Very true and I'm guilty of ranting about why I only care about big bucks. I was going to say something along the lines of this earlier. Depending on where one lives and their access to big bucks will shape their opinion on this thread.
Sign me up...I am only really interested in an above avg. buck for a given area...killing does and small bucks was fine when I was learning the game...but at some point you have to evolve and look for more of a challenge. Going out and sticking a spike or yearling doesn't thrill me at all....
I love smashin does, and love my time in the woods, but I allways dream of a bigger buck than the last one.Everyone is different, but most people can get a shot at a few does and a few young bucks a year, at some point most folks will want to move up a lil. Most folks that think that every deer with a bow is a trophy wouldnt be on a bowhunting website in march, so I think you guys are a lil more serios than your leading on.
I really like this thread .... gets me thinking ... I can't fathom of a place where getting a shot a a doe is as easy as some of you talk about .... now.I can.fathom being able to get the opportunity at a yearling buck most of the time. I suppose if I could pop a doe at will, and I had big bucks running around my area like some guys do, I would be guilty as those guys ... at least I think I would...
Same reason people don't get online to look at station wagons or talk about the 4 you took home from the bar last night. We like fast cars and solid 9s online.
I hope some of you don't feel like I am knocking guys who hunt for or like to talk about big bucks, because I AM NOT. I love to talk about hunting big bucks and everything involved with it, however I am not talking about that. I am talking about all the posts on here getting pushed toward the big buck slant. The posters of the thread do not even begin talking about big bucks and the responses just start going in that direction immediately. Like Brad, it took me some time to kill my first deer, so maybe I feel like each deer taken is a pretty awesome experience. I am not the worlds most prolific deer slayer, but some 40+ deer later I still become excited when a doe strolls by or when I kill something.
Brad I could be way off base on this but as you develop your land and create food plots and improve habitat. Your opportunities at 1 1/2 year old bucks will increase dramatically. At some point you want to challenge yourself and start letting smaller bucks go and target larger bucks. You still hammer does and it is a lot of fun, but you hold out for bigger deer. Honestly, I look forward to talking to you over supper in the near future.
Thanks Dean. You as well. I still plan on letting the young ones go on my land. I want to try and grow and manage for big buck hunting. Don't let my earlier post steer you wrong. However, I just don't like how it totally completely consumes some hunter's mind. My season will be a success if I only shoot a couple of does and enjoy the woods. To me, as long as I am seeing deer the rest is just gravy.
@virginiashadow I understand what your saying and mostly agree with you. I think though that dreaming big is kind of what we as Americans are all about, though. We don't sit around dreaming about getting behind the wheel of a '89 Ford Fiesta. We don't fish for that 5 inch long walleye. We don't reload .308 ammo so we can shoot 3" groups at 100 yards. We don't dream about the day when we're 38 and living in a studio apartment with your 6 kids. An Olympian doesn't train hard for three years to earn a "thank you for participating" medal and t-shirt. We tend to try to dream a little bigger, and to try to excel. I think different people put different amounts of effort into bow hunting as well, and after awhile, if you're putting a lot of effort into it, you want it to pay off. For me, just getting back into it, and never having killed anything with my bow, I'll be happy with any deer I can stick.
I haven't killed a boatload of deer, but I'll admit, I've been tainted by the bowhunting media into the mindset that only big bucks are good deer. I'm thrilled to kill a doe to gain some more experience and provide for my family, but my walls are empty, and I want a trophy. It's not the best way to gauge success or failure because it puts way too much personal stress on myself, but everyone has their own definition of success. If I want to shoot nothing but does and wallhangers, then that's my business and that's what I'll do. My buddy thinks I'm crazy, but again, it's me and what I want. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
guarantee you would....I love shooting does as much as the next guy, but the challenge of a mature buck is what keeps me awake some nights.
Considering I hunt public land mostly, I take what I can get. If I let a 6-8 point 2 yr old buck walk. He could walk a 100 yds into someone elses arrow. If it walks in front of my stand, its getting drilled hopefully by me. Now this yr, I actually get to hunt some private ground that has not been touched for 3 yrs. Im tracking 2 nice tens that were seen several times last year. They are def. on my hit list this yr. I get 2 buck tags, 1 is reserved for one of those deer. I gotta get at least 1 wall hanger or my wife is gonna cut me off on spending money on hunting equipment.
31 years of deer hunting and it still tunes me up,I found that killing deer with a wheel bow was getting less challenging so I went to a stick bow 10 years ago,yea if I had a chance to kill a monster I would but to tell the truth,the first doe I shot after a year in Iraq was a feeling I will never forget,but hunting will always keep me sane.
^^X2! I got a good one last season that is getting mounted. It was great! BUT, it really doesn't matter to me. Meat is the main objective. And the thrill of the hunt. It's just as exciting for me to shoot a doe as it is to shoot a buck. I love it!! :D
There's nothing wrong at all with wanting to kill big bucks or small bucks or does or whatever is a legal animal. I always say that a trophy is many different things to many different people for many different reasons. The problems begin when it is portrayed that all there is to hunting is big bucks. I think this can present problems for the young or inexperienced hunter. The fact that they are unable to kill a "trophy" can cause them to become discouraged or maybe even give up hunting all together. This is where it's important for the experienced outdoorsman to mentor or come along side these younger hunters and teach them what hunting is really about. The young or inexperienced hunter will eventually find their own way and become what they're going to be. But if all they're ever told is that they must kill big bucks to be a good hunter, then they will have the wrong attitude about hunting whether they continue or become discouraged and quit. In my years, I've killed big bucks, small bucks, does, and yearlings and I've got to tell you, I've taken satisfaction in all of them. This is a great subject for us hunters. Thanks to the original poster for bringing it up. Blessings.......Pastorjim
Virginiashadow this matches me perfect...I have probably the same # of bowkills when it comes to deer under my belt and every animal I shoot I feel the same way. The majority of my kills were does. It is simpe here to take does if you use bait. When I first started hunting I could throw out a bag of corn go there the next day and have a shot at a half a dozen does or more. Even though it was easy to get the chance at one I was still nervous, excited, and all to pieces after shooting one. To this day it doesn't matter what I shoot, I still get just as excited. Whether is is a doe or buck.......That is why I bowhunt....Bowhunting itself is a challenge....I have strayed away from just hunting over cornpiles to pattering deer and trying to set up on them. Here in SE NC that is a big challenge. We have tons of ag fields and tons of big woods. The land is primarily flat and you have tons of still hunters as well as hunters using packs of dogs everywhere. Hunting around here is very challenging. All this to say, I may go a whole season without seeing a mature buck.....but at the end of the day that is what I am hoping for. Anything else I can take with my bow is a blessing and a challenge due to all the surrounding factors....but when hunting and animal and taking that animal with a bow does not excite me anymore....well I will also find something else to do...I don't see that happening though...
Because as was stated before by someone else, the problem arises when hunters present the mentality that the only worthy deer to shoot are the big bucks. And then apply that to all other hunters...... that is wrong in my book. The rest of the deer don't matter to some guys and they will let you know about it. I’ve gone out hunting on private land and that year had limited time to hunt and was just trying to get some meat. I proceeded to shoot a fawn. The neighbor literally tore my head off because that is not part of what he thought we should be doing to kill big bucks in the area. IMO, when it is wrong to go out on a quick hunt to get some meat but this guy has a fit that I am supposedly ruining his chances of killing a big buck there is something wrong with that. People have turned it into trying to apply extreme pressure on others to adhere to their plan for big bucks because it totally encompasses their entire hunting mind. This is not pointed at you Dan because you personally want to hunt big bucks and set your standards high. That is great. No beefs for me. What I have a problem with is the attitude by some big buck only hunters that you are a poor hunter if you are not shooting big bucks. It must be hard for most kids to see the experts salivate over big bucks only and talk like the other deer don’t matter. Did you ever see the D&DH TV episode on antler addictions? They don't have the entire espisode online but you can watch part of it here.
