(steves post on passing the nice buck got me wondering about the other guys on here) do your standards change at all as the season plays out and your hunting opportunities dwindle? How and Why?
Mine do. As the season goes on my standards lower, but I still won't shoot a buck if I think it's younger than 3.5.
It does for me. I don't necessarily lower my standards, but will likely raise them if I experience success early. I shot my personal 2nd best archery buck last weekend in PA (also the biggest bodied at 175lbs dressed). With that under my belt already, I'm going to hunt NY this year hard and be very selective. It's going to have to be my biggest buck yet for me to drop the string again this season. There is a specific heavy horned 9 pointer I want to try and hunt specifically in NY this season. Unless something bigger walks by, I'm really going to try and focus on him. This 9 is a really good representative buck for the area, and will likely come close to 130".
Last season was bad for me in buck #'s with the EHD out break i seen only three bucks between Oct1-Nov2nd. That is very not normal around here. I changed my standards then, and decided to just have fun with it. I set a goal that if a 2.5 with at least 8 points came in, i would take it. That is exactly what happened and i did. That was a buck i normally would pass but the odds were really bad last year and i had a great time just hunting. This year im holding out for a 3.5 or better. I know there are some out there, i have seen them.
Thanks for the responses so far, there is definately no RIGHT or WRONG answer here, I am simply interested in hearing what everyone's train of thought is based on the hands your dealt! thanks good stuff guys! (and like Dan talks about above, his "hand" changed a bit due to factors he couldn't control)
If I get hungry I'll shoot a doe if possible. I'm always trying to beat my personal best. I've let some pretty good 8's walk in the past. I have a 130 class 10 pt. on my wall that I shot with a rifle and I would at least like to get one with a bow to match. Of course it wouldn't bother me to shoot one bigger! lp
I always have high expectations, which is probably the wrong way to approach the season. My week in Kansas is all about inches, right or wrong and of course sharing a week with some great friends. My expecations in Kentucky will lower slightly going into December, but still at the 135 mark, although it's extremely difficult for me to fill a tag that way.
I don't care where you are, 125"+ bucks do not grow on tree's regardless of what some people think. It's a treat Itself to see one. Some years I'll let a couple different borderline P&Y bucks walk and then the next year I won't see nothing, It's no guarantee that's for sure. In saying all this my standards will not change the whole season for whitetail bucks, other big game animals you bet! I'm very bull headed and always stick to my original plan on hunting bucks. It's probably the reason I don't have a wall full of them, I can live with that because I believe the day will come and I'll be arrowing a 160" buck. I really believe that! I wouldn't be passing up on these border line P&Y bucks otherwise. My buck hunting consist of P&Y bucks, that's what I'm after. Generally If I think he's a for sure P&Y buck I'll be shooting. That's usually my rule.
We get two tags so in the past I have shot 120"-130" bucks and then hunted for a Booner the rest of the season. So far this year I have passed on a small 8 in the 100" range and a 9 in the 130" range knowing that I have a couple of nice 10's and an 11 that are in the area which will all score in the 135-155" range. I also have a trip or two planned to the golden triangle in Brown County this year so after that trip I might get a little less picky.
No. I won't drop a doe until a buck is on the ground. That's just the season of my career I'm in. I worked hard for my first buck, and I wonder how many I could have killed if I weren't busting every doe that walked by. I'm no longer really a "deer" hunter, but a buck hunter. This sounds arrogant, but I don't mean it that way at all. I can kill a doe almost at will. I've already passed 15 that I could have legitimately shot this year. And to be honest, I think it's helping me learn. Just watching them, seeing what they browse on, pay attention to their body language, the path they take, the terrain they use....The kind of habitat they prefer....It's all good information to store away. We don't eat very many deer, and if I had someone to take them I would probably shoot more does. I know as far as the heard health, I need to. But it's just not my bag right now. I have a doe tag in hand in case I run into a situation where a landowner wants me to shoot one, but I am fully prepared to eat them all if the right buck doesn't show up. And my standards there don't change either. I could be hunting the last evening of season, the last 10 minutes of light. If a sub standard bucks presents himself, i don't shoot.
I have already let a 140" 10 go and a 125" 8 go. I want at least a 4-1/2 yr old or older. Looking for 160" or larger, but aren't we all. I own my own farm (135 acres) and I let them go so the can get larger. Hopefully they make it to next season.
With all the tags I get and meat plentyful I will hold out on my goal each and every year. Troy as of 2005 is when I changed my mentality because most of my hunting life around here in Wisconsin It was taboo to shoot doe's for me. It all started if you wanted to kill a doe you had to have a Hunters choice permit which was a lottery draw. The old timers especially in the 80's wanted brown its down and I did not like that so I kind of shy'ed away from shooting them. But no longer as so far this season I have 2 doe's down and the one I got this morning (Rifle kill) made my first donation to help feed the hungry. I guess I am a changed man. T
My standards don't change as a season progresses. But they have changed greatly over the past several years. As I've matured as a hunter. I just want to take a whitetail of 4 years old or older. Whether he has 100" of antler on his head or 160". Doesn't matter to me. I'll take a big 3 yr. old... I will. But otherwise I'll pass. (years ago i would not!) But I will say.. it depends so much on the land I am hunting on too. I hunt some pieces in the middle of Illinois where a 3 yr old can go 150"+ easy. Then on many of my local area spots a 4 yr old is hard pressed to make 130"... many only 115-120". You just have to know your herd. The animals that are around you.. and you can hunt at any given location. Nowadays.. I'm happy if I took a 4 yr old or better. (i wouldn't even measure antlers if it were not for the contests.):d
Mike I must say you are also changing my thought process a bit and have showed me that antlers are not everything. A mature buck is a great accomplishment for sure. Thanks, T
MO up until the late 90's I only had one tag available to me in my home state. I learned more about deer by being picky and letting them walk as you talk about above than from any book, magazine, etc.. I couldnt agree more with your thoughts of it helping you learn.
admirable, I would take part in that too, if my zones in Idaho needed does thinned out and we could offer up food for the hungry, those are great programs that show that hunters care.
Over all Mike I take a very similiar approach to what you have stated, I probably put more stock into antler size in the early season though.. come later in the season any mature buck makes me happy. If this makes any sense, I pass on bucks early that would make me pefectly happy, I guess I am just a greedy sucker!
Completely understand Troy. I'm from a 2 tag state.. which allows me more flexability with inches. If I had only 1 tag. I'd hold out much more too. No doubt.
