Taking a Resident Family Doe

[Belo]

I'm interested in your thoughts on the subject. Not interested in anyone's thoughts on my feelings.

Last night I did something I haven't done for a while because last time I did it, I didn't feel great about it. To take a deer and not feel great about it seems very counter intuitive to why we hunt. I'm not upset about it, I'm happy for the venison in the freezer and yet the feeling after pulling the trigger is much different than one I get after a nice buck kill with the bow. Maybe it's the gun, maybe it's the "kids". 

I'm in my hut watching the end of some good football games and watching the edge of the woods when I see a small doe appear. There are 2 family groups that are on my piece of heaven almost daily. One is a mature doe with 2 little ones and another is a mature doe with a single little one. None of the little ones are anywhere near little, they'll be just fine this winter so let me get that out of the way. 

I raise the gun onto the shooting rest and wait for what I'm sure will be the mom. They're at 120 yards and my scope is cranked to 10x. Sure enough the sibling and mom appear at the narrow window near my pear trees. I subscribe to be committed to what you want to shoot because hesitancy will lead to missed opportunities or mistakes. I still wasn't sure if I wanted to take her. She's a resident and she's never blew at me and she's always with her offspring. I click the safety back on but stay watching through the cross hairs. They mill around for a bit and then she just stands there broadside. Frozen for a while. I flick the safety back off and decide that if she's just going to stand there that I'm going to take it.

She went 5 yards and died just inside the brush. It's a weird emotionless event killing a doe with a gun. Something I've done 4 years in a row now to add some venison to the freezer. We eat the heart, the dog eats the liver. Not much of her at all will go to waste, and yet it's a blah moment of sorts.

TLDR;

All the backstory aside, from a management perspective what are your thoughts on shooting a resident doe? One that lives on your home turf and raises young there that may grow into big bucks. Would you prefer to leave the resident doe alone and shoot the lone random ones or do you not discriminate? Any reason you feel the way you do? Science backed?

[biggamefish]

First off its hard to take a life and not feel some remorse( makes us human), I think. 

I do think it's healthy for the land and herd management take a doe every year. Not going to harm the overall population  at all. I've read a few studies that say you should be taking a doe a year at least and some have said take a doe for every buck. 

[Mike103]

I don’t get much personal satisfaction from shooting does anymore. Now that the kids are not home and we go to Florida for the winter it does not make much sense to me. 
 

But that’s just my personal opinion. Nothing wrong with shooting does especially from a management perspective. 

[ATbuckhunter]

I hunt mostly public land, but will sometimes hunt my grandparents property. They have so many deer on their land I never had to care about shooting a resident deer as there were so many to replace. Given the choice, I always shoot a random deer. Id try to target the areas where I know the deer bedding on other properties would come from and try to leave the ones bedding on theirs alone. What I never like doing is taking the lead mature doe. I feel like they teach the other generations and keep the patterns somewhat consistent. If one constantly blows at me, ill take it but other than that I usually pass my self. I never worry about the doe raising what could be a big buck as they usually never stay where they're born. I've been known to whack quite a few button bucks in my day. 

[GreeneHunter]

After just about every time I pull the trigger and down a Deer (Buck or Doe) I have a small sense of remorse - momentarily - and then I get on with the work ahead of me . As far as the Resident Doe I always think if they've been around a couple years and produced offspring their time has come . Not too sound cold but (and I'm not cold) but to almost welcome a new generation ! That's just me !

[solon]

To feel remorse is simply being human. Even when i shoot a nice buck there is a moment of remorse. Shooting a resident or random doe is simply filling the freezer and that's o.k.. The older I get the less I shoot does (my personal choice). There are sound herd management reasons to shoot does and it sounds like nothing goes to waste on the Doe you shot.

[Lawdwaz]

I celebrate the clean decisive shot first.  Period

Then sure some remorse for taking out a doe from a “family group” you’ve watched all year or for multiple years is going to happen but that’s a good thing, it shows you’re human. 

[Bucksnbows]

I don’t get attached to resident deer myself. I base all doe hunts on forest browse pressure or lack thereof. If there are too many, BANG!  If browse pressure is in check, the does get a pass from me. To my way of thinking, that’s biology 101. 

Edited November 25 by Bucksnbows
If not I’d

[grampy]

48 minutes ago, Belo said:

I'm interested in your thoughts on the subject. Not interested in anyone's thoughts on my feelings.

Last night I did something I haven't done for a while because last time I did it, I didn't feel great about it. To take a deer and not feel great about it seems very counter intuitive to why we hunt. I'm not upset about it, I'm happy for the venison in the freezer and yet the feeling after pulling the trigger is much different than one I get after a nice buck kill with the bow. Maybe it's the gun, maybe it's the "kids". 

I'm in my hut watching the end of some good football games and watching the edge of the woods when I see a small doe appear. There are 2 family groups that are on my piece of heaven almost daily. One is a mature doe with 2 little ones and another is a mature doe with a single little one. None of the little ones are anywhere near little, they'll be just fine this winter so let me get that out of the way. 

I raise the gun onto the shooting rest and wait for what I'm sure will be the mom. They're at 120 yards and my scope is cranked to 10x. Sure enough the sibling and mom appear at the narrow window near my pear trees. I subscribe to be committed to what you want to shoot because hesitancy will lead to missed opportunities or mistakes. I still wasn't sure if I wanted to take her. She's a resident and she's never blew at me and she's always with her offspring. I click the safety back on but stay watching through the cross hairs. They mill around for a bit and then she just stands there broadside. Frozen for a while. I flick the safety back off and decide that if she's just going to stand there that I'm going to take it.

She went 5 yards and died just inside the brush. It's a weird emotionless event killing a doe with a gun. Something I've done 4 years in a row now to add some venison to the freezer. We eat the heart, the dog eats the liver. Not much of her at all will go to waste, and yet it's a blah moment of sorts.

TLDR;

All the backstory aside, from a management perspective what are your thoughts on shooting a resident doe? One that lives on your home turf and raises young there that may grow into big bucks. Would you prefer to leave the resident doe alone and shoot the lone random ones or do you not discriminate? Any reason you feel the way you do? Science backed?

First......congratulations on a nice clean shot, and a fine doe for your freezer!

Second......It's sound management for your property to take does each season. For each one taken, it allows others to eat what she would have, and thrive.

That said, I feel a touch of sadness every time my hands first touch a deer. They are such beautiful creatures. I hope I never lose that. I get no "thrill" at all from killing a doe anymore. And haven't in a long time. Most years I give my dmp to my hunting partner or a young hunter. If we all have meat, we give some to someone who does not. And it's never wasted. But some are killed each year and divided up accordingly. 

So I agree with your not getting the rush from shooting a doe. Some of us do, some don't. It does help with your land management. There is absolutely nothing bad about shooting anything legal! And the meat is wonderful! But I'd rather someone else do the job now.

[mowin]

I think of it as a management tool.  In my area there are far too many deer, so I'm not hunting or taking a doe from one or two local family groups.  

I always feel some sadness after killing any deer.  It's my respect for them I guess.  Killing isn't enjoyable, it's the hunt that is. 

[Nomad]

Any doe that walks  out tonight is going to be turned into slim sticks ! I wouldn’t know a resident doe from an illegal alien one . Or since it’s a good buck spot in the afternoon and the wind is right ,maybe she walks . Unless there’s plenty of light left to dress and get her out of there in daylight ,it’s complicated.

[nywaw]

Good to see so many with similar sentiments.  Regardless of the animal taken, the hunt and moments leading up to the shot are exciting.  The brief somberness for me comes when I finally walk up to the animal.  I've always had that sense of mixed emotions, and it's a dichotomy of sorts given how elated we are in our success but also how those fleeting moments of sadness are intertwined with the experience.  As others have said, it's not a bad thing, it shows we're human and have respect for the life we've just taken.  I think the important part is also knowing we have a purpose to it, whether that's filling the freezer, helping manage the habitat and environment, and/or otherwise enjoying all aspects of hunting as we know it.

I also think, for me at least, the "monitoring" aspect of trailcams or deer I observe regularly at home, adds another layer of respect to a history with the animal.  It's no longer some random and unknown animal, it's often one you know well and recognize through their distinct characteristics or behaviors.  And all of that is OK, again if the culmination of your hunt has purpose and is otherwise just a reflection of the circle of life.

[Trial153]

Good topic, provoking thought about what we do and how we do it always worthy of  discussion.

[Moog5050]

I always believed that the big momma does dictate the residence so I prefer not to shoot one unless its constantly busting me.  The does do draw the bucks at my place during rut and that is when I usually see the good ones, not all season.   I would prefer a mid-size doe from the group.   That said, we have a lot around, so not sure its such a concern.  

[escpen]

3 hours ago, Belo said:

TLDR;

All the backstory aside, from a management perspective what are your thoughts on shooting a resident doe? One that lives on your home turf and raises young there that may grow into big bucks. Would you prefer to leave the resident doe alone and shoot the lone random ones or do you not discriminate? Any reason you feel the way you do? Science backed?

I have mixed feelings on this - not from an emotion perspective, but more from a practical perspective (I think).  We have harvested does non-discriminately for as long as I can remember.  This has resulted in fewer mouths to feed overall (I think) and better nutrition for the deer that remain. 

What I've noticed over the past several years is that we typically have more bucks using our property on a regular basis than we have does - to the tune of 1.5 to 2 buck sightings for every doe / fawn that we see, particularly during bow season and before the rut.  This is great if you want to see bucks and have fewer eyes and noses to bust you on stand.

On the flip side, the lack of a consistent doe group presence results in the larger bucks that frequent the property to be largely MIA during most of November.  Not having consistent doe bedding locations also makes rut hunting a challenge.  I've read and have been told directly by one of the whitetail industry / land management consultants to shoot any doe that crosses the property line but to leave the "resident" does alone.  If the resident does become too numerous, shoot some of the non-alpha does in the group to reduce the population, but leave the alpha doe so she can keep the rest of the group on their normal pattern / home range.  We HAVE NOT subscribed to this, but I can certainly see the benefits of doing so.  If I can get some resident doe groups established, I'd seriously consider implementing this approach.

So my dilemma - keep doing what we've been doing and have more bucks around, occasionally taking a target buck and overall having fewer mouths to feed / higher nutrition per deer?  Or build up the resident doe herd to make doe movement more predictable, and daytime rutting activity more prevalent while likely feeding more deer / having lower nutrition per deer and fooling more eyes / noses while on stand?

For your situation, I personally wouldn't have any problem taking the deer as you did based on my past and current approach to things without a second thought.  But as I've gotten older, I've started reflecting more on what the "right" thing is to do for the resource, quality of the hunt, and for my kids' experience in the field.  I'm seriously considering making some changes and have already planted the seed with my kids and others who hunt our property.  It may be challenging to get everyone on board, but we'll see how it goes!