take the buck or the doe?
 

Ok I got somewhat a survey.

I live in VA and this year we have 3+ weeks of doe season (if you bow hunt it is 5). would you take a buck or the doe and save the buck for this only week of antler only?

this is what I am asking myself. Spotted a family of 5 deer, a buck, 3 does and yearling.

RE: take the buck or the doe?
 

Tough call. I'd have to base it off of what was in front of me at the time the hammer was ready to drop.

RE: take the buck or the doe?
 

It would depend on what you see the most of. For me, I see far more does than bucks once the season starts. If I got a chance at a nice buck I would take that first. Then I would have the rest of the time to shoot the more oft seen does as needed.

RE: take the buck or the doe?
 

If it's what you want then the buck. If it's not, the doe.

RE: take the buck or the doe?
 

I live in VA, we get 3 bucks there, so what is the problem? If I see a nice buck in archery I will take it, usually better than a 6 pointer, get one in ML season and save a tag for the whole rifle season, which goes till 1 sat of Jan for me, since I live in Loudoun Co. Usually what happens to me is I get three bucks in November, so I am doe hunting all of December. Not so fun but it is hunting. Chap Gleason

RE: take the buck or the doe?
 

If your determined to take a buck and he's a shooter take him. Whats to say someone else won't shoot him..........you may never have thatsecond chance at him. Just my opinion.

RE: take the buck or the doe?
 

Depends on what I see in front of me at the time. If he's a nice, mature deer, he gets the bullet. If he's a young fella, yearling buck, the doe gets the bullet and he lives to see at least another day.

RE: take the buck or the doe?
 

Seeing many deer is the one reasonI am in the woods. I like watching them as much as shooting and eating them. Yet, as my father used to say, "shoot all the cows and next years calf crop ain't worth *//>*."

Also what is the condition of the freezer at home? If you are in need of venison, there is nothing better then a young doe for table fare. Also shooting a young doe does not normally damage the herd as much as taking a mature breeding doe out.

So if the freezer is empty, and you want some venison, and have that long to hunt, and can shoot more then one deer, there is nothing wrong with taking a doe early in the season. Getting it on the table to enjoy, and then really hunting hard for the special deer you want to fill your major tags.

A word of warning about State Game Management practices.. Many management practices I believe are mandated by the all mighty dollar. Wisconsin is guilty more so them most states IMO. Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources claimed huge herds of deer all over the State. They want to sell hunting license, and if your asked to buy a license to fish in a dead lake you will not sell many license. Wisconsin even allowed hunters to take numerous deer each year. They are still making this claim of large deer herds. I personally do not believe them. In fact we were required to shoot a doe before we could even hunt a buck for a while. Their "Earn a Buck program." All of this of course was justified by CWD, large deer herds, and large deer/vehicle accident incidents. Well the last couple years around my house, in an area where I always saw deer both during season and off season, I saw one deer last year hunting all season... Large numbers of deer can be easily removed from an area. Judge your area well. If you have large numbers, taking a doe is not all that major an influence on the herd, but remember, while you take one or two, so does the neighbor and the neighbor's neighbor...

RE: take the buck or the doe?
 

With me it depends upon where I'm hunting and what I'm hunting with...

I take a week each year and hunt our 3 farms in eastern NC, take a couple of buddies and hunt with my brothers, nephews, nieces. friends, etc....
Our purpose on this hunt is to kill 15-20 deer and thin the does...Now, if the bucks are chasing, I'll wait until about Wednesday or Thursday evening to start filling the 150 quart cooler we bring...If I see a good buck (antlers beyond the ears and 8 points or better), I'll take him...Many hunts the field fills up with does and I wait until the last 5 minutes of shooting light and go ahead and kill 2 does....

My theory is that if you are going to get out of the stand and run the deer out of the field, you might as well take a doe and let them run out of the field....Many times I have spooked deer out of a field by shooting and then returned with the truck or 4-wheeler 30 minutes after the shot and run the deer back out of the field...I have also killed a deer out of a field one night, wait for the deer to leave before I get down and see just as many deer in that field the following evening....In other words, I don't think the shot spooks them too bad (especially with a ML), it's seeing you get out of the stand and walking away that really spooks them...

btw...If you are hunting over a field and want to take a couple of deer...On that first shot, put it through the shoulder blade and drop the deer, the other deer won't run far and you can then take another...If you only want to take one deer and have the rest leave the field, shoot the deer behind the shoulder, in the lungs, that deer will run, trying to get out of the field and the rest will follow, leaving the field clear for you to then get down and leave, so you can hunt it again the next evening....

If I'm hunting my lease here in Piedmont NC, if its before the rut and especially during bow season, I'll shoot the first big doe that I have a good shot at...During central muzzleloading season I usually wait because its the 1st or 2nd week of November and there is a lot of prerut activity....

During December, here in central NC I use my flintlock as much as my .243, if I get a good shot at a doe, I'm likely to take her, just depends upon how many I have in my freezer at the time and what mood I'm in....

Late December usually finds me back in eastern NC, and if we haven't taken what we consider enough deer off the farms, I'm back to waiting until the fields fill up with deer and taking either a big doe or a good buck...I have plenty of folks back home that will take deer that my family doesn't need at that time.....Occasionally during this time I will also take a buck that my brothers and I have been seeing if we consider him an older deer with a scrub rack....

RE: take the buck or the doe?
 

Anyone of them will fit in the freezer!:)

RE: take the buck or the doe?
 

I have heard more differing opinions on this subject than you can imagine. Almost every person(even the so called experts) have different opinions. So here goes. We have a large deer population where I hunt in WV, and in MD. The population where I hunt in PA is less than it used to be, and the county went to "trophy management" hunting. This is Greene county, PA. We are definitely seeing larger buck's this year in PA, but that only makes since. If you let the deer live they will grow(common sense).

We have a lot of acreage we manage in WV, and MD. About 600 acres in WV, and about 1,000 acres in MD. We subscribed to the theory of more does-then more deer-then more bucks. IMO we were wrong. We select the deer we shoot during hunting season, and our deer herd has flourished in quality(bucks, in number's and size). Here is my opinion:

IF you notice whenever you see a mature doe she will have a fawn or fawns with her. Alot of times she will also have her DOE fawns from the past year. How many times do you see her have her BUCK fawns from the previous year. NOT VERY OFTEN. Normally the does we pick for the freezer are the does that have buck fawns. A MATURE DOE WILL RUN OFF HER BUCK OFFSPRING. So what you are doing is letting that mature doe run her buck fawns off your property and on to the neighbor's place. That is not what I want to do. I want the buck's to stay on my property. That is how we select which does to shoot.

We select the buck's we shoot, but we can do that because we own the property. We do it this way because this is how we enjoy doing it. As far as your situation is concerned I would do it based on what I wanted to do, and I would give no consideration to what some one else think's about your actions. After all the only person you have to satisfy is yourself.

IMO Cayugad is 100% correct about the DNR's.I believe they are more intersted in the money thanthe actual deer and hunting conditions. However you also have to keep in mind that many hunter's could care less if they shoot a buck or a doe. The are in itfor the meat.And then other hunter's are only in it for the funhunting. The bottom line is this, if you want to do things your way then you have to bite the bullet and buy some property. If you are not willing topurchase property, then IMO youhave no right to criticize another hunter's way's(I have seen alot of this)-as long as it is legal. Tom.

RE: take the buck or the doe?
 

I agree with cayugad,on what he said and I manage my own property by the number of deer I am willing to feed beyond the natural available and my food plots; this year I am going to let a neighbor[friend] hunt with me because their are more deer than I think is good for the herd so will take only does and any BIG bucks that come along.Lee

RE: take the buck or the doe?
 

Where i hunt, its overly populated with doe's. 3 of us have doe tags for sept 8th-16th and we know where they'll be. We only shoot the plump doe's.

RE: take the buck or the doe?
 

chapman I live in augusta co.

I see everyone is saying they are overly poplated with does and i have seen only one buck. I think myself I would that a doe in my spot. I go out with my uncle, he has a good spot. :D