Opening Day, 8:00, do you take the doe?

polishshooter · 11-05-2006, 10:17 PM

Ok, guys, here's the scenario...(I agonize EACH opening day over the EARLY breakfast....

)

You have the requisite tags for buck or doe....

It's a perfect opening day, little wind, 40 degrees, wind 5 mph in your face, you're in or on stand, and about a 125 pound 2 year old doe walks out and stands broadside at about 40 yards, picture book shot...

Do you shoot....

...or wait for the buck?

southernshooter · 11-05-2006, 10:26 PM

Shoot the doe and if a buck comes out later take it

polishshooter · 11-05-2006, 10:42 PM

I hunted deer for 15 years before I got my FIRST one by myself, and that was in an Ohio "Buck or Doe" season, so I shot the button buck with NO hesitation.

And was PROUD as heck, and it tasted GOOD....

While in New York at the time I was growing up, they only had "party permits" for doe that were tough to get, so I COULDN'T shoot a doe legally, and in PA when I hunted they had Buck and doe SEASONS, so I never really faced the dilemma until Ohio and Indiana.

Even in Indiana, when I first started hunting, and had both licenses, I would shoot the first deer in my sights, the ghosts of all those SKUNKED years are never far from home!

But then I started seeing shootable bucks on Opening Day, and when I started getting some, 75% of them came on opening day.

SO I started being "selective...." still take a doe, but ONLY late in the season....

Then "economics" came into play, while you could ONLY shoot ONE buck with ANY gun, you needed a SEPARATE $24 Buck tag for GUN season and a $24 Doe tag, which was then good for Muzzleloading season too, but if you DIDN'T get a buck during gun, you had to buy ANOTHER $24 Muzzleloading tag just to take a buck...since two deer are plenty for me, I would try like heck to get a buck during gun, and "save" my doe tag for a NICE one during gun, or else save it for Muzzleloading, since I then couldn't shoot a buck ANYWAY. And SOME of those years, getting laid off for the winter during my paving days, that extra $24 was a lot of money if I DIDN'T get a deer with it...

For about five years, I even would ONLY buy a buck license, just to take care of this situation, and FORCE me to take a buck FIRST. And then when I GOT my buck, I'd buy the doe tag for the rest of the season....

And then two years ago, I have ONLY my Buck tag, and THREE DAYS IN A ROW, I have one or two NICE doe within 20-30 yards....and see NO bucks. Then I break down, buy a doe tag, and proceeded to see NO more deer THE REST OF BOTH SEASONS....

SKUNKED AGAIN!

So last year I had both, but only saw little ones or buttons (I quit shooting buttons years ago, ULESS it's with the flintlock...

) Got my buck, but no doe.....

THIS year, though, it's $24 for the buck and the FIRST doe tag, then $15 for any additional doe tags,(no limit this year, only by county,) which are good in all seasons, but still only one buck any way....

So I guess I'm back to agonizing....do I shoot or NOT. GOSH I hate to mess up opening morning....

But then, a few years ago I DOUBLED, took the doe, then minutes later got the buck FOLLOWING her too....maybe I'll try that again...but then again I DID pass up a nice doe in the morning, the double happened at 4:00 in the afternoon, HHHhhhmmmm....

Decisions, Decisions.....

jay3534 · 11-06-2006, 06:37 PM

I would take the doe but we can take up to 4 doe where I go in N.C.

polishshooter · 11-06-2006, 09:15 PM

Hey, nobody's VOTING, what gives?

troutwest66 · 11-06-2006, 10:32 PM

I voted! Since you can also shoot a buck later take the doe and put her in the freezer after you have some backstraps that night! We can only get one deer here in Idaho unless we want to pay ten times as much for unsold non-resident tags. I'll wait for a buck until later in the season. I have until Dec. 3rd.

Pistolenschutze · 11-06-2006, 10:42 PM

Polish, the solution is simple. Shoot the doe on opening day. If the game warden isn't looking, stash it in the freezer. Next day, shoot the buck.

Oh, one other thing: Make damn SURE the game warden isn't looking.

polishshooter · 11-06-2006, 10:53 PM

Oh, I can shoot 'em both, I don't mind if they look, I'll have the tags...and it's legal, no "Daily Limit" here.....

But it reminds me of my Brother who hunts in NY with a bunch of buddies not far from his home, and they all used to occasionally shoot a yearling doe if they had a chance, throw it in his trunk and he'd RACE home and hang it in his shop, and race back to hunt, and NOT tag it

NY has a "daily limit."

He told me a couple of years ago he shot a small one on opening day, gutted it, threw it in the trunk, RACED home with it untagged, ....and got pulled over by a State Trooper for speeding...

He's sitting in the front of the trooper's car waiting for him to write the ticket, and notices the blood and hair all over his bumper and trunk lid, even the imprint of his hand in blood from when he slammed it

He GLADLY signed for the ticket and got out of there...thanking his lucky stars the Trooper missed it or didn't care to check if he had a BODY in there....

Pistolenschutze · 11-07-2006, 11:56 AM

Polish, my dad used to tell a story about an incident that happened in CA in the early 1950s. He hunted with a bunch of kinda wild and crazy WWII vets at the time; well, he was also a kinda crazy WWII vet, so he fitted right in. Anyway, the group had gone high up into the Sierras the day before opening day, camped out over night, then hunted like mad on opening day. They didn't see a single deer, nor even any sign of one, despite hours of tramping through the mountains. Discouraged, they packed up and headed home. On the way down the mountain it was necessary to pass through an area that was part of Sequoia National Park where, of course, hunting was not allowed. They came around a curve and there, standing about 30 yards off the road up the side of a hill, well within the Park, was a nice fat doe. Now, you must understand that in CA the deer season, with rare exceptions, is bucks only. The guy who was driving--they called him "Curly" becase he was nearly bald--screeched to a halt, pulled out his trusty Winchester '94 in .32 Win Special, took careful aim, and "bam." The doe rolled down the hill to within five feet of the pickup. By this time my dad was about to crap his drawers because the game wardens were thick as thieves around there on the first weekend of the season. They heaved the doe into the back of the pickup, threw a tarp over it, and proceeded on down the mountain. There was a problem, however: it was not possible to leave the area without first going through the Ranger check point at the base of the mountain. My dad thought, OMG, they'll throw us all in the jug and lose key! Now, talk about coolness under fire, when they reached the check point, Curly just smiled and waved at the Ranger. The Ranger took a quick look at the pickup and asked, "What do you folks have under the tarp?" Curly answered, "A big ol' fat doe." The Ranger just grinned, said "oh bull***t," and waved them on through! A few minutes later they pulled off onto an old logging road, gutted the deer, and headed home. I was pretty young then, maybe 4 or so, but I still remember how good those deer steaks tasted.

polishshooter · 11-08-2006, 09:50 AM

When I was in PA I used to hunt with my wife's Grandpa's really neat .300 Savage bolt action, which was a MILITARY BA rifle that was originaly chambered for some military, probably 7x57, and intended for sale to some "banana Republic," that when after a coup or something, and the sale fell through, Savage "sporterized" and rechambered for .300 Savage and sold cheaply in the US before WWII....it was heavy, and even had stripper clip guides

It also had a really neat custom monte carlo stock Gramps carved for it....

His story of how he got it was hilarious....

He said he was hunting during "Doe Season" a long time before, and hears a shot, then some wild banging, so wanders over to investigate...

And finds some "city fella" with a nice 6 or 8 point buck on the ground, holding that rifle by the muzzle and hysterically swinging it trying to knock the antlers off the buck..and the stock by now is shattered beyond recognition!

Gramps said he went to him and said there was a Game Warden around, and he better watch out, so the guy starts to run off, and Gramps said he yelled something like "How are your going to explain the rifle?" and the guy offers to sell it to him, Gramps said, "I only have like $7 on me," and the guy said SOLD!

Gramps got the rifle, (and the buck

) for $7, and that winter carved a new stock for it....

!!!!!

Although when I missed a nice buck with it once, he said graciously, "You know, I ALWAYS wondered whether that barrel got bent that day...."

(Even though we had painstakenly sighted it in before the season with no problems...

)

Pistolenschutze · 11-08-2006, 12:39 PM

Yup, "crooked barrels" have been a problem for me a time or too as well, Polish.

Isn't it funny how often those crooked ones straighten themselves out, as if by magic, by the next time you test fire it on the range?

Light Coat · 11-08-2006, 11:48 PM

I vote to shoot; lunch is lunch. I have stacks of antlers around this place anyway. I only shoot a buck if he has some weight on him and hasn't been beat to snot by old age.

polishshooter · 11-10-2006, 10:07 PM

Yeah, I know, you can't eat the horns, and I am a confirmed "Meat Hunter" (translation-I've never gotten a TROPHY yet....

) so I SHOULD shoot....

But MOST of my bucks I've gotten on Opening Day, so I guess I will ALWAYS hesitate...and kick myself later if I get skunled...I HATE to mess up Opening Day early, unless it's a buck....sometimes I think I'd rather hunt the whole day and NOT get a shot than get one early. And it's the same for the afternoon "Happy Time", if you got 5 more minutes of light, you STILL might yet see the buck....and I've killed bucks that late too....

If it's noon or so, though I'd take it, and try to get it home and hung in time to be BACK out for "Happy Time...."

Opening Day is that special to me....

Now day TWO on is a different story!

But, yeah, my fireplace mantle and walls are getting filled with "Tenderhorns" too....

I just wish does could leave you with something to remind you about them for years after besides MEMORIES.....

southernshooter · 11-12-2006, 12:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by polishshooter

I just wish does could leave you with something to remind you about them for years after besides MEMORIES.....

Time to buy a polaroid

troutwest66 · 11-12-2006, 06:39 AM

I had an oppportunity at a doe about 11:00 yesterday morning. Following some buck tracks in the snow and I hear a deer snort and then I see the doe and her fawn. I'm not into making orphans so I just watched them amble off at less than 50 yards (wind in my face, they looked my way but I froze and they weren't spooked) hoping a buck would be following. Oh, well. I'm headed back out today where I jumped two deer last year.

JohnK3 · 11-12-2006, 09:23 AM

troutwest, I'm with you. An orphan-maker, I'm not.

If the doe wasn't with a fawn and she was big enough, she'd be headed to the freezer. I'm a venison hunter.

polishshooter · 11-12-2006, 09:04 PM

Ah, the sentiments are appreciated, but that 6 month old deer really doesn't need Mom anymore to survive on it's own...and hasn't for the last two months or so....in fact it is hanging around more from force of habit than anything....and if none of them are harvested, (does OR fawns,) it is not uncommon for the more "dependent" yearlings to hang around Mom until she finally has to get mean and drive them AWAY about the time she is ready to drop her new fawns next May, so the yearling "stupid" deer don't know her hiding place, and lead predators to the new fawns....

You MAY be doing it a favor, in granted, a seemingly harsh way, to FORCE it to survice on it's own instead of getting "dependent" on Mom, like many of them do....it's NATURE, and life is tough in NATURE....and it happens ALL THE TIME whether we shoot them or not, with cars and trucks usually, but other predators, sickness, and injury as well....that's life in the forest....

And as MUCH as that sight is heartwarming, you have to understand that virtually EVERY doe over 1 1/2 years old has (a) fawn(s) every year...they are around, even if you don't SEE them, some have already "flown the coop," but some haven't....so using that logic, making "orphans," we would NEVER shoot a doe, right?

That is the same logic anti-hunters, and Walt Disney, uses against us. While it is not a BAD thing, kind of like the sadness we all feel mixed up with the elation of success when we DO kill an animal we are hunting, you have to be sure you are dealing with those feelings logically, with all the facts of nature, not juxtaposing "human" family traits on wildlife....it's easy to do, just look at ANY lit deer "family" on people's lawns this Xmas....(I even have one!) "Mom, Dad, and the kids" is a MYTH in nature...

About the only ones that really tear at my heartstrings for some reason are the buttons....one of the reasons I don't shoot "little" deer during gun any more is the chance I might take a button, they seem so innocent and stupid, worse than the doe fawns, and that just might be my "trophy" in a few years....

Twice in my life, when I had a button walk under my stand oblivious to anything around him, and I was pretty sure no other deer was around, I've taken a shot "at" him, carefully "missing," just to give him an "education" that might make him a little more cautious...

Now with my flintlock, I WILL take "small" deer, and have taken a button because it was tough to be sure at longer range, but by then they are a LITTLE fatter

plus you NEVER know for sure that firelock will even go boom...so it's more fair

Plus the "little" ones are VERY tender, and easier to butcher....

durk · 11-12-2006, 11:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by polishshooter

Then "economics" came into play, while you could ONLY shoot ONE buck with ANY gun, you needed a SEPARATE $24 Buck tag for GUN season and a $24 Doe tag, which was then good for Muzzleloading season too, but if you DIDN'T get a buck during gun, you had to buy ANOTHER $24 Muzzleloading tag just to take a buck...since two deer are plenty for me, I would try like heck to get a buck during gun, and "save" my doe tag for a NICE one during gun, or else save it for Muzzleloading, since I then couldn't shoot a buck ANYWAY. And SOME of those years, getting laid off for the winter during my paving days, that extra $24 was a lot of money if I DIDN'T get a deer with it...

For about five years, I even would ONLY buy a buck license, just to take care of this situation, and FORCE me to take a buck FIRST. And then when I GOT my buck, I'd buy the doe tag for the rest of the season....

I voted (whatever mood I was in). Luckily I had the means to buy a lifetime hunting/fishing license b-4 the price went up again back in 1994. So all of my tags are paid for. I don't know about other states but in Oklahoma it seems like the price goes up every 2 or so years on everything. Tags, licenses etc...

polishshooter · 11-13-2006, 09:45 PM

I went to check the regs to see how much a lifetime license was in Indiana, and they don't list it in this years regs for some reason, but i know they have one...

That's about the only thing that sucks here, the regular combined Hunting/Fishing license is $20, but that only lets you hunt furbearers, squirrels, rabbits, crows, and amphibians, (Woodcock and dove too with a special call-in registration number, that SO FAR is free....

)t's an extra $6.75 to hunt non-migratory, "Game Birds," (basically Quail, Pheasant and Grouse) another $6.75 on top of that to hunt migratory game birds , and extra $25 for EITHER a spring or fall Turkey license, and this year $24 for the Gun.Buck tag, $24 for the first Bonus antlerless tag (good any season,) $15 for any additional bonus antlerless, no limit on total this year, just only so many per county allowed, ranging from 1 to 8 depending on the county, (used to be 4 season limit, but all $24 each...so there's a LITTLE savings.)then if you DON'T get your buck during gun, an additional $24 for an either sex muzzleloading tag, good for two weeks and a day starting the weekend after the two weeks and a day gun season ends on Dec 3.....if you get a buck during gun, you can only kill a doe during ML, and a bonus tag counts, so no use buying an ML license then, so LOT'S of pressure to get your buck with the shotgun....if only to save the $24....

They get you coming and going, and complain that fewer amd fewer hunters are in the woods every year....

durk · 11-13-2006, 10:25 PM

I feel very fortunate to have only spent $400 back in 1994 compared to the
$775 that it now cost for a lifetime combination hunt/fish.

lamehawk · 11-14-2006, 12:43 PM

Sometimes all I do is watch the deer!I love deer meat but I have all season long to shoot one and I want my hunts to last as long as possible.

catfish83861 · 01-22-2007, 12:12 AM

Durk, What part of the state do you live in, I grew up 90 miles North of Tulsa. Is it mostly lease land now? I would like to go back and visit but don't know if I will. Dang the combination licenses is a lot more than when I left in 1965.

Dang I am getting old.

IShootBack · 01-23-2007, 07:21 PM

We can pretty much shoot them until our arms get tired. Does are way too plentiful. Our hunt club gets 35 extra tags to harvest them.

I harvest every one I see. They taste great...

I have never eaten an antler...

The Rifleman · 02-01-2007, 09:36 PM

Where I hunt in Pennsylvania the season is two weeks long. If you cannot get a deer in the second week of deer season - there is something wrong with you.

Lately though - the local outlaws have all gotten fat and lazy and they are shooting does first thing in the morning on the first day. Only problem with that is that there isn't anyone counting how many deer a day they are getting. Some are shooting as many as 14 a year.

Whe you shoot a doe - you aren't just killing one deer a year. More than likely you are killing 3. So in a few years - just as is happening here, when you hear that there are no more deer. And when you hear that the Game Comission should do something about it.. Just remember that it was you - and not the game comission that shot the deer.

I'm no saint and I can tell you that last year I hit a doe the last night of the season , driving home from church on a Saturday night, just down the road from my house where all the land is posted by the neighbor. It did $1500 damage to my truck and I was not a happy camper!

Yes deer meat is very delicious, but except for this year - you couldn't miss a day of work and get more meat out of one deer than what you would have made going to work and buying steak from the grocery store - unless you only make $6 a hour... Even a big 175 lbs deer only has about 80 lbs of meat on its bones..

crashs1990 · 03-19-2007, 06:06 PM

I hunt in Wisconsin And I Would take a doe because its the only deer you will see all week.Hunting wiscosin sucks now thanks to the DNR .

View Poll Results: 8:00 am Opening day...do you shoot the nice doe?
No question, good eating meat, might be the ONLY deer you see all season, SHOOT!	16	43.24%
Plenty of time to get a doe, wait for the BUCK!	10	27.03%
Wait as long as you can for the buck, but if none coming, take it!	3	8.11%
Depends on my mood.....	8	21.62%
Voters: 37. You may not vote on this poll

11-05-2006, 10:17 PM	#1
polishshooter Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Indiana Contributor Posts: 7,859	Opening Day, 8:00, do you take the doe? Ok, guys, here's the scenario...(I agonize EACH opening day over the EARLY breakfast.... ) You have the requisite tags for buck or doe.... It's a perfect opening day, little wind, 40 degrees, wind 5 mph in your face, you're in or on stand, and about a 125 pound 2 year old doe walks out and stands broadside at about 40 yards, picture book shot... Do you shoot.... ...or wait for the buck? __________________ The problems we face today are there because the people who work for a living are outnumbered by those who vote for a living. --> Last edited by polishshooter; 11-05-2006 at 10:43 PM..

11-05-2006, 10:26 PM	#2
southernshooter Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Deep South Mississippi Posts: 5,943	Re: Opening Day, 8:00, do you take the doe? Shoot the doe and if a buck comes out later take it __________________ Only you can see this

11-05-2006, 10:42 PM	#3
polishshooter Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Indiana Contributor Posts: 7,859	Re: Opening Day, 8:00, do you take the doe? I hunted deer for 15 years before I got my FIRST one by myself, and that was in an Ohio "Buck or Doe" season, so I shot the button buck with NO hesitation. And was PROUD as heck, and it tasted GOOD.... While in New York at the time I was growing up, they only had "party permits" for doe that were tough to get, so I COULDN'T shoot a doe legally, and in PA when I hunted they had Buck and doe SEASONS, so I never really faced the dilemma until Ohio and Indiana. Even in Indiana, when I first started hunting, and had both licenses, I would shoot the first deer in my sights, the ghosts of all those SKUNKED years are never far from home! But then I started seeing shootable bucks on Opening Day, and when I started getting some, 75% of them came on opening day. SO I started being "selective...." still take a doe, but ONLY late in the season.... Then "economics" came into play, while you could ONLY shoot ONE buck with ANY gun, you needed a SEPARATE $24 Buck tag for GUN season and a $24 Doe tag, which was then good for Muzzleloading season too, but if you DIDN'T get a buck during gun, you had to buy ANOTHER $24 Muzzleloading tag just to take a buck...since two deer are plenty for me, I would try like heck to get a buck during gun, and "save" my doe tag for a NICE one during gun, or else save it for Muzzleloading, since I then couldn't shoot a buck ANYWAY. And SOME of those years, getting laid off for the winter during my paving days, that extra $24 was a lot of money if I DIDN'T get a deer with it... For about five years, I even would ONLY buy a buck license, just to take care of this situation, and FORCE me to take a buck FIRST. And then when I GOT my buck, I'd buy the doe tag for the rest of the season.... And then two years ago, I have ONLY my Buck tag, and THREE DAYS IN A ROW, I have one or two NICE doe within 20-30 yards....and see NO bucks. Then I break down, buy a doe tag, and proceeded to see NO more deer THE REST OF BOTH SEASONS.... SKUNKED AGAIN! So last year I had both, but only saw little ones or buttons (I quit shooting buttons years ago, ULESS it's with the flintlock... ) Got my buck, but no doe..... THIS year, though, it's $24 for the buck and the FIRST doe tag, then $15 for any additional doe tags,(no limit this year, only by county,) which are good in all seasons, but still only one buck any way.... So I guess I'm back to agonizing....do I shoot or NOT. GOSH I hate to mess up opening morning.... But then, a few years ago I DOUBLED, took the doe, then minutes later got the buck FOLLOWING her too....maybe I'll try that again...but then again I DID pass up a nice doe in the morning, the double happened at 4:00 in the afternoon, HHHhhhmmmm.... Decisions, Decisions..... __________________ The problems we face today are there because the people who work for a living are outnumbered by those who vote for a living. Last edited by polishshooter; 11-05-2006 at 10:45 PM..

11-06-2006, 06:37 PM	#4
jay3534 V.I.P. Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: N.C. Posts: 127	Re: Opening Day, 8:00, do you take the doe? I would take the doe but we can take up to 4 doe where I go in N.C.

11-06-2006, 09:15 PM	#5
polishshooter Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Indiana Contributor Posts: 7,859	Re: Opening Day, 8:00, do you take the doe? Hey, nobody's VOTING, what gives? __________________ The problems we face today are there because the people who work for a living are outnumbered by those who vote for a living.

11-06-2006, 10:32 PM	#6
troutwest66 V.I.P. Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Post Falls, Idaho Posts: 286	Re: Opening Day, 8:00, do you take the doe? I voted! Since you can also shoot a buck later take the doe and put her in the freezer after you have some backstraps that night! We can only get one deer here in Idaho unless we want to pay ten times as much for unsold non-resident tags. I'll wait for a buck until later in the season. I have until Dec. 3rd. __________________ Mel Westlake- NRA Life Member and Flyfisher Guns are like tools, you can never have too many and you need the right one for the job!

11-06-2006, 10:42 PM	#7
Pistolenschutze Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Colorado Posts: 13,094	Re: Opening Day, 8:00, do you take the doe? Polish, the solution is simple. Shoot the doe on opening day. If the game warden isn't looking, stash it in the freezer. Next day, shoot the buck. Oh, one other thing: Make damn SURE the game warden isn't looking. __________________ --Pistolenschutze (Pistol Shooter)

11-06-2006, 10:53 PM	#8
polishshooter Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Indiana Contributor Posts: 7,859	Re: Opening Day, 8:00, do you take the doe? Oh, I can shoot 'em both, I don't mind if they look, I'll have the tags...and it's legal, no "Daily Limit" here..... But it reminds me of my Brother who hunts in NY with a bunch of buddies not far from his home, and they all used to occasionally shoot a yearling doe if they had a chance, throw it in his trunk and he'd RACE home and hang it in his shop, and race back to hunt, and NOT tag it NY has a "daily limit." He told me a couple of years ago he shot a small one on opening day, gutted it, threw it in the trunk, RACED home with it untagged, ....and got pulled over by a State Trooper for speeding... He's sitting in the front of the trooper's car waiting for him to write the ticket, and notices the blood and hair all over his bumper and trunk lid, even the imprint of his hand in blood from when he slammed it He GLADLY signed for the ticket and got out of there...thanking his lucky stars the Trooper missed it or didn't care to check if he had a BODY in there.... __________________ The problems we face today are there because the people who work for a living are outnumbered by those who vote for a living.

11-07-2006, 11:56 AM	#9
Pistolenschutze Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Colorado Posts: 13,094	Re: Opening Day, 8:00, do you take the doe? Polish, my dad used to tell a story about an incident that happened in CA in the early 1950s. He hunted with a bunch of kinda wild and crazy WWII vets at the time; well, he was also a kinda crazy WWII vet, so he fitted right in. Anyway, the group had gone high up into the Sierras the day before opening day, camped out over night, then hunted like mad on opening day. They didn't see a single deer, nor even any sign of one, despite hours of tramping through the mountains. Discouraged, they packed up and headed home. On the way down the mountain it was necessary to pass through an area that was part of Sequoia National Park where, of course, hunting was not allowed. They came around a curve and there, standing about 30 yards off the road up the side of a hill, well within the Park, was a nice fat doe. Now, you must understand that in CA the deer season, with rare exceptions, is bucks only. The guy who was driving--they called him "Curly" becase he was nearly bald--screeched to a halt, pulled out his trusty Winchester '94 in .32 Win Special, took careful aim, and "bam." The doe rolled down the hill to within five feet of the pickup. By this time my dad was about to crap his drawers because the game wardens were thick as thieves around there on the first weekend of the season. They heaved the doe into the back of the pickup, threw a tarp over it, and proceeded on down the mountain. There was a problem, however: it was not possible to leave the area without first going through the Ranger check point at the base of the mountain. My dad thought, OMG, they'll throw us all in the jug and lose key! Now, talk about coolness under fire, when they reached the check point, Curly just smiled and waved at the Ranger. The Ranger took a quick look at the pickup and asked, "What do you folks have under the tarp?" Curly answered, "A big ol' fat doe." The Ranger just grinned, said "oh bull*t," and waved them on through! A few minutes later they pulled off onto an old logging road, gutted the deer, and headed home. I was pretty young then, maybe 4 or so, but I still remember how good those deer steaks tasted. __________________ --Pistolenschutze (Pistol Shooter)** Last edited by Pistolenschutze; 11-07-2006 at 04:27 PM..

11-08-2006, 09:50 AM	#10
polishshooter Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Indiana Contributor Posts: 7,859	Re: Opening Day, 8:00, do you take the doe? When I was in PA I used to hunt with my wife's Grandpa's really neat .300 Savage bolt action, which was a MILITARY BA rifle that was originaly chambered for some military, probably 7x57, and intended for sale to some "banana Republic," that when after a coup or something, and the sale fell through, Savage "sporterized" and rechambered for .300 Savage and sold cheaply in the US before WWII....it was heavy, and even had stripper clip guides It also had a really neat custom monte carlo stock Gramps carved for it.... His story of how he got it was hilarious.... He said he was hunting during "Doe Season" a long time before, and hears a shot, then some wild banging, so wanders over to investigate... And finds some "city fella" with a nice 6 or 8 point buck on the ground, holding that rifle by the muzzle and hysterically swinging it trying to knock the antlers off the buck..and the stock by now is shattered beyond recognition! Gramps said he went to him and said there was a Game Warden around, and he better watch out, so the guy starts to run off, and Gramps said he yelled something like "How are your going to explain the rifle?" and the guy offers to sell it to him, Gramps said, "I only have like $7 on me," and the guy said SOLD! Gramps got the rifle, (and the buck ) for $7, and that winter carved a new stock for it.... !!!!! Although when I missed a nice buck with it once, he said graciously, "You know, I ALWAYS wondered whether that barrel got bent that day...." (Even though we had painstakenly sighted it in before the season with no problems... ) __________________ The problems we face today are there because the people who work for a living are outnumbered by those who vote for a living. Last edited by polishshooter; 11-08-2006 at 10:08 AM..

11-08-2006, 12:39 PM	#11
Pistolenschutze Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Colorado Posts: 13,094	Re: Opening Day, 8:00, do you take the doe? Yup, "crooked barrels" have been a problem for me a time or too as well, Polish. Isn't it funny how often those crooked ones straighten themselves out, as if by magic, by the next time you test fire it on the range? __________________ --Pistolenschutze (Pistol Shooter)

11-08-2006, 11:48 PM	#12
Light Coat V.I.P. Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Middle of Nowhere, KS Posts: 466	Re: Opening Day, 8:00, do you take the doe? I vote to shoot; lunch is lunch. I have stacks of antlers around this place anyway. I only shoot a buck if he has some weight on him and hasn't been beat to snot by old age.

11-10-2006, 10:07 PM	#13
polishshooter Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Indiana Contributor Posts: 7,859	Re: Opening Day, 8:00, do you take the doe? Yeah, I know, you can't eat the horns, and I am a confirmed "Meat Hunter" (translation-I've never gotten a TROPHY yet.... ) so I SHOULD shoot.... But MOST of my bucks I've gotten on Opening Day, so I guess I will ALWAYS hesitate...and kick myself later if I get skunled...I HATE to mess up Opening Day early, unless it's a buck....sometimes I think I'd rather hunt the whole day and NOT get a shot than get one early. And it's the same for the afternoon "Happy Time", if you got 5 more minutes of light, you STILL might yet see the buck....and I've killed bucks that late too.... If it's noon or so, though I'd take it, and try to get it home and hung in time to be BACK out for "Happy Time...." Opening Day is that special to me.... Now day TWO on is a different story! But, yeah, my fireplace mantle and walls are getting filled with "Tenderhorns" too.... I just wish does could leave you with something to remind you about them for years after besides MEMORIES..... __________________ The problems we face today are there because the people who work for a living are outnumbered by those who vote for a living. Last edited by polishshooter; 11-10-2006 at 10:11 PM..

11-12-2006, 06:39 AM	#15
troutwest66 V.I.P. Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Post Falls, Idaho Posts: 286	Re: Opening Day, 8:00, do you take the doe? I had an oppportunity at a doe about 11:00 yesterday morning. Following some buck tracks in the snow and I hear a deer snort and then I see the doe and her fawn. I'm not into making orphans so I just watched them amble off at less than 50 yards (wind in my face, they looked my way but I froze and they weren't spooked) hoping a buck would be following. Oh, well. I'm headed back out today where I jumped two deer last year. __________________ Mel Westlake- NRA Life Member and Flyfisher Guns are like tools, you can never have too many and you need the right one for the job!

11-12-2006, 09:23 AM	#16
JohnK3 Advanced Senior Member Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 1,636	Re: Opening Day, 8:00, do you take the doe? troutwest, I'm with you. An orphan-maker, I'm not. If the doe wasn't with a fawn and she was big enough, she'd be headed to the freezer. I'm a venison hunter.

11-12-2006, 09:04 PM	#17
polishshooter Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Indiana Contributor Posts: 7,859	Re: Opening Day, 8:00, do you take the doe? Ah, the sentiments are appreciated, but that 6 month old deer really doesn't need Mom anymore to survive on it's own...and hasn't for the last two months or so....in fact it is hanging around more from force of habit than anything....and if none of them are harvested, (does OR fawns,) it is not uncommon for the more "dependent" yearlings to hang around Mom until she finally has to get mean and drive them AWAY about the time she is ready to drop her new fawns next May, so the yearling "stupid" deer don't know her hiding place, and lead predators to the new fawns.... You MAY be doing it a favor, in granted, a seemingly harsh way, to FORCE it to survice on it's own instead of getting "dependent" on Mom, like many of them do....it's NATURE, and life is tough in NATURE....and it happens ALL THE TIME whether we shoot them or not, with cars and trucks usually, but other predators, sickness, and injury as well....that's life in the forest.... And as MUCH as that sight is heartwarming, you have to understand that virtually EVERY doe over 1 1/2 years old has (a) fawn(s) every year...they are around, even if you don't SEE them, some have already "flown the coop," but some haven't....so using that logic, making "orphans," we would NEVER shoot a doe, right? That is the same logic anti-hunters, and Walt Disney, uses against us. While it is not a BAD thing, kind of like the sadness we all feel mixed up with the elation of success when we DO kill an animal we are hunting, you have to be sure you are dealing with those feelings logically, with all the facts of nature, not juxtaposing "human" family traits on wildlife....it's easy to do, just look at ANY lit deer "family" on people's lawns this Xmas....(I even have one!) "Mom, Dad, and the kids" is a MYTH in nature... About the only ones that really tear at my heartstrings for some reason are the buttons....one of the reasons I don't shoot "little" deer during gun any more is the chance I might take a button, they seem so innocent and stupid, worse than the doe fawns, and that just might be my "trophy" in a few years.... Twice in my life, when I had a button walk under my stand oblivious to anything around him, and I was pretty sure no other deer was around, I've taken a shot "at" him, carefully "missing," just to give him an "education" that might make him a little more cautious... Now with my flintlock, I WILL take "small" deer, and have taken a button because it was tough to be sure at longer range, but by then they are a LITTLE fatter plus you NEVER know for sure that firelock will even go boom...so it's more fair Plus the "little" ones are VERY tender, and easier to butcher.... __________________ The problems we face today are there because the people who work for a living are outnumbered by those who vote for a living. Last edited by polishshooter; 11-12-2006 at 09:24 PM..

11-13-2006, 09:45 PM	#19
polishshooter Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Indiana Contributor Posts: 7,859	Re: Opening Day, 8:00, do you take the doe? I went to check the regs to see how much a lifetime license was in Indiana, and they don't list it in this years regs for some reason, but i know they have one... That's about the only thing that sucks here, the regular combined Hunting/Fishing license is $20, but that only lets you hunt furbearers, squirrels, rabbits, crows, and amphibians, (Woodcock and dove too with a special call-in registration number, that SO FAR is free.... )t's an extra $6.75 to hunt non-migratory, "Game Birds," (basically Quail, Pheasant and Grouse) another $6.75 on top of that to hunt migratory game birds , and extra $25 for EITHER a spring or fall Turkey license, and this year $24 for the Gun.Buck tag, $24 for the first Bonus antlerless tag (good any season,) $15 for any additional bonus antlerless, no limit on total this year, just only so many per county allowed, ranging from 1 to 8 depending on the county, (used to be 4 season limit, but all $24 each...so there's a LITTLE savings.)then if you DON'T get your buck during gun, an additional $24 for an either sex muzzleloading tag, good for two weeks and a day starting the weekend after the two weeks and a day gun season ends on Dec 3.....if you get a buck during gun, you can only kill a doe during ML, and a bonus tag counts, so no use buying an ML license then, so LOT'S of pressure to get your buck with the shotgun....if only to save the $24.... They get you coming and going, and complain that fewer amd fewer hunters are in the woods every year.... __________________ The problems we face today are there because the people who work for a living are outnumbered by those who vote for a living. Last edited by polishshooter; 11-13-2006 at 09:49 PM..

11-13-2006, 10:25 PM	#20
durk Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Oklahoma Posts: 2,026	Re: Opening Day, 8:00, do you take the doe? I feel very fortunate to have only spent $400 back in 1994 compared to the $775 that it now cost for a lifetime combination hunt/fish. __________________ Durk

11-14-2006, 12:43 PM	#21
lamehawk Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Indiana Posts: 38	Re: Opening Day, 8:00, do you take the doe? Sometimes all I do is watch the deer!I love deer meat but I have all season long to shoot one and I want my hunts to last as long as possible.

01-22-2007, 12:12 AM	#22
catfish83861 Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: North Idaho Posts: 2,018	Re: Opening Day, 8:00, do you take the doe? Durk, What part of the state do you live in, I grew up 90 miles North of Tulsa. Is it mostly lease land now? I would like to go back and visit but don't know if I will. Dang the combination licenses is a lot more than when I left in 1965. Dang I am getting old.

01-23-2007, 07:21 PM	#23
IShootBack Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Virginia Posts: 2,306	Re: Opening Day, 8:00, do you take the doe? We can pretty much shoot them until our arms get tired. Does are way too plentiful. Our hunt club gets 35 extra tags to harvest them. I harvest every one I see. They taste great... I have never eaten an antler... __________________ "The Lord is a warrior, the Lord is his name." Exodus15:3 Last edited by IShootBack; 01-23-2007 at 07:23 PM..

02-01-2007, 09:36 PM	#24
The Rifleman Former Guest Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 135	Re: Opening Day, 8:00, do you take the doe? Where I hunt in Pennsylvania the season is two weeks long. If you cannot get a deer in the second week of deer season - there is something wrong with you. Lately though - the local outlaws have all gotten fat and lazy and they are shooting does first thing in the morning on the first day. Only problem with that is that there isn't anyone counting how many deer a day they are getting. Some are shooting as many as 14 a year. Whe you shoot a doe - you aren't just killing one deer a year. More than likely you are killing 3. So in a few years - just as is happening here, when you hear that there are no more deer. And when you hear that the Game Comission should do something about it.. Just remember that it was you - and not the game comission that shot the deer. I'm no saint and I can tell you that last year I hit a doe the last night of the season , driving home from church on a Saturday night, just down the road from my house where all the land is posted by the neighbor. It did $1500 damage to my truck and I was not a happy camper! Yes deer meat is very delicious, but except for this year - you couldn't miss a day of work and get more meat out of one deer than what you would have made going to work and buying steak from the grocery store - unless you only make $6 a hour... Even a big 175 lbs deer only has about 80 lbs of meat on its bones..

03-19-2007, 06:06 PM	#25
crashs1990 Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 6	Re: Opening Day, 8:00, do you take the doe? I hunt in Wisconsin And I Would take a doe because its the only deer you will see all week.Hunting wiscosin sucks now thanks to the DNR .