Shooting Does

[gwm]

When do you shoot them and how many do you typically shoot in a year? Do you target younger does or older does? Will you shoot a doe with fawns? Reasons why?

I realize the answers will vary greatly across the board but just curious to what others do and why they do it.

 

[Baker]

There are a lot of variables in your question. And as so often is the case...it depends. AS a general rule we shoot does early simply to get them off the habitat. But often times you have to shoot them when you get the chance. I only keep enough does around to generate the recruitment i'm after. With that depending on what the female population looks like there are times when we target younger does, even female fawns. Younger does aren't as good at motherhood , generally have only one fawn and have higher fawn mortality. Thus by keeping the older does we can have higher recruitment with fewer animals . Almost all our does have fawns and by Oct. they are fully capable of taking care of themselves.

All that said another good very general rule is to shoot about as many does as bucks every year assuming the deer herd fits the habitat.

 

[4wanderingeyes]

I will never again shoot a doe with a fawn with her. After having to clean mom, and the fawn stood back about 10 yards and kept trying to come into her while crying, it is something I could never do again.

Some years I don’t shoot any, then other years I will thin them down. It just depends on my population I have on my land. A few years ago, I had a few older does that where tattle tales and would bust me in stand every time I went bow hunting. They would walk around my stands and look for me, then snort at me for 20 minutes. Let’s just say I thinned them down good that year. Other then that, my personal mark is about 130 dressed, then they fill the freezer pretty decently. Some are on my hit lists. Some have twins every year and get a pass. It really just depends on the inventory.

 

[Dukslayr]

This is a good question with widely varying answers and reasons. I just started with a new property and based on my observations and trail camera photos I need to harvest some does. I generally end up shooting does late in the season but reasons for that are not because it’s better or worse for the herd than taking them early (in fact, it would make more sense in many regards to shoot does earlier in the season). The reasons I shoot does later (later meaning now through early January) are three fold:

1. I don’t have a ton of time to hunt early season (September-mid October)
2. I don’t like to shoot deer when it’s above 50 degrees outside (night time temps in particular) if I don’t have to
3. I generally don’t get to start to hunting till mid to late October and by then I don’t like disturbing sanctuaries or other bedding areas a doe could run off into if I shot one

All of that being said I fully intend on having specific areas of my farm set up to shoot does next year...areas that are “out of the way” and I can easily get in and out of. I plan to have specific doe plots and stands next year to help manage my herd based on the amount of time I have to hunt and the way I like to hunt.

 

[ksgobbler]

I try for one doe a year. I wont shoot a doe with a fawn. I figure the more mama teaches them the better the chance for survival. I regret not shooting a yearling doe a week ago. I had her dead to rights but let her pass hoping she would lure a buck.

 

[mglenn005]

I have a hard time shooting a doe with a spotted fawn, which is typically through mid November in my area of Alabama. During this time, it is bow season. But if does are in the field and no fawns, I sling arrows. During Gun season, we harvest does as needed. So far, on our 160 acres, we have taken 3 does, 2 bucks. 1 of the bucks was a button head that dad got with his crossbow. We plan to harvest 3-4 more does and hopefully another mature buck. Our processor participates in hunters for the hungry.


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[Boll Weevil]

We typically shoot does early in the season if we can; partly because our rut doesn't happen until later and we'd rather sit and wait on a good buck when the time is right. Generally target the biggest, lop-eared nanny in the bunch and have no issue shooting one with a fawn. My farm is in a very fertile ag riverbottom region with high recruitment rates so our goal is managing mouths and ratio. The vast majority of our does are intentionally shot off ag fields where they drop on the spot and are easy to get out with little disturbance.

 

[SwampCat]

We don't shoot does on our place. Fawn recruitment is fairly low (.5-.6), and the neighbors have no reservations about shooting does. I raise does for my neighbors to shoot. I would love to shoot some of my own does - and have in the past - and I saw a decline of the deer herd. At least around my ground, it is much easier to shoot them down than grow them back.

 

[Cap'n]

In the zone I hunt we can take 4 doe and 2 bucks in all seasons combined. So they are looking for a 2-1 ratio doe-buck. I try to stay with that. We limit ourselves to 1 buck per year. This is the 4th year on the property and we have only taken 2 bucks & 5 does, and 2 of the does were this year. 2 of the 5 does we’re fawns. I have no problem shooting fawns after mid November, by then they are big enough to harvest and they can take care of themselves. Early in The season (October-mid November) we don’t. Not based on anything other than personal preference. I have friends that never shoot does. I don’t understand their thinking but I want a balanced herd and late in December we will decide if we need more does removed based on camera pics and observations .

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

Like mentioned above, It depends. Timing is a huge factor for many reasons. I prefer to shoot them before November 1. Bucks get run down from the rut and I figure why have them waste their energy chasing does that you are going to shoot after they get bred.

If I think we could use some harvest, we will shoot more that usual. I like hunting late season but identification gets a bit tougher. A button buck will be decent size by now and if it is alone it is easily mistaken for a doe. I never shoot a lone "doe" for that reason.

 

[ssesox]

I agree with ST Fanatic. I'm always reluctant to shoot a "lone" doe because more times than not its decent sized Nubby buck. I usually try to shoot does early or during one of the later antlerless seasons. By me its hard to kill a mature doe during the prime time rut. I don't believe they move much during the rut because the bucks harass the heck out of them. When it gets to about this time of year and there's does crawling all over.

 

[yoderjac]

When do you shoot them and how many do you typically shoot in a year? Do you target younger does or older does? Will you shoot a doe with fawns? Reasons why?

I realize the answers will vary greatly across the board but just curious to what others do and why they do it.

For us, it really depends on a changing situation. In the early years, we had very high deer numbers with very low quality food. It was shoot any bald deer you could even if you were shooting a button buck by mistake. It was more important to get our numbers under control. During archery season, we would shoot the mature doe first because we knew if we stayed in the stand her fawn would return and we could shoot them. The situation changed over time. One year we had a mast crop failure and our food plots were the only game in town. We doubled our average female harvest that year and coyotes began using our farm regularly that winter. It was also a very hard winter. We suddenly went from "shoot all antlerless deer" to putting limits on how many female deer our hunters could take. Eventually are numbers began to bounce back and at the same time we were increasing the BCC with large scale habitat work. We are now in a maintenance position. We say shoot a doe if you want it for meat but don't go out of your way to shoot a doe for management purposes. Do your best to make sure it is female and not a button buck (not always easy).

Keep in mind, we collect a lot of data. Our property is under DMAP and all deer are weighed, measured, and have jawbones extracted and aged. We are running camera surveys and track survival and recruitment trends along with harvest data. Based on the data, we have an approximate idea of how many female deer we want to harvest. We put out general guidance to our hunters like the above paragraph each year. Unless we are well above or below our female harvest goal as we get toward the end of the season, we just let nature take its course. If things are getting out of whack, we will issue additional guidance.

There is always a balance between management and recreational opportunity.

Thanks,

jack

 

[Telemark]

I shoot does if they don't have fawns with them. If i see a doe with fawns and need a deer, I shoot one of the fawns. Luckily I have had the luxury of being quite picky because of where I hunt.

 

[BuckSutherland]

For the most part my group doesn't shoot does where I hunt. I personally probably never will shoot one again, unless she limped by wounded. I also wont party hunt and allow another in the group to fill my tag. I would have no problem with one of the kids taking one with our current population, but if it was less I would strongly encourage them not to. Hard winters, but more importantly our DNR and the wolves have NE MN really F'ed up. These damn wolves are just out of control. Go watch Joe and Zach survival 2018 deer hunting. That pretty much tells the story of what many are seeing in my area. The DNR still lies about the populations and blows smoke up everyone's ass to sell their licenses. "There's no wolves and there's a million deer." Only when many are going out its the wolves they are seeing and not the deer. Its really a pathetic sad story.

 

[weekender21]

I've taken it easy on the deer this first year on our property but we definitely have a lot of does. I killed one doe in September but passed all the opportunities I had in November. I've talked with most of the neighbors and it doesn't sound like any of them shoot does for some reason. That's fine with me, I have no issue putting does in the freezer. It's really tough trying to fill a buck tag on a mature deer in our area. I see myself mainly shooting does, letting the 1 and 2 year old bucks pass, and hopefully occasionally getting a shot a 3 or 4 year old buck.

Like some of you above, I made an effort not to shoot does with fawns this year in September. I wouldn't have a problem doing that this time of year but our season opens in early September and the fawns are quite small that time of year.

 

[g squared 23]

Our population is well below carrying capacity so we don't shoot does.


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[S.T.Fanatic]

Bucksutherland:

I thought I heard a statistic that said there are more wolves in Minnesota than almost all the other lower 47 combined. How can they say there aren't that many wolves?

 

[j-bird]

Doe harvest is a multi-faceted issue. I think you will find that the "plan" for does needs to be a fluid one depending on your current situation and goals. It also depends on how you think it will impact your hunting... Like was mentioned...taking does isn't a matter of just population control. Which does to take, when and where to take them, and obviously how many to take are all questions that need to be asked and understood for your particular place and area. Many states are still in a "kill'em all" stage from a DNR perspective even though many hunters who actively once took several antlerless deer a year are seeing that those practices may be hurting their overall hunting experiences now and making changes. I remember how hard it was to convince hunters to kill does originally, and now we seem to be shifting in yet another direction... The only constant is change...

 

[yoderjac]

Doe harvest is a multi-faceted issue. I think you will find that the "plan" for does needs to be a fluid one depending on your current situation and goals. It also depends on how you think it will impact your hunting... Like was mentioned...taking does isn't a matter of just population control. Which does to take, when and where to take them, and obviously how many to take are all questions that need to be asked and understood for your particular place and area. Many states are still in a "kill'em all" stage from a DNR perspective even though many hunters who actively once took several antlerless deer a year are seeing that those practices may be hurting their overall hunting experiences now and making changes. I remember how hard it was to convince hunters to kill does originally, and now we seem to be shifting in yet another direction... The only constant is change...

The only thing harder to manage than wildlife is people!

 

[yoderjac]

Hunters like me have become spoiled in our state. We have had a burgeoning deer herd since the early 1980s. The state is a bit bifurcated so they set increase/decrease/stabilize goals by county. While the state was liberalizing overall doe harvest, hunter numbers were declining. We were having more and more deer harvested by fewer and fewer hunters. Suburban sprawl has created more and more good deer habitat while decreasing the available hunting land.

In the last few years, these regulations combined with disease (ehd) and increasing coyote populations have finally started to decrease our herd in many counties. With deer numbers like this, 20 years ago, hunters would have been ecstatic. However, our hunters (including me) now have much higher expectations that we need to keep in check.

Thanks,

Jack