During my career as a deer biologist, I’ve heard many weak excuses for why hunters pass up opportunities at antlerless deer late in the hunting season. I’m sure you’ve heard some of them, too. Conversely, there are also some real concerns when hunting does late in the year. Let’s talk about the importance of antlerless harvest and how you can do your part as a hunter to help improve the health of the deer population you hunt.
Bag Limits and Doe Harvest
Doe harvest is necessary across the whitetail’s range. Some areas require a lot more than others, but all areas with whitetails need it. In a separate article, we explain some of the signs that indicate you need to increase your doe harvest.
Some hunters believe we overharvest antlerless deer based only on the number of tags issued or allotted bag limits. For example, Georgia hunters can shoot 10 antlerless deer and two antlered bucks annually. The reality though is just over half (57%) of Georgia hunters are lucky enough to shoot at least one deer, buck or doe, and less than a third (31%) shoot more than one. Considering does only, it’s even more surprising: 19% of Georgia hunters take one doe, 8% take two, 4% take three, and a combined 5% take four or more. That leaves 64% of Georgia hunters who did not take a doe at all in the most recent season (see the chart below).
Nationally, the numbers are even lower. Only 41% of hunters shoot a deer each year, and only 18% shoot more than one. So, even though the vast majority of hunters head afield each year with multiple tags or harvest opportunities, less than half will be successful and less than a fifth will shoot multiple deer. More areas today are underharvesting antlerless deer then overharvesting them. Hence the current need for more hunters to shoot more antlerless deer this season.
I’m a huge fan of harvesting antlerless deer early in the season. There are many benefits of this, and we’ve documented them in other blogs and videos. However, it’s now getting late, so if you haven’t shot a doe yet or haven’t met your antlerless quota, it’s time to get after it. Here are some tips to help ease your mind on those myths you’ve heard and be most successful harvesting adult does.
Concerns About Deer Genetics
Peak rut is over, temperatures are dropping, and does now concentrate on feeding and moving when the weather is least extreme. This helps save precious fat reserves and means finding a good food source ups your odds of filling a doe tag.
Don’t worry about whether a certain doe is bred or not; research shows nearly every doe is bred at this point. However, they put almost no resources into the pregnancy during the first trimester, which is a little over two months. If this is a moral or emotional issue for you, then shoot a doe early in the season. However, there is no negative biological issue with shooting a post-rut doe. The adjustment to future deer density is the same whether you take the doe before or after the rut.
Also, don’t worry about which buck bred that doe. Research shows about 25% of the time it could have been multiple bucks, and we can’t do anything to change the future genetic antler potential of her offspring anyway. Many bucks of different ages and sizes are successful during the rut, one of many reasons we can’t influence wild deer genetics. So, which buck bred a certain doe should be of no concern to you. Find a good food source, pick a big doe, and punch your tag.
Legitimate Concerns: Buck Fawns
Now that we’ve sorted through some of the misinformation, let’s address some legitimate considerations for late-season doe harvest. First, at this point in the season, buck fawns (“button bucks” under one year of age) can be as large or nearly as large as some adult does.
You can distinguish the two using body characteristics and behavioral cues. Adult does have longer faces and the distance from their eye to their nose is longer than the distance from their eye to the back of their head when viewed from the side. The distance on a fawn from the back of their head to their eye is approximately the same as from their eye to their nose.
An adult’s ears appear smaller relative to the size of her head, while a fawn’s ears look much larger. Also, an adult’s body between her front and back legs when viewed from the side appears rectangular while a fawn’s appears square. Be sure to watch our video on antlerless deer identification at the end of this article.
Behaviorally, fawns are less wary, so they’re often the first deer to arrive at a food source, and this is especially true for food plots and other open feeding areas void of cover. Thus, it’s helpful to wait until at least two deer are present so you can compare the body characteristics listed above and settle your crosshairs on an adult doe.
You pulled the trigger on a buck fawn? No worries! You won’t get as much prime venison, but there’s nothing biologically wrong with harvesting fawns. We purposely shoot a small number each year on our Pennsylvania farm so I can get their body weights. Fawns are the most sensitive age class to changes in habitat quality and available nutrition. so measuring the trend in their body weight helps me monitor overall herd health and ensure we’re harvesting an appropriate number of does annually.
Legitimate Concerns: Early Antler Drop
Another concern with late-season antlerless harvest is that near the end of hunting season some bucks may begin shedding their antlers early. This occurs mostly in February and March across the whitetail’s range, but it does happen in January for some bucks each year.
This is a legitimate concern, but you can guard against shooting an antlerless buck by following these four steps that are good advice for the late-season:
- Use high-quality optics.
- Use your binoculars to clearly identify the deer before going to the scope.
- Resist the urge to shoot extremely long distances or in low-light situations.
- Get a good look at the deer’s forehead.
Why study the forehead? Bucks’ heads are flat between the ears while does have rounded heads. You can use this tip to differentiate buck fawns from doe fawns, buck fawns from adult does, and adult bucks that have shed their antlers from adult does.
It may be getting late, but your season isn’t over yet. Use the tips and information in this blog to put some more venison in your freezer or donate it to a needy family in your community. That’s a win-win situation, and you’re also doing your part to keep the deer herd in balance with what the habitat can support.