Would you shoot a fawn that still had its spots, if it was legal to do so?

[huntfishtrap]

Would you shoot a fawn that still had its spots, if it was legal to do so?

[Okwaho]

Nope.

[jcarlin]

In normal circumstance, like it's a healthy spotted fawn? I do believe it is legal here., but no.

I one time got my deer crossed as they moved through some cover and reemerged and arrowed a young of the year doe that was no longer spotted, but probably weighed 60-70 lbs on the hoof. On top of being a mistake, that little doe yielded an even smaller percentage of meat than usual totaling, IIRC, 14lbs all cuts and ground. If anyone is considering it, it is not worth it.
(I knew a guy who used to joke that he liked to take two small deer every year because they were easier to drag, but the yield is also proportionally smaller to the amount of work.)

[JM]

Last year during archery season I bumped a doe and came to full draw in case she stopped(was only like 30 yards away when jumped and she was just walking). Little did I know she had a fawn with her and that fawn made a bee-line for my location. I guarentee it was less than 10 feet from me perfectly broadside and I was at full draw. I never once even tried pointing the bow at it. I just kept at full draw and the mom came into a clear opening...and I never even thought about taking the shot at her either. Was a very cool situation that I will remember far better(and positively) than had I shot one of them.
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I know a guy who shot a fawn and had it lying on top of the spare tire in his truck bed. It would've made the deer tioughnioga shot look like the king of the woods. The guy said it was 100+ yards away and he did not realize how small it was. He felt terrible about shooting it. His buddies gave him some flack, but no one was mad or anything about it. And everyone had to give him credit for making a perfect shot on such a small deer.

[bowhunter75richard]

NO !!!!

[huntfishtrap]

In normal circumstance, like it's a healthy spotted fawn? I do believe it is legal here., but no.

I one time got my deer crossed as they moved through some cover and reemerged and arrowed a young of the year doe that was no longer spotted, but probably weighed 60-70 lbs on the hoof. On top of being a mistake, that little doe yielded an even smaller percentage of meat than usual totaling, IIRC, 14lbs all cuts and ground. If anyone is considering it, it is not worth it.
(I knew a guy who used to joke that he liked to take two small deer every year because they were easier to drag, but the yield is also proportionally smaller to the amount of work.)

There's no doubt that you don't get as much meat for your tag, but it's still a lot cheaper than buying premium beef, and venison from a young-of-the-year deer is delicious. I've never eaten a spotted one, but I have eaten the meat from doe fawns, and it's some of the best wild game you'll ever taste. One of my buddies actually picked up a freshly road-killed fawn that was still spotted once (legal with a salvage tag), and he said that it was incredible, almost like filet mignon.

[pineywoods]

Not unless I was in a survival situation.

Like JM's story, I've seen deer in low light situations with nothing for comparison as to size, and it is really hard to judge whether you are looking at a doe or a fawn of the year unless you've had a LOT of practice. Nearly all the old hunters I know have made the mistake at one time or another, myself included. There ain't much meat on them little bitty things, but it's tasty.

But, no, if I can tell it still has spots, it's safe from me.

[pineywoods]

In normal circumstance, like it's a healthy spotted fawn? I do believe it is legal here., but no.

I one time got my deer crossed as they moved through some cover and reemerged and arrowed a young of the year doe that was no longer spotted, but probably weighed 60-70 lbs on the hoof. On top of being a mistake, that little doe yielded an even smaller percentage of meat than usual totaling, IIRC, 14lbs all cuts and ground. If anyone is considering it, it is not worth it.
(I knew a guy who used to joke that he liked to take two small deer every year because they were easier to drag, but the yield is also proportionally smaller to the amount of work.)

You're absolutely correct about the amount of meat. They haven't had time to build up muscle. I roughly figure that I'll get a third of the total body weight in meat after the trimming and boning, so your 14 lb. isn't that far off for a 60 lb. deer.

[charlie elk]

It is illegal to shoot spotted deer in WI, also illegal to have them mounted without a special permit if they happen to die of natural causes or road kills.
A strange question there HFT. Why do you ask, did you shoot one? And now looking for company in your guilt? ;-)

[jcarlin]

In normal circumstance, like it's a healthy spotted fawn? I do believe it is legal here., but no.

I one time got my deer crossed as they moved through some cover and reemerged and arrowed a young of the year doe that was no longer spotted, but probably weighed 60-70 lbs on the hoof. On top of being a mistake, that little doe yielded an even smaller percentage of meat than usual totaling, IIRC, 14lbs all cuts and ground. If anyone is considering it, it is not worth it.
(I knew a guy who used to joke that he liked to take two small deer every year because they were easier to drag, but the yield is also proportionally smaller to the amount of work.)

HTF. This isn't something I have a strong opinion about and you're not wrong on the tenderness and cost. I kind of look at it as that $6.70 tag could have gone a lot further, and that deer could've been bigger next year and had the chance to have bred in the spring. It was less work to move and process too, but it was disappointing doing the work of dragging,cleaning, skinning, covering up the table, breaking down, grinding, and packaging to have 8 packets of meat. I could have gotten that much (inferior admittedly) meat by killing a couple of my bigger heritage breed hens and not spent an hour all told doing it.

I've eaten road killed venison and had no complaints. Family member used to work nights and had a short interstate hop on his commute. If it was cold and he knew he passed a deer on his way home that wasn't there when he left for work and was salvagable, he'd grab it and call it in. Generally he had to throw out one entire side.

[huntfishtrap]

In normal circumstance, like it's a healthy spotted fawn? I do believe it is legal here., but no.

I one time got my deer crossed as they moved through some cover and reemerged and arrowed a young of the year doe that was no longer spotted, but probably weighed 60-70 lbs on the hoof. On top of being a mistake, that little doe yielded an even smaller percentage of meat than usual totaling, IIRC, 14lbs all cuts and ground. If anyone is considering it, it is not worth it.
(I knew a guy who used to joke that he liked to take two small deer every year because they were easier to drag, but the yield is also proportionally smaller to the amount of work.)

If our deer tags cost $6.70, I'd probably shoot a doe fawn (or two!) every year. Our resident deer tags cost $28.50, although after purchasing one antlerless tag all subsequent antlerless tags cost $13. Our deer are bigger than yours, too. You can expect to get at least 20 pounds off an average doe fawn here, if you shoot it in October or November.

[huntfishtrap]

It is illegal to shoot spotted deer in WI, also illegal to have them mounted without a special permit if they happen to die of natural causes or road kills.
A strange question there HFT. Why do you ask, did you shoot one? And now looking for company in your guilt? ;-)

No, but I did accidentally shoot a baby unicorn the other day. I was trying for an adult, but the little guy got in the way. I feel kind of bad about that, even though young-of-the-year unicorn is pretty dang tasty. ;-)

[huntfishtrap]

It is illegal to shoot spotted deer in WI, also illegal to have them mounted without a special permit if they happen to die of natural causes or road kills.
A strange question there HFT. Why do you ask, did you shoot one? And now looking for company in your guilt? ;-)

On a related note, you'd be surprised at how well kilts work for unicorn stalking, too. Just as well as turkey hunting, if not better! I might even go so far as to say that wearing a kilt is the secret to killing a unicorn.

[bdanny]

NO....

[bdanny]

In normal circumstance, like it's a healthy spotted fawn? I do believe it is legal here., but no.

I one time got my deer crossed as they moved through some cover and reemerged and arrowed a young of the year doe that was no longer spotted, but probably weighed 60-70 lbs on the hoof. On top of being a mistake, that little doe yielded an even smaller percentage of meat than usual totaling, IIRC, 14lbs all cuts and ground. If anyone is considering it, it is not worth it.
(I knew a guy who used to joke that he liked to take two small deer every year because they were easier to drag, but the yield is also proportionally smaller to the amount of work.)

Aren't spotted fawns similar to veal that is commonly consumed?