Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting What bald-headed characteristic is your weakness?

Shaman, you're either on to something here, or on something.....

I definitely thing one of the criteria for scoring does should be close proximity to the vehicle. Extra points are to be awarded to anyone who can con someone else into dragging said doe out for you. Extra special extra points to those capable of getting someone else to gut it and drag it out for you.

Here's a look at our "Garden of Stone."



About 10 years ago, I started putting a small stone out to mark the spot where I'd killed a deer, so I could later walk off the distance. Pretty soon, there were a sizable number of stones between those two hay bales in the pic.

If I take the truck out to that location, there's a spot where I can open up the back and deer slide right into the back with no lifting.

I prefer to shoot does in locations where I haven't seen lots of bucks, as opposed to shooting does when hunting an active scrape line or something of that nature. Weather also has something to do with it. If it's 80 degrees or pouring down rain, I might wait for another day to shoot meat.

Just a bigger one, so hopefully it's a couple years old or more so I'm not shooting a young "button" buck.

"Dances with Does"
If you can't take a good buck, it's always a happy day to slam a nice doe.

I have never had a clue why some I shoot and some I don't.

I have watched some for a couple hours or more and then finally pulled the trigger. Some I have watched for that long or more and decided against. Some I have shot in an instant like a flushed grouse. I do know that I have an extreme prejudice against shooting what I believe are older does. The toughest deer I have ever eaten have all been ancient does. Last year I was very careful not to shoot the old doe in the neighborhood who acted like she owned the whole world. I was sure she was at least 8-10 yo.

First choice is always a buck fawn.

I think savage99 just realized his long-lost brother due to separation-at-birth.

??

Miles, you have just stated the antithesis of good herd management.

Well, first off, 50% of a year's fawn crop never sees it's first birthday.

Second, buck fawns contribute zero to the herd until they are at least 1-1/2 years old.

Third, if you leave the older bucks alone there is no shortage of them for breeding purposes.

Remove the members that contribute the least to the herd that have the least impact on the herd is a pretty simple idea. I shoot does, but I am very picky in that they either have to have no fawn with them or just a single fawn. The does with more than one Fawn are older and contribute the most to the herd. Once a doe hits 3-4 years old she'll start having twins/triplets and can easily continue that for ten or more years.

I shoot for my table, generally. Right now, in the area near my home I have way too many deer and I am in the process of adjusting that so adult does are on the hit list too. Up until just recently they haven't been a problem, but now they're a plague. There's an old doe that might get turned into grind meat if she makes a mistake starting in about two weeks. I might at some point shoot a big enough buck again, but I am pretty doubtful I'll ever see one again that is big enough.

Ahhh yes, the logic of nonsense.


LOL. So, take a buck fawn.


How do you suppose they get to age 1.5?



You DO understand that fuzzy faces with buttons will one day become older/mature bucks? (if allowed to mature)

"You DO understand that fuzzy faces with buttons will one day become older/mature bucks? (if allowed to mature)"

my hunting group has a $50 "fine" for shooting a button buck

In MY camp, shooting a button buck would get you an accompanied trip to the end of the lane, a good swift kick and told never to come back!

Are you so ignorant that you don't understand that 50% of the buck fawns in a year's fawn crop don't make it through the first year, hunted or not? Can you add the mortality of 15% or so per year for bucks so, if you start with 100 buck fawns 50 don't make it to spring. Of the remainder, even without hunting another 8-9 die anyway, and roughly 7 the following year and 5-7 the year after that.

That's one of the reasons why mature bucks do most of the breeding. It's why you don't need many bucks to support a herd.

Buck fawns are singularly the most expendable herd members, and mature bucks are much, much less expendable.

I understand perfectly.

Almost 50% of all fawns don't make it to 10 weeks of age but nothing you wrote explains why shooting a buck fawn should be a "first choice" other than some are going to die so we might as well shoot them.

Maybe things are different in your area but two points of emphasis come from our wildlife department:
1. Antlerless harvest
2. Let young bucks (including buttons) walk

Skane and Whelennut,

Please explain to me the logic and sound management in not shooting them. You are sacrificing 3 deer in hopes of getting a "shooter" which is far less palatable. This, when those three sacrificed are gone, hunted or not.

East Central Minnesota is notorious for big deer with tiny basket 8 point racks so in this area sacrificing those 3 deer oft times goes into "saving" a deer that shouldn't be breeding anyway if your goals are worthwhile. If you pass on the big antlers and take the small antlers you might accomplish something given enough time.

This is labor day weekend. drive 35 from Hugo to Hinckley tomorrow morning and you'll likely see 6-8 dead deer each way. Drive it Tuesday morning and you'll likely see about that many all over again. Just because of the increased traffic. That amounts to less than half of what actually gets killed then.

When half of them are going to die where is the logic in not shooting them? Maybe in your area half of all fawns die very quickly. Here, it is not so quickly but the end is bout that give or take a little. Deer like pheasants, you can shoot almost all the males and not affect the population much at all year to year.

Here, There's a deer zone in which I can kill an unlimited number of antlerless deer, but only one buck. That's because the mature bucks need much less control because they tend to be such a small percentage of the population.

Near my home, it's not unusual to see huge deer with a 8 point rack so small it could hold a mid size cantaloupe. What the hell is the point in sacrificing 3 deer for one of them?

Intentionally shooting a button buck is not an accident!