RP8

I hadn't been hunting in about 20 years and killed a 50 lb doe. The land owner's ecologist said he needed to kill 9 does and 3 bucks off his 100 acres this year and the owner said he didn't care what I shot except for young bucks. I hunted 2 mornings saw some young bucks (4-6 point 100+ lbs) but all the doe I saw were really small. I saw about 8 does and finally shot one on the second morning.

I think she was somewhere between 1.5-2.5 years old. I took a bit of a ribbing from another hunter for shooting something so small. Was there anything wrong with killing a doe this young & small, ethically speaking? It was a clean kill, straight through the lungs with a .308 and the animal did not suffer much. The landowner was happy with it. The meat is just for me and is more than enough for the year. I didn't weigh her on a scale but she felt about the same as a 50 lb bag of corn. Thoughts?

Oh yeah, this was in central Texas if it matters.

NebBuckHunter

It doesn't matter what other people think. As long as you're happy, that's all that matters. Plus you helped the land owner. Nothing ethically wrong with killing a small doe.

WV Hunter

Nope, not a thing. Good job filling your tag and helping on the quota!

7.62NATO

It is a personal goal of mine to kill one fawn per season. I love venison, and a young, small deer is by far the tastiest you'll find. It doesn't matter their or size; all deer want to live as eagerly as the next. So why does their size matter to us?

elmoughler

Its your choice. For me I'll shoot the first one that walks by. Feeds my family

RP8

Thanks for the responses everyone, you're backing up what I suspected to be the case but wasn't sure because of my long absence from hunting. Personally I didn't care about the size much, although a bigger doe was what the landowner described as optimal. After the first morning he said I might just need to go ahead and take a small one the next day, so I did.

Love the avatar by the way, the kill was with an 18.5" M14 (semi auto) with iron sights paced off right at 100 yards. Hornady 155gr Amax.

tj_cubin

If your ok with it, the landowner is ok with it, the law is ok with it, then there's no problem.

My only concern is shooting a doe that small might turn out to be a button buck.

Night Crawler

Man I love small does. I do only take does with a bow so I don't mistake a button.
Man 4 to 5 under 100# doe is candy

skb2706

M14 ? or M1A1?
What does a 50 lb deer dress out to in meat? Something like 20 lb
My Thanksgiving turkey is bigger.

isatarak

Nothing wrong with it, but it was a young fawn. At that size, it's pretty hard to tell them from a buck fawn at a distance. That's what you have to look out for. A two year old doe would weigh about 100# at least.