Deer seasons here. Post your pics.

[bigborehnd]

Saw 6 doe last night. Only 2 offered a shot, both were too small, mom stayed otta range. Try again Sat. morning.

[Pro2A]

December 1st is the day I'm waiting for I'm not a big bow hunter.

[Dredly]

Originally Posted by Pro2A

December 1st is the day I'm waiting for I'm not a big bow hunter.

see what you are missing out on? We'll have at least a month in the woods before you pick up your rifle and walk out the door... plus you have to deal with the army of orange... good luck with that :P

[Pro2A]

Originally Posted by Dredly

see what you are missing out on? We'll have at least a month in the woods before you pick up your rifle and walk out the door... plus you have to deal with the army of orange... good luck with that :P

My father in law owns 110 acres. I have my own tree stand on his property. No army of orange for me

[Feddog82]

Originally Posted by bigborehnd

Saw 6 doe last night. Only 2 offered a shot, both were too small, mom stayed otta range. Try again Sat. morning.

Not picking on you but I have a little different view of this type situation and I'm only bringing it up to see what everyone else thinks. When I am on a hunt specifically for a doe or a group of doe presents an oppurtunity for me I tend to choose a smaller or yearling doe to harvest. These smaller doe are younger and tastier as one reason why I take them. THe second reason is more fundamental. Most of these very small (late birth) doe will not be mated by the end of this rut due to the fact that they are not sexually mature yet. It is impossible for them to be impregnated. Not all but a good bit of the SMALL does you see with mom are in this category. So if you shoot one of these "small" does you are only essentially removing 1 deer from next years stocks. If you choose to shoot the "mom" in this situation then I believe it can be detremental to the herd. You are removing the doe that you shot leaving 2 small uneducated doe that are sure not to survive afterward and you also are cancelling the 2 other deer that would be birthed from that doe next year. So shooting the "mom" of the group has possibilities of removing 5 deer from next years herd. That is why I shoot the young, cute, tend, tasty doe that wander under my treestand.

[Arch007er]

Originally Posted by Feddog82

Not picking on you but I have a little different view of this type situation and I'm only bringing it up to see what everyone else thinks. When I am on a hunt specifically for a doe or a group of doe presents an oppurtunity for me I tend to choose a smaller or yearling doe to harvest. These smaller doe are younger and tastier as one reason why I take them. THe second reason is more fundamental. Most of these very small (late birth) doe will not be mated by the end of this rut due to the fact that they are not sexually mature yet. It is impossible for them to be impregnated. Not all but a good bit of the SMALL does you see with mom are in this category. So if you shoot one of these "small" does you are only essentially removing 1 deer from next years stocks. If you choose to shoot the "mom" in this situation then I believe it can be detremental to the herd. You are removing the doe that you shot leaving 2 small uneducated doe that are sure not to survive afterward and you also are cancelling the 2 other deer that would be birthed from that doe next year. So shooting the "mom" of the group has possibilities of removing 5 deer from next years herd. That is why I shoot the young, cute, tend, tasty doe that wander under my treestand.

i pretty much agree with you feddog, if i have the choice i will normally shoot the smaller does, and i agree with what you said about killing the 'mom' and how here yearlings chances of making it through the rifle season are quite slim, but now every once in awhile, ill get the want to kill a big ol' wise doe, dont know why, but ill just want a big doe and this normally happens every 2-3 years, but for the most part ill take the yearlings, tastier and mainly easy draggin

[Dredly]

Originally Posted by Feddog82

Not picking on you but I have a little different view of this type situation and I'm only bringing it up to see what everyone else thinks. When I am on a hunt specifically for a doe or a group of doe presents an oppurtunity for me I tend to choose a smaller or yearling doe to harvest. These smaller doe are younger and tastier as one reason why I take them. THe second reason is more fundamental. Most of these very small (late birth) doe will not be mated by the end of this rut due to the fact that they are not sexually mature yet. It is impossible for them to be impregnated. Not all but a good bit of the SMALL does you see with mom are in this category. So if you shoot one of these "small" does you are only essentially removing 1 deer from next years stocks. If you choose to shoot the "mom" in this situation then I believe it can be detremental to the herd. You are removing the doe that you shot leaving 2 small uneducated doe that are sure not to survive afterward and you also are cancelling the 2 other deer that would be birthed from that doe next year. So shooting the "mom" of the group has possibilities of removing 5 deer from next years herd. That is why I shoot the young, cute, tend, tasty doe that wander under my treestand.

Its a mixed issue and depends a lot on the area you are in. If you are trying to control the deer herd it is often a better choice to take the more mature doe as she will be carrying fawns soon, if the deer herd is low it is better to take the younger animal as it will not be breeding and stands a lesser chance of living through the winter.

On the other hand by taking the larger deer you get more meat... which is the reason we are out there. The difference between a yearling and a mature doe can easily be 20 pounds of meat or more...

plus if you shoot a mature doe you don't run the risk of shooting a button buck.

Personally I'd take either shot, the Mature doe would end up in the freezer, the young doe would end up on the spit

But I'm also the bastard that would shoot any legal buck I see (3 on a side) as I know how Tag soup tastes and it doesn't taste good

[Dredly]

Originally Posted by Arch007er

i pretty much agree with you feddog, if i have the choice i will normally shoot the smaller does, and i agree with what you said about killing the 'mom' and how here yearlings chances of making it through the rifle season are quite slim, but now every once in awhile, ill get the want to kill a big ol' wise doe, dont know why, but ill just want a big doe and this normally happens every 2-3 years, but for the most part ill take the yearlings, tastier and mainly easy draggin

Actually this is a really cool topic. I'm going to start a new thread about it instead of hijacking this thread.

[Arch007er]

i have been out every single morning and evening since opening day and i havent shot jack shit or a deer for that matter, i think i need to read a book...im gonna go around later this morning and ask a few of our fine farmers if he will let me harvest a north american whitetail in its natural habitat

[Feddog82]

You should start hunting in the suburbs. There's more deer with less places to hide. Makes it a lot easier when there are 50 deer per square mile. I'll go out in a 10 acre patch of woods and see 2 dozen deer in 3 hours easy.