The apparent success of the two-buck limit suggests a
bright future for North Carolina deer hunters.

With two years of harvest totals under their belts, biologists with the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission are now confident that the two-buck limit is achieving the desired results.

"Generally speaking, we are finding a decrease in the antlered buck harvest and an increase in the doe harvest—two of the objectives we were hoping to meet," said Evin Stanford, deer biologist for the Wildlife Commission.

Beginning in 2000, the Wildlife Commission reduced the number of buck tags from four to two in the central and western counties in response to widespread demand for Quality Deer Management. Because the limit was not widely supported in the dog-hunting areas, however, the counties in the eastern season and those central counties where dog hunting is allowed remained at the four-buck limit.

The two-buck limit was implemented because biologists believed that those hunters limited to two precious tags would let younger bucks walk to hold out for potential trophy bucks later in the season. Added to that was the hope that more hunting pressure would shift toward does, for which the number of harvest tags did not change. It now appears that both of those goals are being met, which is big news for anyone hoping to see North Carolina become a big-buck state.

Stanford was able to reach his conclusions by comparing the 1998 and '99 reported harvests in the central and western seasons when under the old four-buck limit with the 2000 and '01 reported harvests in the same region after the two-buck rule had gone into effect. His numbers revealed that annual antlered buck harvests went from an average of 549 per county to 502, an 8.6 percent decrease. Button buck harvests went from an average of 59 per county to 51, a 13.3 percent decrease. And probably most impressive, the doe harvest surged from an average of 293 per county to 395—a whopping increase of 34.5 percent.

More telling was Stanford's identical comparison using the eastern season and those areas in the central season where the four-buck bag remained in place. From the 1998-99 seasons to the 2000-01 seasons, the buck harvest actually increased 5.9 percent. (Stanford said the increase was not significant enough to pinpoint a cause and was within the typical yearly variation.) In addition, the doe harvest increased 11 percent.

All of these statistics boil down to this: In the two years since the new rule was implemented, 4,500 fewer bucks were reported harvested in the two-buck areas, and 5,500 more bucks were reported harvested in the areas with no change. It goes without saying that the area that carries over more bucks is the one that will realize more large racks in the future.

"With this decrease in buck harvest, people can expect there to be more bucks on the landscape," Stanford said. "Then, with time, hopefully they will begin to see older-age class and better-quality bucks. If they are increasing the harvest of does, it should free up resources and it should be a step toward balancing the sex ratio. It may not be enough to totally balance it. People will probably still be preferential toward harvesting bucks when they have the right opportunity. But I think it is a big step in the right direction from what we did have, as far as trying to even out the harvest and keep a few extra bucks on the landscape."

The highest deer density populations in North Carolina are located in the Coastal Plain and Piedmont of the state, where large fields provide ample food. Segments of western North Carolina have relatively low deer densities, mainly due to a lack of food sources. The line separating the two-buck limit areas from the four buck limit areas divides the state almost in half.

As it now stands, the average age of a North Carolina buck is a little over a year and a half. And the reason for that is simple: Hunters prefer to shoot bucks over does. Chalk it up to the allure of harvesting any deer with a rack. But another factor is that North Carolina still has an entire generation of hunters who were raised during the era of white-tailed deer restoration, when sportsmen were advised not to shoot does. Reminiscent of the Smokey the Bear campaign, the no-does message was widely broadcast by sporting shows, newspapers and Wildlife in North Carolina. At that time, does were necessary for rebuilding the state's deer population. Shooting a doe became taboo for most hunters, and only very recently has that mindset begun to change.

Nowadays, does greatly outnumber bucks and need to be harvested to control the state's deer population, which is bulging at the seams in some areas. Since 1980, our deer population has more than tripled from 350,000 to 1.1 million. Deer biologists believe that enough habitat exists to adequately support this many animals. The same cannot be said, however, for the social carrying capacity. As the state continues to urbanize, more landowners are having undesirable experiences, whether that means deer eating their roses or running out in front of their cars. At present, deer cause more than 5 percent of all reported driving accidents across the state, averaging between 8,000 and 11,000 a year. Many of these accidents occur in the fall and during the rut, when bucks are attempting to breed with does.

For hunters, the large population has meant a disproportionate number of does relative to bucks, throwing many of the animals' natural behaviors out of kilter. Which is where the Quality Deer Management (QDM) concept comes in.

QDM is based on the principle that, historically, the ratio of female deer to male deer has been closer to 1 to 1—the number of each sex that are born every year. Because of this, deer have evolved social behaviors that are dependent on a more balanced number of the opposite sex. For example, a balanced herd causes more competition among bucks, with mostly dominant mature males passing their genes to the next generation. Also, a herd with fewer does per bucks results in a shorter, more intense rut period because the available does are more quickly bred.

Today, however, with imbalanced herds that can average 20 bucks per 100 does in some areas, bucks are not forced to compete for does, resulting in a variety of genes being passed on alike. The imbalance also keeps many does in estrus, which abnormally prolongs the rut. Does bred during the later part of the season give birth after the period of optimum nutrition during the spring and summer.

By reducing hunting pressure on younger bucks and increasing it on does, North Carolina's large-buck population should grow rapidly.

These are more reasons why biologists would like to see hunting pressure shift away from bucks and toward does. Ideally, an equal number of does and bucks would be harvested each year. And though that is probably unrealistic, anything that sways harvest totals closer to what the natural sex ratios should be will have significant impacts on the herd's qualities and behaviors.

"The average age of a harvested buck in North Carolina is 1.9 years; means a significant number of bucks are harvested at a year and a half of age," Stanford said. "If you hold those year-and-a-half-old deer that were mostly spikes and four-pointers over one more year or even longer, hunters will begin to encounter higher-quality bucks."

The two-buck limit is really the Wildlife Commission's way of encouraging more widely a concept of deer management that has already begun in pockets throughout the state. Hunt clubs that control large areas of land self-impose Quality Deer Management practices. Some require members to harvest two does before harvesting a buck; others require a doe to be taken for every buck; and still others set minimum harvestable rack sizes. Whatever the means, the end result is less pressure on younger bucks and increased doe harvests.

"One of the problems we run into with our DMAP (Deer Management Assistance Program) clubs is that our technical guidance biologists will go out and advise them to increase the pressure on the does in the herd. When some clubs do, all of their does seem to disappear," Stanford said. "They think they've decimated their doe population. However, does are just like bucks. If you start putting harvest pressure on does, they aren't going to be as visible as they previously were. In reality, the doe population hasn't been hurt at all; you've just educated them."

Another practice finally gaining acceptance is allowing spike bucks to walk, Stanford said. At one time, many hunters had the old once-a-spike-always-a-spike mentality. However, research has shown that many spikes, if allowed to grow until age 3 1/2, catch up with the bucks that were six-pointers at a year and a half of age.

"But there is more to quality than points," Stanford said. "There is no reason a doe can't be a quality deer. They just don't have those pretty antlers sitting on top of their heads."