I read on here almost daily but don't post very much. I just got done reading the article on the home page about tv ruining hunting and it sparked me to post this thread. We are in the era of "age" hunting where TV and other veteran hunters only shoot 5 year old plus bucks. Let me first state that I totally understand it. If you have the land to where you can manage the deer herd, why not let the bucks get older and bigger? I would obviously much rather shoot a 180 inch 5 year old than a 120 inch 3 year old. And if you have shot enough big bucks why not challenge yourself to hold out for older bigger deer? The problem I have is that TV hunting has made a hunting society in which you are ridiculed if you shoot a buck that is not fully mature yet at age 5+. I see it here on the forums. A guys is proud of the buck he just shot, posts the photo, and then other guys say he is only 3 you should have waited a few more years. Who wrote the rule book that says you can't shoot a 2 or 3 year old buck and be proud of it? Where I hunt, it is just 30 min outside of a big city and there are still a lot of rural houses and a lot of 10 acre properties. I bowhunt 10 acres. I have never seen a buck over 150 inches in my life and most of the bucks I see never go over 130. Every 10 acre section is hunted so if I don't shoot a 130 because I want him to grow, he will just go get shot on the bordering 10 acres. So in my neck of the woods a 130 is something to be proud of. Beyond that, it is all about the hunt to me. If a buck encounter is special to me in the way that it all goes down I feel good about shooting a buck that is "smaller" or "younger". Probably the coolest hunt I ever had in which I saw a ton of rut activity had a smaller bad genetic buck come right under my stand. Even though he wasn't big it was such an awesome morning that capping it off by taking this buck made a great memory for me. Thoughts?
Very true I agree, I hunt for myself and do not expect others to have the same standards. Shoot what makes you happy and never let anyone stifle your joy
I agree that TV sets unrealistic expectations for a lot of people. I don't necessarily agree that it's common for people on these forums to ridicule others for shooting deer that aren't 4+ years old. I think generally this site is pretty respectful when it comes to this type of thing.
Shoot what makes you happy and discount and disregard the negative folks that dont know your values or situation. I cant fathom hunting for deer based on somebody elses standards. It only matters to me and how much fun I am having so if somebody were to give me attitude I simply ingore such ignorance.
Show me a thread where people here jumped on someone proud of a harvest about "quality" of a buck......please post away. If there is any that exist would love to see it, and if there is it is probably one or two people which got P***ed on by people for stating things. Sure people post age this buck photos all the time and they get honest answers, but you harvest a deer and post it I promise you unless illegal or in obvious clean fun the people here will be congratulating you.
Amen to that. Personal preference, like I have said many times we each set our own goals and standards. Mine is 120 or better but that is my own personal goal. Last two years I have taken 115 class deer and was very happy with it. Do I always meet my goals, heck no and I shoot what makes me happy. When the so called professional T.V people start buying my gear, setting up my stands and doing all the work it takes to just make it to the woods, then they can attempt to enforce or make me comply with their goals. At that point, I will quit hunting and take up golf or something like that. So called T.V professionals need you to watch them and buy the products they endorse, so why would we as hunters allow them to set the rules? Shoot what you want as long as it is legal and makes you happy !!!! v/r Dave S. v/r
I probably should have reworded that sentence. Outside of this forum I hear and see a lot of ridicule but on the forum I wouldn't call it ridicule. I have seen where guys nicely say or "joke" that the deer should have been given another year but then say congrats. I agree that most of the guys on here are pretty respectful. I apologize for not being clear on that.
I wonder if you aren't mistaken humor amongst close friends? One guy might shoot a nice buck and the other guy says "awh just a baby!" Where those two knew it meant great deer man! ? I see that but I know it's just joking everyone I know on here says shoot what makes you happy Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
The only time I consider ridiculing someone a deer they shot is if it still has spots. To me that's a waste of a tag, but I understand that for some people it's just about the meat and that may be the only chance they got at a deer that year. Other than that, I sort of agree with what you are saying. I am fortunate enough to hunt on a small piece of land my parents own, and to be honest the deer numbers and deer quality are better on public land places I have checked out. For me, and I know a lot of people around here, half the fun is watching the deer herd and trying to improve the overall health of the herd, and this is probably measured the easiest by the structure of the age class on the land. Personally I hunt for the fun and for the challenge of it, and I won't deny that I would love to get a chance at a bigger deer, regardless of where I hunted it.
I would also say that on the bhod show there have been some smaller bucks taken just out of the love of hunting. My thought is most people don't watch hunting shows to see forked horns shot either. They want to see deer they they might see once in their life being hunted. Otherwise no one would watch. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I agree. I know Ty Miller and Swamp Stalker shot deer last year that were way too small. Something should be done with guys like this.
One of the MANY reasons why I hate that forum. I've never seen someone here get ridiculed because of a deer they shot - One of the MANY reasons why I love this forum.
I was getting ready to jump on this and post basically what Ty did. Our management program on our properties is anal about age structure but our circumstances are unique....and in KS. I'm not about to bash someone for shooting something off our managed properties that makes them happy..that's just stoopid (<- yes intentionally mispelled) The only thing I WILL say about age structure...is that a change in common mentality has to start somewhere. Most hunters would love to be able to restrict themselves to mature deer but don't because they think no one else will and a deer they pass will get blasted five minutes down the path. If we as hunters want to change the collective practice then we have to have a starting point. As more and more people begin to realize the importance and the gains that come with QDM based age structure, hopefully then fewer guys will be able to complain about having to shoot what's available for fear someone else will shoot it after they've let it pass. In most cases, people are pretty respectful of others personal trophies though and should be. We don't all have a history littered with P&Y and B&C harvests but we should all strive for that goal as we are comfortable with it and pushing our own self improvement. Even those with that type of history had to begin somewhere.
I see a lot of guys that say they hunt mature bucks and could care less about the size of the antlers. But after the shot, spend more time talking about the score. In a lot of cases, not all, age hunting is rack hunting.
True, having mature deer in a herd has big implications well beyond trophy antlers. Rut activity is different, deer act different, it's just a lot to consider but deer perform better in general with mature deer present. The bigger antlers is just a happy side effect in most cases but does not always hold true either...the other benefits to herd health and mentality still apply though.
This is why I like BHOD. More realistic for the average hunter. They show does being taken. They do shoot a lot of real nice bucks, but not every one is a 160.
I agree with what you getting at. The only part that I disagree with is the "if I don't shoot him the neighbor will" statement. I guarantee that if you shoot him than he won't get any bigger but there is zero guarantee that the neighbor will get him. I hunt a small property surrounded by a lot of pressured areas and I have followed two deer for the last three years that are 5+ years old. Somehow they survived. We need to give more credit to the deer sometimes.
