Shooting doe with fawns
- Thread starter jlane35
- Start date
PineSapJunky
Well-Known Member
I personally pass on does with spotted fawns during early season. We have deer drop so late some look barely a few weeks old. We have a long and tiring season with plenty of opportunities to kill deer. I normally do it the last couple weeks of November and 1st week of December before we start seeing signs of our rut. Plus by waiting later it's pretty easy to figure out which does I want to kill
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PineSapJunky
Well-Known Member
I normally pass. We're not pressed for meat. Have plenty of opportunities on old barren does that all they want to do is run off younger deer and bust you in the stand. So I'm going to say I'm a pass type guy.
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Elkaddict
Well-Known Member
Mennoniteman
Well-Known Member
We have picking choice, so we mostly shoot mature does that are alone. I can understand hunters on public land who waited for many hours just to see a deer and are going to fill the freezer with the first good opportunity that they have.
PineSapJunky
Well-Known Member
In my area, does need to be killed, and virtually all does that are not fawns, have fawns, with exception of a few yearlings. I do part every year and take about 5 does. I prefer not to kill doe fawns but have in the past and I'm sure I will again in years when the numbers are up.
g squared 23
Well-Known Member
On public land, I’m going to shoot the first (and second, maybe third) female deer, adult or fawn, that walks by me. On my tiny private piece, I only attempt to shoot does the first and last week of the season, which means I rarely will actually shoot one. Low-medium deer density with neighbors that bang away during gun season, so I normally lay off entirely.
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Cedar Ridge
Active Member
Hard pass for me.
From a management point of view, I have to shoot does - lots of them. Pretty much all of my does will have fawns and/or be pregnant. I find it very hard to shoot a lone doe who has fawn(s), so I wait for a doe group to show up and try to shoot the biggest one. I’m still probably shooting one who has a fawn, but it makes me feel better knowing that the fawn has a group it can hang out with afterwards. Probably not rational but I really don’t like seeing fawns hang around their dead mother.
Deadeye
Well-Known Member
It's my Personal Feeling that a Doe that still has a Fawn trailing after her still has some teaching to do to that Fawn in order for it to make it on it's own.
I shot a Doe during Archery last year, but I did not see her with a Fawn. However, from that same stand both of us saw a small deer that would only show up late late when it was almost dark and all you could see was the Propeller Look of a Deer's Head and Ears and it was Always at the far end of the shooting lane and always eased out and looked towards the stand.
Was it her Fawn? Very Possible, but hard to say. In any case neither of us ever shot it.
As a General Rule if it is early in the season I will only shoot a Doe if she appears to be alone and mature. Late in the season (runs from Oct to Feb here) I will take a Doe if I still need to and the season for shooting Does is open. We are allowed to take either/or during Archery then just Bucks with two Doe ether or weekends. We are allowed a Max of 2 Does.
I shot a Doe during Archery last year, but I did not see her with a Fawn. However, from that same stand both of us saw a small deer that would only show up late late when it was almost dark and all you could see was the Propeller Look of a Deer's Head and Ears and it was Always at the far end of the shooting lane and always eased out and looked towards the stand.
Was it her Fawn? Very Possible, but hard to say. In any case neither of us ever shot it.
As a General Rule if it is early in the season I will only shoot a Doe if she appears to be alone and mature. Late in the season (runs from Oct to Feb here) I will take a Doe if I still need to and the season for shooting Does is open. We are allowed to take either/or during Archery then just Bucks with two Doe ether or weekends. We are allowed a Max of 2 Does.
Cedar Ridge
Active Member
Same here, Cutman.
jlane35
Well-Known Member
I would have to agree, I’ve shot plenty of doe with fawns before and it left a bad taste in my mouth. I just wasn’t sure what others opinions were when having to fill tags to keep the population in check, and fill the freezer. Between my parents, brothers and my family we eat a lot of deer meat. But this is exactly what I’ve been trying to do over the last two years. Shoot a lone doe or shoot the largest doe out of a group of 4 or more when I can see there are multiple sized deer in the group.
BoneCrusher20
Active Member
Hard to argue anyone here would rather shoot lone doe vs one with fawn, think that is human nature. but then again nature has no problem with a buck separating that doe from fawn during rut or doe kicking knub buck out on its own to survive its first winter. Lot of times i would argue as well when you see a lone doe the result is from rut, some may be true loners, but good majority are fawnless for short term and in our minds makes us feel better that the doe is alone, but likely still has fawn somewhere. Sure they may regroup later on, but i'm not passing up opportunity of a mature doe fawn or fawnless. There's plenty of studies out there that fawns are more than capable of surviving when they reach that fall timeframe. Does are also very social animals and i know around here winter comes not uncommon to see large group of does together, lot of those fawns find groups to tag along.
PineSapJunky
Well-Known Member
We don't see yearling dispersal until they reach 1½ years of age for the young bucks. As for us here in the deep south. It's not uncommon to have 3 breeding sessions throughout our season ranging from late November all the way through late January even into February and March. I've seen doe fawns with their winter coats feeding in the same plot as spotted fawns in December. With our winters being so mild. Very rarely do we have winter loss. Plus there is something always growing year round. We're allowed 5 does in our state. It's not very hard to be selective when it comes to does. Bucks on the other hand is a different story.
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KSQ2
Well-Known Member
My favorite deer for the freezer is a 1.5 year old doe. Obviously, I don't know for certain they are 1.5, but if they are a little smaller and fawnless, I'm looking to shoot. They taste great! The only exception to the rule is the occasional doe that seems to bust me every single time she's around; if she has a distinguishing trait, she is on the list!
Buckly
Well-Known Member
New York hunters shoot about 110,000 doe on average each year. Supposedly about 80,000 adult doe. So I’m guessing most average hunters out there are taking doe with fawns. At 6 months they are more than able to live independent so on small private parcels I’d say it’s a matter of what your management goals are. It’s not detrimental to the herd.
