Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Damage Hunt, doe and fawns?

It's a hunt to reduce deer numbers. I agree with Miles. Start with the doe and work your way down. Head shots if at all possible.

If you really do feel bad about it, then shoot a fawn first. There won't be any ongoing "suffering" of any type at that point.

Harvest all of em in my opinion. My only hesitation is being unable to identify button bucks.

I've got two young boys that'll pull the trigger on as many as you'll let them! Sounds like a great opportunity, if possible, to get some youngsters a deer.

PS- If I had a problem with the deer, I'd have no trouble shooting them.

The quota will be filled by the end of damage season. I'm not the only hunter. Shooting fawns? Nearly impossible to distinguish buck from doe. The whole point of shooting females is to take them out of the breeding pool.

I've seen enough does without fawns on my trail camera to know they are out there, in abundance! Probably fill my tag this weekend.

Ultimately there is only one person to make happy on any given hunt.

Or the doe walked in front of the camera and the fawns went behind it.

I prefer the meat of mature deer to that of the younguns. Also, as mentioned, a lot of button bucks get killed by indiscriminate shooting of antlerless deer. Last year, I shot two does, but was able to watch them long enough to positively indentify them as such before lowering the boom. Late in the season, button bucks can sometimes be as big as their mamas, if born early.

Some years ago, I read a piece that said young bucks that were orphaned had a better survival rate than the ones that stayed with mom until Spring. Forget the details and explanation, just recall the conclusion.

I must be getting soft too , that is not going to happen.

I have done a lot of damage work for my neighbor. First off, young white-tailed deer fawns survive pretty well when they lose their mother. I have seen it a number of times, so that is a non-starter. I have seen them standing right beside their mother eating corn, so they know what to eat at an early age. If you kill the mother first, many times you can get the whole family, as the fawns do not panic. Damage hunts are for the purpose of removing deer and the fawns go, too. They are fantastic eating, easy to kill and drag easily.

The first three years that I killed deer for my neighbor, between his permits and my regular season permits, I kill 124 deer, a number of which were delicious fawns.

Exactly ! I don't know why so many hunters can't understand that 'antlerless' doesn't mean they are
all Females !! I refuse to shoot fawns just for that reason. Every button buck you kill is an ANTLERED
buck you'll never hunt or kill.

BTW, a yearling is not THIS year's fawn. 1YO is a yearling.

Jerry

Our damage control hunts start in November and end in February. Sometime you shoot a doe carrying fawns. Shot one several years ago that had twins. It made me sick gutting her. So basically took 3 deer. I told my partner not to mention a word to my wife as it wouldn't be a pretty out come.

Unfortunately, that is the best case scenario-killing three for the price of one. People are missing the point here. A depredation hunt is for killing deer. It is not only for just killing does, although that is the main focus. I do not kill bucks (except for culls), as my neighbor does not want them killed (has an outfitter), They are, however, perfectly legal. I could not care less, as I am past worrying about antlers at any time, but to each their own.

Depredation hunting is not for everybody, because of the fawn issue. It bothers me a bit, but I also understand the purpose of the hunting that I am doing and by me doing it, both my neighbor and I know that the meat is being taken care of. Many people don't want to hunt when it is 90 degrees.

Here in TX if you take a doe in late November or December, it's a pretty safe bet that they are pregnant. And probably 85 % of does have twins. And fawn survival rate is typically 50 / 50. And 90 % of the time, the doe has one male and one female fawn.

And if you do shoot a doe that's pregnant, and the purpose of the hunt is herd reduction, than that's the best possible outcome. And the point of herd reduction is to have a healthy herd that does not exceed the carrying capacity of the their range or habitation.

And culling bucks for herd quality is a totally different aspect of deer management. Most hunters don't realize that the female or doe has almost as much genetic influence as the buck in determining antler quality and growth. And good forage and protein supplements help, but are not as important as the herd genetics.
Just as all spikes don't grow to be big spikes, and you will never have mature "trophy" bucks, if you shoot every 3 year old 8 point 16" buck you see.

My point is don't sweat the small stuff. Lots of variables affect herd management, more so than killing one doe pregnant with twins.

Filled my damage tag last night, on one of the biggest, fattest whitetail does I have ever seen! Came off the river right at sunset to feed in the soybean field. 150 yd. chip shot. (No fawns present, BTW........)

In Finland (and probably other Scandinavian countries) you shoot the doe/calf first as they usually won't survive the winter without mom there to help.

Knowing what winters can be like in Colorado, I'd have shot the fawns first, then, if given the chance, the doe. That would be 3 out of this year's herd and possibly as many as 6 out of next year's.

Shoot the lead doe, and get the others while they are standing there looking confused. Or, if they run off... Just wait a few minutes, they'll probably be back.

-Jake

See if one can round up some first timer kids, and start them out right. You'll be a permanent fixture in their memory banks.

The property I hunt for damage control is not the same place I hunt for Bucks. The Landowner does not give a hoot what deer I shoot and neither do I. The goal is to reduce the numbers and after the first couple of weeks they get pretty damn spooky.

I'll happily knock a fawn right off its mother's tit.