Shooting A Doe With Fawns? (Should/Shouldn't I)

If you had an antlerless tag, you should have taken one of the fawns. Chances are they wouldn't survive the winter anyway, and it's the best venison you've ever tasted (or chewed). That's what the aforementioned wolf would do.
 
If you cannot shoot a bear that has cubs with it, why is it so different with a hoofed animal? I actually physically threatened a hunting partner that if he pulled the trigger on a cow moose we saw a few years ago, that had a calf moose with it(no older than 1 months at best) he'd be pretty sorry. He never pulled that trigger.......................damn good thing too. Probably a good thing to discuss it with your hunting partners BEFORE you go......................
 
If you cannot shoot a bear that has cubs with it, why is it so different with a hoofed animal? I actually physically threatened a hunting partner that if he pulled the trigger on a cow moose we saw a few years ago, that had a calf moose with it(no older than 1 months at best) he'd be pretty sorry. He never pulled that trigger.......................damn good thing too. Probably a good thing to discuss it with your hunting partners BEFORE you go......................

So you physically threaten people that dont do what you want them to do ?
 
Thanks guys, I see both arguments. I hunt in Southern Ontario and I have an Antlerless/Antlered tag. However my WMU is only getting 1 Seal for the entire season so I want to save it for a good buck if I can. My group has 6 tags, so I could of taken her and we would have had 4 more, but I just had a bad feeling about it so I passed on it.

Let's hope good karma comes my way lol. Hopefully guys in my party don't shoot her, they might, but that's up to them and not much I can do about it.
 
If you cannot shoot a bear that has cubs with it, why is it so different with a hoofed animal?

A deer fawn is fully capable of independent survival by the fall of its first year. It's able to walk almost immediately after birth.

A bear cub stays with its mother until sometime in the second year of its life; they hibernate together during the cubs' first winter. It is born weighing less than a pound or so, blind and helpless. It takes longer to grow, mature and learn the survival skills it requires.

There is no comparison between the two. Incidentally, rats are ###ually mature within a month or two, and are independent at that point. Which means...absolutely nothing. It is just as irrelevant as comparing bears to deer in this regard.
 
John knows the score....... and I completely agree......

That being said, those who wish to come in here and flaunt their personal versions of "ethics" are all good in my books..... until they start trying to enforce their non scientific ethics on others.......

OP, I will put it this way...... if you had concerns about the fawns and you chose not to take the shot because you felt it may be unethical, kudos to you...... it's you that needs to live with your choice and own it and nobody else...... I think, for you, the right choice was made......
 
You did what all ethical hunters would have done. The chances of the young ones not surviving are very poor without the mother. Now their are two more to harvest for next year.

Very cool and I commend you on a wise choice.

Ethical can be a subjective term, depending on the circumstances.

If the population in the area is low and you are looking to rebuild it, not shooting is more 'ethical'.
If the population in the area is too high and you are trying to thin the herd, shooting is more ethical.

We have controlled shotgun where I hunt, and a very high population. Last year I passed on a doe and her fawn who wandered by for one and one reason only... I wanted a buck with a nice rack for a European mount. Last day of the controlled hunt... if it's brown it's down. Except last when I missed said doe on the last day. If I have no motive other than meat in the freezer... if it's brown it's down.

My ethics deer hunting where I do are limited to 'is it legal' and 'will it be clean'.

Where my moose camp is located is a complete different story, as the population is supposedly down. If I happen to get a cow tag, I will pass on any shot if there is any sign of a calf in the area.
 
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A deer fawn is fully capable of independent survival by the fall of its first year. It's able to walk almost immediately after birth.

A bear cub stays with its mother until sometime in the second year of its life; they hibernate together during the cubs' first winter. It is born weighing less than a pound or so, blind and helpless. It takes longer to grow, mature and learn the survival skills it requires.

There is no comparison between the two. Incidentally, rats are ###ually mature within a month or two, and are independent at that point. Which means...absolutely nothing. It is just as irrelevant as comparing bears to deer in this regard.

Bears are also born well before they leave the den in spring, so using the fact they are blind and tiny at birth is a bit misleading.

Regardless, your intention is correct. Hard to compare two animals that are so biologically different.
 
Bears are also born well before they leave the den in spring, so using the fact they are blind and tiny at birth is a bit misleading.

Regardless, your intention is correct. Hard to compare two animals that are so biologically different.

I hadn't even considered that, but I wasn't trying to mislead. Looking at it another way, the bear is born much earlier than the deer, but is still with its mother long after the deer is on its own. Yeah...yeah, that's what I meant...:)
 
Ethical can be a subjective term, depending on the circumstances.

If the population in the area is low and you are looking to rebuild it, not shooting is more 'ethical'.
If the population in the area is too high and you are trying to thin the herd, shooting is more ethical.

We have controlled shotgun where I hunt and last year I passed on a doe and her fawn who wandered by each day for 6 days for one and one reason only... I wanted a buck with a nice rack for a European mount. Last day of the controlled hunt... if it's brown it's down. If I have no motive other than meat in the freezer... if it's brown it's down.

My ethics deer hunting where I do are limited to 'is it legal' and 'will it be clean'.

Where my moose camp is located is a complete different story. If I happen to get a cow tag, I will pass on any shot if there is any sign of a calf in the area.


I will be following the same scenario for my first shotgun week this season as well. If I can't get a good buck in the first 5 days, the last 2 for sure will be a good sized deer is mine.
 
I was out yesterday helping someone zero his new Sako. He had just bought his rifle and got his deer tag. After boresighting it and getting it zeroed at 100m, two deer walked in front of our targets. I called a ceasefire, as I suddenly needed to change my targets. Told my friend he had to earn his hunt the right way. We both laughed and watched them for about 5 minutes before yelling at them to go away.
 
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