Honestly who shoots fawns?

[hanson]

I don't think you guys should be shooting 8 or 10 pointers either because they will more than likely be bigger bucks next year.

[eyepatrol]

Personally, I'd rather shoot a nice doe or a nice buck, but if I'm running out of time for my hunting trip I'll shoot a fawn. With slug hunting, I'm basically looking for some venison....some chops, steaks, jerky, sausage, stew meat. A nice deer will provide meat for a while longer than a fawn, but as long as I get some meat, I'll be happy....even if it's splitting with someone else if I don't get a deer.

This winter on into next year I will be getting into bow hunting, but for the sole purpose of trying to get a wall-mounter. The first year I may shoot a doe or fawn if I haven't gotten the "big one"....not only for the meat, but to test what I have learned and praticed.

[almostthere!]

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it don't matter which zone you hunt. i've been hunting intensive management area for 4 yrs now. I still wont shoot a fawn. No sense in shooting a deer that could be a wall mounter. now I can understand if your just starting out and want to get a deer but it don't make sense if your trying to manage a trophy deer population and you take fawns. what is the point? People hit deer with cars. That don't mean you should go out and shoot all the fawns because I'm sure when you hit a deer with your car your not hitting some fawn your hitting an adult deer.

Getting back to the nubs. what kind of binoculars you guys using to view the nubs before you shot it. I bet your shooting it then Oh I Saw Those from 200 yds away. I saw a buck on Saturday night 5 pointer let him go pass because he wasn't big enough. Now if you shoot everything that walks in front of you...Does..Fawns...Bucks...don't be complaining when you never see something big. I don't see anything bigger after hunting muzzleloading I might take that buck but by that time the buck is taken it will be past the rut and he would have already passed on his genes but I just can't justify why people take fawns. It aint need to be taken.

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Exactly. Most people shoot everything then wonder why there are no trophy deer or bigger bucks. They get shot when they are 6 months old. I walked up to within 50 feet of a fawn last week. It knew I was there. It could have EASILY shot it, but what sport is there in that?

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If you are hunting for that wall mount, you might as well just go out during February or March and search for the sheds. There is no sence killing a wall mounter because next season, that wall mounter will sport a bigger rack.

Huge antlered bucks are so $tupid during the rifle season that it's like shooting deer in a barrel. Once they pick up a doe estrus sent, you couldn't disturb them no matter how hard you yell or jump up and down: what sport is that? Man, they are so $tupid, I'd rather shoot a doe or a fawn.

For three years, my group shot every deer we saw. They sported some of the worst antlers we ever did seen. The poor antlers were due to over crowding. This year, our group took two of the best looking 9 pointers I've have ever seen. We have also culled more fawns, does, and forkies as well. Each and every deer we took are just as much a trophy as each of the two monster 9 pointers.

When a deer shot is no longer viewed as a trophy because it does not have "big" antlers, it is time to hang up the weapon and become a tree hugger, period.

The biggest thing about ethical hunters is that they never push their own beliefs upon other hunters. (I hope you get the meaning)

I do not hunt for sport. I hunt to enjoy the time out in the woods. When I want hunt for sport, I will join that new organization which darts game animal to get scores. Now that is sport.

[deerhuntr8]

Why would you call just any deer a trophy? A fawn is a trophy? Would you fill your pants if you seen a 12 pointer then?

[Gissert]

Any deer is a trophy in my book. Buck - fawn - doe, it does not matter. I honestly feel that way.

In fact some of my encounters with does and fawns have been incredibly thrilling.

I got to play cat and mouse with a doe and fawn last weekend. She kept in the cover in front of me as I moved through the woods, never panicing. She knew exactly what she was doing, and after 400-500 yards of this, she button hooked behind a ridge, got my wind and said good by. She pretty much went right down her back trail. I thought I was gonna push her right to my brother, and she played me like a fiddle. She was 100 yards from getting to my brother, and he never knew how close he had come to getting a crack at them.

Had we been able to get one of them, that would have been one of the most satisfying stalks I had ever taken part in. That, is why I feel that any deer is a trophy.

I shot a decent buck opening day. He walked out at 30 yards and I shot him. I was thrilled, of course. I had about 5 seconds from spotting him to pulling the trigger.

This doe and fawn encounter had me jacked up for nearly 45 minutes.

[deerhuntr8]

So you would put a fawns head mount on your wall? It's a trophy, right?

[Mark Christianson]

This is going nowhere.

Its legal to take fawns, just like its legal to keep bass.

People dont want fawns shot, and people dont want bass eaten. Well, bass shouldnt be eaten, but thats another topic..LOL

We can go on and on and on.

Its legal. Its ethical. Its needed in many areas. Its good for the deer population as a whole.

[Flatlander]

mmmmmmm....largemouth bass. For my money the best eating fish swimming. Only thing better is a roasted Merganser.

[BLACKJACK]

BLB, do you want my 'to die for' bass recipe???

[Mark Christianson]

Don't go down that road!!!!!!!!!!

[almostthere!]

If all you want to do is putting heads on walls, go on a can hunt like the Gentry guy. Them farms have the best antlered deer in the world; I mean the easiest huge antlered deer in the world where you can pick which buck to shoot from 4 to 5 bucks milling around under your tree stand.

Different hunters hunt for different reasons. Putting heads on walls is not one of mine, but putting tender steaks on the table is one of mine. To quote a fellow FM'er, "no matter how long I cook them antlers, they still don't taste good."

Your definition of a trophy is, "a huge antlered buck among a sea of huge antlered bucks." That is not a "trophy" but just an average buck.

If you want something to brag about, you should change your definition of a trophy to, "a huge antlered buck taken from a place where very few bucks reside." Now that is a "head on the wall" trophy I can appreciate.

[Bubbadust]

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Now if you shoot everything that walks in front of you...Does..Fawns...Bucks...don't be complaining when you never see something big.

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Exactly. Most people shoot everything then wonder why there are no trophy deer or bigger bucks

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You won't hear me complaining or wondering. I just like to eat venison, antlers are too crunchy!

[Bubbadust]

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BLB, do you want my 'to die for' bass recipe???

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Mine involves grilling them on aluminum foil with butter, lemon seasoning, and parsley flakes. Absolutely delicious!!!

[Gissert]

Only trophies go on the wall? I don't get it.

Come to think of it, I may try a nice European mount of the skull on some book ends. Thanks for the idea.

A trophy is in the mind and heart of the person who takes the animal, not someone else's opinion of it.

I agree, this is going nowhere.

[CommonSense Guy]

A deer is a deer is a deer.

[shae1986]

SO what a buck is not a trophy. Thats bull all over the place. SO next time you shoot a nice buck you cant call it a trophy animal. BUt i can, becuase a buck is a trophy. A doe is a trophy, a fawn is an innocent animal that doesnt move if you shoot and miss it. A fawn is a deer that you can walk up too in the woods within a few feet and shoot it while it is still lying down. To me this is not a sport. I shoot my bucks by stand placement and i do my homework, might be also why i have no problem seeing deer.

Will this topic ever go anywhere, no. Will this topic go away, no. Is there arguments for both sides, yes. Do i hate people that shoot fawns, no.

Maybe the reason i dont shoot fawns is becuase i dont have too. I can shoot a doe pretty much when i want so i can wait around for a buck to show. This is probably why i choose not to shoot, and usually wait until the fawns are booted off the doe before i start even shooting does. I got my deer in the freezer. Might not be the tastiest thing in the world but the rack will sure look good on the wall.

[charliepete2]

Shae....you actually ambush deer out of stands? I'm a real sportsmen, I stalk my deer from the ground. I just don't feel right shooting an oblivious buck from the air. You don't even have to have any real hunting skills, your scents hidden, your movements are hidden, it's just shooting fish in a barrel.

Sound a bit familiar to you? It should. I'm not trying to give offense, just jerking your chain a bit to show you what it might feel like on the other side of your posts. Confidence is doing what feels right to you and not giving a rip about what others do. If you like buck hunting, go ahead, but don't belittle other folks.

If you take the best hunter in the state and stick him on public land with 50 other guys who just nailed up stands the night before opener he probably won't do as well as some 12 year old who never hunted before on a prime piece of private land that hasn't been hunted in years. I've had both experiences...my own private land, and before that I slugged it out with the orange army on croweded public land. There are pieces of public land where taking any deer, even a fawn, takes a lot of woodsmanship and luck. There are pieces of private land where you could kill a 10 ptr with a spear. Painting with a broad brush just isn't accurate.

When I hear stories about people telling other folks "Why would you shoot something like that (in reference to does and fawns)?", it sure makes me glad that I have enough self confidence that I can enjoy my own hunting experiences without trying to make other guys feel like dump.

[shae1986]

And i stated that in my post also where i dont shoot fawns becuase i dont have too. I have done the public land and the private land and have hunted 4 different areas in the last 4 years. Ive hunted by Ulen, by DL, by Ogema and this year by Mahnomen. I've hunted public land by White Earth Lake and by Twin Valley. All this and im only 20. Now is there a lot of deer up here, yes, but still i hear of people passing on does early in the first morning and shooting fawns on the last day. That i dont understand. If all you see the whole time out hunting wiht a decent shot is a fawn, you have to shoot. There is nothing wrong with wanting to fill the freezer on the last day. ITs the passing of does on the first day and the second and waiting till that last day to fill your tag that blows my mind and every year i hear that story it blows it more and more.

I will say this, if it is your goal to go out and shoot only fawns then i still have way more respect for you than the poeple with the "its brown its down" theory. If you go out and shoot 5 fawns and its the first 5 you see then great job. But if you pass on 2 does in the morning on the last day but decide to fill your last 2 doe tags with 10 minutes of shooting left and take down two fawns, that i dont understand.

Hope everyone had a fantastic year of shooting the elusive white-tailed deer. Good luck to all ML and remaining bow hunters on your quest for your fawns.

[Deitz Dittrich]

Ok.. this debate has gone on long enough.