This subject has come up a couple times on the Medium Bore forum. Rather than start a thread there I have created this one and will link to it from the Medium Bore forum.
Here's some questions:
1. Is it ethical to shoot females (does and cows, etc.)?
2. Should young of the year (fawns) be off limits?
3. Lots of folks proudly display their male (antlered) kills. Is it any less ethical to display females?
It was first brought up on the medium bore forum completely out of context, it had
NOTHING to do with shooting Does, rather pointing out in a sarcastic way that special bullets weren't needed for Fawns or Big, Bad Does, in other words saying in a sarcastic way that Does aren't that hard to kill. Nothing to do pro or con about harvesting Does. Unless Coyote Hunter, there is a thread I am unaware of. Besides, we can't see the sex of squirrels, Bears in some cases & other animals before we shoot them, but yet we hunt them.
I have been gone for the last 4 days. Little brother drew a Cow Elk Tag for the latest season here in AR. & I camped with him & my older brother until yesterday afternoon when he harvested the Cow & we cut it up today. Great hunt, more on that later!
CH, answers to your questions
1. Yes!!!! Not only is it ethical, it is necessary to the health of the herd. This has been going on for eons in the South & it is still difficult to keep
Deer numbers at the proper level in some areas. Not doing so would be all harm & zero good.
2. The game departments don't think Fawns should be off limits, at least in some States. When we go to WY. as we did this year, we buy some Doe tags over the counter for the extra meat. The Doe tags state plainly, Doe/Fawn. Sooo, the Does & Fawns are LEGAL with that tag. But then, if the game department said Doe was legal but Fawns were off limits, where would they draw the line. This would be an enforcement nightmare. I mean, would a 20# Antelope be a Fawn but a 25# Antelope be a Doe? It is easier for most departments to not go there & just say Doe/Fawn, a no brainer really for them. And some States probably aren't concerned if the harvested females are Doe or Fawn, but some States DO have a preference. Some states like Arkansas, have in past years mentioned pointers in their manual where the inexperienced can look at the head, ears, etc. & determine if it is a Fawn, their stance is they would rather not see Fawns killed (esp. buttons), but it is not illegal. Therefore, it can & does become a personal decision for many of us.
My position is that I harvest Does every year & have for 25-30 years & sometimes many per year, but I have no reason or interest whatsoever
in shooting Fawns, just not interested & see no logic in plugging one. It was mentioned by one that the big/old Does know how to survive & could be helpful to other Does as well. That is true & if you feel that way, leave the lead Does, no biggie. If I felt that was necessary for some Doe groups, then I would shoot grown ones that were not the oldest, but that's me.
Some personal reasons/opinions that I will not shoot Fawns are as follows:
A. Like Don Fisher said, they don't eat as much of the food & why? When I buy Doe tags in WY, I believe they were $27.00 ea., why would I pay that price & then shoot a babe that would feed us a meal or two (my boys are BIG). Why not take a reasonable size, I call them eating sized Doe & have something. And why should I even bother to clean a miniture animal that I could have dropped like a bad habit with a 22lr, when I could in just a few more minutes cleaned an average size Doe & they are plenty tender, if they were any better I couldn't stand it anyway.
B. This is a big reason to me & not an opinion at all. If you shoot a Fawn & do not get a good look at the head, you have a good chance of killing a button buck (Deer) or young Buck. Now one thing we CANNOT do is know the trophy potential of that little Buck, not opinion FACT. Why would I want to kill a button Buck Whitetail when he may be a potential B&C Buck in the making? Better to know the sex of what you are shooting for this reason.
C. To me & this is just the way I was raised, it is just not cool to shoot Fawns. No sport, no challenge, no sense of accomplishment to me. We were taught not to do so & we did not. It was just part of the "DO NOTS", you know, not hitting females, not cussing elders so forth. Not to say it fits with those, just part of a long list of rules is my point. Now, this is personal, & not really a moral or Holier than thou thing at all. And it won't upset me a bit when killing Fawns is mentioned here, I will digest my Doe steaks just fine, thanks. So, if others fell a need to shoot a Fawn, then bang away.
No need to get mad at me for my belief & I won't be mad at anyone for shooting them & telling me they were hard to bring down, I will pass over those discussions in the future instead of making light of them to avoid unnecessary & valueless conflict.
3. No, it is not less ethical to display Females. In fact, when I slow down the hunting a little, I will show some pictures of Does we took this year & the Cow Elk taken yesterday.