When to shoot does????

[JPH]

Patriot, you are shooting a lot of does, so IMO you are already doing QDM to a degree. It is not one size fits all.
 
Good work!

[reeper0697]

I like to take does early. Meat in the fridge (I usually go through about 3 deer a year), good practice and still a rush, it is more fun to hunt with a bow than rifle, where I hunt we have tons of does compared to bucks, when I take a doe early I dont risk shooting a pregnant one at the end of the season (if fortunate enough to see one since there is a great amount of hunting pressure where I am) I try to harvest as many does as I legally can to get the numbers down b/c once rifle season comes where I hunt everyone has a buck tag and not always a doe tag.

[QDMAMAN]

Great question and one I get a lot!
Here in Michigan our DNR added an early antlerless season in September for management units that were over goal and on private property only.  As a deer manager this season is a wonderful tool for a number of reasons.
1) it allows me to take does with a gun prior to the archery season (Oct. 1) so they haven't been pressured and they're easy to pattern.  High shoulder shots and there's little if any tracking.
2) it's much easier to identify does from fawns which equates to less BBs being mistakenly harvested.
3) you remove another eating machine from the landscape that would otherwise consume forage reserved for deer you wish to carry over.
4) it allows me to get a jump on my doe quota early which allows me to hunt bucks in November without the pressure of my responsibility to take does.
5) because Michigan allows 2 buck tags most hunters shoot the first buck they see "for venison" and then "hunt for horns".  Taking does early puts venison in the freezer and eliminates the "need" to shoot young bucks for venison.  We refer to young first bucks as "Mulligans".
6) removing does early (pre-rut) creates more competition between the bucks for the available does.  In turn this creates more daytime buck movement and an intensified rut.
Michigan also has a liberal tag structure when it comes to does so many hunters hold of until after Thanksgiving to shoot them during our gun season or December to take them with ML , archery, or some of our late antlerless areas.  As I mentioned earlier it's difficult to ID BBs later in the season and it's not uncommon for some of our bucks to shed their antlers in Dec. making them vulnerable to antlerless hunters.
I always recommend to guys that are experiencing high deer numbers to shoot does when ever they stand still long enough to pull the trigger.  Getting doe numbers in check is the single biggest obsticle, IMO, to sustaining a health QDM herd and when guys get serious about it the rest falls in to place.
Our co op has been in place now for 8 seasons (since Nov 01).  We have hammered the does to reduce our overall numbers at a rate of 5:1 (does:bucks).  We still have neighbors that are exclusive buck hunters so we still need to lean heavy on the does but not like we have in past years.  I have taken 30 does (5 bucks) over the last 5 seasons including the 4 I took this year, which is half of last years total.
A very effective technic we employ when harvesting does is to ID the alpha doe in a family group.  Once the alpha is identified we take the high shoulder shot and try to drop her in her tracks.  As long as she doesn't run off the rest of the group will stand around waiting for her cue, we then try to ID the beta doe or a doe fawn if neccessary, and aim for the shoulder again.  I have taken 4 doubles in 2 years using this technic and 1 of those doubles could have been a triple if I would have had another tag on my person.
Our local QDMA branch pays for processing of excess venison for any one that wishes to donate their deer.  Last year we donated over a ton of boneless meet to our local food bank.  I personally give most of mine to friends, family, and coworkers, but I also give to the foodbank.  It's definely easier when those options is available.

[QDMAMAN]

This is a doe I took in our early antlerless season Sept 21st.

[QDMAMAN]

This is a double from the 07 season, one of 3 doubles that year.  All 3 doubles started with the high shoulder shot on the first deer allowing for a standing shot on the second doe.
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[QDMAMAN]

This is a friend and his lease partner with 9 does shot over 4 hrs. in Wisconsin.  He was imbaressed to tell me they also missed 2 others.  If you knew how good a shot he was you'd know how lucky those 2 does were.[;)]
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[QDMAMAN]

This pic is a good illustration of how hard it can be to identify bbs from does.  This pic was taken in late September here in mid Michigan.  This is a doe and her 2 bb fawns.  I can guarentee you these bbs would rival their mother in size if targeted in Nov. or Dec.. Another good reason to take does early.
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[buckhunter21]

ORIGINAL: QDMAMAN

This is a friend and his lease partner with 9 does shot over 4 hrs. in Wisconsin.  He was imbaressed to tell me they also missed 2 others.  If you knew how good a shot he was you'd know how lucky those 2 does were.[;)]
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It's no wonder we don't see that many deer anymore!  lol

[clk6771]

I guess it really depends on the land you hunt. Where I hunt in NE Georgia is a small family farm with plenty of Does. I have killed anywhere from 5-7 does every year there for over 7 years. I do pass on the small does though. But there has also been 4 mountable deer taken from this farm during that time frame. Mulitple times I have killed 4 or 5 does on Saturday and killed a big buck from the same stand the next day. So the whole shooting sppoks them is a myth around here. I have actually had deer come towards shots. In many different case I have shot 1 or 2 does then 10-15 min later 2 or 3 more walk up. I killed 5 that last day of the season this year all about 20 min apart except the last one which was about 30min after the 4th one. I was draging one accross the creek on the property. Sort of funny there is a law against shooting deer standing in the water but what about the hunter standing in the water I do not think there is a law about that. Anyways depends on the property and if you hunt for meat really !!