shooting does with fawns

[certified jumbo]

I've shot many doe's with fawns. I too have had them stick around for awhile(a few mins) - but never bleat or bawl. I respect everyone's opinion, but I don't have a problem in the least.

[MrCrappie]

I have enough opportunities in the intensive deer area I hunt, that I don't feel the need to. If things change, sure.

[huntnfish]

The fawn I had hanging around didn't bawl or anything but I literally had to chase it off. It was just one of those things that made me think twice about what I had done. If the fawn wouldn't have been a buck I would have taken that instead. I don't think the experience would make me hold off on a doe in the same situation though.

[slimngrizzly]

I agree with Scoot. Im not against it, but I want no part of it.

The stories people are telling are horrible. If I really wanted a doe, I think I could find one without risking all this happening! For me having a fawn screaming at an arms length away while i gutted the dead mother would completely take away the enjoyment of hunting!

This post should be deleted before the wrong type of people read it! It paints a picture I dont even like to think of.

[BLACKJACK]

Guess I've never had the experience of the fawns bleating while you're gutting the doe, that would be tough. In my experience the fawns generally run off. I have used them to help find a doe that I shot with a bow, searching in the dark, see the fawns, when you go check out where they're standing, there is your doe.

[ARROW 1]

I shot a doe last year on Dec 23 that had 2 fawns no spots. I passed up 14 different bucks last year. Not getting a deer at all would have been hard to swallow. When I walked up to her laying in knee deep snow I promised her I would feed her little ones the rest of the winter. Apples and corn they got until the snow started melting. I the two little ones on camera all winter so I know they made it. I may have to take a deer early this year. My wife and I are expecting Oct 27. I have 1 doe that doesn't have a fawn. 1st night out I had 8 deer come in does and fawns. The only one not in range was the doe I want. It would have been hard to end my season on the first day. Final note who got drawn for Ripley this guy. We dont get drawn two years in a row. But sure enough this year we did. The wife said I could go. But you know what that means. She says yes but when I go she says I can't believe to went.

[John478]

Read an article a few years back about this very subject. According to their research the fawns managed just fine without their mother and in a lot of cases they just hooked up with another doe.

[NWBuck]

I recently read an article stating that shooting does with button buck fawns in tow will dramatically increase the odds of that button buck making the property part of his home range. If the doe doesn't get shot she'll soon be kicking the button buck away and he'll search for a different home range...mother nature's way of preventing inbreeding. If your population will handle it, shooting does is a great management tool for increasing the number of resident bucks on your hunting property.

I shoot does with fawns all the time. As I read on another site where this topic came up..."if you shoot the doe the fawn often comes back, but one thing I've learned is that if you shoot the fawn the doe never comes back"

[rkhinrichs]

hit a yearling low this weekend. had good blood then blood trail stop i think i hit it a little to low. it was with its mom and another yearling would have shot the mom if she gave me a chance. im not proud of wonding a deer, but i think it is fine i looked a long time for it and never found it. It was my first deer with a bow so i was shaking mad!! some people get buck fever... i get yearling fever:)

[sticknstring]

Fawn Fever! Ain't nothin' better!

[Bear55]

I recently read an article stating that shooting does with button buck fawns in tow will dramatically increase the odds of that button buck making the property part of his home range. If the doe doesn't get shot she'll soon be kicking the button buck away and he'll search for a different home range...mother nature's way of preventing inbreeding. If your population will handle it, shooting does is a great management tool for increasing the number of resident bucks on your hunting property.

But do you really want your herd inbreeding?

[paceman]

Like most others I won't shoot a doe with a young spotted fawn but if I want to take a doe and the older fawns aree with I won't hesitate in shooting.

[DAD-N-EYE]

Well being that like 9 outta 10 mature does have fawns every year its pretty tough not to. Seen an episode on Deer and Deer Hunting that said a fawn doesnt need very long with mother too survive. Cant remeber the exact time but but em at about the end of august to where theyre good on there own. Also was stated and I have read it in my QDMA magazine that it is good to shoot a doe with 2 nubbin bucks cause it keeps more bucks in there area and helps balance the buck to doe ratio.

[R. Miller]

Respect whoever does or doesn't, just know of too many early bow season stories where the fawns hang around while you're dragging mommy out of the woods. No thanks. Different later in the season.

[mabr]

This may be a little long so bear with me.

I had an interesting thing happen to me and my wife 2 years ago while scouting a new property I had just got permission to hunt on. Started sometime in august setting the edges watching to see what was around. Well on the way in one evening there were 2 fawns in the field as we walked to the ground blind. The second they seen us the started running towards us, they came within 15 yards before they stopped just staring at us. They eventually wandered off but needless to say it was a neat experience for me to share with my wife. Later that evening they come out again in the same field. I expected to see mom but she never did showed. I see these 2 fawns numerous times during bow season always alone. I figure mom must have been hit by a car back in august as she was never seen with them. I just knew once gun season opened they were doomed as there is a small group of guys that hunt this property during gun season and they aren’t picky what they shoot. Fast forward to muzzy season, I’m sitting in a stand 100 yards from the same field and low and behold here they both come still together and as weary as any whitetail to ever walk the woods. So this experience tells me they can and will survive without their moms to show them the ropes, I’m sure luck had a lot to do with it but these 2 little does did it on their own. Kind of weird but I feel like I played a part in their survival by educating them.

I did have a bad experience one time. I had a landowner who had a tag and he told me if I see a big doe to take it for him. Here it comes with fawn in tow and a couple other younger does. I make a great shot; she runs 20 yards and falls over. The fawn ran off with the other does but stops about 40 yards from mom. The fawn turns around and comes back to mom, as if saying come on let’s get going. It didn’t hang around too long maybe 2-4 minutes but it sure made me think about things. I’ve never told anyone about that until just now, not sure why but it just didn’t seem right to bring it up. Will I take a doe with a fawn again, Heck yea I’ve done it twice already this season, but I can’t help but ponder how little we as hunters and humans actually know about all living critters.

My avatar pic is a buck I raised from a bottle. I also raised a doe at the same time. They grew up together; they were their own little herd. One winter I had a tree fall over my pen and the buck got out. That doe was so stressed by not having her friend in there with her; I had to leave my golden retriever in the pen to calm her down. Was that her having feelings? I don’t know but she sure freaked out over it. Then when he came back a couple weeks later she literally beat the cr-- out of him with her hooves. It took her couple days before she finally left him alone

I know I’m doing my part as a manager of these deer I love. I’ve let tons of does walk when I knew their numbers weren’t high enough (even though the dnr said they were) to take that many does out of the heard. I also take as many as legally allowed when they need to be taken. Either with fawn or without

[gurkster]

I won't shoot mom in front of the kids.

[SmellEsox]

I shoot them. Just because a lone doe walks past you doesn't mean she doesn't have fawns. Most of them do unless you are lucky to get a yearling (1.5 y.o.) doe to come by.

[nbadger23]

I usually won't shoot a doe that has fawns that still have spots but other than that both the does and the fawns (except nubbins) are fair game. I just shot a doe Sunday night that had a nubbin fawn with her. I'll be on the lookout for a female yearling now and then hope to fill my buck tag.

I have had the fawns stick around and call for mom, go up and nudge the dead deer, etc and it does really suck but so far it hasn't impacted me enough to stop shooting does with fawns. Probably because I like venison so much.

[LightningBG]

Many of the does I've taken in the past, I didn't even know there was a fawn there until after the shot was taken. Sneaky little buggers.

[MUSKY18]

I won't shoot a doe with fawns early in the season. Passed up on a nice doe at Ripley because she had fawn with her. Once rifle season comes around, its a different story. Most does are going to be pushing their fawns away from then, as they come into esterus and want to be bred. I shot a doe a couple years ago, she had two fawns with her. Drilled her right through the pump station, she ran about 40 yards and piled up. Her fawns didn't flinch. Just kept eating and eventually fed off in another direction. Don't know if that would have been the case earlier in the season.

[nbadger23]

Musky - the worst reaction I ever had from a fawn was a doe I shot in late November so I'm not sure if time of year has that much to do with their reaction. I understand your point though, the longer you give them to stay with mom the better prepared they probably are.

[John478]

I guess if you’re concerned about taking a doe with fawns then I guess you probably shouldn’t take an adult doe at all. I’ve taken more than one doe that had been alone. Only to find out that she was still lactating. This means she still had a fawn or fawns somewhere.

[musky hunter]

I shot a doe years ago. I really did need some meat and couldn't get out much. It was in November and there still was milk in her teat. I didn't know they still suckled that time of year. But make your own decisions about that. We tend to humanize the animals when in fact they are just animals. Personally, I would like to identify last years fawn as a better choice for a doe, since they have not yet bred and I won't have to deal with that emotion.

[matchset]

i just shoot the fawn. Momma has akready survived a winter and is a proven producer of healthy offspring. I dint like it when 6 month olds come into esterus in December, get prego and hsve fawns late the following sprin.

[dogs]

i just shoot the fawn. Momma has akready survived a winter and is a proven producer of healthy offspring. I dint like it when 6 month olds come into esterus in December, get prego and hsve fawns late the following sprin.

X 2

Had the opportunity to quiz a man for an hour that spent 5 years radio tracking deer for the DNR for a study. Bottom line was the old does are matriarchs when times get tough, big snow, hunting season for example, the old doe would lead them to the yard or into a refuge area. I shoot the fawns instead now days with 2 dollars herd control tags and a lot easier drag for an old man.