Would you shoot a doe with fawns?

[rhino]

It would depend on how hungry I am at the time.

 

[tradertator]

shoot mama first and the yearlings just hang around to be shot too. there's no sweeter meat than Bambi's little loins

Haha, have to agree. The little ones fit nicely in the slow cooker.

 

[huntall50]

I hunt deer, not button or smaller rack bucks nor do I have the time or energy to pursue mature bucks all season. I like to hunt other animals also. If I see a mature doe, its down, I process it or donate it. Farmers I hunt near appreciate that more than my bragging and mounting a rack in my trophy room.

 

[bocefus78]

I'm very selective when it comes to horns. In fact, I haven't shot a buck in 9 years.

I wack any available doe (bb are off limits) since I process my own meat. If I were to pay a butcher, I'd hold out for a large doe.

 

[awalters0815]

By hunting season fawns are able to survive just fine without mama. I'd aim for the biggest of the group.

 

[JeremiahJohnson]

Squirrels are slutty like that.

That's Funny!

 

[BigBoxaJunk]

That's Funny!

That looks more like CPR.

 

[Black Cloud]

That looks more like CPR.

You're obviously not seeing the third one...

 

[JeremiahJohnson]

You're obviously not seeing the third one...

Ménage à trois

 

[Zoub]

This is why I lived in Indiana twice, the people. A guy asks a question related to hunting ethics so he can get a better sense of how others view it.............and it turns into a prairie dog orgy.

You can't expect that to happen just anywhere but it happens here.

 

[Restroyer]

Back to the OP- in my opinion it depends. We (being myself and my sons) have 2 different doe and fawn duos on our trail cameras. One set the fawn is weaned and lost her spots and was born around March - April. We would shoot the doe in that grouping. Another mother fawn set has also been on our trail cameras and the fawn was a late birth and still has her spots. We would not shoot that doe since the fawn still has her spots and probably is in late weaning stage. However, come late November the fawn will probably be mature enough for us to take the doe. So in my opinion it depends on the time of season in accordance with the age of the fawn.

 

[Sniper 79]

Not me. I think it is bogus and unsportsman like.

I jumped a mother and two young fawns during bow season one time. I passed and let the string down easy and watched them all walk away slowly. After that day I saw them all two more times together grazing. I know I did the right thing.

If you shoot up all the deer there wont be any left.

 

[indyjohn]

It would depend on how hungry I am at the time.

^^^^ This. I'm hunting to feed my family.

 

[mom45]

These answers explain why my back yard looks like I am running a nursery for fawns. I have had two does with 8 fawns in my yard the past several evenings. Previously, these two does had a set of triplets and a single that I have been watching for most of the summer. The single had been running with a young buck that had two rather tall antlers with no forks/points. An odd rack but he is/was obviously a young one. I have not seen him for about a week. Last night I had 10 small deer in the yard. These does area apparently taking in all of the orphans and bringing them to my yard to eat.

Several of the fawns we have seen this year were born in July and quite a few are still nursing. They probably can survive on their own, but all year we have speculated about how small the deer are that we have been seeing and just why they are so small. I can't help but feel many of these are small due to being weaned too soon due to the depredation tags being used in July in our area.

We have eaten our share of venison. We had it for dinner tonight so I am not against hunting. I do feel like much of the "sport" of hunting has been lost. There isn't much challenge in going out and blasting the first deer that walks by.

 

[bwframe]

The DNR issues 6-7-8 bonus antler less licenses per county for a reason. They need to manage the size of the herd.

 

[The Bubba Effect]

It would depend on how hungry I am at the time.

I was just going to post exactly this.

 

[JeremiahJohnson]

Not me. I think it is bogus and unsportsman like.

I jumped a mother and two young fawns during bow season one time. I passed and let the string down easy and watched them all walk away slowly. After that day I saw them all two more times together grazing. I know I did the right thing.

If you shoot up all the deer there wont be any left.

Good on you for not going against your personal code of ethics. However they were "grazing". Not feeding on milk. They're weaned. They don't need mom any more. If you'd been around in the 70's to bow hunt deer you'd only have one tag per season, only one deer regardless of sex - been there did that, was lucky to see a deer. Now, we have multiple tags and tons of deer. Worry not, by fall the does are headed toward estrus and time to breed again. The fawns will be fine if they ever would have in the first place.

 

[JeremiahJohnson]

This is why I lived in Indiana twice, the people. A guy asks a question related to hunting ethics so he can get a better sense of how others view it.............and it turns into a prairie dog orgy.

You can't expect that to happen just anywhere but it happens here.

We do our best to be interesting.

 

[rhino]

^^^^ This. I'm hunting to feed my family.

I was just going to post exactly this.

I don't deer hunt because I don't need the food. If I did need it, I'd be killing the hell out whatever I could find. And deer wouldn't be the only species in jeopardy of encountering a hungry fat guy in the woods. If rhino hits hard times, don't expect feral dogs packs to be a problem for very long. Heh.

Disclaimer: I have no problem with hunting for sport, especially if doing so has additional benefits such as managing wildlife populations or generating income with usage fees to help manage the resources. I just don't feel like doing it myself. I'll gladly watch videos and look at photos of the hunting adventures of others!

 

[Hookeye]

Would like 2 deer a yr.
But only take 1 antlerless on my current spot.

I hear folks at work talk about "needing the meat" and they drive $45K trucks, go on vacations and blow $ like there's no tomorrow.

Yeah right they "need" the meat.

I like venison, have one roast left from last yrs deer. And I'm toting a friggin' recurve.
Sport. It seems as if greed and other have clouded many a Nimrod's vision.