity. On average, a harvested white-tailed deer yields about 40-50 pounds of venison, which can provide up to 200 nutritious meals. DEC partners with DOH and Feeding New York State to fund and facilitate venison donation by hunters to those in need. Each year, hunters donate 40,000-50,000 pounds of venison through participating deer processors (PDF). Many hunters also donate whole deer or venison to friends and family. Therefore, by choosing to harvest does and donate venison, hunters help address food insecurity being experienced by local families and members of their community.
Help The Hunt
When the number of does is out of balance with the number of bucks in an area, bucks tend to not travel as much during the breeding season (rut) because they do not need to expend as much effort to find receptive does. They also do not need to compete as much with other bucks for breeding opportunities. This can reduce the number of bucks and amount of breeding behavior (sparring, rubs, scrapes, etc.) observed by deer hunters throughout the rut. This can also result in does being bred late. Fawns that are born late have a lower chance of survival and typically have smaller antlers and body sizes later on in life. Therefore, by choosing to harvest does, hunters help improve the deer hunting experience.
Additionally, the non-hunting public is largely supportive of hunting when it is done for food or to manage wildlife populations, but are largely unsupportive when it is done for sport or trophy hunting. Therefore, by choosing to harvest does, hunters help demonstrate to the non-hunting public that they care about managing deer populations and are utilizing deer for food. A supportive non-hunting public is more likely to embrace pro-hunting policies and recognize hunters as stewards of the deer population.
Help The Hometown
As deer populations increase, so too do negative deer-related impacts such as deer-vehicle collisions (DVCs), the spread of tick-borne diseases, and crop damage. A 2019 study found that DVCs are responsible for the deaths of about 440 Americans each year, and according to the New York State Department of Transportation around 65,000 DVCs occur in New York each year. According to the New York State Department of Health there are also more New Yorkers being diagnosed with tick-borne diseases such as Lyme disease, anaplasmosis, and babesiosis, and although increasing deer populations aren’t the only cause, they are certainly a contributor. Although the economic costs of deer damage to New York’s farms, orchards, and communities are difficult to quantify, they are likely in the hundreds of millions of dollars annually. Therefore, by choosing to harvest does, hunters help reduce negative deer impacts being experienced by their neighbors and community.
