Harvest/Sighting records

[FLBowhunter]

I have been thinking about starting a log/spreadsheet to help me keep track fo the deer population where I hunt. ###Some of my stand locations seem better at different times of the year. ###I was going to include info like: stand location, date/ time of sighting, temp, weather conditoins, moon phase, age and sex. ###I am not sure if this will be worth the effort. ###Anyone ever tried anything like this?

[Jon Bain]

Any good management program will have some type of observation data in it. ###We keep harvest records that include live and dress weight, sex, age based on jaw bone inspection, if it is a doe we indicate if she was lactating (had milk), and for bucks we get antler measurements.

As for our observation data we record the number of hours hunted. ###Even if we do not see a deer we still log the information so we can get an idea of how much time hunting per deer seen or per buck seen. ###If you indicate this information based on stand location you can get a good idea of the hot stands and best times to be there.

All the information you included is good information. ###Some basics are: hours hunted, does seen, fawns seen, antelered bucks seen, unknown sex of deer seen, antlerless deer seen, but could not determine if it was a fawn or mature deer. ###Over time this data will give you buck to doe ratios, fawn to doe ratios, trends in population growth, and deer per hours hunted.

It takes time, but over the years you will start to see patterns develop and it gives you a good idea of what you are dealing with on your property.

[Gator]

###I had an idea that I checked into to see about getting copyrighted and then I checked into the cost of having someone host the site and store the info, but I just didn't know if it would fly so I never followed thru. ###So here it is. ###
###Create a site that would allow hunters to store info from their hunts and trail cams ###some info would be personal info that would be store for only your use, but other data would be stored by county and state that any other hunter could retrieve. ###
DATA POSSIBILITIES
Weather: temp, wind, barmetric pressure, rainy, snowing, sleeting, prefrontal, postfrontal

Date

Moonphase

Time

Siteings: #of deer, bucks, does, fawns,etc
Buck rack size
Does ages

Rutting Activity:scraping, rubbing, chasing does etc.

Harvested deer: Bucks-rack size, weight, age, harvested on green field, hardwoods, feeder, trail, rutting activity etc
Doe-weight, age etc

All the above info would be stored in a main data based that could be retrieved by any hunter.

Stand locations and other pesonal notes from your hunts would be stored under each hunter that only he/she could retreive.

I would like it to be able to be retrieved by state and county. ###It would be nice to be able to pull the info several different ways for example: you could put in certain dates, weather patterns, moonphases, or combinations of the above and pull the data accordingly. ###To start with,their wouldn't be alot ofdata to retrieve and it would mostly be to help store your own data, but as time went by and other people started storing thier data pretty soon there would be alot of data to pull from instead of just yours that would help us to pattern the deer in any particular area.

What do you guys think about something like this? ###Everyone that I have mentioned it to seems to think that it is a good idea. ###And is their anyone out thier that is more internet and computer savy than I am that might be interested in trying to get something like this going maybe thru Jesses page if he would be interested?

[FLBowhunter]

Gator, that sounds great! ###No one can ever seem to tell me when the rut is here in west ###central FL. ###We seem to have a trickle rut that runs from November to late January with no real peak. ###I don't know much about computers, but would be willing to provide any info I could.
-Scott-

[Gator]

What part of the panhandle are you in? ###Here in the Defuniak Springs area the major rut is usually around the 1st week of ###February. ###But the activity starts around mid Jan thru March. The problem here in Fl is with only 2 doe days we don't harvest enough does, and the buck to doe ratio is so out of wack that it takes 3 months to breed all the does. ###I have 3 different age groups of fawns every year with the last being dated back to being bred in March. ###The state needs to have a more liberal doe season to ever get our deer herd in check. ###The long rut also takes so much from the bucks that they never get over it during the spring when they are growing thier racks so they never reach thier full potential. ###According to Dr. James Kroll this is a major problem as far as rack size and in many cases the bucks will even lay down and die after a prolonged rut like we have here.

[Jon Bain]

Gator, I think you have a great idea here. ###You may want to look at the “computer’s” forum because there are some folks there who actually host web sites and can give you good advice on how to get started with a project like this. ###As mentioned earlier, I will see if the QDMA is interested in something along these lines.

[FLBowhunter]

Gator, I am actualy fruther south than you are, Pasco county. ###I guess that explanes why I always see so many different aged fawns. ###I wish there was a fork-horn rule where I hunt. ###It might help keep some buck arround a lot longer and an extende doe season would be great. ###

[Gator]

Thanks for the info Jon, I will do that. ###Hey Flbowhunter, what a coinsidence my family was the first white settlers in Pasco county.

[spectr17]

I've got some links to software deer logging journals on my topo webpage at http://www.jesseshuntingpage.com/topo.html

These programs track all kinds of info and one of them is geared more for the land manager than the hunter.

Gator,

Your idea to tie all the logs together for anyone's use is a good idea. It would entail a server and someone writing the program and some people maintaining the database. I don't think you could do it as a hobby since it would be such a big task, you would need income to run the operation. A subscription fee for users would help run the operation.

Right now I'm so tied up with runnin this website I wouldn't be much help. You could see how much support you can get from other users. You might also want to approach some of those companies who already have the software deer logging programs. They have the logging software and you could run the database oepration. Just need to tie them together somehow.

[Gator]

Thanks spectr17 for advise, hopefully I will be able to hook up with someone and get this off the ground. ###I think it would be a great tool for all of us to use in the future.