I would pull the trigger. If he is of age and considered a shooter buck...knock em over. We don't have tomorrow.
The idnr aged it by its teeth. Im pretty sure even they cant mess it up by 3-4 years. Its possable just like does can grow antlers.
It really isn't about the inches... not exactly anyway. Its the obsession, the story, the pics, the history. There is something very fulfilling to me about pursuing a deer for more than one year. I have zero trail cam pics of the buck I shot last year. I have several hundred of the deer in question.
Sounds like a good problem to have ha. From what you've said here and the history you have, if I was in your situation I might pass. But it'd be tough. I'd say go for it, most don't have a chance at a 180 let alone a 200 and if there's a good chance that's what he'll end up being next year that's the perfect reason to let him go. Itd still be really tough ha ha. What ever happened to your other buck Fortune Cookie?
Well no, my deer last year was an absolutely amazing experience. If I shot the Backyard Buck this year I am sure it would be as well. I can be very satisfied shooting any of my current hit listers. Just keep thinking one more year on him could be something truly amazing. If I kill him now................................................. I will never know
Right now on my list I have...... Fortune Cookie (currently moving in daylight) mid 140 Lil Lucky low 130's Lucky 140 maybe a tad over Newbie 160 ish The Backyard Back 180 ish and about a dozen mid 120' deer Honestly any of them I would be happy to take. I just can't shake the what ifs.... on The BYB
There are so many what if's - it would be near impossible for me to pass a deer like that.... The only way I'm even considering it would be if I knew for a fact the deer was really young and would add inches & if I knew it would be unlikely the deer would head off my ground.... On the other hand, since you have taken a deer in that same class, I can see where it would be tempting to roll the dice if you thought he still has some top end left....
Don't live with regret. Make a decision and stand firm in it. If you two collide next season that may be a world class story hunt of your lifetime, if you never see him again you will know that you made the choice to pass and that is good also. Follow your gut, you already know what you truly want to occur. It will be a long year and many sleepless nights planning the take down but nothing ventured, nothing gained.
I've sent allot of bear teeth in to the Minnesota DNR to get aged. They want us to do it. Some of their guesses I call them were laughable. I have zero faith in aging anything by a tooth. Sent from my XT907 using Tapatalk
It is hard to believe. My aunt shot a buck during gun season a few years back. It scored right around 170". The "biologist" at the check station aged it at 2.5- I never believed them for a second. Seemed like every buck that came through was 2.5.All of those "biologists" there at the check stations always seemed to be college interns or something!
If it was me I would shoot. But with that being said what are your thoughts on the deer actually growing in size? Some people may remember the Freak Daddy story from several years ago where Caleb (Siman/Oh) missed on opportunity at a 185-195" 18 point buck and my other Brother Luke (lilsiman/oh) killed him the next year scoring 199"(green scored 205") as a 14 point. I'm just thinking that maybe this buck has peaked out and won't make it to 200"?
Do you know him well enough to kill him easily this year? If so, I would wait, especially if you think it is unlikely a neighbor might take him... Most of us don't have the luxury of being very selective with the bucks we harvest and it would be a great story to watch him for another year and see what happens.
i'm killing any deer that walks in front of me. i don't care if it is a fawn at this point. something HAS to die. hopefully this week i'll get a turkey though.
excellent response, my thoughts exactly!! a lot of other good responses on here as well! tough decision.......I'd wait!!!
Tackle, like I said there is no way that I could pass on a buck that big. But I can understand why you might.
