I know you are worried about that doe carrying your future bucks but if your goal is to lower the number andget a better health on your herd improving the health of your bucks you need to do so. Also what does it matter if you shoot that doe early season (where she is most likely to get breed potentialy carrying your next year buck) and shooting those late seaosn does (who potentially have a buck in them or didnt get bread same as the early season doe). Simple matter of fact is a early season and late season doe has the same chance of carrying a buck in them the next spring. Just something to think about and maybe change in your managment style........... We have the same problem here so we shoot as many big does as we can except for when we arehuntign the rut. Rifle season is when we really take em out although i did shoot 3 does with the bow including a buck this year. WCL

If its legal who cares.

I do the same as you, with the exception of shooting the fawn or fawns with the doe.

That right there is funny!!Hey strutter,a bit over-zealous? What's the difference between a fawn without spots and a yearling? Yearlings get shot all the time by many hunters. In my WMU 5-D, you can kill as many doe as you have tags for in a given day. Tags are unlimited.

Interesting WCL!! Thanks for the info.

In some areas the deer has been degraded to the point of being vermin,they are thought no more of than a rabbit in your garden or the bugs that fowl your windshield.
In PA hunting deer has always been a very special thing for a very long time.
For me to listen to some talk about the deer they kill in the same terms as a child molester talks of his victims bothers me,the animals are given no respect or worthiness just as an opportunity to kill.
I find it embarrassing and very seldom speak of hunting or ofother hunters in a public situation,because hunting itself seemingly brings out the worst in the very people that enjoy it.
Our sport is bothmoral and ethical and I with I could saythe sameabout those who partake in it.

Well many could say this about killing deer in general. I have had many argue this exact point with me about hunting deer or any other game animal. In my state it is legal to kill more than one doe or antlerless deer in a day as long as you have the tags. I'm not sure what the current laws are for this year but you used to be able to get a doe tag a day for private property. So if you had seven tags you could kill seven deer in one sitting if you really wanted to. And they issue the tags so you will kill the deer, not so you can keep them in your wallet as mementos.

Not everyone hunts solely for the meat or for the "thrill". A lot of people in my area hunt for population control or crop damage. We simply have too many deer for the habitat which means more crop damage and increased accidents. To some farmers they are nothing more than big woodchucks. I hunt for all three reasons, the meat and the thrill of the hunt are nice bonuses, but I kill deer because the state wants me to. I feel it's my duty. Hey, I'm just doing my part.

I actually normally only kill one deer a year though, but I have no problems with others that kill as many as they want, as long they are not poaching and don't leave the animal lay to waste. The point is to thin the herd, not let them go to see how big they can get. That is the difference between Deer Management and "Quality" Deer Management. Most people that follow QDM are more concerned with trophy hunting than they are about controlling the ecosystem. Then again if we didn't suck up all the habitat by building strip malls and crap it probably wouldn't be that big of problem.

Paul

That was my thinking also.

A whole year and about 40 or 50 pounds!

The does I am shooting are within the first few weeks of the opening of season. There is a very slight chance one of them has come into her cycle VERY early, but it is a very very slight chance. By mid Oct I am done shooting does and I am focused on the two bucks I am allowed each year here in Illinois. I don't shoot just any buck, he has to be that something special for me to pull the trigger. The biggest reason why I don't shoot late season does is because I am normally still buck hunting. I have always felt that if I shoot a doe then my chances of my buck walking by just decreased a bit. My two boys that hunt with me, totally different. If they have doe tags in their pock still, then they are shooting. Good for them. As I said, I understand fully that there is a fault with my plan, but it is the way I do things.