State of confusion in my bowhunting life...

Atlas, did you miss this part?

 

Well said.

How many deer that you've "let walk" do you know you've seen in subsequent years? I agree with Atlas. This "next level" stuff cracks me up. If you were assured that every time you let a deer walk......it would stay on or around your property.....I'd feel differently about this subject (i.e. stockpiling bucks).

I'm all for having fun out there. If waiting for a bigger buck will allow you to have more fun, have at it. That's cool. I just don't see (again...it's a numbers game) how letting a 120" walk will magically make a 130" appear. The best chance of seeing more 130"ers is to hunt where more of them live. If you're seeing a legitimate number of deer that are larger than the ones you're taking.....then it might be a no-brainer for you. Not sur ewhat your trailcams and "scouting" have shown you.

I told you before.....there's nothing "noble" about passing on deer (in my eyes).

It's a numbers game. Period.

 

This is my opinion on this subject, and nothing more. If you want to shoot bigger bucks you have to let smaller ones walk. That part is fact. I hunt State Land where most guys will shoot the first legal buck they get a chance at. I have taken a couple of bucks that are pretty much at the top end (which really isn't big) of what I can realistically expect to kill in my area. I have let "legal" bucks walk, like I did 2 weeks ago with a just legal 6pt. I want to kill a buck that's similar in size or bigger than what I've already killed in my woods. If I can't do that I'll kill a doe ot two.

Letting a small legal buck walk in my woods doesn't mean (realistically) he will become a big buck and I might get a chance at him another year. It just means I didn't "settle" for him and I'm able to keep hunting in hopes that I might get a shot at something bigger. I still have my buck tag because I missed finding (I'm still bummed) a decent 8pt I hit during the rut. He wasn't a big buck, but was a good one for my area.

Now that it's late season and these deer have had thier education, it's a looong shot to expect to kill a decent buck. I have plenty of meat in the freezer, but I'll keep trying for a buck (that pleases me) until the season ends Jan 29th.

 

This is pretty much what I'm talking about. It has nothing to do with letting him walk and planning on seeing him (bigger) next year. I have slim plans on that really. I get 1 buck tag. I'm just considering trying to use it on something bigger. This year I shot my buck on I think it was the 3rd day of the season. Again, not to diminish what I shot. I am VERY VERY happy with the buck I shot. The flipside? Game over. Who knows if I would have ran into big big daddy.

 

Atlas I do agree with a lot of what you're saying. But the fact does remain that there are bigger bucks out there. Not as plentiful as other places? Agreed. But again the DO exist. 130" buck is not the biggest dude walking the woods in NY or my area to be more specific. But again I agree it's a numbers game and I agree the chances are far less and not in my favor. I get that. Impossible? Not buying that yet. And with all due respect I'm not sure you even think the 120-130 level exists in NY on a somewhat regular basis by the way you make it sound. If I bought into that theory years ago I'd still be shooting basket 6's and so so 8 points , "outside the ears" etc etc.....

 

Nothing is assured when it comes to passing bucks. However, many times I have seen and shot bucks the following year. Yes they were still around and they were indeed....bigger.

Again, there is nothing magical about this and you can't "make" something happen. All it means is that if you pass the 120" and keep hunting, you may have the 130" come by. If you don't pass the 120", you're done and will never get the 130". Obviously, the higher you set your goal, the less chance you have of reaching it. It is a numbers game.

Tag soup is not a badge to be worn, it's just that if I don't get my goal for 1 or more seasons, so what? Knowing he's out there and getting to hunt him is what it's all about for me.

 

If he knows there are bigger bucks in his area, wants to kill those bigger bucks, and only has one buck tag......then he must commit to passing the "smaller" bucks so that he has the opportunity to kill the bigger bucks. Really pretty simple. I wish you the best of luck NY.

 

there's a couple parallel thems here.

1. I've never taken, and probably never will the stance that any buck I pass on I wil lever see again. I don't pass in hope that it will grow up, I pass because I think(know) there are bigger bucks out there at that current time.

2. I got caught up in the "next level" thing a few years back when I had a real good string of killing some really top end bucks for the areas I hunt. Then I realized I didn't get those bucks because I was passing countless of smaller ones (smaller as in bigger than year & half, but not a "mature" buck) I got those bucks because they happened to walk by first. I figured it was kind of dumb to continue holding out for 130's & 140's when it was a feat for me just to get a 115" in range.

 

10-4 vs

 

Welcome to my world (sort of).

Ive yet to kill any "nice" buck with my bow. Buts ive passes tons of deer in the 100-115" range the last 5 years. TONS.

Why?










I mean, when you have Jessica Albas and Adriana Limas walking aorund, how do you settle for the girl next door with braces?

 

It's not a fact...........it's a fallacy.


The ONLY way you can honestly say that shooting any buck prevented you from killing a bigger one is if you had no more buck tags and then had a slammer in range later that season...........or if you just shoot your buck and never go out again. Neither of which is the case for NYBH.

If you shoot a buck and then hunt the rest of the year never having his equal in range then what did you miss out on?

So if you don't see and kill a buck bigger then him for the rest of the year how did pasing him help you?.........not saying you did the wrong thing, just wondering how you believe it "helps" you this year........and even stranger next year?

You could just keep hunting anyways right? You have doe tags............then you will have your proof if you made the right or wrong decision based on what bucks you have in range afterwards. Why is it noble to eat tag soup but not noble to swallow your pride when a bigger buck walks by and you have no tag?.........seems to me like both could/should be learning experiences.

 

Do you think he is not trying to kill them already? I'll bet he's not ignoring them and just setting his stands up trying to chase smaller bucks.

I would like someone to prove to me that any of the bucks NYBH has killed the last couple years has prevented him from killing something bigger. I know of no post kill encounters with bigger bucks that he has spoken of.


If two guys results over 5 years are laid out and compaired, each having killed a monster over that time but one guy passed every other buck he saw.......the other killed good solid bucks when he got the chance giving him 4 bucks total. They each only managed one encounter with a big boy and each sealed the deal.

Is the guy who passed up all the other bucks he saw hunting on the "next level"??

 

I personally think this is what is bothering you more then anything........knowing how hard you hunt you probably feel like you took the easy way out because your chance came so early in the season.

Had you shot that buck 2 days before gun after grinding yourself to a pulp all year I doubt this thread would even exist.

 

There are always bigger bucks out there. Ask yourself how many bucks over 140" you have had in bow range in all the years you have hunted NY and then decide if you are OK only taking a buck that frequently.........if you are then have at it.

Or like I said........throw your bow in the truck and drive a few hours, think of each border you cross as the "next level" Hell, pick me up on the way, we'll toss some buck bombs in Rybo and Fran's camp

 

Yes. How would it not be ?? Like was said earlier... it is a numbers game. There are less 5.5 year old verses 4.5 year old. Less 4.5 verses 3.5 years old and so on.

If my goal is a 4.5 or older and the other guy's goal is a 3.5 and older... my odds are worses. It is a tougher challenge to kill one verses a solid 3.5 year old.

Not only do I have to get a 4.5 or older in range... I've got to get a shot at him which doesn't always happen. The other guy has the same thing but better odds since there are more available bucks in his age bracket goal.

A 4.5 and older buck tends to be more nocturnal then most 3.5 year old. Again making worse odds for me.

I've got to hunt smarter on an older buck then I do a 3.5 year old here.

So again... how is it not the next level ??

There is so much more to it. How much acreage I have verses the other guy. How much pressure from other hunters that one guy has to deal with verses the other. Available time to hunt. Rifle/shotgun season during rut verses no rifle/shotgun season during rut. I have one buck tag verses someone with 3 or more buck tags. The odds will be affected by all of this.

Your comparing one hunter to another is pretty much BS since odds are nothing will be eqaul. I don't even know why you go there.

I set a goal for myself. Over the years my goals have progressed to the next level which I determined as the challenge at the time. It has nothing to do comparing/competing with the " other " hunters. It only has to do with what makes me happy at that time.

At the moment I like targeting certain bucks. It's the next level to poorer odds verses any 4.5 and older buck !! If you are happy shooting solid bucks or young bucks... good for you. :D

Tim

 

Probably true.

That and the fact that I did have an absolute slammer walk by me couple weeks after I shot my buck. Not quite in "range" (40-50) yards.

And a guy on our neighboring property literally 200 yards away killed a 3 mained beam freak of nature that I wouldn't even begin to put a score on cause I wouldn't know how. All I can tell you is A LOT of inches.

Also I probably let my guard down a bit and didn't go at it like I usually do after I killed my buck early this year.

 

Siman....

If I had those bucks running around my properties.....I'd pass 100" deer, too. In fact, I'd be frustrated as hell.

I don't care who ya are......that's good stuff!

 

Can't it be this simple for NYB? He wants to hold out for a bigger buck just because well, he wants to hold out for a bigger buck. No strings attached, no ego involved, no QDM involved, nothing, just NYB trying to kill a bigger buck. Maybe he goes for it next year and fails, maybe he succeeds. Maybe he will readjust his goals mid-season, maybe never, maybe he will up his goals even more and branch out in his hunting to other parts of the state/region/country, maybe he will settle down on a 30 acre parcel and be happy just having his own property and will arrow those 100 inchers. That is the fun of it. Learning, experimenting, readjusting, admitting defeat yet still striving to get better, and enlisting the help of others to help you achieve your goals while maintaining a good strong positive attitude.

 

Atlas, it's very simple. Try not to make it otherwise. It is FACT that (in Pa one buck tag) if you shoot a small buck you have ZERO chance at killing a big buck that year. How is this not fact?

 

This guy actually has experience in this arena.