Try a Bow for Does

Taking female deer early in the season helps create healthier herds and provides protein.

Although North Carolina doesn’t keep statistics regarding the percentage of bow hunters who kill a deer during its hunting seasons, the success rate likely is similar to that of nearby states.

For example, only 29 percent of Virginia bow hunters kill a deer; West Virginia’s bow success rate is 20 percent, and South Carolina’s is 8 percent.

The point is that although most magazine articles are about how to kill big bucks, many if not most Tar Heel archers would be thrilled to take a doe every year.

Evin Stanford, lead deer biologist for the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, said he believes bow hunters taking does is an important part of the overall objective of keeping deer numbers in check.

“From a management perspective, there are a couple of different reasons why it’s beneficial for archery hunters to harvest does,” he said. “Of course does need to be removed from the population for population management purposes.

“However, the timing of archery season is also important with respect to the harvesting of does. In most instances, does harvested during the archery season haven’t bred.

“That means you’ve removed a competing animal from the landscape that would otherwise have been consuming resources that rutting/post-rutting bucks and does can take advantage of, including pregnant does with developing fetuses after breeding has taken place.

“If a hunter knows he’ll harvest a doe or more than one doe during a hunting season — archery, muzzleloader, or gun — it’s also best to remove those animals as early in the season as possible because it doesn’t result in wasted energy expended by adult bucks during the breeding season.

“Many hunters hold off harvesting does until later in the gun season after the majority of does have been bred. The result is that energy expended by bucks to breed those does was completely unproductive and wasted.”

Stanford said archery hunters also have the benefit of being able to hunt in many urban/suburban areas in the state. While many cities in the state ban the discharge of a firearm, most don’t have ordinances against the shooting of a bow.

That means an archer can go afield in many of these urban/suburban areas, which are often areas where population control is needed the most.

“Removal of does by archery hunters can be tremendously valuable in these areas because most other harvest-based management strategies are illegal or ineffective,” Stanford said.

Last year deer harvest figures included: (a) archery kills, 8,614 deer or 6 percent of the total, (b) muzzleloader kills, 12,490 deer or 9 percent and (c) gun harvests 123,211 deer (85 percent), for a total of 144,315 whitetails taken by hunters.

Stanford said while archery hunters take a small percentage of the total annual harvest, they harvest a higher percentage of does within their respective season. During the 2005-2006 season, 53 percent (4,545) of deer harvested during the archery season were does. Only 33 percent (4,100) of the muzzle-loader deer were does.

Does accounted for 40 percent (49,320) of the harvest during the gun season.

“So the data seem to indicate that archery hunters aren’t quite as selective as muzzleloader or gun hunters when it comes to preferences for shooting bucks over does,” Stanford said. “In fact, while the overall harvest for the 2005-2006 muzzleloader season was 45 percent above the archery season harvest, archery hunters actually reported harvesting more does than muzzle-loader hunters.”

Fall foods

Last Sept. 22, I journeyed to Blanch, a small community near Milton in Caswell County, to hunt with Gary Knight of Polecat Creek Outfitters (Polecat Creek Outfitters, Inc., 336-451-0827, www.polecatcreek.com).

My mission was straight forward — to arrow a doe for the freezer.

“Our acorn crop seems to be a good one this year so I focused on putting stands in those areas,” said the 42-year-old Knight, as we discussed the next day’s outing. “A lot of my September hunting is done primarily around what the deer are eating, whether it be planted food plots or white or red oaks.

“I study deer year round; I read every book and magazine article I can find on deer. If the white oak acorns are falling and are ripe, they’ll be the preferred food source of deer in September. If that’s not the case, then red oak acorns are the source to key on. If neither oak is producing acorns, then that’s when you have to really study the local food sources.”

Knight said falling white oak acorns had led to him being able to arrow a fat doe the previous Wednesday evening. Positioning his stand near a white oak at a game trail intersection, the northern piedmont sportsman let three small bucks pass and a number of does that didn’t quite present the shot he wanted. Finally, he saw a lone doe approach late in the evening that stood broadside while munching nuts.

The 18-yard shot was accurate; the whitetail only traveled about 30 yards.

Of course, even when the oaks are dripping acorns, deer consume other items as well. And, as Knight noted, these other sources come to the forefront when acorn crops fail.

“In September in North Carolina, deer really like to eat the leaves of soybean plants,” the veteran guide said. “They don’t seem to much like the beans themselves now, but they will work over the leaves.

“Cornfields are a big draw, too, especially in the piedmont and in mountains, more so than in the tidewater region. I think that’s because farmers harvest the corn earlier in the tidewater because of all the tropical storms that come up the coast and can destroy a crop.

“Here, corn can be harvested all the way from September until much later in the fall. Standing and just-cut corn can be real draws to deer.”

Knight also said two wild soft mast foods are excellent snack foods for Tar Heel whitetails in September. Some persimmon trees possess fruit that will ripen this month, and deer will detour from their normal travel patterns to visit those trees.

Wild grapes are another soft mast that can draw whitetails in September, either deer looking for a quick bite or for when the acorn crop has failed.

Finally, apple trees at old homesteads and honeysuckle growing at fence rows can be magnets at this time of year.

Remember, Knight said, that certain varieties of apples ripen and fall at different times. Make sure the apple tree that you plan to hunt near actually possesses fruit that’s falling.

Deer often make quick trips to honeysuckle thickets in the middle of a September day. This tidbit can factor in to stand placement.

“Too many farmers bush hog honeysuckle,” Knight said, as a complaint. “For the life of me I can’t understand why — honeysuckle is a great alternative food for deer.”

Travel patterns

Deer travel patterns during September can be simple and complex.

“Of course in September, as is true throughout the fall, deer travel from feeding to bedding areas in the morning, and bedding to feeding areas in the evening,” Knight said. “But I’ve also seen deer move in the middle of the day and have even seen deer feeding in the middle of a soybean field from 1 to 3 p.m. in the afternoon.

“A lot of (deer) movement has to do with air temperature. For example, if we have a mild early September day and the deer are still in their red summer coats, there can be extensive deer movement throughout the day. But if we have a hot late September — day after the deer have developed their winter coats — movement will be greatly decreased.”

Stand placement

The day I arrived, Knight discussed in detail stand placement.

The previous two days, deer movements had been exceptionally heavy because of a cold front during Wednesday and relatively mild temperatures Thursday.

The forecast for Saturday was for warm temperatures, and he was concerned the warming trend would suppress whitetail movement.

“I’m afraid you’ve got a tough hunt for tomorrow,” Knight bluntly said. “I’m going to put you at a ladder stand where you’ll have your best chance for success. It’s where three trails intersect at some white oaks that have acorns. To your left and 75 yards away is a soybean field. To your right and 75 yards away is a loblolly pine thicket. Deer will possibly walk by you to feed and bed.

“Another thing I like about this stand, or any September stand, is the sun will rise at your back and the predominant wind will be blowing into your face. In this case, the wind is from the southwest.

“Another plus is a gum tree is out in front of you which will offer concealment and give you something for the deer to walk behind so that you can draw (a bowstring).”

Knight’s plan was logical, but, unfortunately, the weatherman’s forecast was exceptionally accurate. The temperature when we left at 4:45 a.m. to go to Person County registered 72 degrees. When we ended the day at 1:30 p.m., the thermometer registered a balmy 86 degrees and was rising.

Four hunters, in addition to Knight and myself, saw nary a whitetail at stands scattered across Person and Caswell counties, certainly two of the most deer-rich counties in North Carolina.

Lessons learned

Although this September excursion to N.C.’s piedmont ended with no one seeing a whitetail, let alone killing a doe, the experience was enjoyable and educational.

“I encourage people to kill does,” he said. “Going deer hunting in North Carolina isn’t like what folks see on those television shows.

“I get so sick of seeing some TV celebrity ‘having’ to kill a trophy buck. And when those guys do kill a doe, they explain that it’s a management doe.”

Knight asks the obvious question that never seems to be answered during “we’-have-to-bag-a-trophy-buck” television infomercials disguised as hunting shows — what’s wrong with killing a doe for the sake of putting some healthy food in the freezer?

“Yes, we have some nice bucks in the Piedmont and the state as a whole, but that doesn’t have to be the only reason to hunt whitetails,” he said.