Taking does with fawns

Shoot a doe with fawns following her?

  • Shoot the doe.

    Votes: 30 26.8%

  • Don't shoot the doe.

    Votes: 67 59.8%

  • Only shoot the doe if it's the last day of the season and my freezer is still empty.

    Votes: 15 13.4%
  • Total voters
    112
  • Poll closed .
What I will note is that with our mild winters or whatever, you will see spotted fawns nearly all year long. Buck will mate whenever possible. Familiar???? Rut is different.
Ken
 
As usual there is no one size fits all that will work for all areas. Here in NC the number of does in heat will peak about the first half of November, if they are not successfully bred they will come in heat again in December. So, you can have fawns in the fall that are a month or more younger than others. If they still have spots in bow season they were part of the second rut. Regardless, their chance of survival is excellent with or without the doe. Hunters don't want to kill the little critters and the winter is not going to get them. And yes, if the next twenty years is anything like the last twenty we are on a collision course with over population. There was about forty in a ten acre bean field about a mile from the house last night. If I decide not to take a doe with a fawn it is for sentimental reasons and I don't try to make any logic out of it.
 
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Even if it is the last day of the hunt and my freezer is empty, I won't shoot a doe with a fawn, or a cow with a calf. Partly due to how I was taught when hunting with my grandpa, and partly, I guess I don't want to shoot the momma when she is still caring for her young.
 
A fawn is not a yearling, but many a yearling will still follow around with the momma. I will not shoot a doe with a fawn, but won't hesitate to shoot one with a yearling hanging around.
 
My question to those that won't shoot the doe:

At what point will you be able to shoot a doe? You see a doe with two yearlings. You don't shoot. Next year when that same bunch comes thru, Last years big doe has 1-2 more yearlings with her. But her two offspring are now with her. Obviously more mature than last year. So you shoot one of the ones from last year. Now eliminating the continued breeding after the big doe dies.

What about if you see a Big doe, two yearlings, and a last years yearling doe? Do you shoot the big doe, obviously the yearlings are hers, or the smaller mature doe? Hampering the deer herd?

I just do not understand the logic.
 
In my area the game wardens give interviews on the local news shows and for the newspaper, asking hunters to please shoot does. And they have a big writeup every year in the fish and game law handbook. I try to follow their advice, killing at least one to two does for every buck I bring home. My lifetime ratio is about 60-70% does.

If there are spotted fawns with a doe in December it means that there are serious imbalances in the herd sex ratio so that does are getting bred very, very late in the season. It also probably means that there is a serious overpopulation problem. This leaves the hunter in a quandary, how do they reduce the deer herd without killing the does? Chances are that winter kill and coyotes will remove the problem away from human sight but I've got to admit that if the herd was so unbalanced that I saw spotted fawns in December I'd probably call in a report to the game warden and ask for advice.

If there are brown fawns they may be does or they may be bucks which haven't reached the point where the doe drove them away. These little bucks are a problem. If one shoots a "little doe", especially in poor light they have a 50-50 chance of it being an antlerless buck. This means that the only way to be sure to maintain sexual balance is to harvest mature does. By mid December if you see lactating does there is a population problem even if the fawns are brown.

What about does who have a single brown fawn? This is a bad sign but not as bad as late season spots. It means that either does are subfertile - a product of poor nutrition and overcrowding - or one of the fawns has died. Seeing one or two does with only one fawn isn't a pattern but if you see a lot of them it may mean overpopulation or herd imbalance.

When I shoot does I tend to shoot the ones with yearlings and not those with this year's brown fawns but I will shoot a yearling if I can definitely see it has no buttons. So far I've never taken home a button buck but then I pass up a lot of shots. I tend to pass up shots if I see a very young brown fawn hanging with the doe, but in my part of the world you usually see antlerless deer in groups of 5 to 10 so it is easier to choose your shots. I've been passing up shots myself this year because I'm seeing mostly single immature bucks and small groups of does, not the big groups of previous years.

So I've gone around the world here and not said much. Maybe you should call your local game warden for advice? They could tell you how healthy is your local herd.
 
Hello!

They are not fawns during hunting season.Yes they have alot to learn,But in public land where I hunt.We don't get them every year.There're still smart little suckers,don't kid yourself. I would fry a yearling deer like any buck,in my frying pan.I love venison, and that is that.Although four does came in my area this year.I waited for the biggest one.But ,yes I DO turn down yearling does when I can.The last day of hunting,if your brown your down.Just kidding Jay!!!
 
I just do not understand the logic.
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There is no logic behind what they're thinking, they would be sad if someone shot their mother, so consequently the yearling would be sad and maybe not survive without mommy, its more emotion based nonsense.

The question is do you need meat or not? Does aren't trophy animals they are strictly for meat as far as I am concerned. You know for that matter, if meat is the object, I might shoot the yearling depending on what size it was, they are some nice tender eating.
 
Simon, Please don't consider this directed at you only...
Everyone who feels does or does with young are off limits I have to ask... WHY?
Do you only shoot buck rabbits? Squirrels (yeah I know you shake the tree and listen for the nuts to rattle)? How about doves? As for the offspring, I think it is only the heart breaking thought since you see the fawn... But I am never sure if the animals I shoot have offspring depending on either parent back at the nest... With many of our game animals the parents both are needed to provide for the young... doves and squirrels are just 2 I can think of. Life is tuff... even tuffer for prey animals. If their side mounted eyes aren't enough to keep them alive, I am not going to lose sleep over it.
Brent
 
I will not shoot a doe that has fawns. Passed up a doe in mid October that was with two fawns that still had spots. The next day I passed up another doe that had a fawn. Hunted 7 more days and got a buck.
 
I think that some of the sentiments I see expressed here adequately explain why the deer are so overabundant that they're being killed off by diseases, cars and starvation. Starvation doesn't care how happy Bambi is when he dies.:(
 
A Herd

The purpose of Hunting Seasons on whitetail deer is to help control the population of these animals. By letting these pass you probably caused more harm than good. Figure at an increase of two deer, per deer,per year and in two or three years you have A whole Herd.
 
I attended a Southeastern Deer Study conference years ago where the wildlife manager of a large Texas ranch presented a study of yearling survival without does. Does and fawns were radio collared then the does were harvested during hunting season. There was no effect on yearling survival when the does were removed. After apologies to the audience he showed a film of the doe harvest. there are times we know we should not want to do something but being strapped in the door of a helicopter with a shotgun and chasing running deer did look like fun.
 
Around here, fish and game can't give away all the doe permits they want used. In a state with a healthy elk herd and many large bucks running around, I think the management tool of harvesting does is way under utilized. I have no facts to prove this, other than seeing hundreds of dead deer on the side of the road all year long :mad:

Alfalfa, corn, grass fed does taste pretty good too :D
 
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