Ask The Biologist

What’s the Magic Number?

What’s the Magic Number?

By Bob Humphrey

When hunting small parcels, much depends on your neighbors.

QUESTION: How many deer can be harvested in a season off a 10 acre piece of land? It has not been hunted in 10 years and is in Texas. — Chris F.

ANSWER: I can’t give you a definitive answer without considerably more information. That fact that it hasn’t been hunted is a good sign, but the ability of that parcel to produce deer depends as much if not more on what’s happening on adjacent properties.

If you’re neighbor’s property is heavily hunted it might help that your piece acts as a sanctuary, but there will be far fewer deer seeking it out. If adjacent properties are well managed, you will benefit from it. It would also be beneficial if your parcel had something the neighbor’s doesn’t, like bedding cover, food or perhaps a regular water source.

If your property acts as a travel corridor between properties with healthy populations, you might only be limited by what regulations allow you to take. If you’re relying on your 10 acres to produce deer, you’d be doing well to take one deer a season and should consider any more a bonus.

— Recent Ask the Biologist Question:
Can I put a fall food plot in a field where the rest of the field is left overgrown with natural browse?
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