Ever had a bullet whiz by your head? You tend not to forget! Fawns see ma shot-tend to remember!
And on the mature bucks-my neighbor and I get many pics{primarily nighttime} of large bucks yet no-one sees them during hunting hours.

I cant make sense of these suggestions either. IMO its more of a fantasy than reality. Similar to the suggestion that mature bucks are everywhere you just cant see them, photograph them, or kill them.

You guys are just kidding yourself if you think deer dont learn and react negatively to pressure/killing them. Its uncanny how quickly they can determine the difference in terms, for instance a farmer in the field feeding his cattle every day will get little more than a look from the resident deer. Then season opens and he decides to kill him a couple, and takes his gun along and kills one, then maybe another one again on day 2, he will be lucky to even see a deer by day 3 where they had been for months without fail. I have saw this reaction in much more complex circumstances several times over the years hunting certain areas, they absolutely learn very quickly what is a danger to them and what isnt. And yes I guarantee you most people who never kill or even see a mature buck are hunting areas where 1 or more lives, they are that good at patterning/avoiding danger once they get a few years on them! I would venture to say anybody that is arguing this doesnt see or kill very many mature deer!

I agree, but if that farmer only harvests bucks, will the does continue to feed in site if his tractor? I think not. They're not smart enough to think hey we got nothing to worry about, we're does, he only shoots bucks.

Actually yes, if a farmer only ever shoots bucks, he will definitely have does showing themselves much more than the bucks will, absolutely. Why do you think the does were so easy to kill in the unit L counties when they were first opened, it was normally only bucks getting shot, now the tables have turned and the does have gotten smarter as well. Now I am not one who believes they become as hard to kill as a mature buck, but they definitely LEARN!

Not to hijack but I often wondered about turning deer nocturnal if you spook/pressure them during the day. If that is the case then if you spook them at night (no, not hunting) wouldn't they conversely go diurnal?

That is funny right there! "diurnal"

If you don't believe it, just start whacking does for a while and see for yourself. Be sure you run some cameras though so you can see the proof that they still exist in good numbers.

We did that when unit L first started in Williamson county and I swore up and down we'd killed them all or they had vacated the premises. Boy was I surprised when I started pulling cam cards. It was humbling to say the least.

The funny thing is, apparently, when you remove the harvest pressure, they switch back.

Since the EHD outbreak, we've had a very balanced adult sex ratio and haven't shot a single doe in '07,'08,or'09. And does are walking around during daylight every day. I will concede that most of these does that we're seeing now, probably weren't alive while our extreme doe harvest strategy was active though.

It wasn't because they knew you were shooting at them. It's because you were shooting. When you stopped shooting, you started to see them again.

Let me ask it a different way.

A doe/fawn family group walks by my stand and I drop one of em bang/flop. I don't jump down out of the stand, etc., but let that group do whatever they're going to do when they hear the shot, wait for them to clear the area, then climb down and take care of business.

Does it make sense that those does are now more likely not to show themselves around that stand or during day light in future because of that experience?

Deer aren't smart but they are smarter than we are.

I just can't get my thick skull around deer getting "smarter", or conditioned to doe hunting.

Have you never seen an animal learn not to do something? Deer aren't brilliant creatures by any means, but their ability to learn to avoid activities dangerous to their health is legendary. Why do bucks go nocturnal once hunting season starts? Because they've learned to do so for survival purposes. Start whacking does and they will do the very same thing.

How does pressure in Unit L affect does differently than pressure during buck only hunts?

I believe that does will adapt to being hunted just like the bucks do. Since bucks are possibly loners they rely on their instincts alone which keeps them lying low. In comparison, does are often with fawns or in related family groups. Alone, the matriarch does may be almost unkillable but their family counterparts may often lead them into dangerous situations whereby they may be killed.

I know that this year the does joined the bucks in hanging in unhuntably thick cover during daylight hours even without the rut factored in.

One thing I have figured out over the years is you can kill many more, and go much longer, without the does going underground when you are killing them strictly with a Bow.

I bet that's true.

When you get a buck during rifle, he is most of the time, either alone or chasing a doe. If he is alone, then you are not educating any other deer. If he is chasing a doe, then you may educate that doe, but probably not. That buck had only been with her for a short period of time and was going to leave at some point in time anyway.