Meat Hunting. What makes a shooter?
 

I have a chest freezer that is crying out to be filled with meat. Virginia Whitetails have been getting better the last few years with some respectable bucks taken. But there are tons of deer in my area and most of them are small. We have an urban archery season this year and I know it will offer me many opportunities to put meat on the ground. Dressed weight of 80 lbs is a decent doe here.

I usually get 45-50 lbs of meat off a deer. I don't eat the ribs but eat just about everything else.

How do you guys decide what deer to shoot? give an average size for your area also.

Thanks

Down here in NC, I shoot does...We have 3 farms in eastern NC and raise corn, soybeans, wheat, peanuts and cotton...Except for the cotton the deer hammer the crops so we have to keep the population down...We kill 35-50 deer a year, mostly does...I prefer to keep the 1 1/2 year olds that weigh 70-90 pounds for myself... :)

I take adult deer for the freezer and will pass on yearlings.
Our hunting group shoots does that average 90-120lbs along with an occasional buck.

Me too! I love me some venny!!!:D

Yep same here! When it comes to meat hunting there really isn't a limitation.. especially when it comes down to feeding my family.

Any hunter
 

who specializes in his own venison and dumplings in a dutch oven on a cold winter night, will take a legal deer and one that is not too young and weighs very light.
Nothing beats the hunter who can turn an older doe with older meat, and can slowly marinate it in cooking juices.
Some hunters, you see, are too well trained however to burn boiling water in a pot. To some the trophy at the point of harvest never becomes a cooked trophy for the table.

For meat, I prefer does. Fortunately for where I hunt in Al., the limit on does is beyond liberal .... 2 a day, every day .... or 1 doe + 1 buck (up to 3 bucks/season). Last year I took 13 does of which my family and I used 5. We gave the rest of friends. I probably could have legally killed 50 does.

As for average size .... I'd say does are in the 90# - 110# range, with a 130# +/- being a big doe. We did have a guy kill a doe in 2003 that weighed 147#. That is our "club record". As for bucks, average weight buck would be 165# or so. We do not "manage" for trophy bucks, so most that make it to 3-4-5 years of age, and have a 8 pt. rack or better are shot at. Heaviest buck I have seen come off where I hunt was a 223#, 13 pt. every year we will kill 4-5 or so that are 185# plus. But that's about it.

Here in NY, I stand about a 50% chance of drawing a doe permit where I hunt each year, and can use my muzzleloading stamp during a one week period. Only being able to shoot a buck (when opportunity presents) and potentially one doe, I try to make my meat shot count. Every area is going to have its own standard as what constitutes a shooter, with size relative. The easiest way to gauge size is comparing several at one time. Generally, the heavier the body looks the older. A gray mask is a good indicationof a mature doe. It isnt unusual to find a 160-170 lb doe around, especially in more agricultural areas.

+1

I will not shoot fawns, yearlings, and/or button bucks. I'd like to see the deer grow up a little, you know?

I have passed on tiny spike bucks and have said under my breath, "Okay, I'll let you walk. But come back next year and you're MINE!"

I'm participating in Chesterfield and Richmond, VA's urban archery season as well. I'm new to this and would probably be inclined to pass on the Bambis and go for the medium to larger does. Mostly because if I take a deer I'd like to get more out of it.