The 30s and war years were hard times for Arkansas wildlife. The lack of money in the 30s and most meat production going to the Army during the war made the people depend on wildlife for food. The state permanently closed the deer season in 1944. When the war was over they began attempts to rebuild the deer stocks by importing deer from Wisconsin and possibly Florida. The doe deer became the Queen of the forest, untouchable by the hunter.Large fines imposed on any who harmed the Queen. Stocking efforts were successful and in 1959 a short bucks only season was opened. Over the years the herd grew,and biologist felt removing a few doe in certain areas would improve the herd so a Doe Day was added on a specific date, to the season.(Rural schools often had 50% of students and almost that many teachers report they were sick that designated day) when I entered this game in the 80s there was still one designated day during the season you could take a doe. As time went on it was decided it was safer that a doe could be taken any day during the seasonso as not to concentrat the hunters. Herds continued to thrive and and more doe per season were added to the season limit. Around 2000 there were years you could even purchase extra doe tags. This year they announced a modern gun, 5 day, doe ONLY season. The Queen is dead. Long lived the Queen.

Played out that way here in east Texas too with slight variations.
We grew up protecting the does. I remember the first time I killed a doe when it was made legal to do so I felt like a murderer. That was several years after the practice was made legal.

Yeah, a lot of the older hunters wouldn't do it after is was legal.Opening day first year it was legal, we took 18 deer. Odd thing,9 of the hunters thought they were shooting does, turned out were full grown bucks with very short horns.

I can shoot many does a year, doesn't phase me a bit. I remember when IF you drew a doe tag it was a big deal. and even though it was allowed with archery gear you still went for bucks. like it was a lesser thing to shoot a doe. glad I'm over the hesitation to drop a freezer pleaser

Your right on that. I'm there for food. A nice rack looks good but is hard to eat.

Like it our not, you have to kill them in some areas where they are as numerous as fleas if you want to maintain a healthy population and a decent buck to doe ratio.

Puting a few "Queens" in the skillet is a win/win.

Also its a nice way to put up a set of fuzzy wind chimes.....

I'm 46 and have yet to shoot a doe. One day.

They are out there...waiting for you.....

Ive got 8 do tags for Wisconsin rifle season its gonna look like s fuzzy pipe organ when im done lol

I never shot one until 4 years ago, now I try to get atleast 2 a year for the freezer. They taste great and are more tender than an old buck.

i have yet to kill a doe as well. i have applied for the tag for 6 years. im supposed to get it next year on points, but only time will tell.

i doubt very much that the doe season will ever take off around here. its too much money made for the state to not give the tags out.

i know people who have applied for years for a tag in a unit with say 500 tags and 600 first choice applicants. they have applied for 5 or more years before drawing the tag if they ever draw one at all.

our F and G is FUBAR.

My first deer (taken in 1966) was a doe. It was taken on a ranch in south-central Montana where the rancher had frowned on anybody taking does for many years. Like many ranchers, he equated doe-killing to sending his productive Hereford cows to the slaughterhouse. Consequently on a normal hunting day you'd see 100 skinheads and one or two forkhorn bucks. He finally started letting people shoot ONE doe (two tags could be purchased) about the time I started hunting there.

I may only shoot does this year here in Montana. Last year I did, because I never saw a buck that really qualified, passing up a 170-175 mule deer and a 135-140 whitetail. Neither was an exceptional buck, so why kill them? I have plenty of antlers hanging around the place, both on mounted heads and the rafters of the garage.

Even when deer are down in some parts of Montana, there are always places that have plenty of does. It makes more sense to take them than shoot a buck that may grow up to be a truly big buck. But a lot of people still whack the first 2-1/2 year old buck they see, when there's a big doe standing right next to it.

My sentiments exactly Mr Barsness, its for that reason that I've yet to shoot a 'true' racked buck in my hunting career. I've taken plenty of does, and a few big spikes, but have yet to see a buck I've really wanted to shoot. Let some walk that others would have layed into for sure.

Years in Florida and it was only a weekend for doe and that was it. Then they changed it to a week long and that week pretty much corresponded with the rut. It was nothing to find bucks that week, doe not so much.

Same with living in Louisiana back in the day, one weekend.

Nine years living in Alaska, doe were off limits.

Last year in Texas, all lined up for a doe and out popped a gray fox that I wanted, so down went the fox.

now to convince the locals that it ok to shoot them. I have been hunting and Southern ARK for 30 years and the local mentality has always been that more does = more deer. and somehow that more deer is better deer.
More is not always better and when your talking wildlife its never the answer.

We had 10 doe tags between five family members in North Florida for awhile. They pretty well let us youngsters shoot them up. On the same note, the youngsters were usually sat on stands where hogs were plentiful and mature bucks few.

Correction:


I Have been to your garage many times...


I have plenty of antlers hanging in my garage...

You have a SCHITTLOAD!!!!

Louisiana changed its laws on deer a few years ago. They went to a similiar season like Miss. Allowed 3 does and 3 bucks per year. Take them any day you want to. They did go back to the tagging system.

Some of the management areas have different rules.

The little ones eat the best... and the wife refuses to cook the horns! Claims there tough or something....?

When I started hunting in michigan, you had to be drawn for a doe, then if you had private land, you could get one for the asking, now, it's regional, and in the southern lower, you can get several per year.

When I lived in VA, the big gamelicense was good for 4 deer, three turkeys and a bear, and only one of the deer had to be a buck. in some counties, you could buy a $12.50 bonus permit good for two antlerless deer. You could buy that every day of the season if you wanted, and take two deer per day. then there were the DMAP permits. I had one co-worker who routinely shot 30-40 does per season on Ft. A.P. Hill, and none of it went to waste.

My first deer was a doe, and I've killed many since. I've gotten to the point where I'll let all but a big buck walk, in favor of a big doe.

The situation played out pretty much the same in MS as the op described. The problem was that they waited too long to start allowing a significant doe harvest and the population got out of control, now 30 years later we're still trying to get it under control. The latest gimmick the wildlife guys are using is a two week doe only "primitive weapons" season starting tomorrow. That season will run up until the start of the rifle season which is any deer. The two week "primitive weapon" season runs during the last two weeks of bow season which has the bow hunters all upset.

I put "primitive weapons" in quotations because in Mississippi a legal primitive weapon can be a centerfire as small as 35 caliber. The way the rules are written a NEF handi rifle in 35 whelen with a scope is a primitive weapon. I just sighted two in yesterday and got through loading 50 rounds of ammo. Somehow a 200 gr. hornady interlock doing 2700 fps out of a 35 whelen doesn't sound too "primitive".

It's all kind of silly. It would have been much better if they'd managed the population correctly from the get-go instead of trying to fix it now.

Thats good if the circumstances were such thats the only way to go. But if you refused, when does needed to be thinned, then I'm a hair upset with you.

You have to do whats best for the herd. You don't just go in to kill on OR the other period because you feel like it.

I have a place here that will likely never see a doe killed because we can't afford it and don't need it. Yet I hunt 2 other places where if you didn't kill does you'd ruin the balance and quality of the herd.

duh, in a hurry and didn't read furhter... ya been doing good from what I see on this post.

There should be no complaining about deer sightings if you're going to fill 8 tags

drawing for a doe...
JHC!!!
I had 6 standing under my fig tree at 6PM today.

Had hoped this thread was referencing Bawney Fwank.

1flier

I regularly get 1-2 doe tags per year and in NY, you can have 2 signed over to you.

I will shoot a doe anyday of the week...of course, I started hunting when it was legal and expected to kill a doe, so I never went through the period of people thinking less of a doe...