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Would you shoot the first doe?

The farm I hunt has lots of deer. The year I shot a doe opening weekend I went on to shoot two decent bucks later. I think it's a confidence builder. I keep reading pages from the nutterbuster journal on killing does. Why do I let them walk?? Good question. If they have a little one, the area I hunt has farm fields all over. Bunny huggers feed them fresh cut lettuce with roman tomatoes from there gardens. They will find food. If the coyotes get them, to be honest they were probably gonna get one anyway. Why not that one. The chances they survive are pretty good. I do not plan on shooting a small does early season. But I sure will not let a decent one go.
 
Depends on too many factors to give a blanket yes or no for me.

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MattMan81 said:
The farm I hunt has lots of deer. The year I shot a doe opening weekend I went on to shoot two decent bucks later. I think it's a confidence builder. I keep reading pages from the nutterbuster journal on killing does. Why do I let them walk?? Good question. If they have a little one, the area I hunt has farm fields all over. Bunny huggers feed them fresh cut lettuce with roman tomatoes from there gardens. They will find food. If the coyotes get them, to be honest they were probably gonna get one anyway. Why not that one. The chances they survive are pretty good. I do not plan on shooting a small does early season. But I sure will not let a decent one go.
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In some areas shooting does is part of proper management, in my area the DGIF mandates hunters to take two does prior to using a second buck tag. Keeping populations at stable levels is good herd management, in addition it may just expand the movement of bucks during the rut... if there's not a doe around each tree. While I can only eat about three deer a year, I know a couple families eager to take a deer and we have a Hunter-4-the-Hunger program, which supplies the meat to families in need. "If" we properly manage the herd and in areas of herd numbers being way up that means shooting does, we not only improve the herd but put food on the table for families in need. Plus shooting does early is the ultimate practice for the rut.
 
HuumanCreed said:
Yes. I need the experiences. Like the WHOLE experience (walking in, climbing, shooting, trailing, dressing, dragging, etc) to really understand what I need to adjust for my system, real world is nothing like practice after all. Giving up my buck lust until I got a few public lands successes. Plus my area of Maryland has like 15 antlerless limit.....
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Exactly what I did. I had always wanted my first deer to be a "decent" buck. After years of seeing some but never having a good shot, last year I decided I wanted the meat more. I ended up with my first deer, a doe, and I'm totally fine with it. If I get a shot, I'm taking it.

This year, once I have some meat in the freezer I'll worry about trying to get a buck. Unless that's what I get a shot at first!
 
enkriss said:
I don’t get much enjoyment out of shewing fawns away from their dead mother.
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Agreed, but we try to do that on our family property. As @kyler1945 said, especially in our area, the doe-to-buck ratio is out of whack. I think it leads to harder to kill bucks come rut because they know that if x doe in heat won't stop, there is 17 others that will pass by him. Maybe I'm giving bucks too much credit, but it sure seems logical to me.

The mature doe I shot this year in late antlerless season had a button buck with her. He grunted and bellowed at her for 40 minutes until he finally ran off after he heard the 4 wheeler get close.

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I would shoot that doe, Sam-I-Am.
And I would shoot it with a Bow.
And I would shoot it with Gun.
And I would shoot it and have fun!
And I would shoot it in the woods.
And I would shoot it on a farm. And in a swamp, and on the ground, and in a tree!
I would shoot that doe anywhere, you see!
 
I was making a sarcastic post about bucks that are over 3.7589 years old having an intelligence explosion inside their tiny little prey brains, and suddenly becoming conscious of the world around them, our plans to hunt them, and being exponentially better at avoiding death.

Somehow I've gotten attached to herd management with that comment.


I just like Mr. Koolaid. That's all.
 
DroptineKrazy said:
That's why I shoot the fawns too.
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My brother did that the season before last. He shot the doe with his crossbow and the fawn stayed around long enough for him to reload so he shot the fawn as well.

I'd be more inclined to shoot a doe early in the season. A smaller buck is a different story. I don't necessarily want to burn my one buck tag early in the season on a small buck. But I wouldn't hesitate to shoot a doe.
 
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