RE: Are you a DOE hunter?
 

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I am a deer hunter, a doe is a deer, I will kill a doe just as quick as a buck as long as it is legal. Given a choice between a young buck or a doe I will take the doe, given the choice between a big buck and a doe, I will take the buck.
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Taz, very well said! Ditto! I take 3-4 each year, usually.

RE: Are you a DOE hunter?
 

I believe a lot of this stems from misperception.

We hunters have been trained via other species, not to shoot the female (for the most part). Pheasants, turkeys, limits of less female ducks than males, etc.

The reason why these regulations still exist is that their populations are not as out of control or overbalanced as the deer species.

I happen to like the law about taking a doe before a buck, although I do not hunt in states with this law (so it's easy for me to say ;) ).

I'm not saying that it should be that way forever, but in areas where their are high concentrations of does per bucks, it seems that &quot;management&quot; comes before &quot;hunting&quot;.

So in order for &quot;me&quot; to &quot;hunt&quot;, I would need to help &quot;manage&quot; the herd. Sounds like a fair and equitable trade off.

My freezer is down to the last set of steaks.
You'll be sure that I will use my $70 doe tag (MI out-of-state) if I am given the chance.

However, I will still make the choice not to shoot at a doe if she is with a fawn. I'm sure that nature says the fawn will be ok, I'd just rather try to get one by herself. (hopefully, I will be able to distinguish her from a button buck)....there are always dilemmas.

RE: Are you a DOE hunter?
 

Here in Georgia we can take 12 deer per year, they all can be antlerless, I'll shoot a doe anytime the oppertunity arises. after all that's what the state wants ya to do..

RE: Are you a DOE hunter?
 

Dave I know exactly what you are talking about, in Ontario the groups I know shoot at every deer they see, doesnt matter buck/doe if they have a tag they fill it!

When we hunted Michigan a couple years ago, we had basicly unlimitted nuisance deer tags to fill. 10 of us shot 14 deer(11 does) on the openner, made the landowner real happy. That night at a local watering hole, we ran into a bunch of members of a club that borderred the property we were hunting. Lets just say our group and theyres didnt see eye to eye on the filling of those tags, fist to eye-yes.

RE: Are you a DOE hunter?
 

I'll take a doe to fill the freezer any day as long as it's legal. In No. VA, there are pleny of deer, so if I wanted to go out the next day and try my luck for a buck, I can do so. As far as shooting a doe w/ her young, I won't do it.

RE: Are you a DOE hunter?
 

I'll take a doe, but I always let the first doe of the year pass, kind of like a thank you to the almighty creator for giving me the strength and the wisdom to hunt.

RE: Are you a DOE hunter?
 

I believe it is no secret, that I preffer to shoot does over little bucks. I will shoot as many as 12-15 does a year. I have shot 4 already this summer on crop damage tags. Where I live here in Michigan, we have a herd that is very badly out of wack as far as buck/doe ratio goes. You ask why I would shoot does, well for the simple reason, I am good at it. I do most of my hunting with the bow. I find a big mature doe to be just as hard, if not harder to kill than most bucks. As was mentioned earlier, a doe has to keep watch for herself as well as her fawns. I also have stated many times over how I grew up in the heart of the deer yards here in Upper Michigan and have seen first hand how a big mature doe will kick the crap out of her own fawns as well as matre bucks to keep them away from a food source. I agree with QDM. However let me state that I do not push for QDM for the soul purpose of growing big racks. I am a &quot;MEAT HUNTER&quot; through and through. I pass an average of 6-8 bucks every year and have on many occassions arrowed a nice fat 155 pound doe while she fed beside a young 105 pound buck. I believe this helps the herd as well as my family and it also does something to help teach the young buck to be more aware and hopefully harder to kill for someone ho is willing to shoot him. As for shooting a doe with a fawn, I have done it on many occassions and I have also passed them when they have had fawns with them. I look over the situation before I make up my mind to shoot. For one, am I in an area that is overrun with does, is the fawn a late born fawn and still has spots, is the fawn nice and fat or is it thin and gaunty. If more people took the time to know the creature they hunt other than it will feed here and maybe bed here, but really get to know the animal there would be a lot less grief amoungst hunters and anti's as well.
Now let me explain, yes, your deer both bucks and does are comming from the does on your property or in your hunting areas. Knowing the life cycle of whitetail deer, and what makes them click isn't that hard to figure out. Most people give a wild animal way too much credit for being able to think like a human, thus the Walt Disney mentality of the anti's. Deer need basic things to servive, food water and shelter. Now steps in man and his way of thinking. For those that do not harves does you are hurting the wellbeing of the deer herd. Any given area can only maintain so much game before it is overgrazed and the animals die off. Again steps in man and supplements the feed and the deer live through another winter when they should have died. A doe, believe it or not can determine the sex of the fawns she will have in the spring. If the area is overpopulated she will have more buck fawns if the area is underpopulated more doe fawns. HMMMMM why is that, well it goes back to the safety in numbers game. You see deer are really a social animal and why you see does in large or small groups is because they travel in family groups. A doe will run her buck fawns off the following fall, right about this time as a matter of fact. She does this to ensure he will not try to breed her during the rut. Now on the other hand she will allow her doe fawns to stay in her home range, thus adding to the safety factor of safety in numbers. By killing the does, both young and old and passing on the younger bucks you help to balance the herd as well as fill your freezer. One more very important thing to mention for those of you who can not find it in you to kill a doe is this, you are killing your bucks without even firing a shot. How is this possible you say. Take a look at the ody of your buck you kill in mid to late November. He has been chasing does now for almost a month in most areas. Don't just look at him with his hide on, but take a look at him with the hide off. This is where the truth of the story is really told. Why do you think a buck looks so nice in early October, all nice and fat and in his prime. Yet in late November he appears to be like weight lifter who concentrated more on his upper body than his lower. Another words, he is all shoulders and neck and not much for the rear end. Tjhe reason for this is he has rutted so hard chasing does trying to fulfill what he is genetically programed to do, breed. Now through in a herd that is overpopulated with does and the buck now runs most if not all of his winter fat reserves off and stands a big chance of dieing during the winter. Any of this sinking through to those who will not shoot does and yet shoot little bucks &quot;because they do not have big bucks in there areas&quot;. Maybe just mabe you are killing them with your kindness to the does you will not shoot. Every deer hunter, at one time or another here in the states dream about going to Canada to hunt the huge bucks that roam the big woods. Ask anyone who has been there and they will tell you they hunted hard for a week and didn't see many deer but what they did see were big in body. Do yourself a favor this fall and help out the local deer herd by doing your part to harest as many does as your state will allow. As for me I have 6 doe tags in my pocket as I type and a card to get another one and with Michigans liberal license quota this year I am sure I will have another dozen before I am tired of processing veison.
Best of luck to all this season and may it be your personal best and safest on record.
God Bless and Happy Hunting.

LIVE TO HUNT,HUNT TO LIVE.

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RE: Are you a DOE hunter?
 

Lazy,

Where I hunt we have a very good doe to buck ratio (no rifle hunting).
We have many deer and many doe tags are available.

I do not shoot does (or young bucks) because I simply have no desire to do so. What drives me to be in the woods almost every week from Jan to Sept (scouting) and then 2 to 3 times a week from Oct thru Dec. is the absolute desire to go one on one with the greates game animal on the planet - the mature whitetail buck.

In over 20 yrs of hunting I have never shot at a doe, never even considered it. For me they are just a different ballgame.

I wish I did have a desire to shoot does, I would have had many, many more successful hunts. I have good friends that get just as exited shooting a doe as I do when I get my buck - you have no idea how much I envy them. I can go for months without taking a shot while every one else is high fiving each other every other night.

You Meat hunters can slam me all you want, I consider myself no better than a doe hunter (to be honest I don't care what the heck you shoot), I don't shoot them because I don't want too.

I am a lousy population control tool. If that is the main reason why I should hunt then I guess I am a &quot;slob&quot; hunter. But I have never thought of myself as a &quot;tool&quot;

I could care less about &quot;meat in the freezer&quot;. If that is the main reason why I should hunt then I guess I am a super &quot;slob&quot; hunter.

I hunt for the experience, the challenge, the huge amount of work and desipline it requires to reach your goal (whatever goal that may be). And for that huge rush I get when I see a deer (any deer), and the overwhelming sence of satisfation and pride when everything comes together and I am standing over my deer.

Some may argue I am a trophy hunter, but I don't see it that way. My trophies are no more important to me, than the next guys doe is to him. Trophies have nothing to do with the &quot;trophy itself&quot;, all its meaningfullness comes from the effort and desire one has, and the road he travels to get there.

We are all on the road as bowhunters, Aren't we?