Do you/will you shoot pregnant does?

[westtexducks]

I'm with you. I've always thought people think way too much in to this. You have no control. Shoot does and let your bucks get old. That's all you can control.

Winner winner.

[Hix]

Killin is killin, October or January doesn’t matter.
You can’t change free genetics...

That does “top buck” genetic fawn will disperse elsewhere anyways most likely so the chance of killing it 5 years later is funny


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[Hix]

He could have bred 4 does, but you shot 3 of them in October....


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Stop being reasonable lol


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[BowSlayer]

He could have bred 4 does, but you shot 3 of them in October....


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You seriously think there will be a shortage of does come rut time? I'm trying to wrap my head around this line of thought. He's only going to breed 1 or 2 regardless most of the time. We didn't want to shoot them so we shot does early. I'm not understanding why that's hard to understand. For the record, it makes me no difference. I've shot them in September and February. If you're trying to maximize your chance at growing big deer it only makes sense to shoot your does pre-rut. If you're just controlling numbers, it really doesn't matter.

[BowSlayer]

Killin is killin, October or January doesn’t matter.
You can’t change free genetics...

That does “top buck” genetic fawn will disperse elsewhere anyways most likely so the chance of killing it 5 years later is funny


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We watched 3 generations of bucks grow up on our place and nobody would dispute they were related. They almost all looked like twins. The smallest scored 150's and the largest scored 187 when killed. All the same frame down to most kickers. I don't know if not shooting does after the rut helped but it dang sure didn't hurt to take that gamble out of the equation.

[Chad C]

It's not worth arguing. You have zero clue how your fawn survival rate will pan out in any given year.

[Dale Moser]

You seriously think there will be a shortage of does come rut time? I'm trying to wrap my head around this line of thought. He's only going to breed 1 or 2 regardless most of the time. We didn't want to shoot them so we shot does early. I'm not understanding why that's hard to understand. For the record, it makes me no difference. I've shot them in September and February. If you're trying to maximize your chance at growing big deer it only makes sense to shoot your does pre-rut. If you're just controlling numbers, it really doesn't matter.

Makes me no difference either. And I also don’t understand how you can’t see that all of the does are getting bred. Regardless of how many you shoot or when, they are not carrying big boy’s fawn. And I disagree that he’s only gonna breed 1 or 2, that’s not how it works.

They’re all getting bred, you have no idea by which buck, the dead ones will not throw a fawn. These are facts.

The argument could be made that having less does during the rut could lead to dominant bucks breeding the higher percentage. But the dominant buck is not always the biggest one. Again, you have no way of knowing who bred who.

The argument could also be made that having more does around during the rut could mean less competition and your boy gets to breed some he wouldn’t have otherwise. Again, you have no way to know which ones.

It’s a wash.


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[jshouse]

It's not worth arguing. You have zero clue how your fawn survival rate will pan out in any given year.

Agree, but why not try to tilt the odds in your favor, however small?

[forced-2-work]

Agreed. She wants a pass from me, she better have a baby by her side.


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this is my rule also. if there is a young one in tow with a big doe, she gets a pass.

wanna talk about prego deer.....expect every axis doe you shoot to be pregnant!! almost guaranteed 100% of the time

[Chad C]

Agree, but why not try to tilt the odds in your favor, however small?

I pass every doe that has twins, she's obviously doing something right. Later in the year if we are still taking doe off a place we tend to fill tags with yearlings.

Then again, I also shoot every doe that stares down the deer blind or blows every time she gets nervous because it irritates the **** out of me.

In the end, I don't really think it matters.

[BowSlayer]

Makes me no difference either. And I also don’t understand how you can’t see that all of the does are getting bred. Regardless of how many you shoot or when, they are not carrying big boy’s fawn. And I disagree that he’s only gonna breed 1 or 2, that’s not how it works.

They’re all getting bred, you have no idea by which buck, the dead ones will not throw a fawn. These are facts.

The argument could be made that having less does during the rut could lead to dominant bucks breeding the higher percentage. But the dominant buck is not always the biggest one. Again, you have no way of knowing who bred who.

The argument could also be made that having more does around during the rut could mean less competition and your boy gets to breed some he wouldn’t have otherwise. Again, you have no way to know which ones.

It’s a wash.


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I do understand that every single doe that is capable will be bred. That's the point. Nothing in nature is guaranteed but why not do what you can and then let it play out? If I have 10 bucks on my place and 20 does. I need to kill 10 does this season. 1 of my bucks has great genetics. You're correct, he may or may not breed any of my does. But if he does why would I want to take a chance on shooting her? If I shoot my does pre-rut the odds are in my favor that he will still breed at least 1 and the chances of me killing her are ZERO. If you shoot post rut and he DID breed (most likely did) then you might have killed off his genetics with 1 shot. Like I said, it's all a matter of your goals. If big bucks are your goal you have to use every advantage you have to try to grow one and killing off does post-rut is counter-productive. If you're in the crowd that just wants to control numbers you might as well wait until they are all bred and shoot all your does then.

[Archery1st]

A doe is a doe...does not matter when you shoot them. It's purely a numbers game.

[Hix]

Then again, I also shoot every doe that stares down the deer blind or blows every time she gets nervous because it irritates the **** out of me.

Now that’s good doe management advice I agree on.

If she blows she goes. It’s up to her...




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[Bort]

Just a thought.

If you take your does early, you have fewer deer during the winter when food is scarce. Also, the bucks don’t waste time, energy, or get into fights over a doe that will just get shot.

[nursejenn]

Yes