Does anyone go through this

[Dave]

Has anyone had these feelings while deer hunting. I have no problem when I get the opportunity to shoot a buck, but reluctant to shoot a doe. I will eventually shoot a doe but there is something completely different that I just have a hard time explaining. Must be getting soft in my old age. Hava a permit and could have taken a doe atleast 10 times this season but just been putting it off. Will head up again this last weekend and do the deed.

[First-light]

As I get older the lust to kill a deer fades and is replaced with what I really need in the freezer and what is good for the deer. I have no problems killing a doe, I rather a big doe than a 1.5 year old buck. The little ones are off limits for me, yes they taste good, I just can't see it unless your a first timer. We are all different in the way we feel and the way we hunt.

[Doc]

My attitude toward taking a doe is purely based on my perception of the population size. Right now, with all the landscape destruction, I have no problem with taking does. The past couple of years, these critters have cost me a bundle in mangled up, chopped down, uprooted plants and shrubs and trees. We have no deer shortages here. So I have no problems taking a few of them out. I have seen years when I gave them a pass because I felt that the DEC had over-shot their mark with all the permits.

 

Sentiment? ..... No none of that yet. Maybe when I really get old .... lol.

[growalot]

mines more of the work involved after the shot...I'd prefer to put that work into a buck than a doe....but it also depends on what I see in food consumption before gun season arrives...if they have seriously mowed every thing down ...no hesitation in shooting to lower competition during winter...if there is still plenty of food untouched....I think a bit harder on  before a shot...

[WNYBuckHunter]

I have zero issues taking a doe. The bigger the better when Im filling my regular DMP tags, but when it comes to filling DMAPs for the farmer, any doe is fair game to me. I hunt his land for free, my job first and foremost is to make him happy. Now big, old does, they are just about as tough to hunt as a mature buck. Get get very spooky and skiddish.

[Jeremy K]

I'll admit that I wouldn't be able to pull the trigger on a doe that had a young one following along unless we were starving.

[NYbuck50]

My reluctance to shoot anything other than a mature buck is directly proportionate to how far i have to drag it. I shoot most of my doe during bow out of a stand that's 100 yards from where i park. Once im into bow rut stands 1/2 mile-2 miles into the woods or still hunting gun season i usually will let them walk

[landtracdeerhunter]

Last Sunday night, watched a doe lick noses with it's doe fawn at 35 yd... Just had to pass that one.

The will to shoot was lost that night, except if "Big Hoof" walked out, LOL.

[DROpTINE]

i have seen over 50 deer this season...could have filled a doe tag 42 times....I have a hard time shooting a doe because im constantly waiting for that buck to not be too far behind. I have never shot a doe before the last week of rifle season, its just my gameplan each season... if I don't harvest a doe, then thats 3 more deer i will hopefully see the following year. not knocking anyone, to each there own...

 

Bow, to me, is different...I have no problem shooting a doe with the bow anytime...

 

 

[Dave]

i have seen over 50 deer this season...could have filled a doe tag 42 times....I have a hard time shooting a doe because im constantly waiting for that buck to not be too far behind. I have never shot a doe before the last week of rifle season, its just my gameplan each season... if I don't harvest a doe, then thats 3 more deer i will hopefully see the following year. not knocking anyone, to each there own...

 

Bow, to me, is different...I have no problem shooting a doe with the bow anytime...

 

I agree usually only fill a tag on the final weekend.

 

[First-light]

The doe I shot was the biggest out of 7 under my stand opening day. Two of the critters were button bucks sparring with each other. 

I'm sure some off those deer were her offspring. They were old enough to take care of themselves. no problem with taking her. I do understand the other side of the coin with this, we are all different.

[Catskill Hunter]

Right before I squeeze the trigger I think of the work that follows, gutting, dragging, butchering and listening to my anti hunter wife carry on about shooting a " woman " lol so I usually let it go, but if I need the meat or someone I know wants it I will shoot one, just won't do it just to fill a tag.

[nycredneck]

No problem shooting a solitary doe or a doe with fawns as long as it's at least end of November and I know they will be fine by themselves.

[DROpTINE]

i just recalled a time where i Had a doe tag and a big doe came in with a tiny fawn (last weekend)...i couldnt pull the trigger on her...i thought the fawn would have never survived without her...who knows what happened to them, maybe theyre still on my property... i really think it boils down to that feeling when you KNOW whatever deer you are going to take is the one...

[the blur]

Right before I squeeze the trigger I think of the work that follows, gutting, dragging, butchering.

 

I have that same problem.   Last week I'm walking in, 1 mile up hill. Pushed through some thick mountain laurel.  I am physically exhausted, 8 am.  Dying of thirst.  And I see this big bodied buck. My back pack still on.  Weighted down.    I'm by myself.  Could have pulled the trigger 5 times, just didn't want to do the work.   And walk 1 mile out to get my deer cart.       So I stood and watched the deer for 10 minutes.   Then he bounced away.   

 

I was happy.   I saw antlers.   That made my day.   I sat for 3 hours, and went home.   

 

It was a perfect day of hunting.

 

If I had a hunting partner to help me drag, maybe I would have pulled the trigger.  But it was a good day.

[Catskill Hunter]

I have that same problem.   Last week I'm walking in, 1 mile up hill. Pushed through some thick mountain laurel.  I am physically exhausted, 8 am.  Dying of thirst.  And I see this big bodied buck. My back pack still on.  Weighted down.    I'm by myself.  Could have pulled the trigger 5 times, just didn't want to do the work.   And walk 1 mile out to get my deer cart.       So I stood and watched the deer for 10 minutes.   Then he bounced away.   

 

I was happy.   I saw antlers.   That made my day.   I sat for 3 hours, and went home.   

 

It was a perfect day of hunting.

 

If I had a hunting partner to help me drag, maybe I would have pulled the trigger.  But it was a good day.

Nothing wrong with a perfect day of hunting 

[NY Indy]

While I always am hunting for a mature buck, I will shoot a doe to fill the freezer, and to help the heard stay healthy. I hunt in areas where the deer are a problem, and from what I read, a good buck to doe ratio is important for the future of the deer on my property.

 

Now, I have shot a doe or two when she has fawns in toe...I HATE DOING IT, but, almost every doe I see has a fawn with her. I have researched this carefully and understand a huge majority of fawns will survive perfectly fine. They are weaned way before I would ever shoot one, (mid to late gun season), and by January in NY, most deer heard up for the winter.

 

 

[bkln]

For me it's the meat first, I have no issues taking a doe as a first deer of the season, after that I will wait and let them walk and wait for Mr.Buck.... It is basically the first deer doesn't get a pass the next ones do...

[BUCKANDAQUARTER]

I have that same problem.   Last week I'm walking in, 1 mile up hill. Pushed through some thick mountain laurel.  I am physically exhausted, 8 am.  Dying of thirst.  And I see this big bodied buck. My back pack still on.  Weighted down.    I'm by myself.  Could have pulled the trigger 5 times, just didn't want to do the work.   And walk 1 mile out to get my deer cart.       So I stood and watched the deer for 10 minutes.   Then he bounced away.   

 

I was happy.   I saw antlers.   That made my day.   I sat for 3 hours, and went home.   

 

It was a perfect day of hunting.

 

If I had a hunting partner to help me drag, maybe I would have pulled the trigger.  But it was a good day.

 

If it is uphill on the way in then it is downhill for the drag out. lol. I know what you mean. I have a 1 mile stand that is a nasty mess of a climb. I have passed up the biggest doe I have ever seen twice. Once in bow and once in rifle. Just not the same as shooting a big ol' elusive buck up in the tickies. When I get the big boy I always go and get backup.

[azhuntress]

I used to always shoot the first doe I saw but now it seems like all I do is video

tape them. It's going on 4 years now that I haven't shot a doe. I keep thinking I

just might shoot and then I decide not to. I guess I'm getting soft.

[fasteddie]

I would love to have the opportunity to take a doe . I wouldn't give it a second thought ! 

[DROpTINE]

Truth be told, starting the day after opening rifle I was going to fill the doe tag. That changed on the last day of bow I got a big doe and got the meat I needed. Tag soup last year so I was getting hungry.

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[Woodjr55]

I have that same problem. Last week I'm walking in, 1 mile up hill. Pushed through some thick mountain laurel. I am physically exhausted, 8 am. Dying of thirst. And I see this big bodied buck. My back pack still on. Weighted down. I'm by myself. Could have pulled the trigger 5 times, just didn't want to do the work. And walk 1 mile out to get my deer cart. So I stood and watched the deer for 10 minutes. Then he bounced away.

I was happy. I saw antlers. That made my day. I sat for 3 hours, and went home.

It was a perfect day of hunting.

If I had a hunting partner to help me drag, maybe I would have pulled the trigger. But it was a good day.

just curious why would you go hunt so far in to not take a shot at a buck?

[the blur]

just curious why would you go hunt so far in to not take a shot at a buck?

 

Not having private land is difficult.  On public land, one needs to find a good location.   Where I think I'm alone, even though I know others are wandering around.    It's tough to find a good spot in a state park !!

[Ford]

Has anyone had these feelings while deer hunting. I have no problem when I get the opportunity to shoot a buck, but reluctant to shoot a doe. I will eventually shoot a doe but there is something completely different that I just have a hard time explaining. Must be getting soft in my old age. Hava a permit and could have taken a doe atleast 10 times this season but just been putting it off. Will head up again this last weekend and do the deed.

 

Understand completely.

 

This year I hunted for ten days in a row, looking for that buck. Never crossed paths. I had shots on does maybe all ten days. Many were the same ones I have encountered all year, with trail cams or just seeing them around.

 

I took a doe the last 15 minutes of my 10 day hunt. It is definitely different for me. As others have said, it is not different for them, and that is the way it should be I guess. A deer is a deer. If you are going to eat it what is the difference.

 

But there is for me.