A lot of "trophy" hunters get all worked up when people talk about a cagey old doe being as big a challenge as a wiley buck. I KNOW this for a fact........I saw the oldest deer I've ever seen on Friday.....and she was a BEAUTY! She was chased in by a 2-1/2 yr old that didn't do her justice! Her back was broad and she had a very blount muzzle.....really grey around it. She was without a doubt the oldest deer I've ever seen.

It got me to thinking.......

I KNOW this deer staged about 60 yds away from where the others were feeding the other day......waiting to see if the coast was clear. She pegged me in my stand when she heard my arrow nocks tap my stand. She took a fawn and headed the other way. None of th e5 bucks I saw were anywhere NEAR as cagey as her......but they're all much younger than her, too. If they live as long as her.....they'll likely get to know what she does.

I think the fact that she's older (and this isn't atypical) than the bucks around her......makes her MUCH harder to hunt.

Just my observation.

jeff

I have come across some pretty intelligent does as well. It only makes sense though.

They have to tend to their offspring every year and I'm sure thats a job in itself. That old doe has to watch her back as well as her baby's back. And you know...those fawns can be curious sometimes.

It occurs to me (just now, so it might just bea brain fart) that itmight be the case that the older does are actuallycagier than the older bucks in places where does are legal to shoot (like here in VA where we get more antlerless tags thaneither sextags). For the simple reason that, during hunting season, while bucks are more solitary (except when they find a doe), the doesgetto see the young ones that they travel with get picked off and get to learn from that. Any thoughts?

In my experience does are not easy. Here in GA the season limit is 10 does and 2 bucks. If I have both a doe and buck in shooting range I will take the doe so that I will still have my buck tags.. plus the meat is better.
During the rut I have found bucks much easier because they get stupid. Also we have a long season here, and after opening week does get shy pretty quick on the public land I hunt and stick to thick cover. If there is more than one, there are more eyes and ears to bust you. I have only taken bucks later in the season.
I have been bowhunting a small strip of woods behind my subdivision where I am the only one hunting. In September when I was hanging a stand a doe heard me and came over and started snorting. That was the last I saw of her. I just found a fresh scrape back there so will hunt that for whatever comes along.

The only thing that make people think that does are easier are sheer numbers of them plus the fact that sometimes they'll mess up following their offspring but put one on one with a cagey old doe vs most bucks but not all, I'd bet on the doe.

or because they are females....I hate to say it but Ifeel that is another reason some think they are inferior.