Really not much to think about for me. Any doe I have a tag for gets shot before Oct 25th. The only way I shoot a doe after that is if I'm having a bad season and none on the ground by then.
Most of my spots are way back in and the drag alone decides for me. I'm not dragging a doe a half mile! I also like to wait til it's colder out to shoot does. I hunt for a trophy buck first then I switch gears late season and whack does. Now after saying that, I am hunting new areas closer to home and these are nice crop fed deer so I could be swayed a bit this season. I will still focus on bucks but if I run across a good stand site to take a doe I may set up with the intent to shoot a doe. I will also say that the chances of shooting a doe from one of my buck stands is pretty slim. Most of these setups are all or nothing stands. Eithor the buck comes thru or I see nothing. After all that rambling, I guess to answer your question, I'm pretty set in my decision before I get to stand.
95% of the time I know what I'm after on each hunt. 5% of the time the mood just strikes me to shoot something (a doe usually) that I wasn't planning on heading in. Question.... I've seen a few posts that say won't shoot a doe past October 25th or so. What's the difference in taking out a doe before the rut that would come into estrous or not taking one out during the rut that is in or close to estrous? Wouldn't the doe you shot on october 1st be just as good buck bait as the one on October 25th?
With the areas I currently hunt, the only time I would pass on a doe is if 1) I have a visual on a shooter buck or 2) I'm out of anterless tags.
______ Pretty much my philosophy as well. To be honest I don't consider shooting a doe until late season. I can still fill my doe tags on just about any day after all the rut fun and frenzy is well over. The more love in the air the better IMO.
I wing it 99% of the time. I usually make up my mind while the deer is approaching, or if the deer hangs around too long and i can no longer stand it. I am like alot of others as well in the fact that last week of Oct thru Nov, I usually won't peg a doe...unless I decide too:D:D:D Small bucks are about the only thing safe in the woods...oh yeah coyotes outside 60 yds and running get a possible pass too
Mostly I shoot does in the early season only. Sometimes in the late season if I need some meat. Haven't not shot one in Nov in a long time with my bow. I used to go out with the plan to shoot does only, or bucks only, etc. The last 3-4 yrs, I usually wing it as to whether I am shooting anything at all on any given day. It usually has to do with what I have going on, what the weather is like (warm or cold), what do I have to do that day, and do have the time or feel like messing with a deer that day. My bowkill numbers have gone down by choice since my son started hunting. Now he fills the freezer for us...so I usually just hunt for a nice buck most of the time. I do miss the days when I had a bunch of guys asking me for a deer all the time. I loved to be able to whack a bunch and just drop them off to folks. Now, most folks don't even ask....or if they do - they want me butcher it and wrap it, then drop it off.
I pretty much know when im targeting Does, but always have that eye out for a shooter buck. BUT I have stands that i dont touch until very late October through November and when im there, Its bucks only.
I can see how a hunter can deside he is only after a buck and I understand the need to harvest does. What I don't understand,or believe is a hunter saying " I think today will be a doe only day." When I'm hunting the early season and have a doe in bow range, she's in trouble. But if a good buck happens to come by first, I'll take him. We are only given so many opportunities at shooter buck each year. During the rut, watch the doe parade. Heck you can always hunt for does after you've filled your buck tags.
