question for BSK or anyone.

[MoCamo]

Is it possible in of the peak rut for a mature doe,you know the ones that have been through this rodeo before to hold up in thick cover where the more mature bucks are hiding,and not go through all the chasing that a young doe might put a buck through.And if this is possible would that be one of the reasons why you would want to take mature does out of your herd.

 

[RUGER]

Hmmm, rather interesting question.

 

[TheLBLman]

I can tell you that mature does sometimes seek out mature bucks, i.e., they go to the buck instead of the buck going to the doe.

 

[Howa]

I was in the stand last year and heard a deer coming up out of a creek bottom, when I could make the deer out, I couldn't tell if it was a buck or doe, but I could see it was going to pass by out of range. I hit the grunt tube and the deer came straight to me, right to the bottom of the tree, I shot her at 10 yards max, she dressed about 115 lbs, and she came to a GRUNT call, like she was looking for that buck.

 

[MoCamo]

On our lease you see mature does before and after the rut but during the rut while chasing is going on it seems to be the younger does they are chasing.WE practice qdm but we still do not hammer the does that hard we harvest at least one doe per 100 acers so i dont beleve we are sending our mature does noturnal.

 

[Mike Belt]

Mature does do seek out bucks while in estrous. I've seen it happen time and again. At the same time I've seen the bucks position themselves bedded off points jutting into major doe travel corridors where their scent will carry into these areas. Rather than them scent checking for does the does were scent checking for bucks ....and going to them.

I don't know that this would be a reason for shooting mature does. I'd opt for shooting them just because they were mature does. That sometimes raises a question in my mind. Deer, especially the young and the doe groups learn from the matriarchs of the family. Can you shoot too many mature does disrupting that learning process?

 

[Radar]

I have also had mature does make a mad dash to my stand after I hit the buck grunt a few times . I don't hesitate to shoot them .

 

[156p&y]

I've seen the same thing Mike. Even mature does wandering through the woods estrus bleating. As the mature buck numbers rise we see more activity from them during the rut, but when they are low many times the does will seek out the bucks, and preferably the older dominate bucks.

 

[BSK]

I don't think there is any advantage to shooting the most mature does other than less chance of accidentally shooting button bucks. And there may be some downsides to shooting off all the mature does, as Mike suggested.

Basically, take the does of opportunity. After some harvest pressure is applied, the mature does will be much harder to kill. On my place, even though mature does exist in good numbers, we kill more 4 1/2 year-old bucks than we do 4 1/2 year-old does. Mature does have become very, very wary.

 

[Winchester]

I wouldnt recommend shooting any does during the rut, barring a special situation! I do my doe killing before and after the rut!
The above only applies if your interested in killing mature bucks!