While much has been written about judging the age of bucks on hoof, you might be hard pressed to find someone who has addressed the differences between young and mature does. Granted, it's easy to tell the difference when the two or more does are traveling together. However, I've found those yearling does can look much bigger than they really are when they're all alone.

The most recent issue of Deer and Deer Hunting magazine includes a good article on the subject, with the following key things to look for along with my own comments...

Fawns have full-sized ears which can make them look bigger on a smaller head. Mature does on the other hand appear to have smaller ears because their head is larger and their nose longer. The longer nose is a clear giveaway that you're looking at a mature doe, just as young does will have short nose. Also, younger does will appear thin in their hindquarters and larger in the front shoulders. A mature doe will also appear wider when viewed from the front or rear simply because their age has given them time to develop a wider bone structure. And finally, the tail on a mature doe will appear shorter than younger does where the tail will appear longer due to the smaller overall body size.

With so many older does having already been taking out, it's a subject that might keep someone from shooting a leftover yearling that might disappoint an ice chest.

Size trumps all for me on does, coloration of does coat can also be indicator. You see thousands of does, like bucks you just generally know. For newer hunters that haven't seen as many deer, I like the length of nose, appeared ear and tail size too. Don't forget floppy ears, older doe will often have old, floppy ears. Good stuff

Size, all are does.

Kinda like bucks. Shorter snout, meaty brisket, shorter front legs, coloration and size. They are also the most wary looking up to bust you a lot.

Horse head and big body!

Older, "matriarch" does will often lead the way for other deer and be the first to bust you for that reason. However, younger deer will often be the first to show at food plots and feeders.

I have made it a personal rule to never shoot a single doe under a feeder. Need more than one for me to make a judgement on young versus old when you are 100+ yards away.

When I'm looking at a single doe with no other deer around it, it's the length of the nose that I'll focus on first to determine relative age. As some already pointed out, the proportions of the length of the nose relative to the size of the head will be closer to that of a horse. IMO, this is also something that can be recognized even at a significant distance, especially when glassing.

Good stuff Dan, I'm pretty confident in my aging abilities of both doe and bucks. Hunting 35-40 years in South Texas will expose a person to large amounts of deer across many age classes, like decades of deer school.

I love shooting single does. No need to educate every deer in the woods. Last year I shot a lone doe late opening morning because she was a good size doe without a fawn and only thing out.

Thanks. With the antlerless season coming to an end this Sunday in East Texas and perhaps other parts of the state, I thought it was good timing to use the D&DH article as the basis for good discussion that folks might find helpful. I've always been one who simply aged does by their relative size, especially when they were with other deer. I've seen quite a few yearlings these past couple of weeks with thoughts that older does they had been running with (based on camera photos) have since been taken. Now I have something more to go on to determine with greater certainty the age of the ones left to fend for themselves.

Dan, the East Texas counties with Anterless restrictions to the first two weeks of the season usually have a muzzleloader season after the general season in which you can fill any unfilled tags (per general season limits and regulations). You can extend your season by two weeks if you pick up a muzzleloader and use it. You pretty much have the woods to yourself many places that time of year.

I see some of my better bucks that time of year (survivors) that are keen on food sources....trying to put some weight back on after the rigors of the rut.

I've even seen them back in bachelor groups (usually the younger ones) but definitely hungry and moving in the daytime. Does as well.

Good rule. Also this time of year a lot of single "does" are actually nubbin bucks that their mom has ran off because of the rut. I try to drill it into the guys that I hunt with that it's not normal for a doe to be wandering around by itself.

I would agree outside of hunting season. However, I think it's far more common when it's open season on does. I've seen a couple of young deer in the same area lately that seem to be wandering in search of their mother. I've watched one on three separate instances walk out from the brush at a given spot, walk along the edge of a pasture, and then re-enter the brush at the same spot each time. My gut is they're the same deer that my cameras took photos in the months before the season opener. I've also seen young deer return alone to the same area where their mother was harvested earlier. Yes, while these young deer are old enough to make it on their own, it's easy to tell they're no longer benefiting from the far more wary and experienced eyes of their mother.

Whole it is unusual to see adult does wandering by themselves, during the rut timeframe they xan be more readily alone than other times. When off locked up with a buck, the doe will generally leave the rest of the doe herd and if the doe is pst her cycle for a day or so she may be by herself while finding the rest of the family.

I also say any younger “doe” on their own is more likely a buck fawn but not always. I try to impress upon my hunters that we don’t need to shoot fawns or yearlings. I like to shoot a doe that is without a fawn or the biggest of the doe herd if many doe/fawns are around. I will also try to shoot those weary doe that seem to blow at everything or just walk around stomping at everything and nothing at the same time.

Aging doe isnt rocket science, it just requires some patience and field time.