There is nothing wrong with shooting a doe. I've shot as many as 3 in a season. It helps control you deer population. Keeping you buck to doe ratio low helps you produce bigger bucks in your hunting area. If its legal in your state shoot a couple of does next year.

Absolutely, it helps the buck/doe ratio and it puts meat on the table!

Where I hunt in CT there is a lot of pressure I don't discriminate when anything comes into range. Plus, especially late in the rut I feel doe's taste much better!

There is absolutely nothing wrong with shooting a doe. A nice 1 or 2 year old doe makes for good eating.

The only difference between bucks and does are the antlers, they are the same animal and taste the same. There is no reason not to hunt them. I always get people telling me they won't hunt does so I ask them why and this is what I get, a long pause then nothing. Does are also more of a challenge they are a lot smarter then those young bucks. So yes hunting doe is fine.

Everyone has hit the nail on the head. Shooting does not only puts venison on the table, but it is also an important part of maintaining a healthy deer population. Shooting a mature doe may not get you the type of praise a big buck will, but often times it can be just as difficult.

I don't wait for horns with the bow and try to take a few does over the antlerless firearms seasons. As already stated above, one needs to keep the does in check to keep a healthy herd. As to table fare, I'd rather have a doe. Also, let me add my congrats on your first deer, welcome to the family, may you be blessed with many more over your hunting career. Be patient, the big buck will come in time. Good hunting!

Its more than right it is necessary in some cases to maintain a good ration in the herd. and they taste a lot better, not as tough.

We have to sign a contract on my lease in Texas that requires each paying member to shoot 3 does. Since this rule has been in effect the size of our bucks have increased dramatically. Other posters made a good point, I would rather eat a doe.

I have never shot one, but i hopefully will get a few this coming season. Also in Wisconsin its earn a buck, so you have to take a doe before you can take a shot at a buck. So i think there is nothing wrong with taking does. Like MPN said, does and buck are the same except the antlers.

Congrats on your Doe. Good job. Although i have always been a buck-hunter, I do see the error of my ways. Shooting does promotes a healthier herd. And as stated above, i've heard they taste great. This year I intend to shoot more does.

It's more than OK. Shoot as many as you can legally.

does are fine too shoot and like big o says u cant eat the horns
just try to shoot the young does
if you see a mature doe on your property that is more than likely her living ground
but younger does are gonaa leave her and most likely wont stay in the same area
but the mature ones will and then u get the big buck huntin those mature does in rut
and if u have one in your area u will most likely see him
oh and congrats on the first deer
i hope this helps
and good huntin to all of u

The deer biologist's office was next to mine and we had many discussions about why people couldn't understand that you have to kill does to make your buck hunting better. My grandfather was around when there were no deer here in WV so I could understand his view about not killing does, but now that the deer herd has exploded in many areas we need an aggressive management plan to keep the herd in check and most important to keep the sex ratio in balance. In alot of areas now the population has gotten smaller and we have curtailed our doe kill greatly. Our biggest problem now is the sex ratio. When you have too many does for the amount of bucks rattling and grunting doesn't seem to work because the bucks have all the does they want to breed they don't have to chase other bucks away. The lower the sex ratio the better these tactics work. I used to travel to Alabama where if you saw 10 deer come out in a green field at least 4 or 5 of them were bucks. The Dr. that I hunted on had a 1800 acre lease and the last year I hunted there they killed 34 bucks and 117 does. They seemed to always have plenty of deer and the ratio seemed to always be good.

Bioguy01,
What part of WV were you in ?
You are right about the liberal killing in the most southern states. I knew that someday it would catch up to Alabama. Being in the game management business it blew my mind that they didn't have a clue how many deer they were killing. There is no way you can manage a deer herd if you don't know how many deer you are killing. The local guys that I hunted with just killed deer to be killing deer, of course they always had someone to give the deer to but they killed deer just to be killing deer. I felt bad when I went down for a 10 day hunt and killed 2 bucks and 2 does. We don't have processing houses like they do and I sure did take advantage of all of the specialty items that they can make out of deer meat. I hunted down there for 5 years before I killed my first deer. My buddy would kill a couple does and have them processed for me to bring back home with me so I didn't have to kill any.

Ditto Sarge, I'm not that well traveled but I have yet to see anything better than home. Davis is about 2 hrs. from my front door. Come see us again.

seems fine to me no more of the doe goes to waste then a buck

i hate those kind of tough decisions, hehehe.

Congratulations on your first deer! Taking doe's is part of good management or the Fish & Game rules would not allow it. Enjoy your hunting experience. The hunt and fellowship is way more important to me than what ends up in the freezer. Pretty hard to tell one from another wrapped in butcher paper.

Way to go!

Shooting does is the way to keep a deer population in control. And by the way they are better to eat than a rutting buck. I usually kill a doe or two for my deer meat and not kill a small buck.

Nothing wrong with shooting does, the past 3 years Ive shot 6 does and zero bucks, Id rather shoot a doe than a small buck. In southeast Nebraska the deer population is getting out of hand and we need to start shooting more does.

Those deer don't always stay on that 1800 acres. They come from miles around from adjacent properties where there is no or very light hunting and dense swamp land that I described on an earlier post. There is probably 400 or 500 hundred acres of swamp around side of the property that I probably couldn't even wade through with chest waders. That 1800 hundred acres has 40 + green fields planted so the deer come from miles around to get to the good stuff to eat. There are pine tree plantations all around also so the deer are looking for something to eat. I haven't been down to hunt for 6 years but my buddy tells me that Alabama dosen't have the deer that they used to have. When I hunted there you could kill a buck every day for the 109 day season. I think I read on a post where they have put a 3 buck limit in place but no way to enforce it. I know when I hunted there there was no enforcement at all. People spotlighting every night etc. The Dr. that I hunted on spent a fortune planting green fields. They weren't small fields but 3 or 4 acres in size and some bigger. He said I didn't even want to know how much he spent in planting green fields. The deer have a lot to eat when the pine trees are small before they get big and crowd out the under growth. They have alot of oaks along the swamps and creeks also.

Being in the law enforcement business I saw that Alabama had no control at all on the hunters, or it seemed that way to me. I hunted there for 7 or 8 years and never saw an officer. I even tried to contact one just to meet one of my comrades from another state, never happened. The real problem that I saw was that Alabama didn't have a clue how many deer were being killed. In our state we have to have some idea of how many deer are being killed to develop a management plan. Our system dosen't let us know exactly how many deer are killed but it gives us an idea of what is killed and we have a tool in place for enforcing the tagging requirement and we are aggressive with it. From what my friends tell me the liberal kill may be catching up with Alabama.

Every year I shoot a couple does and 1 buck if I'm lucky, this past year I shot 5 deer and only one of them was a buck

I'm a converted doe hunter now. Tasty and thinning the herd is never a bad idea. Can't wait to get one for the freezer in Oct.

I'm about 70 miles from the Savage River if you are talking about the one in Maryland.

It is completely ok to shoot does. Some people like to while others do not. It is good for herd regulation and they are good eating. I like to shoot mature does personally. Good luck to you and Congrats on your first deer!

Shooting a DOE is completely acceptable. I think they taste a little better and adds to the chance of a successful hunt. Especially if you hunt on public land. We have a doe only gun season in oklahoma and I love hunting it cause there is hardly anyone else hunting. It's like I have the whole public hunting area to myself. Which doesn't happen too often. Shoot does and have fun..

i dont shoot does, bucks only for me, but thats why all you guys are here...

Sarge01 - I believe the liberal kills are catching up with many of the southern states...especially those where coyotes are really starting to establish themselves quite well. I think a lot of agencies are about ready to re-evaluate their deer management programs and re-haul them to become more scientifically sound programs. PS...I was in West Virginia this past weekend. What a beautiful state! The rolling hills were spectacular and even more so when a couple of thunder storms gave us quite the lightning show! Lots of deer there though! Almost hit 5 within a 1 mile stretch just after dark.

Sarge01 - HOLY COW! 151 deer in 1 year on 1800 acres!? That's 54 deer per square mile just in harvest density! What do the forests look like? Lots of ferns and a clearly defined browse line?