falcon

One or two fawns are the normal here. i have seen does with three fawns. One big doe hung out near Four Mile Crossing on Ft. Sill for about five years. She had triplets every year.

Predators, mostly coyotes, get 1/3 to 1/2 of the fawns here.

Each year i kill from 4-7 deer. i have no problem with killing does.

Muley Hunter

We have loads of does here in town. People here feed them even though it's against the law. They lose their fear on humans, and it's sad in hunting season when they get killed so easily.

We have one doe with a tag in her ear that's number 420. Everybody in town knows 420, and feed her. She's like a pet now, and will take food from your hand. She never leaves town, and that's why she's still alive. I've seen her for the last 8 years.

rafsob

Not a trophy hunter! I'm a meat hunter. Don't get me wrong, I love seeing and shooting a buck with a large rack!! But how do you manage a deer herd by not shooting the does??

Shooting more bucks to control a herd doesn't make any sense. The surviving bucks will kill themselves trying to service the herd does!

Now in the old days we didn't shoot does for a reason, there were to few deer in the woods. we wanted the herd to grow. When I was a kid in the '50s, it was a bragging right if yo even saw a deer in the woods during hunting season and good for a story at the camp fire!!

In some areas in my state you have to shoot a doe before you can shoot a buck!! Do any other states have this requirement also??

super_hunt54

Yeah, there are a few states with what's called "Earn A Buck" program. You have to take a Doe to get your Buck tag. I usually take a Doe or 2 for the freezer before I even think about going after a Buck. Pete and I were both raised in the same era as you when there just wasn't that many deer in a lot of states. I was in one of the lucky states (Tennessee) where the deer population was pretty dang large even in the 50's but we rarely shot Does back then. I pretty much went after Bone till I hit my late 30's-early 40's and figured I had enough racks on the wall. Now I just fill the 3 chest freezers with all that succulent meat from slick heads or Bucks-Bulls that don't look like they will amount to anything or old and tired past their prime for good jerky and chili/stew meat. Had one of my boy's with me a few years back and he dang near passed out when he saw me let a 12 point massive 5.5 year old walk on by. He asked me "why the hell didn't you run an arrow through that monster". Told him that that monster will go on to make a bunch more monsters this year and I may just make him into some of my fine chili that you love so much next year or the year after, Depending on if he still looks like he's dominant or not. Not saying my release finger wasn't having a massive coronary because it surely was. I'd just rather let a fine stud like that one walk and make a few other fine studs for the next generation to hunt.

Gm54-120

The most ive seen with a single doe is 2 fawns.

When i see 5 times as many doe vs bucks i tend to shoot the first fat doe i see. I cant eat horns and a doe tastes fine to me. Im allowed 2 deer depending on the county i hunt and most of the time i end up with 2 doe in the freezer.

super_hunt54

LOL Gm, The only buck I have ever tasted that was as good as a Doe was a Mutant 2.5 year old Button buck that was 175 yards out and I thought it was a big Doe. I usually wont shoot a buck under 5.5 years unless he is like a 3.5 year old with spikes or a forker. I'll crack on those all week and twice on Sunday to get them out of the herd. But the older Bucks just seem too dang tough except for the backstrap. I use them for Burger, Jerky, Sweet Sticks, Stew meat or Chili. Especially if I took them during rut or soon after rut. Hell I don't need a blood trail if I cracked one during rut. Just follow the stink trail

rafsob

That is pretty much my way in life now. I love filling my freezer with succulent venison!!! If I didn't hunt I would do so with grass feed beef.

I look at the kids today and can't believe how quick they are maturing. With all the steroids, antibiotics and god knows what else they feed them beef cows. Venison is about the best meat you can eat about now.

Gm54-120

For the vast majority of my cooking, venison is just fine. Personally i think it makes a fantastic chilli, curry or summer sausage. There is some wild game i like better but a deer bag limit only cost me around $24 for 2 deer. I can take more does for about $7 each in some counties but two is normally enough. Going out of state for Elk or Nilgai will easily cost over $1000....I can buy a lot of grass fed free range beef for that kind of money and a lot less travel time.

Blackpowdersmoke

sh54...

Our border state New Jersey requires that a doe be taken before a buck. Not that they have more deer than PA... they just have a lot more people and a LOT of areas that are rotten with deer but cannot be hunted because of population density. As far as the "monster" you passed up... is it because you have so much uninhabited space around you that there are no highways? Or do you own/lease a vast expanse of land? If I passed on a buck like you mentioned, I would only being doing someone else a favor because he would surely be taken by someone else...probably within 1/2 mile. Not to mention that we lose some of the best bucks in the area each year when the rut comes in and they wander across the state and/or secondary roads while trailing a hot doe and get hit by a vehicle.

BPS

super_hunt54

Na BPS, the 3 places I hunt here in Illinois totals around 600+ acres and the KY border isn't very far away. I am one of 3 allowed to hunt those properties with management control. Been managing those places for around 8 years now and have some dandy bucks. As I've said before, I could care less about bone anymore except when it comes to quality herd and genetics management. Good bone lets me know that they are well fed and have a strong gene pool which you know is the most important 2 things in a healthy herd. The properties are a little ways "off the beaten path" so to speak and we lose very few deer due to car/truck. Over the past 6 or so years we have been aggressively bringing the buck to doe ratio to 2-1 (Doe to Buck) and have several food plots planted throughout the properties. We try to let the big boys go till they are around 6.5 (yes sometimes it is VERY difficult) and we take the poor ones out of the herd. The past 3 years it's been a little harder because we don't have that many "poor" ones Lets put it this way, one of the "poor ones" last year was a 5.5 year old 9 point that scored around 140". The owner of the property wants to "compete" with the "Golden Triangle" counties over on the west side. I told him he would need to get up about 600 more acres to the same quality we have on the current properties to even imagine it.