Doe harvest in drought conditions

[MObigbucks]

Hi all,

My farm is in NE Missouri, right in the heart of the extreme drought that's currently plaguing the Midwest. I was there last weekend, and everything is pretty well fried. Grass fields, normally 42 inches high are dead. The hickory trees have already dropped their nuts, about 6 weeks early, and there's nothing inside them. The acorns are ready to fall, again, about 6-8 weeks early, and they're just the caps, no nut at all. The trees are turning already, and will probably drop their leaves by Sept 15, again 6 weeks early. Obviously, the food is going to be extremely scarce, and I don't want too much habitat damage this winter. By the way, our area has about 30 deer per square mile. I'm just wondering how many more does I should take this year, because if there's any winter at all, it looks like I'll lose a lot of deer. Anyone have any ideas/experience with this type of situation? Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[jims]

I would take all you can legally harvest. Starvation death is the alternative and that is a slow and painful death.

 

[HighTechRedneck]

I agree with jims. Take all of the deer that you legaly can. Even if you do not need the meat. There are always people out ther that you can give the meat to.

You should probably also feed the deer all winter if you can afford to