Any doe is a good one.

I’m right there with you Ron. Don’t pull the trigger like I use to.

When I shoot a doe (rare on my lease) I always try to shoot the old doe that will stand and stomp and blow for 30 minutes when she sees something out of place.

That one gets shot EVERY time on my place. I ain’t putting up with that.

x3...

I had the crosshairs on that one Saturday at about 30 yds but I decided to give the ole girl a pass, I just didn’t need or want the meat, there will be more to come. She was just doin what she knows.

I shoot the biggest doe in the bunch. Unless there are spotted fawns. A biologist said that brown fawns can live, but spotted fawns may not.

It has to be worth the work to field dress and process.

We don't shoot does on our place at all. The population had been way down for several years so we stopped killing them in hopes that it would bounce back. We've been enjoying looking at deer so much lately that we've just kept that practice. I go hunt public and shoot whatever doe gives me an opportunity when I want to fill my freezer, which in turn keeps pressure off of our private ground until the rut.

yup; took one out years ago that literally blew at everything - squirrels, frogs, birds, etc. - things returned to normal after she was eliminated

The biggest one you see, more meat.

We seem to have plenty of does at our club. I had several opportunities during bow season, but I didn’t really need the meat so I just watched/videoed. We used to take about 40 a year and the population held steady. We are not shooting as many any more but probably need to. I have actually seen more bucks than does so far during gun season.

I either try to take out the old smart doe or the young doe with no fawns. I won’t shoot one early in the year if I think it has fawns.

Pound for pound, the little ones are the best value, but I don't like shooting them, mainly cuz you can make a mistake and shoot a yearling buck. If you can avoid that, then taking a "non breeder" out takes a mouth out of the herd that eats more pound for pound than a mature doe, and produces nothing. And they're tastier.

This is why you take your time, use your binoculars to study the deer's head and body, and then make a decision. Good binos and patience can prevent a lot of "Damn, it's a buck" situations.

I have a piece of property we don't kill anything off it but mature deer. Period. That's not for everyone and I get that.

However.... There is no reason to kill does over bucks or spikes or anything else. A deer is a deer. A spike is one deer that will never get any larger. A doe is possibly 2-3 deer you won't have next season. If you have plenty of deer and want to shoot does blast away. If you don't better exercise some trigger control.

But - understand one thing. Mother Nature will set the correct balance. You can't do that with your rifle. Were we don't shoot deer we have plenty of deer, almost 1 to 1 ratio, strong rut and enough big deer everyone has the opportunity to shoot something with a rack even the kids. Most of them are shooting a very nice deer for their first deer and that is hard to come by.

If you want to blast a doe every time you go hunting that's great I hope your neighbors enjoy having you around.