Whitetail Doe hunting?

Question

In my 30 years of hunting I have heard good Arguments both for and against Doe Hunting. We need to lower doe populations, your killing three deer in that does are pregnant in November, Doe attract bucks in to be shot. Does taste better. What are your thoughts?

Answer 1

For a healthy deer population, the heard needs to be kept at a certain buck to doe ratio.  I don't kow what this is but I have heard state game biologists tell about how necessary it is to keep the proper ratio in order to keep a health deer population.  I have seen what happens when the ratio is not kept.  Llano, Texas wanted to have a lot of deer so they would not allow does to be shot.  This was several years ago and today, they do have a lot of deer but they are very small.  Now they have gone to allowing does to be shot with the hopes of better management of the herd.  I don't know how long it will take to start getting larger deer but they have been allowing does to be harvested for over 30 years and the deer are still not very big yet.  This is not lush green pasture land so food is not as readily available as it might be in some places.

Herd management is important in getting and keeping a good healthy and diseas resistant deer herd.  An important part of deer management is keeping a good buck to doe ratio. Another important tool in maintaning this good deer population in maintaining the population level to a point that the available food is adequate to keep them well fed and developing properly.  The best available tool to do all of this is a well managed hunting program.  Places where a certain number of does are harvested each year, antler point limits are set and mature deer with small antler development are regularly harvested from the heard to remove that gene pool, the deer are big, healthy, well developed and have really nice racks.

Answer 2

it depends on if your hunting for meat or sport i usually kill a doe or two every year just for the meat and then i hunt for grandaddy but you never know if that big one is behind her its a chance you gotta take  

Answer 3

A lot of people only want to kill a big buck, and won't mess with does because they are willing to wait for it to show up.

I have had a hunting lease on the same property for the past 4 years. Every year I shoot as many does as I can (usually take 3 or 4 myself, friends get a few a piece themselves). Here in Alabama it is legal to take 2 does a day, or a doe and a buck, but the new law is 3 bucks a year. We all agreed to only take bucks with 6 or more points with reasonable size. We still have a ton of does running around that property, and lately I have noticed a lot more bucks. We are starting to see bucks with bigger racks than when we first got the lease also. I don't know if the two are directly related, but I'm happy with the results.

Answer 4

A community of hunters can be found online that have your answers in the source link, as it is geared toward this subject specifically.

Hunting ethics is a term which defines the true standards, conduct and moral judgment of a sportsman. Some say that people's hunting ethics are also a mirror image of the rest of their personal lives.

One of the most ethically irresponsible things a hunter can do is not follow up his shot. Always do everything possible to retrieve a wounded animal, including spending the entire day looking for it.

Today, hunters are waging a battle against anti-hunters. We're also waging a more discouraging battle against adverse publicity from those few unethical sportsmen who's actions give the majority of ethical, law abiding hunters a black eye.

Ultimately, public opinion will decide whether hunting as we know it will continue. It is our duty to do everything possible to win this war.

Answer 5

i dont know if this will answer your question completely, but here is a great link,that may have an effect your opinions in the matter. the article is in fact, prevalent to hunting in Maine, and not canada.

Answer 6

If it's brown it's down lol. No just kidding.  Taking does help control the buck to doe ratio I kill at least 2 does and 2 mature bucks a year don't shoot the little ones they haven't reached full potential.

Answer 7

Back about 40 years ago, I was sitting in camp at the local club (about 20,000 acres) with a dozen or so other guys when the biologist insisted we needed to kill 300 in the next couple of weeks. It was indeed needed, but I'd rather not go through that experience again. Since then, that club has had a solid management program, and it tells. In those days, the buck-to-doe ratio was around 1:7 and the bucks were typically 120-class. Now it's close to 1:1, and you simply don't shoot anything under 150.

Plus, as you pointed out, they eat better.

I generally like to pick out the buck I'm going to hunt about this time of year, and make it a one-on-one thing during the fall. I don't feel a need to kill more than one or at most two bucks, so I'm fine with doing my part on the doe kill the rest of the time, along with hogs and whatnot.

Answer 8

Indiana we can only shoot One (or Two) Antlered Deer a year.  The second buck can only be taken in an Urban Deer zone.  If you don't hunt is one of them, no second buck.  Take a buck with a bow you can only take a doe during firearms and/or muzzle loading season.  Now with county by County bonus antler less you can theoretically take over 200 deer a year.  Time and travel and cost, if you don't have a discontinued lifetime license, make this imposable.

I don't mind taking does.  All part of wildlife management.