Do you have a preference on which animal you kill, such as the first legal animal that presents a clear shot? Or do you hold out for a trophy buck, etc? I would rather shoot a fat adult doe before a young buck. We have tons of doe around here. Yes, a buck would be nice but I will not shoot a year and a half old deer. Just me.

I shoot does and mature age class bucks, regardless of what they score!

Growing up in Western Ohio I was blessed to see a few bucks every year that would easily make P&Y and usually at least one or two that would make B&C. So shooting a small buck was a waste of the one and only buck tag that Ohio gives you because you never new when a giant would come cruising by and it happened on more than one occasion.

I shoot small bucks n large n. big doe they are all trophies !

I prefer does over bucks. However if a mature buck passes, I will consider the shot.

Depends on your area I guess. In my area numbers are down, so I shoot no does nor anything that I think is less than two years old.

I would way sooner shoot a moose. A lot more meat on one of them.

DDave

I shoot whatever is legal and presents a good shot. I will shoot a young buck because where I hunt there wont be a lot of shot opportunities for bucks...period. But, I'd rather shoot a big doe than a young buck. They're all trophies to me. LOL

I shoot the first thing that comes along. The little ones are easier to get out of the woods for this old man.

They all are trophies to me. It depends on how the season is going, what I have seen so far and at what point in the season it is.

I have never shot a big whitetail buck: It is on my bucket list: he is out there and he knows who I am talking about! I'll be honest. I would love to pull up at my buddy's house and say look at this.

So, in Montana you can get several tags but we are short on deer now so I wouldn't likely shoot a doe first thing. We have shot too many does here.

As far as elk: I would hold out for a nice bull unless it was close to my truck. It is hard work packing them out and I like antlers.

Antelope? I shoot only bucks.

At this time if a 3.5+yo buck is in range I'm trying to get a shot. Score matters less than it used to. I am not shooting does at this point b/c the numbers are down. When they get back up closer to a normal population I will go back to taking one doe for every buck. On a normal year I try to take my doe first and early and wait for a decent buck. If a 3.5 yo shows up and breaks 120" gross field estimate with a recurve in my hand I'm shooting. With a wheel bow I will pass for a few more inches b/c the range is so greatly increased that waiting will pay off usually.

No mamas for me in the foreseeable future, I'm worried the wolves 'n yotes are gonna starve...lol.

No fight intended, but my area's numbers are way down. That said, any critter taken with a bow is a trophy to me. I haven't taken the Widow off safety for two years...gotta change that...I do like venison.

When numbers were up, I'd take a doe for table fare and buck hunt after that. When I was younger we were a 1 deer either sex for the year...under those rules I held out for bucks til the last minute.

I will shoot a big doe or a buck 3 1/2 years or older. On a buck we look for the biggest on the farms we hunt but sometimes I shoot a buck that's lesser because of the hunt that unfolds infront of me. We have lots of deer and a lot of bucks so passing 5 to 10 smaller to average bucks isn't as hard as it use to be. Now my wife on the other hand is counting points to see if it's legal for her to shoot. Her and my son go round and round on what she can shoot. You ought to be in are little group heading out on a hunt with those two.

I'm a meat hunter, first thing that I come upon that's legal gets shot.

I don't care how long you cook them antlers in a crock pot they never get tender.

:)

any legal deer that presents a good shot I am not a horn hunter I consider any animal with a stick and string a trophy

I guess my priorities are #1, fill the freezer; #2, thin the herd; #3, hope a big one walks by. My strategy has always been “Hunt for does, Hope for trophies, and take what you can get when you’re outta time.”

We have a very liberal limit here so for me its put a couple early season does in the freezer then use the next 3 months to hunt a mature buck.

A Rosie O'Don....oops, just checked the regulations and it appears there is no season for it.

I never, ever, ever shoot a doe.....You are killing hunting's future.AS the dairy farmer once said...I will have no calves in the springf if I kill my cows in the fall!!!! Totally True!!!!

Mature animals

We don't get a lot of opportunities here in Cali. Lucky to see legal buck, can't be too picky.

If it's brown, it's down.

TBB

I'm more of a basic hunter/gatherer in practice and see and seek no prey animal as a trophy. I like to stillhunt and explore with selfbow in hand and take the opportunities as they come... whether it's a squirrel, young buck, chestnuts, old doe, arrowwood, groundhog, mushrooms, or wild onions. I just try to keep it as simple and natural as possible because it feels like a healthy way to approach things.

freezer meat first , if you have an extra tag then maybe a trophy

Venison. Can't eat antlers. I don't get to hunt a lot and don't get a lot of opportunities so I get something in the freezer first. I do have a size range I won't shoot until "crunch time". No spots.

Does and mature bucks. One of the reasons I shoot a recurve is for the challenge. Shooting young bucks is not a challenge for me. I love deer meat and it is by far the most expensive meat I eat!

Depends on limits and tags.

Since I'm the only one in my family that enjoys venison, first mature deer for food, then hunt for a buck just because my season will last longer, or if a neighbor could use a deer, a second mature deer.

we get twelve tags here in Ga 10 does 2 bucks one must be 8 pt or better or 12 does I usually take 2 or 3 does with the longbow and wait on a mature buck I passed up a dozen or so 1.5 to 2.5 year old bucks and saw one mature buck just out of my comfortable range 30 yds or so he was dead with wheels maybe next year.

I have no preference. I hunt to eat them.

"I never, ever, ever shoot a doe.....You are killing hunting's future.AS the dairy farmer once said...I will have no calves in the springf if I kill my cows in the fall!!!! Totally True!!!!"

Desperado,

If that's so true, why does Quality Deer Management suggest killing only mature does?

You are making a blanket statement for all whitetail habitat. And that's just not true in all places. In fact, I would suggest it's true in vary few places.

Bowmania

x2

At 10-15 deer per square mile here in my neck of the woods I take what I can get. Id rather shoot a spike over a doe here for the future of the small herd.

Equal opportunity shooter here, which ever is dumb enough to walk in gets the wood.prefer to shoot does but a buck is good too.

I shoot the first legal deer that gives me an opportunity, only exception is button bucks or really small does early in the season. My preference would be a mature doe or buck, but I think the young ones eat better than the mature ones. I just hate to use a tag on a really small deer. However, the longer I go without getting a deer the less selective I become. I don't see enough trophy class buck in my section of Michigan to even worry about.

Early season that touches into the rut here in PA is saved for a "NICE" buck. After that time, any doe is fine.

Thats my plan. Things don't always go as planned. :)

I hunt for two reasons... to be outdoors with a challenge and goal. And food. For the life of me I just can't understand the antler thing. I have nothing against the way anyone hunts as long as it's legal but I fail to understand.

It all depends on my mood and what shows up.

Well...as I mentioned, our deer numbers are way down. Shooting "antlers" kills one deer. Shooting baldy kills three.

I also do waaaaaaay more hunting than killing and rather enjoy watching deer.

Depends on when you kill the buck. He may go on to impregnate many does, so it's a wash, more than likely.

I deer hunt.

Kill a doe and you kill her fawn(s) for the next year. Kill a buck and another buck will come along and service the does.

I like getting 3 or so deer per season. I'll shoot the first doe I can, maybe another, and then try to hold out for a nice buck. I'll break my rule under some circumstances.

Doe before small buck let them grow. Or a fawn too. I had a pie ball 2 years ago darn thing wanted to get kilt bad and even drew down on him and held back. I made a 6pt rule in my club in NJ. and had to stand by what I ruled on. It hurt but it was the rule. He was a 5 pt and very small would have made a beautiful skin for the coffee table.

No sence shooting small bucks when there good ones around for me anyways. Thats how I look at things now adays shot enough animals over the years. There was a time I would not even hesitate or think about it an arrow would be on its way. Smaller ones for me always tasted better then big stinky or freak and nasty.LOL

I won't begrudge a guy who hasn't shot bucks before though. Besides what do you care what others say shoot what you really want its your tag not ours and really should we even have a say in this matter?

Can't eat the rack and all big ones do is cause trouble.LOL

If a person is complaining about numbers being down, then they should only shoot the buck after the rut. Fact is, if the buck to doe ratio is so disproportionate, it's not a given that all the does will be bred anyway. That said, I rely on the biologists to do their work and not assume I know anything near what they do. 8^)

Ha! By their own actions, I've learned NOT to trust them... at least not blindly. Just because someone is a 'professional' or 'schooled' doesn't mean they are always right, or will/can make decisions how and why they should.

Jeff X 2.....am NOT gonna get started on this one.....but....how can you tell when the "DNR" is lying? When their lips are moving..................

Tracking, the biggest track I run across. Standing, no does with fawns unless it is the last week. By then, the deer have migrated near their yards and they group with other deer. With a deer density of 1 per square mile and heavy winter kill, very few bowkills up here. That being said, I have never shot a doe with my longbow because I groundhunt and follow big tracks. I still leave the option open. Let a big doe walk the last week of the season because I was sure she was being followed by the big boy I was tracking. Got skunked.

by order of preference: fawn (sex irrelevant), yearling doe, yearling buck, mature doe, mature buck.... fawns are the best meat, mature bucks the worst (still good though)

I don’t know what percentage of does won’t get bred in a typical year, even when the buck:doe ratio is much lower than it should be. And I’m sure that if you could ask a 1.5 YO buck, he would state categorically that there is no such thing as an Ugly Doe… So it’s probably not a high number, though pregnancies don’t always take.

But I do know that does will keep cycling and bucks will keep chasing for a second rut, and I’m reasonably sure that I’ve seen them in my area as late as February, which would be a 4th round up here… Young animals are dumb enough to begin with, but when you ramp them up on hormones, they become much easier marks for human hunters, cars, and so on, and when “peak rut” becomes a month or more, rather than just a week or so out of the year, you’re going to have even higher mortality among the 1.5s…

And beyond the hunting/automotive mortality, when the rut drags on and on like that, it just screws everything up. You get a higher proportion of the fawn crop being born so late that they’ve got little or no chance of making it through a harsh (or early) winter, and since birthing season is extended it makes a higher percentage of fawns susceptible to bear/coyote/wolf predation; when births are synchronous, the predators just can’t get to that many of the newborns before they’ve grown big enough and strong enough to escape, but an extended season creates an on-going feast centered around on veal cutlet…

Anyway, I would be very quick to support a repeal of the regs which began to allow baiting about 10-15 years back, but until I see the woods developing an understory, I’m going to have a very difficult time believing that we don’t have a surplus of deer in the areas I hunt…

So, yeah… best case scenario is a mature doe without fawns, taken before the bucks start running her around too much. I’ve shot a number of bucks in the 1.5-2.5 bracket right around Thanksgiving which had nary a scrap of fat on them; they’re usually pretty meaty, but not surprisingly, they are not the finest eating. Seems silly to be a “Meat Hunter” and then opt for a distant third choice…

On the other hand, a 1.5 YO buck really IS (IMO) the easiest mark in the woods….

A rutting "1st set of antlers" buck is dumb as a post...just a walking target.

Conversely, the matriarch doe, having raised several fawns is truly the brains of the outfit. IMO the toughest to tag...yeah, the big boys are also tough but they are few compared to the old mamas.

Back to the topic...here in Wisconsin in the height of the CWD scare a few years back our DNR and many hunters simply lost their minds.

"We" had the CWD extermination zone established not too far south of me...pretty much self explanatory...kill 'em all! Yeah...right. in my hood we became labeled as a "control zone". Basically if it's brown it's down...unlimited antlerless tags. Along came "earn a buck" whereby you HAD to kill a baldy to "earn" a buck tag...'nother doe, 'nother tag.

Now, that inaugural season had some afraid to eat venison...DNR wanted huge kill, thusly they put out dumpsters for (firearm season) "hunters" to kill and dump. Unreal...wouldn't believe it had I not seen it...heaping piles of dead deer...which led me to put the rifle away.

Next archery season the same rules were in place, as they were for way too long. I would've hung it up were it not for my son's early hunting years. How tough do you think it is for a youngster to have to let a buck walk due to no buck tag? Or, for that matter, anyone watching the buck of a lifetime pass by for the same reason?

That said, with our local numbers dwindling, I told the lad if a doe comes in with a doe and buck twin fawns...shoot the doe fawn. Told him to let the nubby go and grow, and killing the doe is killing 3 deer. We hunted that way for a couple years...then I hung it up for for a few. After the regs were eased and with urging from my son, I got back in two years ago. In that time I have yet to draw my bow....and have seen a total of 6 deer, 1 doe, 1 spike, and 1 5point I could have shot were I so inclined.

On the upside, we do have more mature bucks...my son has gone P&Y twice in 4 years. The guys I know with large acreages practicing QDM on their own are doing well...good on em.

Rick, sounds like your deer density is a lot like ours in Northern N H. Lost our herd in the snows of 68-70. Started to rebound and people discovered baiting. They instituted a one month baiting season instead of 3 months. Hopefully that helps.

I don't understand how anyone can be against killing does w/ bow & arrow. Archery success % is so low, that there is no way it can have a negative impact on areas that have a deer herd large enough to allow hunting them.

I only shoot fawns off the ground wearing wool a fedora and while smoking a pipe after peeing in a scrape.

overbo, if we allow... we become a product of our environment. In 'today's environment' the result is acute mutation.

We are adequately distanced from any semblence of natural selection or natural predation, and as a result, we (hunter and hunted) suffer... to our defining cores.

Just hunt.

I never said I was an anti doe shooter....but I AM against killing all of them. You gotta understand, those rules I described were for bow and firearm season...and we have over 500,000 licenses sold every year.

Proper buck to doe rations...yeah, I understand. Over browsing....yep, that too. But...we had guys killing 20, 30 deer a year....those guys AIN'T hunters...those are guys that like to pull the trigger.

I could go on and on, but I'll spare y'all.

I kill the first five I can for the freezer. I have to hold out after buck number 1 because at least one buck in Ga. has to have 4 on one side. I hunt mostly all public land and don`t cry about it. If I don`t see deer its because I lacked in my scouting. I do average 6 deer a year the last ten years. RC

I've been fortunate to have had a long, satisfying journey Bowhunting a wide variety of biggame (2015 will start my 59th year bowhunting). I don't discriminate when I'm on an out of state bowhunt BUT do allow most young animals a pass. Whitetail, I've taken a wide variety of Bucks & lots of does so I did set a personal goal a few years ago on my next Buck. Been awhile & lots of tag soup but I've had some great seasons fooling many animals on their home turf & never knew I was around. I no longer shoot Whitetail does.

I generally won't shoot a deer under two and a half years old. Eventually that dry 5-6 year old doe will present a shot or that nice 3 1/2 or better buck will chase a doe past.

If you have already registered, please

sign in now

For new registrations

Click Here