When to shoot does????

[NYarcher]

Unfortunately for me, when shotgun season opens here in NY, after opening day im lucky if i see ONE buck let alone a bruiser. High hunting pressure . But opportunities for does are good if i have the time following the opening week when things settle down and the mercury dips. Ive managed to harvest a doe or two annually during this period. My best chances for a nice buck are the entirety of archery season when nobody is around so the does get a get out jail free card. And being a scent-free freak myself, the thought of disturbing the woods searching, gutting and dragging a doe through the woods pre-rut time is kinda counter productive for me.

[JPH]

ORIGINAL: NYarcher

Unfortunately for me, when shotgun season opens here in NY, after opening day im lucky if i see ONE buck let alone a bruiser. High hunting pressure . But opportunities for does are good if i have the time following the opening week when things settle down and the mercury dips. Ive managed to harvest a doe or two annually during this period.

 
Glad to hear that I'm not alone (I guess). I hunt North Missouri and things really change after the first day of rifle season. The hunting pressure is so high that the magic kind of drains from the woods. 

[JPH]

Back to the question in the OP. "When do you shoot does?"
 
For me, my answer right now is "Saturday or Sunday".
 
I have an Iowa early muzzleloader tag and I am running out of time. This is the last weekend. The weather has been lousy, the full moon is in the sky at night and the corn is still in the field where I am hunting. These are not excuses, just facts. I have not hunted as much as I proabably should have, but when I have, I've gotten my ass kicked! I have only seen does and one small buck. I have not seen a single deer in my last 6.5 hrs. on stand!
 
Starting tomorrow morning, my standards are lower. I'll be glad to just fill the tag and do the herd a favor.

[OHhunter]

I hear you man, this has been a rough season for me so far, I can't remember the last time it's been this slow.  I will say it has been better these last couple days. At least I'm starting to see a few deer now.   
 
Good luck this weekend.

[deerbuster73]

I ussually stick a doe within the first day or 2 of Ny archery season. I ussually have the itch to shoot something real bad. It takes the pressure off of getting a deer and lets you concentrate on gettin in on the big boy. I scored a buck in PA already and NY opens tommorow so I think ill stick with my plan first good doe without any fawns with her is getting dumped. I cant seem to shoot em when they got the little ones with her i feel bad. Taking one doe here or there isnt gonna impact deer movement at all. I shot one doe out of a stand last year 2 days later I put my buddie in the stand and he got his first bow deer and when the rut hit I saw 2 of the biggest bucks ive ever seen hunting come by that stand unfourtunatly they didnt get in my shooting lane so I had no shot. I just figure the earlier the better for me. Plus id much rather fill my doe tags during bow season. Much more fun then just blasting em with a gun.

[Legnip]

I don't know why I'm feeling this way these days, but it is getting harder for me to shoot a nice doe that has a small fawn with it. It's not a problem for me later in the season, but I think that I might be going soft and senile in my old age...
 
The weather in TN doesn't cause too much of a winter kill. It's not like they yard up or have to worry about snow and ice. The fields still have grass and hay left during the winter, so there is food to eat. If you shoot the doe that still has a fawn with it, then is the fawm more likely to not make it through the winter?
 
Any thoughts on this one???

[Goose]

Yeah I hear ya on the shooting of a doe with fawns but we gotta do what we gotta do right? Here in WI we gotta shoot a doe before we can shoot a buck so it makes it a little easier. I can blame the dnr  I dont know for sure but I would guess that the fawn would be fine and maybe a little more educated. I would imagine there are some fawns that dont rejoin their mother after the rut as well. Ive read that if you shoot a doe with a buck fawn the buck has a better chance of staying in your area because it wont get kicked out by its mother.

[trophyhunter1980]

I have always waited to take a doe during firearms season. I guess I believe that the doe will lead the bucks to me. However I am thinking about harvesting one early this year and see how it plays out. I have seen many doe and only 3 small bucks, but there is alot of corn still in the fields.

[cannycorn2000]

anytime is a good time

[JPH]

Update re. this topic:

I followed the plan, held off on does in my little Missouri woodlot, and it paid off. I've seen more deer this season than in any previous, and have killed 2 bucks. They were not monsters but I was happy to break the spell. The first buck was following a doe and the second was on the prowl. So the plan worked.

Here is the one catch, I am going to be behind the ball on my doe harvest if I'm not careful. Right now my 6 season harvest total is 6 does and 2 bucks (3:1) which seems perfect. But I want to keep that ratio going and I am squeezed for time. Not to mention that the does are not going to be pushovers at this point.

I guess that is the biggest risk in waiting to harvest does. If you put it off, you may not get it done.