Ethical question on hunting does

[Bob33]

I hunt an area with an overpopulation of deer. The best thing for herd health is shooting does.

[PlateauNDN]

Ethics are an individual choice and should be made by the individual. I prefer not to shoot a doe with a yearling though I have done so a few times, just try not to.

[JJB11B]

Ethics are the toughest thing out there and something that you have to decide for yourself.  I can say that it is legal, the fawn will probably make it through the winter and you have to decide from there.  Keep in mind there is no guarantee that the fawn will make it through the winter even with it's mother.

I think this is one that many hunters struggle with.  Good luck on your decision.

Just don't use an AR type rifle and you will be perfectly ethical. Everyone knows you can't ethically kill a deer with an AR Rifle variant.

[BULLBLASTER]

Ethics are the toughest thing out there and something that you have to decide for yourself.  I can say that it is legal, the fawn will probably make it through the winter and you have to decide from there.  Keep in mind there is no guarantee that the fawn will make it through the winter even with it's mother.

I think this is one that many hunters struggle with.  Good luck on your decision.

Just don't use an AR type rifle and you will be perfectly ethical. Everyone knows you can't ethically kill a deer with an AR Rifle variant.

[Cultusman]

 
  I've never killed a Doe and never will because your killing the Doe,the Fawn she might have this spring,the fawn that fawn might have, it's never ending.

  Why our biologist think we have so many deer that we need to kill Does I will never know.
  I know there are some Whitetail herds that could use some thinning but I'm talking about Blacktails. If your old enough to know how many Blacktails there was 40 years ago you would understand what I'm talking about.

[DOUBLELUNG]

One other reason to consider taking a doe without fawns is meat quality.  All else being equal, a doe that is not lactating is under less physiological stress and will be fatter, may have greater muscle mass, and in my opinion has better tasting meat than a lactating doe.  This theory was developed by myself and three other wildlife biologist grad student subsistence hunters attending the University of Wyoming, and is based on approximately 75 antlerless mule and white-tailed deer, elk and pronghorn.

I have passed on quite a few ribby, knobby-hipped lactating does in search of one that looks sleek and rounded.  In a last day/hour scenario where I have a choice, I'll take the best looking fawn over the skinny mommy deer.

[brew]

  I've never killed a Doe and never will because your killing the Doe,the Fawn she might have this spring,the fawn that fawn might have, it's never ending.

  Why our biologist think we have so many deer that we need to kill Does I will never know.
  I know there are some Whitetail herds that could use some thinning but I'm talking about Blacktails. If your old enough to know how many Blacktails there was 40 years ago you would understand what I'm talking about.

what is your view on a good buck to doe ratio and what time of the year would you make that determination ?  i was up in the vail unit just after it opened in August and in a 4 hour time frame from basically 8 till noon i saw 65 deer....two of which were bucks (both 2 pts).  in my Yelm High School math that is a ratio of 32:1.  I am no biologist but that seems a liitle out of balance to me.  I had my 60x spotting scope on those over 200 yards away and saw no spikes.  Ive hunted that area a lot in the last 30 years because i lived out there.  10 years ago i had a buddy who worked for weyco and had keys to the gates.  we literally hunted that area from september to the end of december because we archery hunted.  the only times the gates were open was on the weekends of modern firearm and two days during the late season in November--that was about 10 days.  there were times in late november when we saw literally 100 deer a day--of which maybe 2 were bucks.  there is no way i can believe that was a healthy deer population and i can't believe that during modern season that a huge population of bucks were taken.  i don't know the answer on how to raise the buck to doe ratio but i can tell you first hand there is an over abundance of does in that area.  yes i understand that killing does will decrease the amount of male deer that are bred into the gene pool but the amount of female deer in an area will decrease the habitat able to withstand male deer.  just my 

[JLS]

I have not spent much time hunting doe deer before.  This time of year, many does are still with their yearlings.  I would assume that the yearlings are old enough to survive without their mothers, but I am hesitant to pull the trigger on a doe with a yearling nearby.

What are the ethics behind this one?

Having the doe around will not have a significant affect on the likelihood of survival for the fawn.  However, if you can, shoot a doe without a fawn.  She is barren for a reason, either age, low fertility (this is a hereditary trait), bad teeth, etc.  By removing her, you are reducing competition for cover, food, bucks that are better spent on the does that have fawns.

Youre saying if a doe doesnt have fawns this time of year its because shes barren, due to health issues.  Im going to have to strongly disagree.  A high percentage of does in my area have no fawns by october.  The reason is predators, not the does health.  Bears, cougars, wolves, coyotes, hell ive seen vultures take out a newborn fawn.

That's fine, we can certainly agree to disagree. 

[jay.sharkbait]

If it's legal, go for it!

[Colville]

Problem solved.

Shoot the yearling. Not bred, might not survive, tastes awesome. I love win win's.

[Bango skank]

Problem solved.

Shoot the yearling. Not bred, might not survive, tastes awesome. I love win win's.

And only takes up a fraction of the freezer space 

[Molon5labe]

Just because it's legal doesn't mean it's right. It's legal to shoot a momma bear and orphan her cubs. Is it something I will do? Not a chance. If I thought the fawn may not make it I wouldn't shoot.

[andrew_in_idaho]

I have not spent much time hunting doe deer before.  This time of year, many does are still with their yearlings.  I would assume that the yearlings are old enough to survive without their mothers, but I am hesitant to pull the trigger on a doe with a yearling nearby.

What are the ethics behind this one?

Having the doe around will not have a significant affect on the likelihood of survival for the fawn.  However, if you can, shoot a doe without a fawn.  She is barren for a reason, either age, low fertility (this is a hereditary trait), bad teeth, etc.  By removing her, you are reducing competition for cover, food, bucks that are better spent on the does that have fawns.

Youre saying if a doe doesnt have fawns this time of year its because shes barren, due to health issues.  Im going to have to strongly disagree.  A high percentage of does in my area have no fawns by october.  The reason is predators, not the does health.  Bears, cougars, wolves, coyotes, hell ive seen vultures take out a newborn fawn.

That's fine, we can certainly agree to disagree.

Just gonna leave this here

http://www.fieldandstream.com/blogs/whitetail-365/the-myth-of-the-“old-dry-doe”



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[pd]

Andrew's link:

http://www.fieldandstream.com/blogs/whitetail-365/the-myth-of-the-“old-dry-doe”

[JLS]

Still going to agree to disagree to a large extent,  it have absolutely no desire to argue it.  Certainly predation affects the visible numbers of fawns.  I don't find much science in the article.