October Doe Harvest

Early in archery deer season is the best time to harvest does.  Being able to manage them is only half the battle of growing/harvesting big bucks.  Many hunters believe that it is best to wait to harvest does until the end of season to fill their doe tags, but I disagree. The first reason is when there are less does running around during the first rut, then the larger bucks have to come out and breed earlier.  This will have create a higher percentage opportunity of harvesting a bigger buck. This will also decrease the chances of the second rut (which is just the does that did not get bred the first time around).  When the rut starts in a high doe saturated area, then the big bucks do not have to travel as far to find one; which means a decreased chance of seeing the bigger bucks up prowling around.  Lower the number of does and you will see just the opposite affect happen. The bigger bucks will have to get up sooner and travel farther distances to find a doe in estrus to breed; creating a higher percentage chance to seeing that buck of a lifetime.

Let's look at it from a quality deer management standpoint.  Each and every spring the does drop their fawns from the previous fall's rut season.  It is natural for a doe to have twins.  That shows that she was not under stress and had plenty of nutrition.  Doe management allows for nutrition to stay plentiful and for pressure to stay a minimum (from a over-population perspective).  I personally have seen what the affects of having too many deer in an area can do to trees.  In a river bottom property, as far as you could see, the deer ate all the leaves off of the trees and bushes for as high has you could see.  It looked as if someone when through with a limb saw and cut the branches off as high as they could reach.  This will cause the deer to be small, malnourished, and the bucks to have little racks.  The number one way to prevent this is to harvest does.  During the rut, the bucks are running and  running chasing does; keeping the doe population down will ensure they get what they need to stay strong during the rut.

Winter meat in the freezer.  Harvesting early season does is great for those cold winters.  Chili, deer steak, kabobs, stew, you name it! Many people in the south do not even buy beef, because they have deer processed that can last them an entire year.  I think that I would be safe to say that all the meat they had was not just from buck deer. To me, there is nothing better than coming in to the camp from a long afternoon hunt and smelling the table full of potatoes, gravy, corn, biscuits, peas and a large plate of tenderized deer steak. It is definitely cheaper than buying ground beef throughout the year.  If you are on a budget or not it will help you put money back during these hard economic times.

All in all, whether you are looking to bag a buck of a lifetime or just putting meat on the table, harvesting does in the early season is a great way to be successful at both.  It is good sportsmanship and helping to keep the deer population under control.  Good luck and shoot straight!