Does and young deer

[Hatchet]

My family was blessed this year and all five of us drew doe tags. Have a few coming in to our orchard and food plot. We have killed turkeys but never killed a deer. Tonight one came well within range but she had two young deer with her. I know by game cam pics they are this years fawns. They lost their spots a month or two ago. I let them walk.
What would you have done?

How do you decide who walks and who finds the freezer?

How were you taught to handle this type of situation?

Appreciate any guidance you could give me.
Thanks
Hatchet

[xcaliber]

If I see more than two deer together, especially doe, I look for the Mother. If there are twin doe, and they look to be nearly a year old, I would take the big doe. If the doe comes in alone, and you don't see that she's feeding, again I would take that doe.

[elkaholic]

Might be the only mature doe you see!

I passed on the same thing , more than once.

But.

Towards the end of season, if that doe showed up by herself. Tag time!

[vixenmaster]

If the fawns have spots they all walk. No spots on fawns its freezer time on the Doe

[Boo]

I can’t make myself take a doe if there’s a fawn in tow. Dry does only. It is a personal thing and I know most fawns by now can figure things out by themselves. Ya never know, that fawn just might grow to be a gagger!

[janesy]

In Ontario, at least in my WMU, the gov made the decision for us. Pretty much bucks only.

One of the farms I hunt the owner prefers to let the does walk. And personally, I do not shoot does with fawns. I had a bad experience with does and fawns years back while rifle hunting and I'll never do that again.

Now on the flip side, I've always been told, and I would, take the larger of the two fawns should twins show up. But with that said, I've had twins under my treestand 3 years in a row and not taken one yet, so there is that. Lol

[papa bear1]

If I see more than two deer together, especially doe, I look for the Mother. If there are twin doe, and they look to be nearly a year old, I would take the big doe. If the doe comes in alone, and you don't see that she's feeding, again I would take that doe.

YEP

[papa bear1]

If the fawns have spots they all walk. No spots on fawns its freezer time on the Doe

YEP

[wheelsquad]

My dad has a small piece of land near me that I hunt, it's near a few housing developments and hardly any other hunters, so there is an abundance of deer. It's where I shot the doe I posted the video of recently. She had 2 of this years fawns with her (spots went away a few weeks ago). Call me cruel but I took that doe. And I do the same thing almost every year there. And the fawns always hang around and never have issue throughout the rest of the fall.

I hunt in areas that provide an abundance of doe tags every year. The vast majority of doe tags are filled by adult does, and the vast majority of those does have 2 fawns every year. The fawns always seem to manage after mama is gone, evidenced by our still high deer herd numbers.

[Riflemanz]

No spots, I would of shot her!

[Hatchet]

Thanks everyone for your input. I also have another doe that comes in quite often, she is larger than the one I saw with the two little ones, she has been coming in alone all spring and summer. I think I will just be patient and see what happens. We only get one deer tag a year here and I dont want it to be over yet. I am going to start takin the kids out mornings. I am happy just to see deer. The only deer I have seen in my years of crossbow hunting have been ones I jumped on my way to the stand.
Thanks again
Take care
Hatchet

[AJ01]

I've heard it argued both ways. You shoot the does, no bucks, If you don't shoot the does you overpopulate the area. In Texas we are allowed 5 deer each season. (Depending on what county you hunt). Unless your property us under MLD Permits issued by TPWD. (If you are planning on hunting Texas, please check out Texas Parks and Wildlife's homepage for additional information).
Anyway...back to shooting Does. I personally can't hardly go to the places I hunt and NOT see Does. I did notice a lot of them produced twins last year.
For Texas, we had LOTS of rain this past year. Browse for deer herds is plentiful. Some years, not so much.
I think most of us on here have spent enough hours in the woods to be able to identify "barren or dry" Does. Some of these old gals can be quite annoying to say the least. They will blow, snort, stomp their feet and do whatever it takes to try to make you move or react.

When I encounter one of those pesky critters, she's usually first on the list to see the inside of one of my freezers!! I have no qualms about "letting the air out of her". Does reach sexual maturity at about 18 months of age and will readily produce offspring after that time period. If you decide NOT to shoot does, one can see how they would soon overtake an area, and if that area is say "suburban" in nature, deer soon wander onto the roadways, into yards and at that time begin to pose a hazard for drivers.
I by no means live in a "suburban area" and we have to watch for deer all hours of the day and night.

Deer are one of the great "comeback" stories of nature. When the Pittman-Robertson Act went into effect, whitetails had been almost wiped out in the Lower 48. When FDR signed the Act, it basically assured proper game management and conservation ideas. That's why we pay taxes on "sporting goods". It funds this Act.
When I was a kid in East Texas you hardly ever saw a deer. Texas now boast a population of around 5.7 MILLION Deer!! That's a lot of deer no matter how you look at it!!

Just be prudent in your taking of Does. You should know about how many Does call your property "home". I've rambled on long enough to just say this... in my humble opinion, Does do need to be removed from the herd ever now and then. It's proper management of your herd. You are supposed to be a "Good Steward" of the things you have been given. GOD gave you the ability to hunt and enjoy the great outdoors. Please hold up your end of the bargain!!

The East Texas Redneck!
AJ

[XB I GO]

We have a little spot in the City limits. I could shoot a doe every day of the season if it was allowed. We don't need "doe tags" and can shoot 3 per person if you do it right. I hunt there with my Dad and brother. 9 does wouldn't make a dent, sometimes there are that many at once. Even with all those females we have never shot a Momma doe with fawns. Since we see these deer all the time we will sometimes notice last years doe with her adult kids still hanging out together. Some are obvious, like a deer we call "D" because she has no ear on one side. We have shot just one doe there ever, and it was a yearling but for some reason it didn't have a Momma anymore and always came in by itself. This year we are talking about maybe shooting a doe or two since there are so many but we are figuring out which one's are old loners. I think you did right letting them walk, but then again I don't know how many deer you see or how hard it is to get one. My Dad always says one deer is not going to change the population - but if everyone did it who knows.

[grouse]

I only hunt on my own property and I shoot at least one doe every year with either my crossbow or rifle. Deer cause crop damage in our area sometimes and they will never be under control if no does are taken. There is nothing wrong with shooting a doe with fawns or one of the fawns during the legal season. I haven't done it yet but I might under the right circumstances.

[flinthead]

It’s personal for each hunter... if it’s legal and it’s a deer that you are going to use,,, I’ll come eat some fawn backstraps on the grill in a minute