Do you shoot the first deer that gives you a good shot, or are you more selective than that?
Depends on how empty the freezer is. :readit: ;)
The first adult deer that gets in range is in trouble. There is almost always room in a freezer.
well I've got two doe tags and one either sex, so yes. :)
I will shoot the first adult deer. I don't have the time to be to selective anymore. With a young family and lotsa work to get done. I try and make the most of every time I'm out in the woods,J
I've got a doe tag and a regular. The first adult doe goes in the freezer. Then I'm looking for Mr. Big.
If an adult doe offer's first than yes,obviously if it has impresive head gear YES LOL but buttons NO fawns NO and genrally not 1 1/2 yr old bucks I've shot enuff of those and I'm not worried about the freezer either the season is long sorta
I won't shoot a fawn this early in the season, maybe toward the end when they put on some weight. As a fairly new tradshooter any legal buck or doe better think fast or they are in the freezer. With my compound, I usually let bucks pass unless they were bigger than the previous and waited for does. With trag gear, until I shot more than the three I have so far, anything is fair game. In Georgia we get 2 bucks, one any hard antler, one has to be 8pt or better.
About 100 lbs or better has been my rule with firearms and Ill stay there for my second trad deer.No button bucks for me though.
Yes except really small ones. Never saw much need in killing one for 20 pounds of meat.
Have passed 6 bucks so far (not gonna burn a tag on a dink this early) and not a single doe has gotten in range of my bow... I'll shoot a young one if I know it's a doe fawn. Nothin eats better.
We've got unlimited doe/fawn permits and I usually try to put about 5 in the freezer... that's what it takes to last all year.
Meat first, always been the utmost meat hunter-I cannot seem to pass on much unless it is not legal of course.
I think during the rut this year I am gonna try to let some walk and go for headgear. Never killed a big deer.
J
I shoot the first doe fawn that walks by, our herd is down some and I do not want to kill 3 deer shooting a big adult doe.(they will most likely have twins come June) I like the young ones to eat as well. I make sure it is a doe fawn for sure. I rarely shoot an adult doe until after the rut also, why screw up my rut hunt by killing a doe or two that will bring bucks to me? Sorry guys but big doe's here in NY right now should be a no-no, and the only reason for the doe fawn to be killed would be for some meat. Shawn
but the meat is so tender. :) it is like eating veal. MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!
I don't feel the need to shoot everything that walks by anymore, so I guess I've become a little selective in my old age. My prime targets anymore are mature bucks and does without fawns. Good size doe fawns are are in trouble, too. I don't shoot young bucks anymore and an old doe with kids is pretty safe as well. I want the kids to have her around to teach them how to survive. :knothead:
These are my guidelines for me, tho. What somebody else does with their tags is their business, even when hunting on my small piece of ground. :archer:
Each time I head out to bowhunt I'd say to myself: "Gonna take the deer that offers the best or closest shot. Don't care if a buck or doe." But when I see and get close to a group with a buck... I'll let the does pass (within spitting distance) and try for the buck. And ALWAYS get busted! ... :banghead: ...
... mike ...
Where I hunt the most, I cant shoot does. I let them all walk. I usually pass on the younger bucks too.
This will be my first trad only year, so I am planning on hunting a few different properties, and if a mature doe offers a shot, I will most likely take it(a shot atleast!lol) unless she has fawns with her.
As for bucks, I think I will attempt to hold out for a nice one roaming here....but I never know til it happens.
Landowner where the son and I hunt says to kill them all. So we shoot them as they come. If we don't he'll get someone who will. Hap
Gee.. 10 does in GA, 2 bucks.. (however, my club is 15 in outside +4 pts or better... public land I hunt is in TDM area.. ditto as above...)
80+ lbs w/out a lil fawn=freezer duties... my choice any long nosed doe w/o fawn... but-lil bucks... small does w/fawns, bucks that don't make the wllhanger category, and button bucks get free pass by me... Its like picking tematers... they are much better when they have grown to become ripe on the vine... too early, too late.. just not quite so tasty.....
I won't draw on a small buck. Everything else that comes into unobstructed range, I usually will draw on. If the shot "feels right" I take it. Feeling right can mean a lot of things. Maybe there is a question on a twig that may or may not be in the way. Maybe it is a small doe on the first weekend of the season. Maybe it is unusually hot and I have a question on whether I can take care of the meat before it spoils. A lot of things like that go through my head.
This weekend I passed up two shots, mainly because it was so early in the season and it was so darn hot I wondered what I would do with the meat before it was out in the heat too long.
I have an antlerless and an "A" tag (either-sex for whitetail and buck only for muley around here). The plan is to fill the doe tag with the first good meat doe I can get (no fawns and no scrawny-rib-showing does). So I guess the answer to your question is: Yes.
I was more selective last year...decided to wait and not shoot any of the does or yearlings.......passed on a ton of deer. Missed a 7 point cause my bow string hit my binoculars...missed a 10 point out of stupidity...
This year...I don't feel so selective
I couldn't care less about antlers,I'm there for the meat and nothing else.
The first adult deer that doesn't have young at foot is what I'm looking for.
For the last few years I have let the first yearlings and such walk on by on the first hunt of the season ,only to not get another chance all season. lol It's not that I'm waiting for something bigger/better(never been a trophy hunter) it's just that I enjoy being out there when I get the chance, which is not often enough because I mostly work 6 days a week. But, since it's been a few years since I took a deer, coupled with the fact that I can get $12 over the counter antlerless tags, one per day until they run out(and they never run out), my strategy might change. Or maybe I'm just gettin soft. :knothead:
I've always let does and yearlings pass by.
The result is that I've never got a deer with a bow my freezer has gone empty for many more years then not.
This year I've decided to take the first good shot that presents itself.
After passing up more than a few shots on decent does, because "there will be plenty of time to get one later" and getting skunked, now I make getting some meat in the freezer first priority. I will shoot the first doe over 100 lbs.
Once was at full draw on a doe while still hunting. she walked right up to me and started blowing, snorting and pawing the ground trying to figure out what I was. Seemed like she was trying to psych me out and make me move. After a minute or so of that, I busted out laughing because it was kind of cute, and I could not shoot her. Should have though, because I didn't get another shot all season.
I have a question, why do ya shoot the bigger does instead of the fawns. most guys complain of lack of sightings and by shooting the big doe's ya kill at least two deer, if not three as they will breed and have at least one fawn. I understand ya get less meat, but shoot two doe fawns than and ya still end up killing fewer deer. I know it is too each his own and I have no problem with what ya shoot, but I do not understand most guys thinking. Shawn
In Texas 95% of all hunting is on private land. Each well have there on rules as to what deer can be taken. I follow those rules to the letter.
I hunted for many yrs on a ranch that was a doe only archery hunt. We could shoot to doe's. The first one had to be a yearling doe. The next could be a mature doe or a yearling. If you think 'ol grandmaw is a push over you are wrong. She is as smart as any buck I have ever seen.
rusty
Sometimes you can only take one doe. or only one dee for that matter.
I don't shoot any fawns these days...not because I have a problem with it, my hunting priorities have simply changed. This year I've taken an antelope buck and a dry whitetail doe so far. Of course, I missed a nice buck (go figure!), but if I get another crack at one, I'll try to make sure my aim matches my opportunity! And of course...I wouldn't turn down another doe if given the chance.
Claudia
Early season till about Thanksgiving Mister big only, after that does, spikes rag heads and Mister Big if he shows up
Where I hunt, I am required to kill a doe before a buck. So, I shoot the first doe I can. Now I am ready for the rut, and will only shoot a big buck. After Thanksgiving, I may take another doe.
It kind of depends on what the first deer looks like and my mood at the time. Early or late in the year, pretty much any doe is in serious danger of turning into chops and stew meat. But during the rut when the bucks are running hard they may get a pass.
Man...you guys are lucky! Does? Fawns? I'd be hung as a bambi killer out here!!
I think I need to move to a whitetail state...
With our Blacktails I'm selective in the early season but if I don't fill a tag until later then any legal antlered deer is in trouble. I'm usually looking for three points or better...that'd be a six pointer for you whitetail hunters, or an eight if it had eyeguards, which we dont' count as points...but if it gets late then the "legal buck" better watch out. For us that is a minimum of a fork on one side. We call them "ringers" 'cause you can just hang a wedding band on the fork then it's legal.
The deer herd is doing good here now, so its any antlerless deer for me. I shot a fawn already this year, easy to drag, easy to cut up, tasted very good, and gave me a great shot. I'm not going to shoot smaller bucks and I know my chance at a larger one.
Jason
The first that gives me a good shot I will shoot at. Once they're processed they all the same.
Shawn, our deer heard in GA is evidently in great shape, hence the limit of 10 does and 2 bucks. This year, every day is a doe day in gun season as well as in the archery season. I guess the DNR actually wants to reduce the size of our deer heard, so killing an adult doe and potentially her next two fawns is a good thing in their eyes. The only reason I will not shoot a fawn right now is because even with my glasses, I can't tell for sure if they are does or bucks. Later in the season when little knobs are more evident and body size has increased some, I'll probably take the shot if I'm positive it is a doe. A spike or buck with a least 4 points on one side and 15" outside is in trouble though. I had a small bodied 10 point within 15 yards last weekend, but he was a basket rack with about a 12" to 13" spread and very little mass. Probably just a year and a half old. Hope he makes it another year or two; he has real potential for this area of the state.The only problem is that I can't make him stay on the land I hunt, and he is a legal buck when he leaves our club.
I'm shooting the first doe that comes by. Gonna try and hold onto my 2 buck tags til a good deer comes by.
This is only my 2nd year with a recurve so anything goes on my land.One place I hunt is like Hap's.The landowner says "kill em all"so that is what I will try to do.The 3rd place I hunt we are able to shoot one small buck.After that we wait for something special.
This year we start with 4 buck tags and 4 doe tags.If you fill your doe tags you can get bonus tags.2 a day all season long.So tags are not a problem , but these :banghead: 90+ temps are.
QuoteMan...you guys are lucky! Does? Fawns? I'd be hung as a bambi killer out here!!
I shoot what I want as long as it is legal, the heck with what people think or try to label you as.
I'll leaving this Fri for my Monterey either sex Deer Hunt....
I have yet to get a Deer, So I will have the decision as to shoot the first leagal deer to offer the opertunity....
The Does in this area are big ones so do I take the first Doe I see are wait for Buck....
I gues I'll just have to wait and see what shows befor me....
This year (like mosts others) I planned to shoot the first deer that gave me a shot...that was two weeks ago...this past weekend I planned to shoot the 2nd deer that gave me a good shot....this coming wknd I will plan on shooting the 3rd... :knothead:
Yes first one for me also if you dont the archery Gods mayget angry :archer:
Chuck, I totally agree with that concept. We used to have the same problem here in my part of NT but due to poor management by our Department of Conservation and the coyote explosion many parts of NY have fewer deer, but I still like to take a few for the freezer. I just wondered why guys not in your situation, who complain of a lot of deer sightings would take an adult doe before a doe fawn or even a small buck instaed of that big doe. Shawn
QuoteOriginally posted by Stone Knife:
Do you shoot the first deer that gives you a good shot, or are you more selective than that?
I always have extra doe tags and don't get serious about bucks until about mid-October. I've let several toy bucks pass so far, and a pile of does. Been too warm to risk having to leave a follow up until morning, anyway...
That being said, the 125 class 4 point I've been after since mid-September gave me a 5 minute, 17 yard look at him tonight but presented no shot. I started to draw once, but he turned quartering toward me and I passed the shot. Had he stayed broadside a few moments longer I would be working on him now rather than writing this...