How many of you that are after a mature buck, shoot does before filling your buck tag? If you do, is it on the same ground you expect to get your buck from? Personally, since my grounds are relatively small, I wait until I get a buck on the ground before shooting any does. There will be ample opportunity to shoot does for me later in the season or during gun season. I use the does as bait and have a hard time removing any reason for a buck to be there. That, along with the fact that shooting deer and hauling them out would seem to cause major disturbance to the hunting spot. What do you guys do or how do you feel about it?
I do the exact same thing. I can fill my doe tags anytime I want. No reason to do it before or during the rut on my main land. I'll wait until late in the season and take a couple. If for some reason I feel the extreme urge to kill a deer (out of meat from previous year and havent' put my buck down yet), I'll go to one of my other secondary pieces of land and kill one.
seperate spots for does and bucks, September I hunt does for fun, meat, and some of the best practice you can get. Oct and later its buck time on different land.
I bought my first doe tag in so many years 2 years ago. I bought it specifically to assist RJ (Matt) out on his doe management practices. I was able, thanks to him hobble (crutches) to a ground blind and take the exact doe he wanted me to take. (Great hunt with Matt). Last year, I took a doe from my food plot stand after not filling the tag up at RJ's again. It was the ONLY doe I've ever shot from that stand and I did so because Ben was filming and she was a big lone doe. This year, I again have doe tags, 1 for RJ's/my area and 2 for twilds area (doe management plan). I'm opposite of ya Greg, I want to take my does immediately and get them out of the way so I know there is no buck trailing her and it's before she's bred.
Anytime before Halloween and after Thanksgiving I'll shoot one. That said, I've only killed 2 does since 2006 with bow or gun. I very rarely see does from the stand.
I'll shoot a doe pretty much any time, any place. IMO I don't think that killing a doe and stomping around an area one time looking for her/dragging her out is going to blow your chances at a big buck from that same spot/area. I personally believe it takes multiple intrusions into a buck's core area before they begin to adjust their movement patterns to avoid humans. In most of the places I hunt human intrusions are not all that uncommon, so it's no huge deal. And in most cases it's not like you're driving a bulldozer through the woods with a siren attached to it. So what's the big deal? Could a buck be following behind her? Yeah, I suppose. But if he's far enough away that I can't see him I'm pretty confident he'll still show up looking for her, and whatever noise she made after she ran off.
Depends with me. If I'm lucky enough to have more then one tag which does happen once or twice every 10 years I might take a doe earlier In the year from a field edge or something. I won't get no where close to the deep parts of the woods hunting doe's or In other area's I think bucks are bedding. Now If I was to not make a decent shot I'd be screwing things up then. I figure I'm not hurting a thing by taking doe's (bait) out of the woods, there's way to damn many of them the way It Is In my woods. The lack of scrapes tells me that every fall the last 10 years, hardly any are made.
Bad buck / doe ratio here in Vt so I will take a doe whenever I can if I chose to fill the tag with a doe.
I actually don't care to take does anymore however, I won't pass the chance in areas that specifically need it. I just don't "need" to anymore. Hell this year I have 3 PA doe tags. As far as before or after they are bred, really makes little difference in most areas however, in PA for too many years we have 2 weeks of rifle season for buck only, THEN 3 days to slaughter does and this took place the 3 weeks following Thanksgiving. We were pushing out bucks for 2 weeks at their weakest point, after they ran ragged to breed the does THEN, slaughtered the pregnant does. Makes little sense to me. Now, we have 2 weeks of rifle after Thanksgiving to slaughter any deer, 3 points to a side including all the preg does that the bucks ran ragged to breed. Even though they interrupt archery season, I'm for the seasons they opened to kill does before they are bred. Just makes sense I guess. I guess in a balanced herd, it makes very little difference as perhaps the bucks are not as drained breeding, I don't know that answer. I guess that's just a long way of saying it just seems to make sense to kill a doe before she's bred. Not necessarily a bad thing otherwise. I'm hoping to get to twilds after Christmas for some doe management, an area that needs to be managed and I'll be taking a doe that may or may not be preg. I'm an equal opportunity doe killer when necessary...LOL The more I think about it, the less I think I make sense even to myself.
I give myself the first week of the season to set up on a buck's last bit of summer feeding pattern(s).... hunting specifically for them. If that doesn't work, I move away from that area (I've got about four small farms/tracts of land I like to hunt) and start whackin' and stackin' does until late October. Then, I quit doe hunting again as the first week of November comes around until the fourth week arrives, at which time I go back to shooting does.
I LOVE that video :D Man I wish I could shoot a nanny tomorrow who knows tho, it might lead to a nice buck by not being able too
Hey Jeff ... YOU need to start videoing (is that a word ) some of your hunts ....traditional kills would be real cool to see
Im after a Big buck but will not shoot aDoe from those spots, I have other sets that Ill shoot Doe from!!
I shoot does late in the year or early in the year on properties where I don't plan on taking a buck. I have one place that is an exception, but it's merely a giant pass-through. I'll shoot does anytime there and don't feel it will affect killing a buck at all.
Starting this year we won't shoot any on our family property in WI (520 acres) until the late season.
I'm a broken record... I HAVE to shoot an antlerless deer before I can shoot a buck on the property I hunt. As do the other 65 hunters on the property I hunt. It's a big deal to be able to get a doe early and it's the biggest hurdle for most of the hunters out on that property. It's funny when you hear stories from the other hunters of the frustrations of only seeing bucks within range.
