Russ otten

On one of the other threads, someone mentioned that button bucks, when chased away by the mother prior to the rut, will wander around sort of lost, like. When spotted by a hunter, (or seeing a hunter) they don' t seem to realize the danger. Doe fawns, by staying with the mother leaarn more survival instincts. Now I have noticed this fact a few times since. When I see a fawn that just stands there and is all by himself, on close look, realize it is a button buck. This has helped me in being able to keep from dorpping those young button bucks. Has any iothers noticed this?
Russ

formula1

I get fawn paranoia, more specifically button buck paranoia, because my club has a $100 fine on them. I must have had at least a dozen buttonheads stand in front of me and offer the perfect bowshot this year, but I' ve yet to have a doe offer a quality shot. It' s been frustrating to say the least.

It' s easy to tell the difference most of the time. Here are some rules to go by:

1) Can you see buttons? If yes, don' t shoot.
2) Never shoot a lone anterless deer. It' s probably a buttonhead, even if you can' t see the buttons, this time of year.
3) If multiple deer, the deer that is significantly bigger will be the doe for sure. Be careful though, you might be looking at two fawns together. That' s why I said " significantly" .
4) You can also see the short stubby nose and shorter ears than the typical grown doe.
5) You can look for the ' plumbing' , too, but you can' t always see that.

Every buttonhead that I shot by accident in the past would have fallen into one of these rules. Good hunting!!!

DaveH

Sometimes there' s no others around for comparison and it gets difficult to tell. I try to judge them based on the size of their head. A small head usually indicates a young deer. Lately, the ones that have been close enough for a shot have been in the fawn or yearling category and I' m letting them walk. The real bruisers are there--just out of range.

Strut&Rut

My Dad taught me this trick many years ago, and it works like a charm.

Draw an imaginary box around the deer. You draw a line from the ground to the nose/head, the second line from it' s head straight along it' s back , and the third line straight down to the ground across the rump. The ground plane makes the fourth ' line' . Basically, the deer' s head is in one of the top corners and the other top corner is ' empty space' above the rump.

Using this method, it is very easy to tell the difference between younger & older animals. As an animal matures (at least the 4-legged kind), the body grows disproportionately. The animal grows more in length and girth than in height. This technique will work for any animal on 4 legs, not just deer (I' ve also tested it on sheep, bear and cows, although I have not tested it on squirrels [&:] )

Hence, a young animal will appear more like a square, whereas a larger more mature deer will appear moe like a rectangle. Once you understand the box process, you can discern larger from smaller in about 1-3 seconds.

I too use the face, but deer heads can be abnormally long or short in the snout. The box technique will hold up anywhere and everywhere. More times than not, I look at the snout on bucks to determine if the buck is older, by the presence of scars and gray hairs.

Hope this helps.

S&R

PAHUNTER21

Never heard that one Strut&rut, but I will have to try that. Thanks for sharing.

MQHunter

I know everyone (including me) likes to shoot large deer, but to me a doe is a doe is a doe and two of the main reasons I' ll take a doe are deer management, and for food. PA is trying to practice quality deer management by encouraging the harvest of does, and putting restrictions on the size buck legally allowed. In the region I live in bucks are required to have at least 3 points 1" in length on one side to be considered legal. That, and the increased doe harvest may help with the overall size of bucks that will be harvested in years to come. I harvested my doe last Saturday and it was probably only 1 1/2 yrs old. I can tell you that this meat is VERY tender and delicious. In taking a doe, I feel that I' ve helped do my part toward quality deer management in PA.

Cleetus

I only get out about two or three times a season with a bow and about three to four times with a gun. In the past I have always taken the first deer that walks by my stand. I love the sport, but more than anything I love the meat. The last few years I have taken a couple of button bucks thinking they were does. I am from Central Indiana and although we have some big deer, most of the does are average in size. I really didn' t mind the first button buck, heck it was meat. The second bothered me a little. I took two future bucks for the area and that bummed me out a little.

This year I went out opening weekend and passed up a doe (maybe) because she didn' t look very big. I also passed up a six pointer. Only because his rack was a perfect 3x3, but his body was not really big. I figured next year (if he makes it) he will be a 8 or 10 pointer and weigh in the mid to upper 100' s.

I plan on being more picky this year during bow season and then when gun starts on Nov. 15 I will see how many deer I have in the freezer.

Enjoy our season and good luck!!

mainehunt

I guess that new law in PA sort of makes it hard to count antler points on a running deer.

Bob S

" Anyone else have fawn paranoia?"

No, I can think of some good biological reasons for hunters to shoot fawns on Northern Range:
* Fawns generally represent the herd`s most numerous single age class. More fawns typically survive to weaning age than are needed to replace adults that die.
* Fawns contribute relatively little or nothing toward reproduction the next year. Therefore, their harvest has little impact on annual recruitment.
* Fawns are always under-represented in the annual harvest. Given a choice, hunters will shoot an antlered buck or a doe instead of a small-bodied fawn.
* Fawns are the most likely deer to die in harsh winters. Even in years of high reproductive success, there is no guarantee a high proportion of fawns will survive their first winter and be available for harvest as yearlings.