With all of the hype lately about "mature" bucks, I was wondering how many of you believe a "mature" doe is an equal advisary as far as cunning is concerned?
Forgetting that mature bucks are reclusive by nature, I believe a mature doe is at least as wary, if not more so,as a mature buck, who only looks out for himself,because she has spent years raising and looking out for her offspring. She spends much more time out and about for this reason.She not only has to watch out for herself but the little one's as well, perhaps giving her the edge on alertness.What do you folks think?
Let me add this to the thread. Of the 30+ deer I've killed, 17 were doe. Of these, only 3 were "mature/matriarch" doe's. The biggest was this one. She weighed 149lbs (butchers scale)dressed with legs cut off.

This is their DOWNFALL, IMO.

Negative.[&:]

I agree with you 100%, three years agoI had an old doe that would run all the otherdeer off everytime she would come around, blowing at snorting at me(the other deer never knew I was there). I had to pull some tricks out of the hat to get her down and it took about a month to do it, she was one smart ol cow.... I did finally get her and the guy that owned the place I was hunting is a biologist for the state and he aged her at 7-8 years of age.....That was one tough cookie to get an arrow in...

I agree with that 100%. Old does are super wary and jump at the least bit of disturbance, but they have to tend to their young and get them fed as well which forces them to feed more in daylight, spend more time in the open, and not merely escape danger but try to get their young from the danger as well.

These facts make them an easier target than the mature bucks, but their wariness and cunning are no less. The challenge, on the other hand, is less. IMHO

i agree with GMMAT

If it is not too much to ask, could you please explain how it is their downfall and all? I have always thought an old doe was one of the wariest creatures in the woods, but now find I may be mistaken.

Bry explained it very well.

If they didn't have the fawns to deal with......they would be VERY hard to kill (the older, mature does).

I think they will spot you faster via movement then a big buck will just because they seem to look an listen a lot more than bucks. If youwatch a doe feeding and walikg along they will lift theirheadsand move their ears more than a buck will. Just my opinion.

old does have cost me shots at bucks at least 2 times and i tried hunting one specific mature doe and i swear,that thing picked me off even when i moved my stand to a different tree

Because she is not as reclusive and because she does have fawns, no she is not as tough an adversary as a mature buck.

But with all that taken into account, I put the average "mature" doer above a 2.5 yo or younger buck.

And then there is the fact that all "mature doe" are not created equal. Some (probably the older ones within the "mature" category) are more wary and wood smart than a 3.5 yo buck, IMO.