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Mature Does

Danno

Danno

PMA Member
Why do we emphasize the harvest of mature does? The oldest, longest nosed doe seems to be the best. It's talked about on the videos and TV shows. Iowa Whitetail has a contest. However, when I take a beef to the locker, I don't pick out the oldest granny cow in the herd. I pick out an 18 month old fat heifer. Deer are exactly the same way. Last year we took 2 does in the family one was an old longnose and the other was a yearling. The yearling actually had marbling! It certainly produced more tender venison. I realize that one of the goals is to control the deer population, but isn't it just as effective to do it by harvesting a young female as an old one? I need a QDM expert to enlighten me on this one.
 
No expert, but I'm guessing it might be that the older does have a more likely chance of having offspring the following year vs. a yearling doe.
 
It's not always about the taste
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In a nutshell most old does produce 2 possibly 3 fawns a year, a young doe having her first fawn usually only produces 1 fawn. So by theory if you shoot the does popping out more fawns, you will be left with a herd only producing 1 fawn a year, sometimes 2. I hunt a place that is managed heavily and it works. I can't remember the last time I saw a doe in that place with 2 fawns. Also a big doe in there weighs about 80-90 pounds. So there are basically only 2-3 year olds left. I would say it is rare for a doe in there to reach 4 years old, I would bet most does get shot by there second year.
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That may be true, for next year. But that young doe will be at the peak of her production the next. If the useful life of a doe is 6 years (I have no idea if this is right, but bear with me) then that young doe could potentially produce at least 10-12 offspring in her lifetime. The old doe probably only has 4-5 left in her. You could argue that harvesting the young doe does more for controling the deer herd if you look out longer than 1 year. For my money let me buy an extra tag and harvest 2 young does rather than 1 old grandma.
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One other thing to consider is that the does will run their buck offspring out of the area at the appropriate time. This is natures way of making sure we don't have two headed deer running around. This isn't a good thing when you want to develop new bucks in your area. If you shoot those does that have 2 or three offspring your chances of developing your herd is better.
 
Great points, I don't know if this is true or not but I have heard from several people that if you want to maintain your quality of bucks and current bloodlines then to shoot the old does, however if you have a lot of scrappy bucks running around I have been told the best way to rid of their genetics is to harvest the younger does. Not sure if this is true but something that I have been told, kind of make sense since the older does usually fight off the smaller bucks during the rut.
 
Im not an expert either.. but i heard at a seminar that you should shoot younger does becz the older the does are they produce more buck fawns and produce more twins and triplets.. in some trail cam pics i have noticed the bigger does and older does have more twins and even triplets. i also think the mature bucks like the mature does also.. This may not be true but thats what i have heard
 
In theory, each generation is superior to the last. If that is true and QDM is the name of the game then taking out the older does is the only choice. On the other hand, older does are more choosy about what buck they breed with. Yearling does are just easy.
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Another thing to consider is, if you harvest yearling does heavily every year then at some point when the older ones die off your doe population is all but gone. Try hunting the rut with a negative doe population.

I'd say the best choice is to have a diverse age group in your doe population. To many one way or the other and things could get out of balance.

Just my opinion with nothing to back it up.
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Other things to consider:

older does have established a place in the hierarchy, they get the better fawning territories and they know their territories better leading to better fawn survival, that coupled with the twins and triplets increases the fawn crop (and thus total pop)at a much faster rate than the yearlings can.

Also, I've read that a doe producing a single fawn will be slightly more likely to produce a buck fawn, BUT if that doe is bred late because of too high a buck to doe ratio that fawn will be behind in his development for several years.
 
Does (young or old) don't have anything to do with whether the offspring is male or female. They will throw buck or doe depending on the chromosome they are provided.
 
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Does (young or old) don't have anything to do with whether the offspring is male or female. They will throw buck or doe depending on the chromosome they are provided.

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I'm not choosy ... I shoot them young and I shoot them old. I will say I take special pleasure in harvesting a smart old doe - you know the type that seem to always spot you in the tree and possibly lead that big boy the other way ...
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I agree One Cam, I have many times let a doe walk by only to end up shooting her later when she is snorting and stomping. It tends to pi$$ me off enough to let her have it!
 
I've taken my 9 year old the past three years. Our deal is the first doe to walk by gets it. Doesn't matter the size (unless it is super small). We seem to have one every time the first or second trip out in early October. I guess when it comes to does, I never thuoght much about picking one out for size, except in the certain group that walks past. In that case, I'll single out the big one.
 
Call me a softy if you want but I have a hard time shooting big does when they are with their yearling fawns. I guess watching "BAMBI" when I was younger, brain washed me!
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I shoot them young or old, big or small.

Either way....I enjoy the hunt they give me and the freezer full of meat.
I do admit that I like to shoot those big 'ol does that love to search the timber and stomp and snort when they find me in my tree or blind......and I do pick out a nice younger looking doe for the freezer at times.

Big, old does will throw twins or triplets almost every year....we have had triplets in our woods for several years in a row. Due to the exceptional quality of food our deer are eating (along with many other factors), does older than 1 year of age will almost always have "doubles" or "triples".
 
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