Which does should be harvested First

Perhaps one of the most underestimated (and least understood) segments of deer management is the need for the removal of female deer. Some folks don’t like shooting females for various reasons, but the bulk of deer herds in North America NEED females removed or recycled. 

Genetic gains are made through evolution.  Evolution takes place when the old is replaced with the new.  If you are doing a good job of managing the buck segment of the herd, you are, AT MOST, managing only 50% of the genetic equation.  So how do you go about the management of the female segment of the herd? 

The answer is simple.  Remove the oldest, most mature females possible, and evolutionary genetic gains are realized.  As with any animal husbandry practice, breeding the best males and best females together, should product offspring that are superior (genetic-wise) to the parents.   By harvesting the oldest (and likely least managed) genetic portion of the herd, you will be speeding up evolution and thus genetic gains can be realized much sooner than later. 

As your management of the buck segment increases and improves, it becomes even more important to remove their mothers and aunts to leave the younger females  to carry on the breeding. Certainly this takes several hunting seasons of intensive harvest of the correct deer, but that is what deer management is all about anyway.  

So, next time you are afield and need sausage, or you are actively working to help tighten up the adult sex ratio, select the largest and oldest female possible for harvest. Do this each time you harvest female deer, and before you know it, the average age of all remaining females will be lowered. The resulting female herd will be genetically-improved, thus carrying on the best genetics your deer herd can produce.