With the fawn numbers the past couple of years and probably another good one this year I'll need to take several Does off the ranch this year. What is your preference, take them out early in season or late and why?

I like to take them early. For one, they most likely won't have been bred yet so you aren't removing an offspring that might have been sired by your best buck. And, it reduces the doe pool so the better bucks are the ones most likely to be doing the breeding when the time comes. Secondly, it allows me to focus the rest of the season on finding a nice buck and not worry about having meat in the freezer. I can be more patient.

agreed

Whenever I can. Bred or not.

Anytime but ill try to take a decent number early if ive gotta take alot of them.

....call me crazy but I want as many hot girls running around during the rut as possible....that said, I try to take a doe in bow season....usually only take 1 per season however I will take a second late in the season if I'm not able to get the right buck in the scope..... but I agree that numbers are probably going to be up as a result of favorable range conditions the last few years.

We shoot them late.

There are more does holding our bucks around and pulling other bucks in
Keeps the pressure down and pasture quiet
Your eliminating the same offspring no matter what, just in one instance they are never bread.

Chances are the majority of the deer running around on a low fence property carry some bit of the genetic makeup to create your best buck it just requires the right combo and chance to happen. Just because you have an awesome buck doesn't mean his offspring will look anything like him.

We have had years of good rainfall and conditions. After hardship populations rebound at really fast rates through increased recruitment. As the population reaches carrying capacity the recruitment rat should decline to meet die off. If it took more than a year or two to get your population back up there is something more affecting it than just the drought.

My take on it.

There are arguments to both sides of the coin. I tend to favor the "shoot them late" mentality to reduce completion, buck mortality and broken horns.

But, if you have to take large numbers you do it when you can, where you can.

These doe killing missions I see people putting on late in the season often fail due to the number of deer they need to take in a limited time span and them getting wise to pressure.

I started early and finished late when I needed to when we were running a hunting ranch. Now my doe kills are really whenever I feel like it. It also depends on the property, you do it different on a large hf place vs. a small low fence place


And yes, I do get a kick out of sitting in a tower and ending the hunt with 5 or 6 does laying around. Good Practice and really a great learning experience as to how deer react after the shot and bullet performance

IME people always forget about predators.

Earlier the better for me. Unless i have a big deer to chase and want to keep the area calm. We also try to shoot doe away from the stands and feeders. Corn the roads, off to the side of my setup ect....

Can see good arguments for both sides but think I fall more toward early. Maybe its the itch to get meat in the freezer so I could hunt a good buck the rest of the season. Interesting topic.

We usually have a bunch to kill so we get on them in October. Then, we try to let the ranch settle down for the rut and kill the rest in Jan, Feb. But, they get much harder to find late season.

Figure one upside is there are less months to feed in the late winter when the land is at its least.

depends on who is in the stand. My sons and nephews are all getting pretty good at hunting and are pretty hard on the deer population. Last year there were a crap ton of goofy looking bucks, so they kept busy shooting the 3 points, unicorns, and goat horn spikes and I got to bump a couple of does late in the year. We try to take a couple early, but we don't get terribly bent out of shape about when it happens.

shoot the first one you see, then the one standing next to her, and then then next one until there are no more does or your out of tags.

Late, being any time in December as I keep fetus measurements with conception dates. Just like our bucks, select mature animals to be taken.

I like late, but for a different reason than most. Late is when the colder weather hits and I absolutely hate dealing with a dead deer when it's warm.

Take them when you can...

At my new place you can shoot a doe, and by the time you collect her, there are 12 more back on the corn completely oblivious to the fact that you're eviscerating one of their own 10 yards away.

If I take one it is always late in the season for four reasons. I am in N. TX on small acreage so what works for me might not be as relevant if you are on big tracts of land.

1. The main part of the rut in N. TX is early from around 11-5 to 11-20 so I do not want to shoot a doe early and spook the deer onto neighbors property.

2. Firm believer in he who has the does during the Rut, will have the best opportunity of seeing more bucks.

3. I feed year round, have a food plot so the does are eating plenty all season long. Your does will have less bugs like ticks and fleas on them after a few good freezes and probably less parasites.

4. If you have does that did not breed in the first estrus cycle during the rut, good chance she might come back in heat later in the season and give you a better or another chance of seeing that buck

If it's a noisy doe bleating at me and they need thinning out anyways, it's taken out as the opportunity arises. I just talk d with my biologist about this a month ago and he said early would be better. That's what I will go by.

The snorting/blowing doe always gets what's comming to her early.

Had a doe blowing at us all last season from bow thru rifle. She was missing half her ear so made her easy to spot. I kept giving her passes and I never did get her. I see her this year I'm killing her I don't care if I see her the first 5 min into the bow opener

Your old does are more apt to breed with the older bucks deep back in the brush and cull bucks are more aggressive breeders according to Texas A&M studies.

I shoot does that are between first year and 1 1/2 years old because the taste better and skin easier.