Well, so far this season I have not harvested a deer, but my husband (the lucky dog!) got a doe the second day. Nice 23 yard shot, double lung. Thank God I was in a position where I could see her fall because she left no blood at all until she fell. She ran about 40 yards into some thick timber. The only major pisser about this whole thing is that she apparently had a fawn somewhere. We saw no fawn before, during or after the shot, but she had a lot of milk. I've had to pass on several shots because luckily we did see the babies. I don't know why the deer have such small fawns this time of year. In two years we have never seen anything like it. Maybe the hot winter messed up the rut?
Anyway, the best I have been able to do is sneak within 4 FEET of two does, but the timber was so thick I couldn't find a hole big enough to put my arrow through! Sounds crazy, but it is true! Wish me luck this weekend guys!

By now, fawns should be weaned, so I wouldn't worry to much about it. A number of years back, I shot a doe in mid-November that was still lactating, well past when she should be. Your husband's doe system is still probably producing milk, but if she had fawns still dependent on her this late in the game, chances are they'd have a tough time making it anyway.

Good luck, you'll get the buck....

Hurry up and wait.

That would be awesome! Might almost make up for not getting the last two does!

Rangeball: I can understand the doe still lactating after the fawn is weaned, but we have seen several that are not much bigger than our border collie so that is why we are concerned that we sentenced two deer to death. One thing that I forgot to mention that I thought was cool is that all of the hunters we have met in the field so far tell one another if they have seen a doe with really small fawns. Nobody seems to pass judgement if you want to shoot the doe, but they are all giving each other a heads up. I thought that really spoke volumes about the ethics (for lack of a more concise word) of the hunters out there.

I THINK THERE COULD BE SEVERAL REASONS FOR THIS SITUATION.

1. SHE HAD A VERY PERSISTANT FAWN THAT WOULS NOT BE WEANED. IF YOU ARE A COUNTRY PERSON YOU HAVE MOSTLIKELY SEEN LARGE CALVES STILL NURSING ON THERE MOMAS. THEY ARE USUALLY BULL CALVES.

2. WHEN YOU BUTCHERED THE DOE WAS THERE A UNBORN TWIN STILL REMAINING IN THE DOE. BEING A DAIRY FARMER I HAVE SEEN THAT EVEN IF THE ANIMAL DOES NOT CLEAN CORECTLY THE LACTATION CYCLE WILL BE AFFECTED.

3. THERE IS A POSSIBILITY THAT SHE WAS BRED LATE AND SHE CALVED LATE. OH WELL SHE DID NOT INFORM ANYONE. HER LOSS

HUNT HARD AND HUNT ON

I just wanted to say congrats to your husband on his deer. And I like the idea of you and your husband hunting together. After a few years I talked my wife into hunting small game. Now she can't wait for it to cool off alittle to go again. She said she'll go gun huntng for deer this year. But she don't know if she can shoot one or not. As long as I get her out there, I think she'll learn to love the outdoors as much as I do.
GOOD LUCK AND EVERYONE BE SAFE

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By now, fawns should be weaned, so I wouldn't worry to much about it. A number of years back, I shot a doe in mid-November that was still lactating, well past when she should be. Your husband's doe system is still probably producing milk, but if she had fawns still dependent on her this late in the game, chances are they'd have a tough time making it anyway.


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Not the case in PA. I've had doe under my stand in early Oct still nursing fawns with spots. That's one of the problems with our unbalanced herd. Late ruts, late births etc....Too many does, not enough bucks but hopefully that's changing...


Lady Arwen, congrat's on your husbands doe, yours will come soon enough.

<font color=blue>Good Luck and Good Shooting</font id=blue>

<font color=red>Rob</font id=red>