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Early Season Doe Question #6495084 10/14/16 03:10 PM
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Matt Online Content OP
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In Red River County this year, the doe season is the first 16 days of the season. For the last several years it has been the four days of Thanksgiving weekend. I like to take a doe or two each year because they taste better to me and our buck to doe ratio is always out of wack. My question is that all of the doe on camera this year all still have this years fawns still with them. This spawned the conversation in the office about harvesting a doe with this year's little one still hanging around. I've always been of the school of thought that by November, even the baby deer can take care of themselves. Some of the guys here don't agree with me. What do you think?

Thanks!!
Matt


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Re: Early Season Doe Question [Re: Matt] #6495132 10/14/16 03:40 PM
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Fawns with spots don't shoot the doe. If they have no spots they will be fine if there is a good deer population. I shot a doe 2 years ago that I thought had no fawn. After retrieving her I saw a fawn walk out into the field. The other does kept pushing it away at first. I felt bad cause everytime I would go this fawn would come out or I would find it sleeping in the feeder pen. It hardly ever left the first winter. Eventually she rejoined the herd. I know her because she has a broken ear from where another doe stomped her for trying to get some milk. She still comes around and had twins this year.


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Re: Early Season Doe Question [Re: Matt] #6495133 10/14/16 03:41 PM
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By November all but some real late fawns will be capable of taking care of themselves. Most deer will have their winter coats by then and spots gone with their first Winter coat. Does with spotted fawns get a pass from me but that is just me.

Shoot your does when legal to do so. According to state of Texas biologists of something happens to a doe another will usually adopt a fawn if needed. His advice was shoot the does early in season and don't worry about it.


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Re: Early Season Doe Question [Re: Matt] #6495146 10/14/16 03:51 PM
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We shoot our does as early as possible for two reasons. We have a bunch to kill. They get very hard to find once pre-rut/rut kicks in. I won't shoot a doe if it has a spotted fawn, but everything else is fair game. Including doe fawns, if necessary.

Re: Early Season Doe Question [Re: Matt] #6495174 10/14/16 04:10 PM
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I prefer to shoot my does in October. That way I know that I only took one deer (no pregnant does). I have no idea if that is a legitimate reason to harvest in October - it is just my own reasoning.


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Re: Early Season Doe Question [Re: Matt] #6495216 10/14/16 04:45 PM
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If you have high numbers taken them when you can.. if they are not carrying now they will be in a few months... fawns are plenty big enough to take care of themselves... the only down fall to taking doe early is your taking out more buck bait with each one... its all a numbers game though... if you don't have them then be conservative.. if you got to many then take um when you can.. they will be smart come December.. then you just gota hope they get hungry

Re: Early Season Doe Question [Re: Matt] #6495258 10/14/16 05:24 PM
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I generally end up taking them late in the season because that's when most of them are at the feeder.


�A hunt based only on the trophies taken falls far short of what the ultimate goal should be.� -Fred Bear
Re: Early Season Doe Question [Re: Matt] #6495544 10/14/16 09:23 PM
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"Take care of themselves" is a relative phrase. We all know that older doe are always more watchful than their fawns and younger doe and for that reason, are the quickest to detect predators.

While it's true that a fawn can survive on its own, I don't believe there's any question they do better with the aid of more experienced eyes and noses nearby. For that reason, they are easy to identify late in the season after being left behind.



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Re: Early Season Doe Question [Re: Matt] #6495554 10/14/16 09:30 PM
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I have always shot does late in the season or extended season. I prefer them for bait to kill bucks during the rut. I target doe with fawns if I need total number of deer down(better producer will always have fawn(s)) or doe without fawn if I do not like the looks of the bucks breeding. Doe fawns if I want to lower doe number over-all if I have an issue with a very late rut with the doe fawns. If a fawn is 5 months old I would not hesitate to shoot the doe. The fawn will hang around the area of the feeder or food plot longer in life if it is orphaned from what I have seen.


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Re: Early Season Doe Question [Re: stxranchman] #6497626 10/16/16 04:19 PM
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Originally Posted By: stxranchman
I have always shot does late in the season or extended season. I prefer them for bait to kill bucks during the rut. I target doe with fawns if I need total number of deer down(better producer will always have fawn(s)) or doe without fawn if I do not like the looks of the bucks breeding. Doe fawns if I want to lower doe number over-all if I have an issue with a very late rut with the doe fawns. If a fawn is 5 months old I would not hesitate to shoot the doe. The fawn will hang around the area of the feeder or food plot longer in life if it is orphaned from what I have seen.


^^This.....


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