Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm, dictionary huh!!!
Well, everybody I know calls a deer a fawn with spots still on. Spots off, they are now called a yearling. It's about the only way to call the size on a doe. If a doe and this years fawn comes in, we say we seen a doe and yearlin. If she still has last yrs fawn with her plus this yrs, we say we saw 2 does and a yearlin. A yearlin or a fawn in your case is half the size of a doe. We just try to make things simple out here in the country!!!

lol...have to remember the audience. But admit it...it's not yearlin'...it's yurlun'

funny this thread is here. I just did this tonight. I have been watchin these deer for about 2months nowm debating this. I decide to take the mom tonight. As I watched them come in it was different this time. The young deer were leading the way. Acting less dependant. Anyway, shot the doe. she was producing milk and was pregnant with twins. It's water under the bridge, but I would rather not do that next time.

shoot the doe and the yearling generally doesnt go far, easy double. I passed on a doe with a yearling this year with my bow. I have shot two does with yearlings, but I wasnt worried about the yearlings health as I shot them too lol

I shoot does after Thanksgiving so that fawns will be around 5 months old. I also try to shoot only does that have reproduced(have a fawn at their side) so that I can keep the better managed genetics in the herd. They are capable of taking care of themselves at that age. Weaned buck fawns will stay in the area when you shoot the doe from what I have been told and what I have seen. Once fawns are weaned or turn 7 months old I call them yearlings.

Many years ago while hunting out-of-state, I had a doe walk out into the middle of a logging road. I watched her for a minute or two, then shouldered my .270 and dropped her. A few seconds later a young fawn that couldn't have been more than a few weeks old bolted across the road behind her. Perhaps if I had waited a little longer, the fawn might have walked out into the road where I could have seen it. What bothered me about shooting that doe even more, was finding the fawn still hanging around that spot the next day.

Granted, the original question focused on yearling deer and not fawns. Still, I don't need the meat bad enough to enough to shoot a doe that's still leading a yearling.

X2

The does that have yearlings are the ones to shoot. not with spots because they may not survive but if they have yearlings, the mom will run that yearling off so there isnt any inbreeding. especially shoot the mom if the yearling is a button buck.

Couldn't agree more....though I see it as a fawn (this years offspring). But then, I don't need it so bad as to shoot yearlings either. Plenty of older does in most places to fill your tags.

BTW, the definition of a yearling is an animal between one and two years old or in the second year of its life. It is still a fawn until then.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yearling

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/yearling

The larger percentage of does (in the areas I have hunted), always have a "kid" with them. I used kid to bypass the yearling / fawn debate here. Anyways, I very rarely see a doe without a kid. By the time Texas hunting season rolls around, those kids are able to survive on their own. To sum it up, I shoot them regardless. If I passed on those does, I would very rarely put any meat in the freezer.

That's how I say it!!! Just can't spell it!!!
Only once in my life where I was bow huntin on a draw hunt at Fort Boggy SP, I had a doe come in at 14 yds. I drew back but before I could make the shot, her FAWN came up right behind her. That little fella couldn't have been a month old. I knew if I shot her, the little dude wouldn't stand a chance. So I let her walk. But once the spots are gone, all bets are off!!

Well, every good meal needs an appetizer...

if its for freezer meat, take the yearling. even if she is bred, they throw 1 fawn the first time around then twins or triplets the next years after. older doe is probably already bred & has twin or trip fetus'.

a fawn that is 6mos old is less likely to survive varmit predidation without mama. mama is still teaching them the tricks to survive.

Older does with their own fawns are always gonna run that orphan fawn off with out mama.

Most male fawns will feel the urge to rut and move on their own without mama running them off, even without a set of antlers.

Even a young doe fawn may come into season as late as Jan or Feb.

Mother nature and a summer drought will cause a doe to abandon one of her twins to ensure survival of the strongest.

We have a serious coyote problem and this is a big reason why I decided to not pull the trigger. Also, I saw this same doe and yearling with one of our big bucks early in the rut and figured that she is carrying precious cargo!

To answer the question in my terminology, I would not shoot a doe that had a spotted fawn with her but would shoot one with an unspotted fawn with her.

I would think a 6 month old fawn should be able to survive on its own, and I'm guessing that it would "team up" with another older deer for company.

It seems odd to me to have everyone talk about letting a 3 yr old buck walk ,but will shoot a 6mo old doe. I won't shoot a doe that's not grown.

Two things.

I have no problems with others shooting does with yearlings or shooting the yearling. I'm the only one that eats the deer meat in my family, so I can't make myself do it.

Other point is I always hear people saying they won't shoot does late in the season because they may be pregnant. Whats the difference if you shoot them before they breed or shoot them after they breed? The end result is the same.

i am with you on when to shoot does,why does it matter? i do not understand the thinking about shoot them early,cause they might be pregnant if you shoot them later. if you need to take does why does it matter if you shoot them after they have been bred? if you shoot them early they are just as dead as when you shoot them later,and still can not reproduce.

Idea being that dominant bucks are breeding the most doe and if you shoot them pegnant your best genetic fawns are being killed also. If you kill them before the rut the better chance that a dominant buck will breed the remainig does. Even if the fawn is a doe the following year the genetics are still there. Sounds good but who knows.

That was my thought too on shooting early versus late. Who knows though, it's all a big crap shoot. No way to control Mother Nature.

Last Saturday evening, I faced the same/or simular question; regardeing the harvesting of a mature doe, with her yearling twins; which approached the edge of a sendero.

AS the three approached from cover, I observed the lead
(in front)yearling, with all of the alertness of any mature deer; the second yearling displayed alertness also.

After considerate thought, I decided to harvest the mature doe ; confident, "The Yearlings" did learn and would survive on their own.