Shooting Fawns

[SCCO9803]

It's been fun reading about everyones success over the past weekend, but one thing upsets me. Now I know everyone is different and, justifiablely so, but why do people shoot fawns and yearlings? While I can also understand that people want venison for there freezer, don't they want some sort of challenge out of the hunt itself. I'm not ripping anyones hunting practices but I would like to know the reasoning behind taking a seemingly helpless fawn. To me there is more to the hunt than the kill itself. From the sound of it everyone had plenty of sucess getting meat, so why take the first thing that comes by the stand even though it may have only been born 7 months earlier.

[fishhawk1750]

Why do we shoot fawns, simple they taste great. 5 tags, one buck-let them grow! does and fawns fill my other 4 tags! Don't worry about what other people are doing if they eat it let them use it!

[Gissert]

I'd rather have a nice fawn in my freezer than see it splattered all over the road.

Some of the early doe fawns from this year will be capable of being bred in the next rut cycle and will contribute to the high deer numbers next year.

I have shot fawns before, and probably will do so again. I love venison, and I see nothing wrong with shooting a fawn where it is legal to do so. In my zone (410) it is even encouraged by the intensive harvest tags. Fawns also give more chances for young hunters to get their first deer.

There have also been times where I have let them walk. Sometimes it just does not "feel" right, if you know what I mean.

[Granny]

If its going to be a bad winter and you shoot the doe, you might as well shoot the fawn(s) also. Chances are they will not make a bad winter without their mom. Some people trophy hunt and some hunt for the food. If you are hunting for the food, why not take an easy deer with a clean shot and get some nice tender meat?

[This message has been edited by Granny (edited 11-12-2003).]

[Havin' Fun]

Why do so many hunters shoot small bucks?
As irratating as shooting fawns is to some hunters...the shooting of lots of small bucks is just as frustrating to others.

[This message has been edited by Hammer em' (edited 11-12-2003).]

[SCCO9803]

It's like I said before, I'm not ripping anyones hunting practices I just simply want to know, I understand that the meat is great and it is also very frustrating when people shoot small bucks. I am not a trophy hunter, and I do see the need to control the population, I understand that fawns also give young hunters a great opportunity. I'm just looking at it from a challengeing hunter/sportsman perspective. To each there own, I guess what I really want to know is how many people hunt for the sport, for the meat, or just simply to kill something. I guess what frustrates me are the people who just go out to kill something. Remeber this is simply my opinion and a discussion topic, I'm not attacking anybody, I'm interested.

[Coach Dog]

Indeed, sometimes it just does not "feel" right. I've shot a couple before and passed up more than I can count. I usually don't shoot one because in our party, if you shoot a fawn, you have to put up w/ a lot of heckling, you buy beer, and the wives, girlfriends, and little kids get a little upset w/ shooting bambi, etc. But, if I don't have a deer and it's the last day and we got a couple tags to fill, Bambi's going down! Some people say, a deer is a deer is a deer, and I agree w/ that. Everyone has their opinion on this one.

Coach Dog

[bucktail]

When managing a deer herd it does not matter if a female deer is an adult or a fawn. As long as it's a female it has the same affect on the herd. I personally don't hunt just to "kill". But if that is what someone believes in and there is no wanton waste involved, I will hold nothing against them. I will shoot a female fawn any day over a basket racked 6 or 8pt. I also think that fawns can handle a winter without their mom pretty well. In many areas the deer will "yard up" for the winter and fawns will feed where the other deer feed, just like if their mom was still around. So a food shortage would affect them the same way anyways. Good topic of discussion.

[Guest]

I generally don't do it, because I'm not that big of a meat hunter. I'm mostly just looking for the bigger buck. If a guy shoots a fawn, just to say he got a deer, then I don't have a lot of congrats to give. If a guy wants to shoot a fawn, so he can put some meat in the freezer, good deal!

I've have shot them before, mostly because I thought they were bigger. But man, are they taste!!!

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Let 'em go so they can grow!!!

[fonz58]

one benefit of shooting the Mom vs. the fawn is that the orphan(s) you create will stay in the "home woods" where they have spent all of their early life with mom.

Since I hunt on private land, If I'm going to take a baldie, it will be a mature doe for this reason alone. I however see nothing wrong with taking a fawn. There certainly are times like twilight when it's very difficult to distinguish the difference.

[Mark Christianson]

We have decided in the last couple years, if it doesn't have 8 points, or at least a sizable rack, don't shoot it.
Its just us. We don't have a need to fill freezers. My wife doesn't like venison, so I am the only one in my house eating it.
I guess I like the idea that a fawn that lives today, could be a nice 8 pointer in a few years.
Just how we like to look at it I guess.

What chaps me, is people that have a doe and small buck run by them. They shoot the little forkie buck, and wonder why they never see big bucks. If a guy wants meat, and a nice buck; shoot the doe and let the small buck live for a while.
People near us seem to have this mentality.

Oh well. Thats the way it goes. We all have different objectives and ideas.

[Coach Dog]

Great point Big Lake Ba$$ on shooting the doe over the small buck!

[Guest]

SCCO,

The reason why some people would elect to shoot a fawn is simply because the fawn is a deer. A deer is a deer is a deer. It just doesn't matter how one looks at it (from behind, from above, from below, from the side), it is still a deer. Let's not put our believes over others'.

I do not deer hunt for sport or trophy and this is the very reason why I do not get buck fever. I hunt for solitude and relaxation and should I be lucky enough to bag a game (giant buck, doe, or fawn) that is just the icing on the cake.

Fishhawk,

You hit it straight on the head. Fawns do taste better. Have you tried roasting a fawn on a spit over open fire? It is the best!!!

Good luck to all. If you shoot only what you intended to kill, kill what you intended to shoot, bag only what you intended to eat, and eat what you bagged, then there is nothing wrong with what you bagged.

[honker23]

I think this is like the "trophy walleye" thread previously discussed. A trophy means many different things to many different people. If you get excited to shoot a deer and it's a fawn, and you kill it, clean it, and eat it, and enjoy yourself in the process what's wrong with it.

I could see if we had a significant deer shortage, and we worried about the population, but the opposite is true. A land owner near the woods I hunt says "the little ones eat my corn too, so shoot em"

Unless I'm hunting inside a fence, I'm not going to pass up a buck hoping for it to be trophy next year, when others can hunt the area and will shoot it before then or the deer may be 3 farm sites over next year. Then I'd be kicking myself for passing up an average 8, in hopes of a "trophy" next year.

[Mark Christianson]

Honker23
That's the exact "problem" we have where we hunt.
We pass on a buck, and it gets shot elsewhere. Or good chance he's gonna get poked at. I am unaware of any landowners adjacent to us that are willing to pass anything that moves.

But as you describe, "the trophy is in the eyes of the beholder."
No problem. As stated earlier, nobody is faulting anybody for their decision on what they want to shoot.
I find it interesting to see what peoples thoughts are on deer harvest overall.
All we can do in our group is hope that what we pass on, gives us a small chance that one day he may live to a ripe old age of 3 1/2 years old at least.

The people around us are doing a fine job lowering the herd level, so I don't feel compelled that I have to use the "Brown its down" theory.

[FoolNFish]

You also have to remember...not everyone gets a doe tag, that's why all the little bucks are taken(a buck is a buck even if it is a spike).

[Steve Foss]

I'm with Granny. Fawn mortaility is high during winter, and many fawns you see in the fall are dead from predation or weather come spring. Also, deer populations in so many states are at all-time highs, which will continue if the winters stay warm and relatively snowless. But with such high populations, even a normally cold and snowy winter will kill them off by the thousands.

And the DNR figures all that into its mortality projections. Like wolves, hunters are predators, and this predator likes the tender meat on young deer. By November, some of them are pretty big, not the little wobbly-legged Bambis with spotted coats.

And I'd rather keep a limit of 13-inch walleyes than 22-inch walleyes. The small ones taste so much better. Like small fish, however, fawns don't go as far, so if I only have one tag I try to avoid killing one unless there's little time left. A yearling buck is my preference, because the meat is still quite tender and there's a lot more than on a fawn, and more than on the average yearling doe, as well. With an adult doe, it's hard to tell if she's 2 or 9 years old and tough as your boot leather, so yearling bucks are the deal for me. The 8-point basket rack I got on Saturday was just such a deer.

In many of the places I've hunted, the motto on the last weekend when there are either-sex or antlerless tags to fill is: If it's brown, it's down.

I brought home three youngsters from Wisconsin last fall. Went about as far meat-wise as a mature buck, but oh so tender.

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"Worry less, fish more."
Steve Foss
[email protected]

[leechlake]

Two mentalities; One of our guys says the following when you give him grief for shooting a non buck or fawn, "that's why they call it DEER hunting" the rest of us wait for bigger bucks. Nobody is wrong. Different thoughts and goals. No big deal.

[eyecrosser2000]

Guess I'll throw my 2 cents in: I hunt for meat, although I'd love to shoot a big buck if it came along. I usually pass on smaller deer--fawns, does or little bucks if I only have one tag. In that case I need a bigger deer to last the year. (By the way, I don't necessarily subscribe to the idea that a bigger deer cannot taste good.)

This year is a little different in my permit area (107). With the management permits, I can shoot a small deer and make it into mostly chops and steaks that you can cut with a fork. AND, I can still put that bigger deer in the freezer in the form of hamburger, sausage, and jerky/chili meat. Of course, every deer I get has the tenderloins taken out first thing.

Just another perspective on the idea of "harvesting" (oh, oh, I don't want to get that ball rolling again!) or killing deer for a purpose; and I think that is what it is all about. Each person must find the value in their hunt, hold true to their personal code of ethics and treasure every minute they get to be in the woods going after the greatest game animal in the world!

[crappieflop1212]

you must be one of those guys who says "I saw a little 8 pointer."

[FishnChic]

I hunt for meat and I pay for my licence each year so if I end up having to shooting a fawn so I get some meat then I will.But I would rather not until end of season

[GregR]

I promised my wife this year that I wouldn't shoot any fawns. I'm bow hunting about 100 yards behind my house so these are the same deer we see in our yard.

In the past though, fawns, does, small bucks, didn't matter as long as there was meat in the freezer. Like my dad used to tell me, "No matter how you cook them, antlers are tough".

Greg

[Mayfly]

It controls the herd. I shoot Fawns, depending on where I am. I hunt in Zone 245. There are deer everywhere! I know many people that are letting people hunt their land under the condition that the only way they can hunt is if they take one doe/fawn a day.

[Gissert]

Another thing I forgot to mention is I hunt in zone 4A. We have TWO days to get a deer. If there was a longer season, I would probably be a bit more choosy. If the conditions are poor, ie wind/crunchy snow, sometimes you only get on chance to get your backstraps.

Next year I am going to take advantage of the all season liscense and get myself a muzzle loader.

[Mayfly]

One more thought on this subject....

In the area I hunt there are so many deer that they are in fields all day long, visible and comfortable. The field across from our 80 always has at least 8 deer in it feeding at all times. No BullSh@t. It sucks after a morning hunt to walk out to the road and see 10 deer hanging out in plain view after spending 4 hours and seeing nothing! And there are a lot of feeding fields in the area. A lot of the owners of these fields are in the woods or watching the fields for their trophy. Starting tomorrow they will shoot everything that is in that field regardless. So I know that a lot of people in these rural areas that have lots of deer want the numbers down and fawns are part of the numbers.