Hunting Forum

Mama only keeps the gals in the fall , button bucks get kicked out . Like I said before maturity comes quick for deer and momma won't put up with that youngster being frisky . So don't worry about that future record buck , they all are on their own well before a year old . Fact

iv shot many does and actually think its wrong to only shoot bucks. not shooting does is bad herd management. i know your not saying you dont shoot does blue. but my point is im sure sometime some where i have shot a doe that had a fawn or 2. and im sure most of them made it threw the winter just fine.

now this is for bwarner. shooting a doe or a fawn either one is taking a doe out of the breading range. in ohio a fawn will be bread unless it was born way later and about half or more have twins. i know when a lot of older does have 2-3 fawns every year there it dont take as many out but it does take 1-3 out of the next years herd.

iv hunted many years and iv seen the dif. in the way the herds in ohio and in wis . are handled. and the 1 buck way and keeping the herd with in a certain size is the best. in ohio it is possible to get 18 deer but only 1 buck. and look at what comes out of ohio every year.

Shoot the does whether they have fawns with them or not . The fawns will survive . It promotes a healthier herd .
Someone typed that he shoots does " only if he needed meat" . To me , that's more unethical than shooting does with fawns !

i agree eddie.

Grow a pair dude! It's called hunting, get over the political correctness BS that this nation is so over come with. Be thankful that you have the doe to shoot.

 

i'll shoot a doe if the fawn has no spots.which, in fla. is about the 1st of oct. still bow season.and down here the winters aren't to bad 50's or 60's for a high,30's for a low.in sept though it's 90 plus,during bow season.do what your heart tells ya, and ya can't go wrong.no matter what enybody else says.good luck.

A buck is going to push the fawns away from their mothers prior to winter anyways during the rut. By the time hunting season comes in they have learned almost everything they have to learn, and by the time winter rolls around the fawns will be established with a group of does. I took a doe this past year that had a fawn with it, the next day i have trail camera pictures of that fawn with two other does (it had a distinctive mark on its backside thats how I know). They are animals, and they will either adapt or die, most the time whitetails are smart enough to adapt.

Joe, in my zone in SC, I can legally kill a deer everyday, including Sunday with any weapon of my choice, from August 15 to Jan. 1.

Alabama is in favor of a substantial doe harvest. You can bowhunt Oct 15th till Jan 31st. Muzzleloader is a week before the start of Firearms season which is usually around the 18th of Nov till Jan 31st. You can take 3 bucks during all combined seasons and 1 has to have at least 4 pts on one side. Everyday from Oct 15th till Jan 31st you can legally take 2 deer per day as long as only one is a buck, ie: 1 buck and 1 doe, or 2 does. They went to the 3 buck limit 3 to 4 years ago to get people to start shooting more does. Before that you could legally take the 2 per day with no season limit on how many bucks per season except only one per day could be a buck. They are now considering extending season to the middle of Feb. and also legalizing baiting. The extension is being considered because some parts of the state the deer don't go into rut till late Jan or early Feb. Most public land is bucks only during gun hunts and either or during bow hunts. Private and leased land has the 2 per day allowance. Some fawns here will be 6 months old before their spots are completely gone, and our biologist has always said if they are eating grass or browse even though they may still nurse that they are capable of making it without the mom. But then again the winters are not a factor in the survival as they are nothing like the north, we vary rarely get snow so finding food is not an issue for them.

What a bunch of wuss's on here. Sound like Lady's Home Journal responces on this topic. Come on grow a pair.

Not only are the fawns capable of fending for themselves by that time, don't forget that deer are herd animals and they will seek out the other does and fawns through the winter months. They will be just fine.

I love slick heads for filling the freezer and have even got one big enough that she lives on my wall permanently. She was my first bow kill and dressed at 208. I hunt my own farm but when it comes to doe w\ fawn I can't shoot them. I have a goal to thin out the herd due to being overrun with doe but I can't fathom killing a mother with visible fawns following. @huntrdave put it the best though. They are herd animals and just like I've seen cows and horse herds do. The mothers will not let a baby fend for itself.

hillmp63. Your post is ignorant and unnecessary. The talk is over whether or not fawns will survive, and whether or not it can be benefical to the herd. Ladys Home Journal? Really? Quality Deer Management is a necessity, and learning the ins and outs of such management make the deer population stronger for future hunters. If you don't care about preserving the herd or bettering yourself as a hunter, why would you read all of these posts and make such a comment?

I passed on a doe with a set of spotted twins last night; not because she had the fawns with her, but to have as buck bait in a few weeks. I also figured that a young doe with a set of twins should be a good breeding doe to keep around. Hell, if I'm hungry enough, I'd probably even kill a little deer, especially if I wasn't trying to manage my herd on my property. I did have my shotgun aimed at a big old doe Saturday while dog hunting, but a slow moving mini-van about 30 yards behind her (I was on a driveway to our skinning shed, the mini-van was on the highway), prevented me from giving that old nanny a dirt nap. When dog hunting, it's not uncommon to kill does with fawns, or even to mess up and kill a fawn, considering that they're usually running at mach 1 speeds, through thick stuff, water, and dodging trees while the hunter is shaking with adrenaline and trying to concentrate on just hitting the brown blur!!!!!!!!

There is an old wives tale of the spot pattern on fawns that in my experience has proven somewhat accurate. In straiught lines front to back they are suually bucks, mixed up and they seem to favor the fairer sex. Or is it the other way around...dang CRS

I seem to recall that straight lines=bucks, and no pattern=does.

YUP, that's what I thought... ;-)