Trying to get my first deer

[Gobble Doc]

I'll be trying to get my first deer ever this year.  I will be trying with a bow.  I've had the game cam out and getting some good pictures.  Looks like I've also got a bear checking things out as well.  I am thinking I should probably have some bigger firepower with me besides the bow with yogi sniffing around.  Last year I passed on an antlerless but I may have to just go for it this year as I'll be in an antlerless GMU.  Seems like wimping out to take a doe but maybe for a first deer it would be OK. 

[NOCK NOCK]

Nothing wrong with taking a doe. I have killed my share of bucks and doe's, but one of my most memorable stalks/shots was on a doe. It's all about the experience...not antlers...although they are a bonus 

[grizzlyadams]

Nothing wrong with a doe man. Boy are they good to eat and the tenderloins on a doe are oh so tasty. Makes my mouth water just thinking about it. Looks like that might be a pretty decent size bear. Snag that sucker to. Makes great sausage and get yourself a nice rug out of it as well

[MLBowhunting]

 

[ctwiggs1]

Eating a doe is better than eating nothing at all.  Trophy bucks are cool and all, but meat in the freezer is cooler.

[Stein]

I can't tell a difference on the grill.  They guy going to Safeway for meet seems "wimpier" than the guy with meet in the freezer according to my rule book.

[npaull]

Hunting is about hunting, not about antlers.

I hunt with a longbow, (have for almost two decades) and even now, I pretty much never pass up a perfect opportunity to shoot a doe.

[BULLBLASTER]

I see no issue at all with any hunter shooting a doe. Heck sometimes i do it. Honestly id rather shoot a big doe than a small buck.

[rover758]

Ditto on all the above.  My first with a bow was a doe.  I've taken more doe than bucks and can't remember them all but I've never forgotten that first one.  What a thrill!  Now, if I could just get my first elk with a bow ....

[Gobble Doc]

Thanks everyone.  I'll go for the doe then if the opportunity presents itself and go from there.  I just hope I don't have to post a picture of a doe with all of the cool bucks that get posted on here.

I have been thinking more about that bear as well.  A bear rug wouldn't be cheap and in this warm weather I would definitely need to deal with it quickly.

My September hunts are going to be a combination of deer, fall turkey (I almost got one last year with my bow and really want to make this happen), and a rabbit (I've been waiting to take the one that ate my beans down to the dirt earlier in the year).  I won't go after the bear unless he gets too close for comfort.   By the end of September I sure hope that I can check something off the list.  Talk about desperation.  The last few nights I've been going out to the barn with the trusty 1980s vintage Crossman 760 looking for rats. 

[h20hunter]

Doc.....legal animal with a bow is a good animal. I'm a doe killer....haven't had the chance or waited yet for a buck. I'm ok with it. My time will come. In the meantime I've made some good memories, been on some fun hunts, and eaten some nice steaks. Get out there and get it done. Then, later on, after you have eaten your fill one evening, start looking for that honey hole for a nice buck. Gotta start somewhere man....and a nice doe is a tasty way to do it!

[luvmystang67]

Its okay... my first deer was a doe.

Also, I was 8.

H20, can we start calling you Doe-boy?

All jokes aside, killing deer with a bow and not on the San Juan Islands is a huge challenge.  If you have a legal animal in front of you and there's no gunpowder in your weapon, anything is a trophy.

[h20hunter]

I prefer "doekiller". However....now you are "the man" to call with your locker up and running. Call me what you want, I'll bring the beer, an extra knife, and some type of critter to hang.

[rover758]

Heck ... I'll bring the beer just to watch the show as h20 lowers the boom on that big black and .... how'd that go??? "Click"?? 

My son stuck 4 doe in 4 consecutive years and in his 5th year pulled back on his first buck ... an Oklahoma 4x4.  12 years later he hasn't regretted ever taking a doe and is still waiting for that first archery buck.  I tell him it'll come ... it'll come.

[h20hunter]

 :chuckle:Rover....no no no....it never went click because I had no shot nor did I have a round on the chamber. Sheesh...you trying to make me look bad or what?