September and October are great times to take advantage of antlerless tags and sharpen up for taking big bucks.

I know a landowner, who in 2001, expressed concern about his burgeoning deer herd. While I didn't feel the deer were any thicker than in recent seasons, it was another year of drought, and with his center-pivot irrigation system running all summer, I'm sure he winced every time he saw a deer. He asked if my partner, Pete Jessen, and I could shoot more deer, and, of course, we said we'd oblige. We also explained that with each mature doe we took, we were removing the equivalent of three deer (the doe and the two fawns she'd likely bear next spring), which seemed to resonate very well.

That season turned out to be a watershed of sorts for me. Up to that time, I'd taken only four does in the previous two decades, all during the last week of the season to fill my second either-sex tag. But the three mature, antlerless deer I took that season were followed by three more good does in '02. Throw in two bucks taken during that time, and I effectively removed about 20 deer, and Pete did about the same. Without those does, our take would have resulted in just two deer each.

The benefits were not limited to the landowner. Try as one might, it's hard to simulate the pressure of placing an arrow in the boiler room of a fidgety whitetail. You can pound arrows all summer into a 3-D deer target, but it's different in the field with swirling winds and variable temperatures, an unpredictable quarry, and different layers of clothes each time. The more you actually go through the process for real, the more likely you will be to find success when that long-hoped-for buck finally shows up.

Also, excitement returns to the hunt when it's more likely that you'll see something to shoot at. I've noticed that whenever I decide it's "doe day," my level of excitement seems to approach that of opening day or early November. The likelihood that you'll have a shooting opportunity brings a keener edge to the outing.

Another positive twist is that bowhunters, who were previously viewed by DNR's as a group maximizing recreational opportunities with little effect on the resource, are now being seen as hunters who can do their fair share in managing wildlife populations. If archers don't step up to the plate on this, they may face yielding these opportunities (and part of their seasons) to weapons with longer ranges.

This is not to say that does are easy to kill. A mature old baldy can be just as cagey as a big old buck, but most herd ratios are such that there are simply many more does and, thus, many more shooting opportunities. I certainly gained a lot of respect for does after I began hunting them more. Far too often what seemed like an easy task has turned into a chess match worthy of a bruiser buck. Old sway back does sure don't miss much, and your technique had better be sound or you'll never let the air out of one of them.

Because I'm still after Mr. Big, I try to cull does with as little intrusion as possible. Field edges are prime spots, largely because the obvious trails are often made by the does. But I especially prefer these locations because I can usually blood trail, field dress, and load the fallen deer without much penetration of the main timber. Other things I shoot for (pardon the pun) include not taking does after sunset (more complicated trailing and retrieval), passing on does when bucks are very active, and trying to take only adult deer.

This latter concern is due to paying a minimum butchering charge, regardless of animal size. Taking yearlings in for commercial butchering is not very cost-effective. I'll also admit to having a bit of a soft spot for young deer, but harvesting young animals is proper conservation as they'd often be the first taken by other predators. If you do your own butchering, those yearlings should especially be targeted, though you'd best let button bucks walk for obvious reasons.

I most often try to fill doe tags very early and then again late in the season. If you are concerned about taking out does that may serve as "bait" for rutting bucks later, then postpone your antlerless harvest. But also realize that, at least in my neck of the woods, deer become a lot more cautious and difficult to tag once the gunners have had their turn.

Continued -- click on page link below.