Hey guys, this is goning to be my fisrt year bowhunting and I'm super excited. I have been scouting with a trailcam my grandfathers land and I have been getting tons of pics of the same three does. A mature doe, and what appers to be twin does, smaller in stature, and they seem to be identical, so I figure that they are sisters and the mature is mother. I haven't seen any bucks or even signs of scraping yet, so I don't know if there are any nearby or not. My question is what to do with the three does? Do I take out the mature to try and let the smaller does breed, do I take one of the smaller does and leave a mature and a small doe, or leave all three and try a different spot?? The land I am hunting is about 7 acres. It consist or some open field, a swamp and a forest with a creek running through it. All this and its backed up to conservation. I would have gamled there would have been tons of deer on the property, but after 2 months scouting, just the happy little family. I'm trying to make the right descision to keep the deer on the property so I can hunt for many years to come. Thanks guys for your help, Brian.
I would just do what makes you happy. If you are happy with taking a fawn, then go for it. There is nothing like taking your first deer with a bow.
If it were me, they'd get a pass. Something else will come through. One property I hunt, there's a big doe that has had twins the last two years, and she hangs around close to the house. Occasionally when Im back in the woods hunting she'll make her way through, she always gets a pass from me. Don't know why, lol. But if you have that big doe and you can stay on her, when it comes time for the rut, she might bring you in some bucks, just a thought.
If it were me, I think I would hold off on them this year. With the rut approaching, I think the "find the does, find the bucks" approach might yield you a buck or two that you've never caught on your trail cam.
Thanks for the advice guys, I didn't know if the yearling does would scare of the bucks from the mature or vise-versa. The two younger does arnt fawns, ( at least I think) no spots and there at least 80-100 lbs, so I was thinking maybe 2 years old?? I don't know for sure though, that's my guess. Thanks again, brian.
As a biologist I'll say that if you want to harvest one of them and you want to increase or improve the quality of deer on the property then the one to harvest is one of the younger does. If your goal is to decrease the number of does and improve the buck to doe ratio it doesn't matter which one you shoot. If you're trying to reduce the number of deer then your best bet is to shoot the mature doe. Mature does are proven breeders and have a better chance at producing more deer than young does do.
I'd wait to shoot one of the does until after the primary rut. If there are bucks in the area (which there are sure to be soon, if not right now) they could very well help you get one. If after the rut you still are only see the does, I'd shoot a small one or both the small ones provided you have the tags. Generally a bit more tender.
