Shooting Does

[teej89]

This weekend there were a bunch of us camping, all hunters and a heated debate came up about shooting does with fawns in the early season. We came to an agreement about late season to not shoot a doe with fawns especially if it's been a cold snowy winter, what are your opinions?

[OHBooner]

I always let the arrow fly. Plus usually if you shoot the doe first then the fawns come back so you can whack two. But we have a bad buck to doe ratio where I am.

[00buck]

I dont shoot anything with spots and wont shoot a doe after the rut due to maybe carrying off spring i think it is all personal prefference

[buckstalker17]

i don't shoot any buck that i will not mount i dont shoot does with fawns i always hope she is taking care of my big boy for the next couple seasons hunting and all the mature doe's i come a cross as long as there are plenty around for the rut to keep the big boys out moving about but to each his own there is no rt or wrong answer on this topic

[Christa918]

Where I live there is a major embalance of bucks to does, so I say shoot all the does you have tags for cause she is taking up nutrients your next B&C might be needing........ and I only pass on does in that late season where is may be a buck with no antlers scenario

[mrbb]

well I think most fawns by now can make it on there own, and if not, well coyotes have to eat too>

I too have a way out of wack buck to doe ratio
for yrs I tried to just shoot the old doe's, but noticed that after yrs of doing that it semed to me and guys I let hunt, that my deer in general there body size and weights seemed to get smaller
with our logic being once we started killing the older doe's the younger deer seemed to be doing more of the breeding, and it just seemed like smaller doe's breeding were having smaller off spring and then repeating, leaving many many deer both bucks and does , very small and under weight, as come jan. lots of deer here are just 40 lbs or so, and thats with guts in them on a GOOD scale, we have killed many that were 36 67 lbs in Jan
and thats with 17 + acres of food plots for them to eat all they want, they just didn't get very big or even tall!
we started calling them pigmy deer, they are just super small deer!
and thus for several yrs now we have targeted these deer
leaving what we hope to be older bigger stronger doe to have the offsprings, making stronger bigger deer in the long run
after 3-4 yrs now, it seems to be helping
so here at my farm, we prefer to shoot the small doe, simply cannot get enough
but better than what we were doing on only shooting the big doe's for us

so, I say fill your tag if you happy with whats in front of you

[ManOfTheFall]

I am kind of both ways on this one. It all depends on your hunting area. One area I hunt is mostly crop fields with little and around alot of very nice homes. This area is loaded with does. I would guess a minimum of 10 to 1, probably even more. In this area we shoot most if not all our does. The other area I hunt is mostly big woods with very little crop around. The ratio is very nice here and I rarely take a doe off of this property. In the area that is loaded with does, yes, we shoot does with fawns all the time. It never seems to matter how many we take off this property either. Every year it is loaded.

[teej89]

great thanks guys, we do have a lot of does on the property, I used to only like to take mature does w/o fawns but I think I'll take a crack at any doe I see this saturday.

[Whitetail Freak]

if a slickhead walks by me from opening day till last day of season she will have a free ride in the pickup,

[ohiowhitetails]

i try and fill all doe tags, fawns or not.. Like mrbb said, they are plenty old enough to be on their own. Besides, come rut time, the mother will push her fawns away to breed. Or she will be ran off by rut crazed bucks.

[radicalxl]

well I think most fawns by now can make it on there own, and if not, well coyotes have to eat too>

I too have a way out of wack buck to doe ratio
for yrs I tried to just shoot the old doe's, but noticed that after yrs of doing that it semed to me and guys I let hunt, that my deer in general there body size and weights seemed to get smaller
with our logic being once we started killing the older doe's the younger deer seemed to be doing more of the breeding, and it just seemed like smaller doe's breeding were having smaller off spring and then repeating, leaving many many deer both bucks and does , very small and under weight, as come jan. lots of deer here are just 40 lbs or so, and thats with guts in them on a GOOD scale, we have killed many that were 36 67 lbs in Jan
and thats with 17 + acres of food plots for them to eat all they want, they just didn't get very big or even tall!
we started calling them pigmy deer, they are just super small deer!
and thus for several yrs now we have targeted these deer
leaving what we hope to be older bigger stronger doe to have the offsprings, making stronger bigger deer in the long run
after 3-4 yrs now, it seems to be helping
so here at my farm, we prefer to shoot the small doe, simply cannot get enough
but better than what we were doing on only shooting the big doe's for us

so, I say fill your tag if you happy with whats in front of you

I will definetly agree with you on this one. I will add 1 more reason. Young does on average don't make very good mothers, because of this you get a poor quality herd.

[gonehunting 45]

If the fawns have no spots I'll shoot mom. She will soon push them away.

[hortontoter]

I guess I'm the odd man out here. I rarely shoot does. About the only time I will is if there is someone at camp that needs the meat. Otherwise I almost always let them walk. I'm always thinking Mr. Big may be coming 50 yards behind her. I know you can't eat antlers, but to be honest they are the only part of the deer that matters to me.

[MQ1]

If the fawns have no spots I'll shoot mom. She will soon push them away.
She will push the button bucks away here soon , but the doe fawns she will leave only during her date with the Buck of her choice for only about 3 days to a week. The mother and sisters and daughters will stay together for life and help raise each others off spring ,I havent killed a doe in 14 years , in WV and Ohio I would fill every tag i could get my hands on .so now basically if its not 130 or better im not shooting it.But what i have read several places and told at different angles the old does is the ones you want to take if you wish to have a strong herd, now alot of time the old mature does dont have any fawns with them , I can think of 4 this year i have seen without fawns. They are the bigger does.

[MQ1]

This year taking a doe is on the agenda , but i will be selective , even tho she doesnt sport a rack, i think there are reasons to be selective on both sides of the spectrum .

[jsyn]

I guess I'm the odd man out here. I rarely shoot does. About the only time I will is if there is someone at camp that needs the meat. Otherwise I almost always let them walk. I'm always thinking Mr. Big may be coming 50 yards behind her. I know you can't eat antlers, but to be honest they are the only part of the deer that matters to me. YOU BETTER SHOOT AT LEAST ONE DOE THIS YEAR WE NEED TO POINTS FOR THE CONTEST... YOU CAN ALWAYS DONATE THE MEAT IF YOU DO NOT WANT IT

[hortontoter]

John, please don't yell at me. I may shoot a doe before you do.

[gonehunting 45]

She will push the button bucks away here soon , but the doe fawns she will leave only during her date with the Buck of her choice for only about 3 days to a week. The mother and sisters and daughters will stay together for life and help raise each others off spring ,I havent killed a doe in 14 years , in WV and Ohio I would fill every tag i could get my hands on .so now basically if its not 130 or better im not shooting it.But what i have read several places and told at different angles the old does is the ones you want to take if you wish to have a strong herd, now alot of time the old mature does dont have any fawns with them , I can think of 4 this year i have seen without fawns. They are the bigger does.

I agree. I was just taking the short route. No matter how long she still gets rid of them. I shoot only 1 doe a year. No need for me to take more than that.