Your Strategy

[tlott89]

ill shoot a mature doe anytime during the season if they come in and if i have a tag for it

[hoytbowhunter]

I will shoot a doe whenever the freezer needs refilled or my trigger finger get to itchen!!lol But I try my best to fill one doe tag early in the archery season and save one till the last weekend of Rifle season and then if I havent shot a buck I will take a doe but if I have gotten a buck I'll save the last doe tag till muzzleloader season.

[ShaneB]

i shoot does at the end of the season because if you shoot them at the begining of the season that means u have 1 less doe to hold the bucks on your property just my opinion though

[johnf]

First and foremost, meat in the freezer. Preferibly a big doe. We can shoot 2 bucks and 1 doe where I'm at, so if I see a decent buck while bow hunting or ML it would go down too. Then it's waitng for a wall hanger.

So far that's translated into a lot of doe and 1 wall hanger:cool:.

[Guest TylerMatheny]

I usually stick a doe opening morning or evening. My second deer is either a buck or a doe that is taunting me. My third deer is always a big buck.

[M00N]

If I'm hunting the archery-only area at the local military base I'm required to shoot a doe, not antlerless buck, and check it in before I can legally harvest a buck on their property because starting last year they invoked "Earn A Buck" regulations.

If I'm up north hunting at my main hunting location I shoot the first legal buck or doe that presents a shot in archery or rifle season. I try not to shoot the spikes or button-bucks, but sometimes in the heat of the moment during rifle season it's easy to mistake a button-buck or small spike for a doe. The hunting pressure is so high in rifle season it's rare to have a deer stand still for more than a couple seconds. Most of the time they are on a full trot, run, or brisk constant walk.

If the rut is in swing I'm more cautious of shooting does. If the doe is acting like she's being followed by a buck possibly then I will let her walk as far as possible, before getting out of range to take the shot, to make sure a buck isn't following her. If a buck doesn't present itself before she's out of range I usually end up taking the shot on her. If I notice another unidentified deer behind her or a buck she's left to walk and used as bait for that other deer.

I usually get 2-3 doe tags for the area up north I hunt each year. I also get another doe tag for the military base. I am forced at the military base to use that doe tag. The doe tags for up north if I harvest a doe I normally eat the other extra tags. The only excetion is when we have someone in our group that just can't seem to harvest a single deer the whole year and I'm presented with a shot on another doe in the last couple days of rifle season, then I'll harvest the second doe and give that other hunter the meat.

[Shaun_300]

It's the other way around up here, you go in a lottery for getting a doe tag, you automatically get a buck tag. If someone in our gang has a doe tag then if it's brown it's down (other than a fawn of course unless the season is almost over and it's not filled), whoever sees it first kills it. Sometimes we have more than one though and we'll kill bucks in between.

[quackmaster4]

I prefer to fill a doe tag in October during the early muzzleloader season. That way I'm taking one that probably hasn't been bred yet. Why have a buck waste the energy on one only to have it get killed later? That said, I'll still try for one in the late muzzleloader season after Christmas if I still have a tag. I don't have a problem taking a smaller doe or a button buck then because I feel they are less likely than a mature, bred doe to make it till spring.

[davetucker]

i usually or have been taught to take the does in the early season if no fawn is present.It was always my thought that the reason was that after the rut the doe is usually pregnant and i don't think it is right!!Just my thought am i wrong!?

[Bowtech_archer07]

Don't think you're wrong dave, however, there is a fairly large number of does that aren't bred during the rut, and many places have "second rut" in which these does are bred, and sometimes even a 3rd rut. We have a late winter season in mid-Jan. that is doe only and that is well after our first rut. I will shoot a doe anytime of year, unless she has a spotted fawn. Once a fawn loses it's spots, it has usually been wiened and can fend for itself. IMO

[Guest Larry Harshey]

I usually shot doe in gun season to take care of that gunfever.

[Guest nywhitetail9339]

i shoot does when they are there. first day to last day there is to many does in my area. if im tryn to get a buck i will just put some tinks #69. i dont worry if its the rut or not to shoot a doe

[Dogg6]

Like Oneida Man I try to get my doe tags filled up right away. Then go to work on the bucks.

[woodshed]

I feel if you kill does early, it makes for a better rut because of the increased competition on the bucks. It makes them move more thus making more sightings. They are more likely to come to calling as well.

[Randyman]

I take Does whenever the opportunity presents itself. I truly believe in the concept of "to each his own", so i am not judging here, but i am always amazed at the reasons people come up with for not shooting Does.