Doe hunting!

[Dewey]

I like all the responses ! Keep em coming who refuses to shoot a doe early season? If im hunting a buck i wont but usually i whack a doe first two weeks.... i cant help it i need venison i see them big rounds walking and my mouth starts watering... i cut up all of my own deer and can make short work of them that coupled with our lease area having crop damage permits dad and i can fill the freezer

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I am always set up to target a buck so I won't waste a sit by killing a doe especially since there are not nearly as many around anymore. My thought is many times those last few minutes are key so if I kill a doe with 5 minutes left thinking nothing else is coming anyway I just wasted a hunt in my eyes.

If you like killing does for meat and there are plenty around more power to you. Kill em' and eat em'.

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[mainebowhunter]

It can be a struggle here. Lots of time I am torn. Outside the urban zone, much like Lockdown, we can only shoot 1 deer. So it has to be urban to shoot does. One of my best urban spots lost a BUNCH of deer winter of 2014. They got a CRAZY amount of snow and it really killed off a big portion of their deer herd. Really, not a spot to be killing them anymore.

The local urban zone, just does not have the doe numbers in parts of it, to be killing does either. 17 years of it, most urban zones have been wiped out. There are still pockets of deer and if my cams show a healthy herd, I may take a doe or 2. We as hunters are stewards of the land. Balancing act for sure.

[Mibowfreak]

I kill 2-3 does a year. Usually kill them early in the season, just off a real nice food source. The last couple years, my daughter has been going hunting with me a few times a year. When she goes, and big doe is in trouble. She loves to see the shot, be part of the track job, process it, package it, cook it, and enjoy the hard earned meal.

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[JoeRE]

To date if I need the meat I prefer to shoot does late season with my muzzle loader. Put a bullet behind the ear of a big fat granny doe at close range, don't loose any meat and its nice and cold weather so I can hang it and cool the carcass down fast. I have never liked killing deer in warm weather really, prefer to be able to take my time processing with good cold weather.

I just realized it has been 8 years since I shot a doe with my bow. I intend to try and kill one or two with my recurve this fall though so hopefully we have some nice cold weather. I will probably just pick some heavy trails near a food source - acorns or alfalfa probably - and set up. Even when looking for a doe I would prefer not to set up right on field edges, deer are so much jumpier in open fields that's why you see so much string jumping on hunting shows IMO. It will serve me right if I can't, being out of practice and all

[flinginairos]

I always try for a big doe early season to put some meat in the freezer and get my confidence up for the rest of the season. I have areas that I only hunt for does where I can get in easy and they are predictable. We have a 3 acre field on my dads property where they come out every night and it's only a 100 yard walk from the house. Great place to get a big doe the first two weeks of season!

[dan]

I figure I only have so many days, and only so much time before the season ends to meet my buck goals that my concentration stays on bucks... But, when a hunt is about over and I don't plan on coming back, I will shoot a few does while buck hunting.

[bbvideo=425,350]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDTA1WY47hU[/bbvideo]

[bbvideo=425,350]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZB3_M7i07g4[/bbvideo]

[DaveT1963]

To date if I need the meat I prefer to shoot does late season with my muzzle loader. Put a bullet behind the ear of a big fat granny doe at close range, don't loose any meat and its nice and cold weather so I can hang it and cool the carcass down fast. I have never liked killing deer in warm weather really, prefer to be able to take my time processing with good cold weather.

I just realized it has been 8 years since I shot a doe with my bow. [glow=red]I intend to try and kill one or two with my recurve this fall[/glow] though so hopefully we have some nice cold weather. I will probably just pick some heavy trails near a food source - acorns or alfalfa probably - and set up. Even when looking for a doe I would prefer not to set up right on field edges, deer are so much jumpier in open fields that's why you see so much string jumping on hunting shows IMO. It will serve me right if I can't, being out of practice and all

Joe have you made the plunge? I knew you were shooting a recurve but didn't know you were hunting with it this year. Looking forward to watching your season unfold this year.

[Rich M]

I like to think I'm a buck hunter but I usually shoot a lot more does. It depends where I am and what time of year I'm hunting.

Say I'm on a public land hunt and can shoot a buck or a doe and I don't have a buck locked down...first one through is likely to be the deer I shoot. Public land down here is touchy and lotsa guys. Often only see a deer in a given area once for the 3 or 4 day permit hunt.

Say I'm hunting private land and know that there will be deer through the end of the season, then I watch and wait. Sometimes I go late in the season just for a doe or two... My wife said she'd shoot a couple does for me this year, so I can focus on a big one - should be interesting.

[Bigb]

I haven't shot a doe in the last few years but when I do, I try to target dry or does that are alone. I guess I'm a softy when it comes down to it. One time I had a fawn watch me from 25 yards as I dragged her mom away. Since then, I try only go after does that are running solo or with other mature does.

[redfeather]

I always try and shoot a doe the first week or so. Even after bowhunting for over 20 years and killing my share of animals i still like to do this to calm my nerves and give me confidence all my equipment is ready to rock.

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[briar]

I eat at least 4 lbs of deer meat a week. I only get one buck tag so I am for sure attempting to kill a doe or 2. I was able to harvest 3 adult deer last year and that with leftovers from year before fed me from mid august until probably mid June.

I am too am trying a recurve for the first time this year. I think any deer I get chance at will be very exciting and add a new challenge to archery hunting this year.

[moog5050]

I eat at least 4 lbs of deer meat a week. I only get one buck tag so I am for sure attempting to kill a doe or 2. I was able to harvest 3 adult deer last year and that with leftovers from year before fed me from mid august until probably mid June.

I am too am trying a recurve for the first time this year. I think any deer I get chance at will be very exciting and add a new challenge to archery hunting this year.

The move to trad made hunting doe more exciting for me. Stalked a doe last year and made a perfect shot at 27yds with my early 70s bear KM. It was as exciting as any buck I have killed. I kill 3-4 doe a year and we still run out of venison before the next season. I did shoot my buck with a compound last year though. This year, I may commit 100% to the recurve. The process/method gets my blood pumping as much as the results. Good luck to you.

[briar]

Thanks Moog!! I am really loving it and seeing as the last 4 deer I have shot have totaled 50 yards I am excited to see if I can make it happen!!

[Rich M]

I eat at least 4 lbs of deer meat a week. I only get one buck tag so I am for sure attempting to kill a doe or 2. I was able to harvest 3 adult deer last year and that with leftovers from year before fed me from mid august until probably mid June.

I am too am trying a recurve for the first time this year. I think any deer I get chance at will be very exciting and add a new challenge to archery hunting this year.

When I can, I try to put 100# of meat in the freezer annually. I also give some away. Turns into about 4 deer for the southern GA critters I shoot.

[Razorhead]

I finally got a chance to hunt with my son this past season. He is a sophomore in college and time has been very limited for him this past year. We got a chance to hunt a Saturday at our cabin in PA and we both connected on mature does in the afternoon. It was the first that we both filled a tag in the same day, the first we ever brought two deer down off of the steep sidehill on public ground above our cabin and the first I ever worked a deer down through the rocks on that steep side in complete darkness. It was a real long day spent on the mountain but one that neither my son or myself will ever forget. Good memories!

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