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Re: Shooting a doe with fetus
[Re: budward]
#6642122
01/21/17 02:26 AM
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Joined: Jan 2017
Posts: 224
budward
OP
Woodsman
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OP
Woodsman
Joined: Jan 2017
Posts: 224 |
Thanks for the responses.
She was old, and mean. I was trying to decide whether to take her or not, when 3 other does showed up she chased them all off, even rearing up and trying to fight one.
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Re: Shooting a doe with fetus
[Re: budward]
#6642244
01/21/17 04:19 AM
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Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 11,736
passthru
THF Celebrity
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THF Celebrity
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 11,736 |
It's pretty cool how by this time they look fully developed. Little hooves and all.
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Re: Shooting a doe with fetus
[Re: budward]
#6643206
01/22/17 03:45 AM
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Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 259
Trash Fish and Cull Bucks
Bird Dog
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Bird Dog
Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 259 |
Most does killed during the general season have been bred and many miss an opportunity to collect beneficial information from the fetuses. If you measure the length of the fetus, you can backdate to find when the doe bred, usually within a few days of conception. By doing this for several does from a property or area, you can generate a graph of the rut in your specific hunting area.
The recreational value of game is inverse to the artificiality of its origin - Aldo Leopold
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Re: Shooting a doe with fetus
[Re: QuitShootinYoungBucks]
#6643317
01/22/17 11:30 AM
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Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 7,133
SR025
THF Trophy Hunter
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THF Trophy Hunter
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 7,133 |
I killed one on January 17, 2015. She had twins. From what I could tell, she likely would have given birth sometime in March or early April. I can post a pic if you guys can stomach it.
This was the second time it had happened that I noticed. Same thing, late doe hunt probably in 2009-2010.
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Re: Shooting a doe with fetus
[Re: TackDriver]
#6644114
01/23/17 12:41 AM
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Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 11,902
Simple Searcher
THF Celebrity
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THF Celebrity
Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 11,902 |
Shoot the old does. Probability some of those old does can't get impregnated. Shooting impregnated does can't be avoided anyway, it will happen sometime. Shoot doe fawns, better eating and not pregnant (very highly unlikely). I have heard of this practice used in deer management before. Any doe that lives past being a fawn gets to make it to an old age. I have shot does in November that were pregnant, we had to look hard but we could find a small fetus. This is way more common than you think, most just don't notice.
"Man is still a hunter, still a simple searcher after meat..." Robert C. Ruark
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Re: Shooting a doe with fetus
[Re: budward]
#6644558
01/23/17 08:04 AM
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Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 810
Bittercreek
Tracker
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Tracker
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 810 |
I will respond. To the OP. Manage your Herd. Maintain, decent Balance. Hunt the weather conditions; Late Season-Does? Shooting a Pregnant-Mother. NO. We don't do it. Ethics; with us.
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Re: Shooting a doe with fetus
[Re: SR025]
#6644734
01/23/17 02:24 PM
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Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 15,637
QuitShootinYoungBucks
THF Celebrity
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THF Celebrity
Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 15,637 |
I killed one on January 17, 2015. She had twins. From what I could tell, she likely would have given birth sometime in March or early April. I can post a pic if you guys can stomach it.
This was the second time it had happened that I noticed. Same thing, late doe hunt probably in 2009-2010. January 17, 2015.
https://web.archive.org/web/20170223065011/http:/www.rrdvegas.com/silencer-cleaning.html
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Re: Shooting a doe with fetus
[Re: QuitShootinYoungBucks]
#6645076
01/23/17 05:38 PM
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Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 3,845
Texan Til I Die
Extreme Tracker
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Extreme Tracker
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 3,845 |
That's about the most developed I've ever seen. I always check the does I shoot. Yep, this year's was carrying twins.
Silver spurs and gold tequila keep me hanging on. Pretty girls and old cantinas give me shelter from the storm.
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Re: Shooting a doe with fetus
[Re: budward]
#6645081
01/23/17 05:40 PM
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Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 39,533
redchevy
THF Celebrity
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THF Celebrity
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 39,533 |
Have seen a few like that, we always take advantage of the late doe season, just part of it.
It's hell eatin em live
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Re: Shooting a doe with fetus
[Re: Texan Til I Die]
#6645213
01/23/17 07:26 PM
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Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 15,637
QuitShootinYoungBucks
THF Celebrity
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THF Celebrity
Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 15,637 |
That's about the most developed I've ever seen. I always check the does I shoot. Yep, this year's was carrying twins. I was watching her before the shot, and at one point I thought to myself 'She looks heavy/pregnant'. She had last year's fawns with her at the time, both were above average in size. I couldn't believe how developed the fetuses were. She had to have bred in September or very early October. Second time I've ever killed three with one shot.
https://web.archive.org/web/20170223065011/http:/www.rrdvegas.com/silencer-cleaning.html
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Re: Shooting a doe with fetus
[Re: budward]
#6645959
01/24/17 02:59 AM
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Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 1,773
Big_Ag
Pro Tracker
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Pro Tracker
Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 1,773 |
You should be killing does as part of your herd/population management. Pregnant or not, you are removing that doe so it does not reproduce. You did the right thing.
As for shooting doe fawns, sounds like a good idea, but the risk of mistaking a buck fawn as a doe fawn are too great to take the risk in my opinion. I've seen many a buck fawn mistaken as a doe or doe fawn.
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Re: Shooting a doe with fetus
[Re: budward]
#6646097
01/24/17 04:06 AM
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Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 646
themoonrulz
Tracker
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Tracker
Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 646 |
I get it. You respect life. I'd probably be a little upset as well. But, you didn't know and thus you can't blame yourself. Sometimes hunting isn't pretty.
A real hunter never returns empty handed. Spending time in the wilderness temporarily satifies the soul, but leaves us longing for more.
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Re: Shooting a doe with fetus
[Re: budward]
#6646147
01/24/17 04:50 AM
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Joined: Feb 2014
Posts: 862
rattler03
Tracker
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Tracker
Joined: Feb 2014
Posts: 862 |
As far as shooting young does, I've heard that if you are culling bucks in hopes of improving genetics then you should target older does and let the younger ones mature. If through your culling plans, you expect to have better genetics in your younger age classes of bucks versus the older ones, the same will be true with your does. So, killing young does would mean you were targeting the "genetically improved" age classes of the herd.
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Re: Shooting a doe with fetus
[Re: budward]
#6648272
01/25/17 05:35 PM
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Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 126
txlongshot
Woodsman
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Woodsman
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 126 |
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Re: Shooting a doe with fetus
[Re: budward]
#6648422
01/25/17 07:10 PM
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Joined: May 2012
Posts: 124
old raider
Woodsman
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Woodsman
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 124 |
Twins too. Very interesting to examine the little guys.
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Re: Shooting a doe with fetus
[Re: budward]
#6648437
01/25/17 07:17 PM
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Joined: Jul 2013
Posts: 6,061
Wilhunt
THF Trophy Hunter
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THF Trophy Hunter
Joined: Jul 2013
Posts: 6,061 |
Like already mentioned, 90 plus percent of doe killed in January will have the fetus. It is just the way of nature.
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Re: Shooting a doe with fetus
[Re: budward]
#6648609
01/25/17 08:54 PM
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Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 2,113
Ranch Dog
Veteran Tracker
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Veteran Tracker
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 2,113 |
I think that I read every post and it surprises me that no one has mentioned the management value of the fetus. If you are not measuring the fetus you are missing out on information very specific to the rut for the location you are hunting. No matter when you think the rut is, the fetus is the only measure of when it actually takes place. The fetus is measured with a ruler and the date of conception determined from the calculation on the ruler. After five to six years of collecting data, my hunters and myself had some very useful data. I also put together a simple form using Google docs that my hunters used to record buck sightings via their phone. The fetus measurements correlated with the buck sighting info makes a heck of a planning tool. Now, more than a dozen years since starting this the information it is still updated. Any annual swing from the norm is a cause for consideration but beyond this discussion. If a doe is taken during a youth hunt, the purpose of recovering the fetus is explained and every young hunter has actively wanted to participate with the measurement and math for determining conception. The fetus shown in the picture in this topic is pretty big but they are measureable pretty quick after conception when they are still little bitty. There is no doubt that this registers with the kids and those who hunt here, just how quick there is a life present in the womb.
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Re: Shooting a doe with fetus
[Re: budward]
#6649681
01/26/17 04:30 PM
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Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 161
tbgascorer
Woodsman
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Woodsman
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 161 |
^ I was about to mention the same thing. I have seen it many times. You either are shooting a doe that will be pregnant or she already is. There is no difference.
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