Would you have shot it?

W

Win73

New member
Today was my third day of bow hunting (crossbow) for deer. The first two days I saw nine deer each day. None anywhere close enough for a shot. Today I saw seven, four bucks, two does, and a fawn. A seven point buck nearly got close enough for a shot, about 60 yards. If he would have come 20 yards closer, I would have tried for him.

My question has to do with a doe and her fawn. They also nearly got close enough, again about 60 yards. Even though the fawn would have been legal, I would not have shot it. Here in Alabama about the only thing not legal to shoot is a spotted fawn. This fawn was well past the spotted stage. But it was just too small to fool with.

My question is, would you have shot the doe? I have heard that a fawn can survive on its own once it has lost its spots.

The doe didn't get close enough for me to shoot it, so I still don't know if I would have shot it. I definitely would not have shot it if there was still a chance for a shot at the buck.
 
Don't know the set up you are hunting but it sure seems that with as many deer as you are seeing that you could afford to be picky......at least to the point of avoiding a doe with a SMALL yearling.

Still, truth is the yearling will probably survive without her so if that is the worry don't let it bother you.

Are you sitting on a feeder or a field such that you can not adjust your location? Got a climber?
 
Over the last 20 years, we've killed a lot of milk does. In all that time, I've never noticed any fawns ending up starved to death during the winter. Last fall, something happened to a local doe with two fawns barely past the spots. The fawns stayed close to my house and were in the yard many times. We put out some feed occasionally(have a corn burning furnace and I often "spilled" some corn right outside the backdoor). Both survived though they were very thin since we had a tougher than normal winter. Best I can tell the little doe fawn did not breed even though we had some rut activity in February and the buck fawn has a tiny set of misshapen antlers this fall but they did survive.
 
Milk isn't the only resource provied by the mother. While fawns may be able to survive without their mother, their chances of survival are reduced.

So then it may be a question of balance between your needs and game mgmt needs. If you need the meat, take the doe. If you need to thin the population, take the doe and maybe the fawn is taken by nature as a bonus. Otherwise, I would skip the doe if you don't need the meat or if you are trying to build the popopulation.
 
By this time of year the fawns are with the mother by habit, not necessity.
As soon as the rut starts, what?, 2 weeks from now?, she will run off any buck fawn anyway.
The only thing they still might benefit learning from momma is survival skills... but if momma is standing there in your crosshairs, she ain't helping them much in that department either! ;)
 
No, I wouldn't have shot the doe with a fawn at her side. That's purely personal, though.

I'm not a horn hunter, and I shoot at least one doe per year as a meat animal. I simply want to give the fawn crop the best chance of survival, so I would have passed on that shot.
 
I'm no bow hunter, so forgive me if I'm off base here: From what I've been reading here for quite a few years, 60 yards seems to be a bit of an extreme distance. Most folks seem to use 35 or 40 yards as a range limit.

I think if I'm seeing a fair number of deer in the same area, but at what seems to be a bit out of range, I'd move my stand.

I'd figure the fawn would probably survive, but I'd agree that its chances may well be reduced. However, as long as it stays with mama's group, it oughta do pretty much okay. Generally, I've avoided shots at does with fawns.
 
Art Eatman said:
I'm no bow hunter, so forgive me if I'm off base here: From what I've been reading here for quite a few years, 60 yards seems to be a bit of an extreme distance. Most folks seem to use 35 or 40 yards as a range limit.
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NEARLY close enough, he said. ;) "If he had come 20 yards closer"...


Also, this is a crossbow. Under the right circumstances, 50, even 60 yards is not soooo bad. It's out there, but certainly doable with practice. 40 is relatively easy. The trick is not so much accuracy of the weapon or even the shooter but the time it takes the arrow to get there. You definitely need a circumstance with a reasonable chance of the target remaining stationary.
 
Don't know the set up you are hunting but it sure seems that with as many deer as you are seeing that you could afford to be picky......at least to the point of avoiding a doe with a SMALL yearling.
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Yes, where I hunt I can afford to be picky, especially this early in the season. I have through the end of January with a limit of two a day. The gun season opens in mid November and runs through January.

There is a soybean field adjacent to the land I hunt. Two weeks ago Saturday when I went to change the memory sticks in my game cameras, I watched 13 deer feeding in the soybean field. There were 10 bucks and 3 does. The bucks ranged from a spike to at least one 8 point. I was standing next to the fence out in the open watching them through my binoculars. One of the does got within 40 yards of me and jumped the fence onto the land I hunt.

On my game cameras I have gotten pictures of as many as 12 does in one picture. And that was before fawns were born. I got a lot of pictures of pregant does. We seem to have gotten a good fawn crop this year.

So if the doe and her fawn had gotten within my 40 yard range, I probably would not have shot it. However, if the 7 point buck had gotten closer, I might have tried to stretch the 40 yards just a bit!
 
Fawns have spots; Yearlings do not.

Personally I would not have taken the shot and perhaps not for the reasons you might have. I have hunted Alabama and yes, one can afford to be picky. Back then, the estinmated number of deer per square mile, was 25.
If you are a meat hunter there really is no good reason not to shoot. I reread your original post and up north, once they loose their spots, they are yearlings and they do have a good survival rate. .... :)


Be Safe !!!
 
By this time of year the fawns are with the mother by habit, not necessity.
As soon as the rut starts, what?, 2 weeks from now?, she will run off any buck fawn anyway.
The only thing they still might benefit learning from momma is survival skills... but if momma is standing there in your crosshairs, she ain't helping them much in that department either!
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^^^This. The doe fawns will be chased by ma when she is in estrus also. Later on during the second rut doe fawns are often separated from their mom by bucks with the hopes of breeding them. Deer are communal animals anyway so orphaned fawns quickly are assimilated into the local herd and learn where food is and survival skills accordingly. I always :rolleyes: when I hear guys telling others they only shoot "dry" does. In the real world the only dry does are last years fawns and does that lost their fawns early after birth. In the wild, does don't live long enough to be to old to bear. Many of these so called "dry" does are alone because they are shot during the rut and have chased off this years fawns because she is in estrus. Shooting a doe with fawns is a lot different than shooting a sow bear with cubs. If I'm after meat and a doe with fawns presents a good shot.......she generally ends up in the freezer and the fawns live to see another day.
 
The fawn would have lived and been just fine.


Out west 60 yard shots are not exactly common, but they are not rare either. Depending on the unit you hunt that may be all the closer you get.
 
sure

I bowhunt AL hard all season long. With a compound. That fawn will do fine and I would not hold off on a good shot if wanted the doe. I will not shoot a doe that has a spotted fawn still tailing about however.

I happen to work an area where deer v. auto MVA's are pretty common. Often, doe/fawns will set up a feeding pattern and you get used to seeing certain bunches of deer feeding or crossing the road and can ID said groups by their patterns and location.
It is not uncommon to see a doe killed by auto, and the fawns carry on with the same feed/travel habits that they learned from momma through the rest of the year. This proviced the fawns are far enough along. The biggest killer of fawns we have is cars and coyotes, not starvation.
 
This late in the year, all does are fair game.

If the fawn is small, and not doing well or still suckling... it won't make it through the winter. If you can legally take both, shoot the doe first. Take the fawn while it's standing there, confused. Otherwise, take the doe, and let nature take its course (coyotes now, is better than starvation during the winter).
 
In the past, I've mistakenly shot a button buck but vowed to never do it again, and actually felt shame and remorse for doing it. I'd rather let them walk and live to grow up some. I would never shoot a doe that has little one's with her unless there were other older does in the group. And I typically will not shoot any more does after the end of the rut.
 
If the fawn is small, and not doing well or still suckling... it won't make it through the winter.
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Why not? Alabama (location of OP) isn't known for its harsh winters. Late season fawns can do just fine down here in the south.
 
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