“Doe Season” is a taut, haunting initiation story. Unlike traditional coming-of-age narratives that celebrate a child’s entry into adult society, Kaplan’s story explores a more painful, ambiguous transition: the moment a young girl realizes she does not want the identity being forced upon her. The protagonist, nine-year-old Andrea “Andy” Kaplan (no relation to the author—a coincidental but notable same last name), goes on a deer hunt with her father and two older men. By the story’s end, she has not killed a deer but has killed something else: her father’s image of who she should be.
. When she shoots a doe, she confronts the stark reality of life and death, leaving her with the unsettling loss of her childhood. The story, set in the Pennsylvania woods, explores themes of gender roles, maturation, and the inevitable shift from childhood, using symbols like the deer and the ocean to show her journey. For a detailed analysis, read essays and summaries on Doe Season by David Michael Kaplan | Literature and Writing
Hunting stories are traditionally masculine: the boy becomes a man by killing. Kaplan inverts this. Andy can shoot. She’s a good shot. But when she finally faces a doe—not the buck the men are tracking—something shifts. The doe is pregnant. It doesn’t run. It looks at her. Doe Season By David Michael Kaplan Full Text
You can read an analysis of this story and its themes in various academic sources, such as Bartleby or EBSCO . Share public link
Now, assuming you either have the text in front of you or plan to acquire it, let’s explore why this story has remained so vital for nearly 40 years. “Doe Season” is a taut, haunting initiation story
But Kaplan’s genius lies in what simmers beneath. Andy is caught between two selves—the girl her mother wants her to be (soft, indoors, “proper”) and the “one of the boys” her father encourages. She has chosen the name “Andy” and insists on it. Yet the woods, the hunt, and a wounded doe force her to confront something far more complicated than whether she can shoot straight.
" Doe Season " by David Michael Kaplan is a coming-of-age short story following nine-year-old Andy on a hunting trip that shatters her innocence and forces her to confront her female identity. Through her traumatic experience with a wounded deer, Andy rejects her tomboy persona and accepts the painful transition into womanhood, symbolized by the "ocean" sound she hears. This poignant tale of gender roles, loss of innocence, and internal conflict explores a young girl's difficult passage into the adult world. Share public link By the story’s end, she has not killed
The legitimate avenues for reading "Doe Season" include: