just i would like to know

[thphtm]

I have not shot a doe in many years and by the looks of things around my property I will not shooting any for some time . They are all Small as the size of 1 year old deer , they are healthy ,no bones showing , just small in size . The last good size deer I have seen in my area was 5 years ago. 

[mowin]

3 hours ago, thphtm said:

I have not shot a doe in many years and by the looks of things around my property I will not shooting any for some time . They are all Small as the size of 1 year old deer , they are healthy ,no bones showing , just small in size . The last good size deer I have seen in my area was 5 years ago. 

What area, and what's the average weight doe?  Just curious. 

 

We weight every deer that comes into our butcher shop. ( Personal shop, friends only), and our average adult doe, 1 1/2 yr old + is 105 dressed, skin on.  The biggest doe we've weighed was 162.  

 

Most newbies guess WAY over. Lol

Edited September 4, 2017 by mowin

[tuckersdaddy]

Hey if your happy with the decision, it was a good hunt! Try bringing a camera along. If you think its not a shooter, snap some pics and share!

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[moog5050]

I suspect much of this decision depends on deer density in the areas you hunt.  I pass on far more does (and bucks) than I shoot every year but we have good density.   Like Pygmy, my preference is the mid size does.  Keep those old long nose slick heads around to keep breeding in your area. 

I will also note that doe sizes change significantly among the properties we hunt.  What would be average at one property would be a very large doe at another we hunt.   The heavy ag areas have bigger doe.  The areas where deer are more browse dependent tend to be of a smaller body size.  

[Pygmy]

2 hours ago, mowin said:

What area, and what's the average weight doe?  Just curious. 

 

We weight every deer that comes into our butcher shop. ( Personal shop, friends only), and our average adult doe, 1 1/2 yr old + is 105 dressed, skin on.  The biggest doe we've weighed was 162.  

 

Most newbies guess WAY over. Lol

My buddies and I have weighed a lot of deer ( dressed) also....Around here  the average 1 1/2 year old bucks weigh from 100 to 120 pounds...A 100 pound doe is a pretty good sized doe.. I don't recall seeing a doe that weighed over 140 dressed...

Of the many bucks I have seen on the scales, the heaviest weighed 185 dressed....I am aware that a few bucks are taken in this area that weigh 200 dressed, but I have personally never seen one in over 50 years of deer hunting.

[G-Man]

Well yearling bucks dress out 101 to 115 . two year olds 125 to 145 and 3 Plus year olds ( sorry after deer is mature they look same to me) 165lbs Plus...

Yearling doe 80 to 90 lbs

2 year old 100 to 110

3 Plus 125 Plus...

Largest doe we ever got dressed weighed out at 185 lbs. 

That's over 375 deer over 25 years.. From when I bough the property to now I have increased average weight. 15 to 20 lbs per age class.. By habitat management and population reduction.

And yes many guys pass on deer though it seems 90% passed deer are during archery season.

[mowin]

27 minutes ago, Pygmy said:

My buddies and I have weighed a lot of deer ( dressed) also....Around here  the average 1 1/2 year old bucks weigh from 100 to 120 pounds...A 100 pound doe is a pretty good sized doe.. I don't recall seeing a doe that weighed over 140 dressed...

Of the many bucks I have seen on the scales, the heaviest weighed 185 dressed....I am aware that a few bucks are taken in this area that weigh 200 dressed, but I have personally never seen one in over 50 years of deer hunting.

Your area is similar to mine as far as deer size. Our average 1 1/2 yr old buck is 115.  

Our biggest buck weighed in our shop was 178 IIRC.  My heaviest buck was 168, doe 142.  

 

When I first started hunting this area 20 yrs ago, it was over populated bad. Wasn't hard to see over 100 deer in one evening before the season while scouting. Many 3" spikes that weight in around 75#.  Biggest rack was a tight short tined 6 pt. Alot has changed since then. 

[Daveboone]

There is never anything wrong about letting any deer walk, buck or doe. Shooting them "because I was expected to" is inexcusable...shooting a smallish one the last day of the season because otherwise you are going without venison....fine, but your call. 

A few years ago I passed on a beautiful fat mature doe on a beautiful sunny fall day, last or 2nd to last of the season, I forget....She was enjoying the morning as much as me, munching away on windfall apples and basking like a beauty....I saw no reason to ruin her day, or add a bunch of work to mine. 

 

[chrisw]

I let a lot of deer go, for no reason sometimes, a few times I've gotten so wrapped up in just watching them that I lost sight of trying to kill one. If you had an enjoyable experience, a kill is irrelevant. Sometimes I've let deer walk that looking back I shouldn't have but I don't necessarily regret it. A few times I have also let emotion guide my choice to draw back. Last year I had a huge doe and fawn come in to the apple tree, the fawn was bouncing around thoroughly enjoying life and if I'm being honest I hated the thought of taking away her mother. It didn't seem like the right thing to do, to me. They fed and walked off none the wiser as to how close I was, that was the victory to me. I walked out feeling great about my decision and I still do. The kill is only a small part of the satisfaction I get from hunting.

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[helmut in the bush]

26 minutes ago, Daveboone said:

There is never anything wrong about letting any deer walk, buck or doe. Shooting them "because I was expected to" is inexcusable...shooting a smallish one the last day of the season because otherwise you are going without venison....fine, but your call. 

A few years ago I passed on a beautiful fat mature doe on a beautiful sunny fall day, last or 2nd to last of the season, I forget....She was enjoying the morning as much as me, munching away on windfall apples and basking like a beauty....I saw no reason to ruin her day, or add a bunch of work to mine. 

 

That's being very respectful 

[mowin]

I love watching deer. Especially during bow season. There close enough to observe and learn there body language. How they interact with other deer, especially at a food sorce can be comical. The mewing of fawns as they feed by. Letting a deer walk can be educational as well as entertaining. 

 

I tend to hunt for the trophy during bow season. Now that trophy could be a nice 6-8 pt, or a big smart doe that keeps busting me, spooking everything in the area.  My gun season is my meat season. No I don't shoot anything, but for me its about filling the freezer. 

[Waldershrek]

On 9/2/2017 at 9:12 PM, Steve D said:

I let some walk every year and do not regret it if I don't get to fill a tag.

I've always let more walk than I've killed. I don't shoot bucks smaller than 8 and I won't shoot yearling does or a does with fawns/yearlings. We lease about a 1000 acres so we try to manage the deer for the future not just today.

[WNYBuckHunter]

On 9/5/2017 at 7:44 PM, Waldershrek said:

I've always let more walk than I've killed. I don't shoot bucks smaller than 8 and I won't shoot yearling does or a does with fawns/yearlings. We lease about a 1000 acres so we try to manage the deer for the future not just today.

Not killing does with fawns or yearling deer has absolutely nothing to do with managing for the future. 

[mattypotpie8S]

1 hour ago, WNYBuckHunter said:

Not killing does with fawns or yearling deer has absolutely nothing to do with managing for the future. 

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