Oops!

[DonBo]

A good friend shot a nice "doe" the other night, only to find this:

 

The one antler is 3 1/2".  What a way to fill your buck tag this early in the season.  Pay attention folks. This could happen to anyone who isn't looking for something like this. A good reason to use those binocs before shooting.

 

Better him than me  

 

[nofishfisherman]

I had a similar deer show up opening morning of rifle season last year. 

I also thought it was a doe but since I didn't have a doe tag in that lottery zone I had no intention of shooting it.  Once it got really close (within 10 yards) I could finally see the spikes sticking up.  They were mostly blocked by his ears when standing broadside so I couldn't see them.  I was letting him walk either way but it showed how hard it can be to see those small spikes in low light conditions and at certain angles.  Even if I was ok with shooting a small spike opening morning there was no way I could see well enough to know if the spikes were long enough to be legal, it was far too close to call and its not worth the risk.  Judging by the shooting I heard last year i suspect that little spike survived the season.

[monstermoose78]

It will eat good!!

[deerminator]

You can shoot a doe in a lottery zone without a permit if you are doing archery.

"except in bucks-only and youth-only antlerless

permit areas, a regular archery license is valid for an either sex deer statewide

in any open area."

[DonBo]

This deer was taken in a managed (two deer) area. 

[bigbucks]

I was drawn on one like that several years ago, in the 5 deer days & was ready to release when I saw he had just one of those.  The other was gone.  I was REALLY glad I saw it in time.  That deer was at 5 yards.

[Archerysniper]

I filled my buck tag 3 years ago on a spike just like that the first week of season. It happens and I learned.