WT Does. Shoot and eat, or not?

[mauser]

I usually try for a whitetail doe and I've seen and shot some big does in the past. They make for great eating.

Here's one from 2020 that was big and fat.

[Redthies]

I thought you live in R4? Because you can shoot a WT buck in a different region then hammer one in R8, as long as you haven't exceeded your 3 deer Prov bag limit...

My house is in R8, but if I drive to the back of the road I’m on, it hits R4. They really need to clarify the deer bag limit rules. I read them as 1 WT buck, 1 WT doe and a MD buck, unless you hunt R1,2 or 3. But according to my wife, I’ve been wrong before.


Edit: Just re-read the bag limits, and I think you are correct. I could take a WT buck in 4 and one in 8, and a doe. I’m going to concentrate on just getting A deer before I get specific!

[KootenayKiller]

My house is in R8, but if I drive to the back of the road I’m on, it hits R4. They really need to clarify the deer bag limit rules. I read them as 1 WT buck, 1 WT doe and a MD buck, unless you hunt R1,2 or 3. But according to my wife, I’ve been wrong before.


Edit: Just re-read the bag limits, and I think you are correct. I could take a WT buck in 4 and one in 8, and a doe. I’m going to concentrate on just getting A deer before I get specific!

It's pretty straightforward, although easy to misinterpret.

There are provincial bag limits, and regional bag limits. As long as you respect both, you're good. You can take a WT buck in region 4 and in region 8 during the same season. For muleys, there is a restriction of one buck for regions 3-8 combined, but if you got one in regions 1-2 you could still take a second somewhere in regions 3-8. The only restrictions for WT on provincial is that you may not exceed 3 total deer in a season, there's nothing specific to the sex or species.

These rules advantageous for someone like yourself that lives near the border of two different regions - a flaw in the system I believe.

[high horse Hal]

There isn't a lot of meat on a WT doe...hardly worth the gas or time....we killed 8 in one day back when the kootnays had a 2 doe limit...was a lot of cutting for not much meat....if I did it again, Id keep the legs whole and cook them one at a time when we had company.

Add in the whole neck roast and a backstrap sandwich meat and you'll have a cooler full dressed out in less time than it takes to make coffee

And whats a dry doe? Likely all young deer are weaned off mom at this time of year and ready to face the winter with the rest of their extended family

[HarryToolips]

My house is in R8, but if I drive to the back of the road I’m on, it hits R4. They really need to clarify the deer bag limit rules. I read them as 1 WT buck, 1 WT doe and a MD buck, unless you hunt R1,2 or 3. But according to my wife, I’ve been wrong before.


Edit: Just re-read the bag limits, and I think you are correct. I could take a WT buck in 4 and one in 8, and a doe. I’m going to concentrate on just getting A deer before I get specific!

You are correct..just remember to never exceed a regional bag limit, your prov bag limit is 3 deer (unless you hunt those specific areas of reg1?), and your only allowed 1 MD buck between all of regions 3 through 8 combined.. all the best, cheers..

[HarryToolips]

It's pretty straightforward, although easy to misinterpret.

There are provincial bag limits, and regional bag limits. As long as you respect both, you're good. You can take a WT buck in region 4 and in region 8 during the same season. For muleys, there is a restriction of one buck for regions 3-8 combined, but if you got one in regions 1-2 you could still take a second somewhere in regions 3-8. The only restrictions for WT on provincial is that you may not exceed 3 total deer in a season, there's nothing specific to the sex or species.

These rules advantageous for someone like yourself that lives near the border of two different regions - a flaw in the system I believe.

What he said, explained it very well..

[KootenayKiller]

Whitetail does do not go "dry" even though they can reach old age, unless they become infertile due to some sort of abnormal health complication. They typically remain fertile and produce fawns for their entire lives, until death whether from predation or old age.


There was an episode a few months back on "The Hunter Conservationist" podcast where they brought on a wildlife biologist who talked about whitetail deer and their management. He basically explained that due to their reproductive biology, wildlife managers do not need to concern themselves with Whitetails. WT does often are bred and give birth at <1 year of age, in other words as fawns.They breed like rabbits, and even do something called 'compensatory breeding' where they produce more offspring in response to population reductions. The same dynamics do not exist for other species, including mule deer, where eliminating females has a much more pronounced effect on the population size.

I would not want to harvest females of any other ungulate species, but am looking forward to bagging a WT doe! Even though she could have produced some offspring, there is no population concern.

[TheObserver]

The no women no children is a violence and warfare rule that applies to human beings, Deer aren't humans. Put some clean meat in your freezer.

[HarryToolips]

Whitetail does do not go "dry" even though they can reach old age, unless they become infertile due to some sort of abnormal health complication. They typically remain fertile and produce fawns for their entire lives, until death whether from predation or old age.


There was an episode a few months back on "The Hunter Conservationist" podcast where they brought on a wildlife biologist who talked about whitetail deer and their management. He basically explained that due to their reproductive biology, wildlife managers do not need to concern themselves with Whitetails. WT does often are bred and give birth at <1 year of age, in other words as fawns.They breed like rabbits, and even do something called 'compensatory breeding' where they produce more offspring in response to population reductions. The same dynamics do not exist for other species, including mule deer, where eliminating females has a much more pronounced effect on the population size.

I would not want to harvest females of any other ungulate species, but am looking forward to bagging a WT doe! Even though she could have produced some offspring, there is no population concern.

That same science was also written in a book called 'Whitetail Advantage', very informative book..

[HappyJack]

Whitetail does do not go "dry" even though they can reach old age, unless they become infertile due to some sort of abnormal health complication. They typically remain fertile and produce fawns for their entire lives, until death whether from predation or old age.


There was an episode a few months back on "The Hunter Conservationist" podcast where they brought on a wildlife biologist who talked about whitetail deer and their management. He basically explained that due to their reproductive biology, wildlife managers do not need to concern themselves with Whitetails. WT does often are bred and give birth at <1 year of age, in other words as fawns.They breed like rabbits, and even do something called 'compensatory breeding' where they produce more offspring in response to population reductions. The same dynamics do not exist for other species, including mule deer, where eliminating females has a much more pronounced effect on the population size.

I would not want to harvest females of any other ungulate species, but am looking forward to bagging a WT doe! Even though she could have produced some offspring, there is no population concern.

The term 'dry' is in reference to whether or not they are lactating and fawns are feeding off them. FYI