disclaimer,i have killed no where near 400 deer.

Pic's to prove that?

You've wasted a bucks time and resources by doing that. You're killing a doe thats been bred, removing not 1, but 3 from the herd. Kill them early, increases buck movement and let the does walk after the rut. 100% effort is returned into the cycle.

Good post Rye.

LOL OK it has been 90 plus degrees here for over a month now. Rain today and cool temps for one day. Back in 80's By Thursday. YOU kill does in that weather and I"LL kill them when I want to . I bet 90% percent of our does are not breed by second weekend in November. As for your STUPID remark for saying we are removing 3 from the herd that's a given if the doe dies in august. Plus how do YOU know she has been breed by nov 1st. You don't same way I don't know she has. BUT one thing I can tell you from experience if you are targeting a mature buck and you start BLASTING does and gutting and removing them from an area HE will know you are there. The chances of you killing him go way down every time you are in there. So I'M NOT going to booger up my stand by shooting does until I have a chance to kill him....

You say let them walk after the rut . We have had years that the "rut was hot and heavy the second muzzleloader season in mid December. Always still rutting action going on then.
Now don't someone pullout a moon phase graph and say " the rut will take place on November the 3 at 4.06 pm ..... thhhhhhuuuuuuh

So rye let me ask you . If someone shoots a fawn wouldn't that be a waste of the DOES time and resources? I can assure you she has more time in raising that fawn than the buck spent breeding her .Plus the vast majority say that you need to shot does to "take them out of the herd". The comment that you are killing 3 is so wrong. If the numbers are low then don't shoot any. But to claim it is better to do it early doesn't always apply.
As I said EVERY mature buck I have killed come from a farm that the first shot fired was at him. Hunt a farm with 2 guys that wanted to shoot anything legal. Does , fawns and each killed 6 points. NO big deer were killed even tho had 3 160 plus class deer on the farm. Next year they didn't go back until I killed the 191 that had been there for last 4 years......


Oh Yes you guys with all the wisdom on when to kill them. Not legal to kill them until December in some parts of the state. EXCEPT FOR BOW !!! But not everyone bow hunts..... Plus dang we have been in a drought that broke all records for temps and no rainfall. Who wants to field dress a deer in those conditions when if you wait a month it's cold weather.....

Are you not able to buy a bow tag?

I just stuck this big doe in Illinois and it was miserable hot, but I needed some meat

Good job RM! She will taste great I am sure.

Fire away, wont be long till the rut and the bucks will run the bobbin heads off anyways, they survive

This cracks me up..I’ve been bowhunting since 1982 and have taken a few does in my life and
there is no shortage of deer around here....

two down , one more an I'm ready for trapping season

Early season here is WI is a great time to get on bucks. Still in summer patterns and easy to find. No need to wait for the rut.

I would prefer to shoot does before breeding and plus save deer food resources if you’re going to kill them anyway seems like ga better time for management and to give the remaining deer a better chance for winter survival. Just my opinion

Yes some of these comments may be true if you like to bow hunt in hot temps. fighting mosquitoes, watching for ticks. Yes I could buy a bow tag as it comes with the state tag ,(tags don't specify method , dates and county zones do). I used to be a bow hunting nut. season opened 1st day of October . THEN the FWD decided to open revenue for non residents that wanted to shoot a velvet buck. So it comes in first weekend in Sept now. The first year I hunted early. Killed a dandy 8 pt that had lost it velvet . IT was 87 degress. Killed it at 7 pm that evening. I have gutted ,hunted, skinned, slaughtered about any animal that can be eaten in this state. Never once got sick to my stomach queezy or anything. Still don't to this day . BUT gutting a deer that was bloated 5 minutes after It was shot. Fighting flies and sweating my butt off wasn't my ideal of a good time. THEN did I mention that I had to be at work at 5 am but with a dead deer being hung up at 830 pm and 87 degrees meant butchering it and processing it. That officially ended my HOT weather deer hunting.

But you last few guys didn't even acknowledge my MAIN reason for not popping does before gun season. Targeting a MATURE BUCK..

And gryhky EVERYONE DOESN"T BOW HUNT

Private land gun doe hunt this weekend. Slick heads look out, meat season for me. Hope I see a momma and her fawn. Fawn for my freezer, momma for my church's food pantry.

Jbyrd I'm not saying you're right or wrong, I shot my doe this past Thursday in 92 degree heat and had her meat on ice within a hour . I definitely don't enjoy hunting in those temps but we always go to our Illinois farm for opening week and it was miserable this year but I was there so I was going to be in the stand. We always try to harvest 2 does to every buck if not more and we do it all thru season. And we only harvest mature bucks as well. Seems to me the less does the more the big boys have to be on their feet and compete to get one. We have harvested does out of a stand and then take a mature buck the very next day out of the same stand. I hunted Lewis county Kentucky for years and we had 10,000 acres of timber with very low deer population so we never shot does on that lease except for the kids

Holy crap. It's legal and you have a doe tag, kill her if you want to!.
Easy peazy.
I've been through every scenario when it come to this topic and bottom line is, it makes no matter!.
The only time I don't like shooting does is right at go time. early- mid November for no other reason than I don't want to disturb the woods.

Here, in the southeast, deer numbers are generally high. On the large recreational farms, high fenced and otherwise, the harvest of bucks is very limited and likewise the harvest of does can even be lower. Some of the properties where hunting clubs exist, have some doe harvesting regulations or stipulations. Many that are hunted by family and friends, the buck to doe ratio gets really skewed. Quality deer management recommendations are 1:1, trophy hunters sometimes manage at a 3 bucks per doe. Many landowners want to see big numbers of deer unless they have an understanding of QDM. I have been taking a group of around 10-12 trusted friends on some of these large (1,000 - 3,000+ acre) farms and helping landowners, that understand QDM and have an interest in growing bigger bucks, to thin their deer by taking large numbers of does. One high fence farm that we have hunted for several years, still produced 34 does for our group one weekend last year and the farm manager has already contacted me about coming back this year. I know that things are different up north and out west but here the best time to kill does is anytime you get a chance. In Tennessee the daily limit for antlerless deer is 3 per day from the beginning of bow season till the end of gun season. Some of the other southern states may even be more liberal. Working around other guests hunting or whatever puts most of our doe hunts around the last month of season. If there was a significant doe harvest during bow season, the bucks would have to move more to find the does that are still available.

I know that. But it seemed he was complaining that those who do bow hunt get an early doe season. If that's the case, and somebody wants to hunt early doe, buy a tag and hunt with a bow.