Curious if shooting our resident doe early season is a good idea....

This will be our 4th year on this lease and the deer sightings on camera and in person have been getting worse each season. First year we had a neighboring property plant wheat, but has been left untouched every year since then. We know our deer numbers are down bc we have cattle and no crops besides feeders, whereas there are multiple wheat fields 1-2 miles away.

Wondering if y’all think it would be a good idea to shoot the one doe that eats corn morning and evening like clockwork? Or keep her as bait during the rut? Could some older does actually keep bucks away??

Doe = buck. No does = no bucks. She is yiur best chance of see a buck if you have no other does.

I would not......

Unless she blows at you non-stop when she winds or sees you. Those types


(I can't shoot the pets that stand there and watch me fill the feeder.)

i'm with you. I dont need a deer that bad

I'm on the other side of the fence on resident does, we always called them "baron does" which are always the older or post mature does. IME they will run herd over an area and actually keep your bucks away. They seem to want no part of the rut or any other nonsense. I would take her out personally.

IMO, there's much to be said for an older, experienced doe who can aid a few generations of youngsters in making it to maturity.

Read an article once that claimed insurance companies discovered the rate of deer/vehicle collisions rises during the time of year when does leave their yearlings to have their next fawn. This leaves the yearlings to make it on their own for a period of time.

I shoot them if they have no fawn. Once the rut starts new deer will cross the place looking for food, hungry from all the chasing.

For me it depends on how many does with fawns I am seeing. I take blind counts for the first part of the season then make my decisions based off of those counts. If I have large fawn crops and lots of does then I shoot every doe I have permits for with fawns. If the fawn numbers are lower then I may only shoot the oldest does I can find..fawn or no fawn. If the fawn crops are very low then I only shoot the younger does. I have a set number of "resident does" I like to keep and will not shoot any of those until I get a large fawn crop. I then shoot the older does first. There has not been a season in the last 8 now that I have not killed my allotted doe permits. My ratio has gotten tighter and tighter in the last 8 yrs also. Few does can raise just as many fawns as much larger population of them. It leaves more space for buck numbers to grow with consistent fawn crops IMO.

She does usually have 1 fawn each year that I have noticed. Since we have so low deer numbers it’s kind of hard for me to considering shooting the 1 doe that usually shows up. However like mentioned above, I’ve read about an old doe sometimes keeping bucks away. Now obviously 1 buck each year changes her mind, but was just curious if she is hurting our other deer sightings somehow.

LEAVE HER ALONE and enjoy what she brings!
Quit feeding for two weeks then start again, new deer will arrive.

No I would not shoot her then. Curious as to what happens to her fawn she raises each year? Generally the fawn(s) will stay with here for at least one year till the early fall if it is a buck and then a doe fawn for a long time after that. She should have a family doe group after a while if she is always there. Do you have a feed pen? Hog problem?

I would not shoot her either unless like Creek said she has you pegged and blows every time you are there.
Depending on the hunting pressure, having a doe at your feeder will make other deer more comfortable coming to it also for the most part.

Make sure you are doing the right things to keep from spooking deer off that you are not seeing but they are seeing you.

Good luck

If you are trying to improve your Bucks and are taking out the ones that do not meet your goals I would shoot her. On the other hand if you are just looking at deer numbers and not quality then don't. Remember the Doe is half of the quality. Shooting the oldest does each year if you have a good Buck breeding them will improve you herd. And as always this is just my opinion. Has worked on ibex but not tested on Deer.

I’d kill the doe and anything else that walks up this year and find a new place to hunt next year. Problem solved.

My philosophy has always been to keep the does around. No better bait for a horny buck than a group of ladies. It’s worked well for me over the years.

Having said that, I’ll shoot a few does early if there are plenty. In the OP’s situation, I’d leave her alone.

Resident does can be pretty cool.
We were instructed by the ranch owner at one feeder to put a pile of corn on a big flat rock (about 50ft from the blind) for their local doe. We did this every time that we went out, we generally put a soy bean and corn mix out. She would be coming out of the woods as we walked away and be on in before we got in the blind. She knew a truck or SBS meant munchies, she was well trained. We never asked but we knew better than shooting her.
She was really cool and had a fawn and another doe or two with her every year for the six years that we hunted there.
These low fencers are some wily beast I tell you.

I love to shoot does for meat but if i had that low numbers at my feeder I'd have a hard time shootin her. Maybe if I was movin on but that would make me a murderer