Originally Posted by
Semisane
Oldsmellhound, if I had only two days to hunt there are two reasons I would not feel bad at all about shooting a yearling doe. First, they are mighty fine eating. Second, if you take out a yearling doe you've eliminated that one deer from next year's herd. If you shoot a mature doe you've eliminated two or three deer from next year's herd - her plus the one or two offspring she will produce in the Spring.
Good point Semi. I guess it depends on how many deer I am seeing and how small the deer is. One of my hunting buddies shoots anything, regardless of the size, and I remember him dragging back a deer so small I thought it was a coyote. I would rather not shoot something THAT small.
Also, not to jinx myself (knock on wood), but we have a lot of deer on our land, and over the past several years I've always managed to take something medium-sized or larger even when only being able to hunt a couple days out of the year.