Doe with fawns: Shoot the doe or a fawn?

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Shoot the doe if you can, the fawns will get kicked in a few weeks anyways.

Or, shoot all three, the fawns sometimes will stay around after you shoot the doe.

As for button bucks, if the fawn has a squarish head, odds are its a button buck.
 
Personally, I'd pass the shot. I've never been that hell bent on a kill. I have taken many does over the years and actually prefer them for table fare. I just prefer it to be a lone doe. It just sits better with my conscience. But to each his own.
 
P.S. It's raining today or I'd be out there right now.
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Is it Sunday where you are? Also I know a guy who just two weeks ago shot a doe in front of her fawn twice with a shotgun with buckshot, then the teacher he went with shot the doe again cause its legs were still moving all in front of the fawn. it never moved.
 
I guess I'd shoot a fawn because I bet they are tastier. Calf elk sure are. Here in AZ we don't have to worry about it because they're aren't enough deer to go around. We get one buck a year if we are lucky enough to get drawn.

P.S. Ain't a thing wrong with shooting an animal for meat, even if it's a youngster. Hate to see the "it's immoral to shoot babies" arguement from fellow hunters. It's no different than butchering cattle.
 
Hate to see the "it's immoral to shoot babies" arguement from fellow hunters. It's no different than butchering cattle.
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That's probably the right way to look at it. If it doesn't violate state game laws then there should be "no worries". The rest is just simply personal choice.
 
I think the killing babies argument is just projecting our feelings onto the game, they're not humans, they'll survive and be fine if the doe is shot, it not like the fawns are going to become homicidal or make a disney movie about their experience...
 
I shoot the doe first....
why?
she is smarter...
the fawns will stick around for another shot or they will continue to follow old routes till you have a second chance later in year...
a doe with a fawn just shot usually won't give you that chance...

shooting a fawn is no different than eating pork, chicken,or beef... those animals are only raised to most economical and best eating size, not exactly to adulthood...
 
You'd catch some serious hell for bringing a fawn back to camp with the guys I hunt with.

I'd vote neither. There are usually plenty of does running around without fawns tagging along with them. If you just HAVE to have some meat or you'll starve, then sure shoot the doe.

Who would want to waste a doe tag on a fawn? :scrutiny:
 
We can legally take an antlerless deer per day,every day of our 3 month long season. There is NO doe tag to waste. Alabama is second to Texas for deer numbers and a whole lot less land to keep 'em on. If we don't thin 'em down we won't have ANY.
 
Who would want to waste a doe tag on a fawn?
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Because I've got 6 antlerless (doe/fawn) tags every year for the rest of my life, paid for, and that's just archery alone, and I only want one or maybe two deer total on the year for all three seasons combined, both sexes combined. A fawn is fine by me (and tender!) - catching hell from the guys notwithstanding (won't be the first or last time). :)

'Course, if I'm shooting fawns only, I *might* want 3 instead of two total.
 
Here, a doe tag is a special tag lottery, one per season if you can get one at all.

So, that does change things a bit. If you're trying to kill off your deer, then at least some part of hunting ethics is different from a place where we're trying to preserve them.
 
If you are trying to increase the number of deer then you NEED as many breeding age does as you can get. If your herd is already over populated or your buck/doe ratio is out of kilter you need to remove breeding does. That does not change ethics only tactics.
 
Well Doc veal always taste pretty damn good to me. Fawns are the same thing diffrent species. If you have a managment issue in your area drop them and eat well. Although just because you have 6 tags doesn't mean you have to fill all six.
 
Fawns are legal game here as long as their spots are completely gone. Our club has a self imposed weight mininum of 40 pounds.
 
Although just because you have 6 tags doesn't mean you have to fill all six.
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No, unless you live in an area where they are very thick, and hunt on landowners that "want em killed".I've experienced feeling in a position that, either I get it done, or the farmer will find someone who will.
My family eats all the venison we want, and give some away.
I find those fawns far harder to give away than those old bucks.
 
Around where I hunt, the farmers love getting rid of does. They are so thick and stupid I don't really call it hunting, I call it shooting. Most of them I have shot are in the middle of a winter wheat field chomping the tops off the sprouts.

It is a single B tag on the draw but there are always surplus doe tags in this area and you can buy a max of 7. Basically a person can get 10 tags, 1 A tag that basically lets you shoot any deer with some region specific restrictions, 1 draw B tag, 7 surplus tags for muley does, and then a single anterless whitetail B tag.

Short version, I shoot fawns with no compunction.
 
Personally I'd have to be starving before I could kill a doe with 2 fawn's. Just because it's legal doesn't make it right.
 
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