At this time of year, the vast, vast majority of does 1 1/2 years old are pregnant, whether their fetuses are big enough to see or not.

At this time of year, the vast, vast majority of does 1 1/2 years old are pregnant, whether their fetuses are big enough to see or not.

can you tell the age of the fetus by the size? the ones in ImThere's doe were about 2.5 inches long and she was 3.5 years old. Maybe you can tell approximately when she was bred?

The reasoning I have read for not shooting does late leans more towards helping the bucks out. IT goes like this - if you know you want to shoot a doe or two, it's better to shoot them as early as possible so the bucks don't have to exert themselves on those does in the rut. This keeps bucks from getting so run down going into Winter. Obviously something that is going to be more important further North where winters are more harsh of course but I see no reason not to try taking does as early as you can here.

I guess this is the part I hadn't considered. This spot I have to hunt it is almost inconceivable that all the does get bred because there is so many. All year long I saw three different bucks, one of which I took before rut and the other two I let walk: one 1.5 5pt, one 2.5 8pt. However, on the last day of my season, I counted 24 does and made sure I wasn't counting them twice. Now that I think about it, maybe they are all bred and I have the happiest bucks in the state!