Shooting does, take the adult or the fawn? And how to identify the buck fawn?

[BLACKJACK]

Curious, if you had the choice, will you shoot the adult doe or one of her fawns? Or will you absolutly not shoot a doe with fawns and wait for a barren doe? And some people say that they can identify which fawn might be a buck, how do you do that?

I like venison, so I'll always shoot the big doe. I do admit to a few pangs of guilt though when I shoot a doe and then see some scraggly fawn hanging around the area for a few weeks, which is what happened to me last year. Also, my Deer and Deer Hunting magazine says that older does will raise 80% of their fawns while the younger does are less than 50% successful, so maybe I should pass on the older 'wise matriarch' doe.

Whats your philosophy on shooting does?

[Stratosman]

I've gotten to the point where I won't shoot a fawned-up doe, call me soft or what have you. Several opportunities last year on such does, passed up enough and finally connected with a dry one. A 1-1/2 year old doe with no tikes would be perfect. As far as nubber's go, it might be hard to determine, I will pass up the small ones just in case. To each his own, I have shot does with fawns in the past and once I had to chase the little ones off and felt horrible afterward.

[EXTREME]

I used to be a softy about shooting does with fawns, but have since changed my tune. The fawns this time of year are more than capable of living on their own. I feel sorry for every deer I shoot, but now it doesn't matter whether she is a mother or not. And BTW I don't like to shoot fawns until at least November...they just don't taste as good until they get off momma's milk for a while. Just my opinion.

[Deitz Dittrich]

well strats.. seeing that I didn't get a deer last year... and it wasn't for lack of time in stand( I got out quite a bit) any 8, heck any deer would be better than last year.. LMAO

[Stratosman]

didya' choke or what? maybe shower more often!

[Deitz Dittrich]

I do shower before each hunt... I only had one mature buck within range last year... Not sure the deal... I had numberous chances at does yet only shot one arrow.. and yes... Its very hard to shoot a bow with both hands around your throat!!! CHOOOOKE

I do have a small excuse however... last year 3 days before bow opener I broke my leg playing basketball.. So it was a good 5-6 weeks till I could climb a tree...

[charliepete2]

If I'm trying to thin the herd down I drop the Mama because she can produce more deer. Many times you can also bleat the youngins back in range for another shot if you have multiple tags.

Beyond taking a good look with the binos I don't know of a good way to identify a nubber. One thing I know for sure, a lone young deer around the rut is always a nubber. Mama kicks him out to prevent inbreeding.

[luckey]

A friend took a doe this weekend. She had two fawns with her. I wonder what the prospects are for the fawn. It's awfully early to be on their own. Any thoughts as to fawn survival when mama is shot this early?

[Hotspotter]

Man.....this is always a tough one for me. I've had the same thing happen as did you, had to chase off the fawns that just stood there......not easy. At the same time, I love the meat, and usually have no problem taking a fawn. That said, I think I'll pass again this year when the doe with two fawns comes ambling past at 20 yards.

As for ID'ing the buck fawns, its easy within bow range if you can get a head-on look at them in good light (interpret as not-that-easy). If they look at you head-on, you can usually see a "flat-top" to their head, and sometimes the nubs. Doe fawns will have a rounded top to their heads. However, this usually means they're looking up at me in the tree and I've blown it already!

As for shooting does near the rut, I have a friend that guides for big deer in KS, and he swears by paterning the old matriarch does just before their rut. Hunt her and her daily movements, and like clockwork she'll usually go into rut about the same general time each year. He says more than anything that's the key to his success, and last year 11 of 12 clients took good bucks, with one going a hair over 170!!! He's so nutts about doing this, that he will not let his clients take does during the rut, even if it's the last day, just to fill a tag. He lets them know well before they head out and makes them agree to it.

Joel

[chucker34]

I seem to remember reading somewhere that fawns can make it on their own in most cases after about 4 months. I can't remember where I read this but was doing some research last year because we have lots of does with fawns in the area.

My question would be - which should I take if I get the opportunity to choose. A mature doe or one less than two years old? How old are does before they can breed - and more importantly - attract bucks. And how successful are they in breeding and raising their young. Less so the younger they are?

[bigbucks]

I know I'll always take the biggest doe given the chance, but if there's multiples & the yearling's the only one that offers the shot it's her time. I try not to shoot fawns unless it's after gun season, then anything that's not tiny & comes in range is probably getting shot.

The doe I shot last night had to be very young when she got bread. She was very obviously last year's fawn & had a set of twins herself. They didn't look like late fawns either.

[matthothand]

I will always shoot the mature deer over the younger adolescents. I just figure that young deer need to grow and mature deer have done their part. I don't feel bad killing a doe even if her fawn(s) are with her. I just assume that if it were a major concern that fawns will not survive without their mother that the DNR would not open a season at that time of year and provide tags to kill these mothers. I very well could be incorrect with my assumption, especially in this state, but we happen to have a healthy deer herd in MN (hence the intensive harvest tags). Also, since we have such a healthy population of deer I won't ever bash a guy for killing a doe fawn. It's just my decision to not shoot those deer...might as well get more meat out of the deal. If you do shoot fawns it gets harder to distinguish sex of the animal and with a higher population of does over bucks it would be a smart choice to pass on fawns unless you are able to determine the sex of the deer before you shoot. We need to grow more bucks and get the ratio a bit more equal. I'm all about the QDM and would like to see a similar program set up in MN that resembles the "Earn-A-Buck" in cheeseland. I don't see it happening and there are a lot of people, probably some of you, that would be pretty TO'd if a program like that was set up here but after a few years it would most likely provide better hunting than a lot of people have right now. There's just too many people that want to kill brown animals with four legs rather than manage the herd for health and better hunting for our kids.

[ricqik]

Given the chance that a mother and fawns show up at the same time. I'd shoot the doe fawn first and then the mother doe. I never shoot the button bucks, trying to do my part in balancing the herd. I've seen way too many fawns wondering around like idoits early in the season cuz there's no mother to lead them around hence my reasons for taking the doe fawn first.