after that heated 3 point per side/qdm/antler restriction thread we seem to have every few months, I saw an interesting discussion on a hunting show that pointed out how we need to know what we will or won't shoot BEFORE we get into the woods. a good shot presentation may not last long enough for you to have that internal debate on whether you want to shoot a doe/spike/1-2-3 or older deer, or exactly how wide the rack is to the nearest 1/2". if you decide you want a 140 class deer your not gonna get it by shooting lesser class deer, and some areas may never produce one that big, or at best you might be waiting for years. I'm not gonna rehash that debate here. if you are one of the can't eat horns crowd and don't mind shooting does, make your first deer a doe for the freezer, imo they taste best. and I always seemed to see a lot more does than bucks, and whenever I gave a deer a pass, that turned out to be the last one I'd see on that trip. I'm not gonna take sides here, but feel we need to be more discriminating than if it's brown it's down.
FLORIDA DOSENT ALLOW YOU TO SHOOT DOES.
Seam every one forgets this law.
Its like taking gobblers hens eat way better than old Gobblers or Roosters so the younger buck is what you have to hunt. seriously i don't know why every so alarmed about it. Racked deer there every were if you put the effort in. If your thinking about deer above a 100 score well these swamps don't make many anyway.
Now i hunt public land and i get a chance to harvest a buck around 100 every year. So i truly don't understand the problem.
The problem is if we open doe to harvest what quantity. I could easily double my yearly take if so and yeas i would. There be no need for hogs on top of my deer take. By the way for the last 15 years i have averaged over 3 deer a year. So one doe doesn't go far for me. I eat then all.
To me it has never been a requirement to kill a deer every time I go on a hunt. If that is what someone needs to consider there hunt a success. They are hunting for the wrong reasons. I pass many legal deer year after year, and with out having an open doe harvest which this state does not need. We already have full week of doe season on private land. Many WMA's you can harvest doe during archery, and several places have antlerless deer permits. I know to many guys that kill just to say they killed something, or to act like they are a superior hunter to the rest. Trust me if I killed every legal animal that came by I would spend much less time in the woods, and miss a lot of quality experiences, and mature bucks that are there for the taking. Just enjoy your time in the woods if you decide to take something than it is icing on the cake. Best of luck.
Why would you spend less time in the woods. Just wondering because i know hunters who say shooting a hog will spoil there hunt. I find that just totally wrong.
As for does only permit area ever have tags. As we know you only getting one now if your lucky. But you are right we don't need does and we don't need more restrictions.
No don't need to shoot something every trip. If so dam i be overflowing with to much work.
Oh i do have a little pet peeve to those who waste any animal they harvest. I may be a little extreme with it as i can average 45 percent of the deer hoof weight in clean process deboned meat when i process one.
Ted, yes you are allowed to take does, during archery, on private land, during doe week and with a quota. but that's straying from my topic, I didn't want to say one side is right or wrong. whatever is legal do as you wish. with just me and my wife (no kids) 2 deer a year was just about right for us, 3 tops, anything more was too much. back in N.Y. bag limits and seasons were shorter. except for LONG ISLAND in archery season, where if you got a deer of either sex they would give you a doe tag, so if you were good enough you could take an unlimited # of does. but if I got something each time I went out, there would be no challenge and it would be collecting, not hunting and boring for me. I'm not realy interested in deer now anyway as I've been there and done that, plus of the 2 places I hunt 99% of the time, 1- I promised I wouldn't shoot any deer and the 2nd a wma it's not allowed. never having had a chance to hunt hogs before, that is my new challenge. as for eating, venison backstrap and tenderloin is the best meat of ANY imo, but for the rest of all animals it would be a tough choice between pork and chicken, then beef. Moose was very good, but I don't see any seasons for them in the future here. I've passed on more deer than I've taken either for safety/backdrop issues, or they were in a bad place to get them out of, or if they fall over that ridge/cliff, or run into that swamp it's gonna be hell getting them out. but I digress. all I wanted to point out is that the time to decide on what you are looking to bag is before you are at full draw.
