Buck and Doe: Craig James Has A Double Harvest in 10 Minutes
Difference Between Doe and Buck
Buck and doe are two of the most important terms to understand when deer hunting.
What is a Buck Deer?
A buck is a male deer with antlers that can reach eight points or more depending on genetics, nutrition, and age.
What is a Doe Deer?
A doe is a female deer that does not grow antlers except for species such as caribou, also known as reindeer.
Difference Between Male and Female Deer
The antlers are the best way to tell a buck from a doe. Bucks develop antlers while does do not.
However, when hunting you may encounter male deer without antlers. These are bucks that have shed their antlers, leaving only the pedicel on the skull.
How to Spot a Buck from a Doe Without the Visible Antlers
There are several key differences between a buck and a doe you should look out for.
The difference between male and female deer depends on its species, but in general, male deer are often larger, taller, and heavier than female deer.
Male deer are also muscular and have thicker necks due to the extra muscle mass needed for the growth of the antlers.
A North American male deer typically weigh between 150-300 pounds while a North American female deer can weigh anywhere 88-198 pounds.
Do Female Deer Have Antlers?
A doe deer with antlers belongs to the Caribou species. Female deer, with the exception of Caribou, do not have antlers.
If it was wild, it was called a caribou, and if it was domesticated, it was called a reindeer. Whatever you call it, one thing is certain: female Caribou/Reindeer develop antlers.
Story of how Craig James Captured a Doe and a Buck in 10 Minutes!
Now that we know the difference between male and female deer, let me share how I was able to hunt a doe and a buck in under 10 minutes.
November 6th, 2022 started out windy (35+ mph winds) but that wasn’t going to stop my best friend and me from heading out with our climbers that afternoon!
Just as we arrived at the property, I realized I had left my release on the grill at his place! But my buddy Justin’s famous words were, “Don’t worry, I’m a firefighter, I’ll run back and get it, I’ll be back in 9 minutes! ”
Well, no joke, he made it back to the land in 9 minutes, we won't tell you how fast he drove!
We finally get our climbers on our backs and head down to the spot, a little over 2hours passed before we saw anything.
Encounter With A Doe
Suddenly, a doe appears from the corner of the field with the wind blowing directly at her.
Scent Assassin was put to the test, and let's just say it didn’t fail!
She had no idea I was 20 yards up the field edge waiting for her! She ended up taking the edge line towards me, and I stopped her 10 yards from me: let the arrow fly and she tipped over.
As I’m jacked up and pumped after arrowing her, I text Justin, “I just shot one!”
I go to sit down to gather my thoughts, and 8 minutes later I hear a grunt coming from the direction she came from.
Encounter With A Buck
Sure enough, a buck appears: head to the ground on her trail.
He stops, looks around, and can’t find her. Little does he know she’s laying dead in the field.
He then follows her trail, does what she did, and comes right down the same path. I draw back my arrow and stop him right where I stopped her, dropping him in his tracks!
Never in my bowhunting life would I ever thought I’d kill a doe and a buck within 8 minutes of each other.
Conclusion
With that being said, no matter the wind speed or direction, if you’re using Scent Assassin they’ll never know you’re there!
It’ll be a hunt I’ll never forget, especially with having my best friend across the field hunting with me at the same time!
Staffer Craig James
Seasoned Hunter