I would guess that most of us have a goal or hope of shooting a certain size buck during our years of hunting and the though of that buck stepping out helps us stay on stand longer,. What size buck do you one day hope to shoot?
I try to say 115" min on my property, 90" min on state land. But I only have 3 bucks under my belt, so if something gets me excited I still plan to take it.
I just want to kill at least a 4.5 year old buck with my bow every year. Big antlers are definitely awesome, but just a bonus. I just like the challenge of trying to figure out mature deer.
The holy grail, a legitimate (all-time) book Booner. 170" netting typical or 195" netting non-typical.
My goal is to continue molding my 40 acres of land into prime whitetail habitat through foodplots, mineral sites, and whitetail friendly land management to consistently keep deer around to the point I can shoot a buck each year. But if I was to pick a realistic goal... I'd say 140s and I'd be way more than happy
Right now mine is a clean big 10, it's elusive and while I seen one every year only one time have I had a shot and I choked. My day is coming though, I just don't know hat year it will fall in
My number one goal is to take a buck with my bow... I have passed on many small ones the first two years I've been bow hunting and missed two decent bucks this year. Any buck with 8 or more points, big or small, will get an arrow. With my rifle... I am hoping for a 10 point that is bigger than the 8pt 120" I have on the wall.
I have two bucks under my belt, a 5 and a 22 inch wide 12 point 140", so id love to get a tall one to go one with my 12. Idk why but i love bug 9s. A 125" tall 9 point would be awsome. Or somethin just with charactar if it was to have double brows, drop tine, or crazy huge one sided buck with 8 inch mass lol. But a tall 125"+ 9 point would be awsome. I think next year ill have a good chance meetin my goal. We have at least 4-5 3 1/2 year olds in the 100-120 class and some bigger deer. So next year they should shoot up pretty excited to shed hunt to see what survives for next year!
Looks like a read it wrong...thought it was like your season goal not dream buck. I love antlers so all sound good. 200 inch non typical, 175 inch typical, 150 inch 8 pt. But honestly, I seen a buck a few years back in Maryland that is still the buck of my dreams. Was only a 5 pt, no brow on one side. Was probably close to 25" wide, its forks were 12", and mass as thick as my wrist, and Im fat lol. Main beams were probably 25-30". Was a massive animal. And such a cool strange rack. I would be the happiest hunter in the woods if one of my arrows flew through his lungs.
Size has nothing to do with my goals, just age. I would love to shoot a 4.5+ year old deer but I'm still in the 3.5 range. Until the past few years I've been striclty a meat hunter and never focused on deer management or hunting by age or considering gender ratios. Now that I own a small piece of property I want to do my part and improve the herd and only harvest mature deer and make sure there's a good buck to doe ratio. So for now I will still take 3.5 year olds but the ultimate goal is to get to 4.5+ only. If you're looking for antler size only, I am happy with 120"+.
At this point, I'd be happy to kill something with more than 8pts. This is my 29th season, and I can count the number of 9+ point bucks I've ever seen on one hand. Either its the genetics where I hunt, or I just suck
My immediate goal is to shoot a 120" or better on my public land spot. They are few and far between and are real trophy bucks to the guys who hunt their butts off down here.
At this point in my bowhunting stage, I would like to take a mature buck. I shot that 1 1/2 year old last year and have passed on a couple 1 1/2 and a 2 1/2 year old so far this year. We have a real nice 3 1/2 year old who if he steps out I'm definitely shooting but to take one that is 4 1/2 or older would be awesome!
Not sure now what my goal is now, a week ago I would my reply would have been different. I also have to be realistic I won't shoot a smaller deer, but it sure is hard for me to pass on 2 bucks in one sit.