Last year was my first year I evolved into being a better bow hunter. I learned to hunt for the relaxation and fun of it. I look for a nice buck by my standards and shoot as many doe as I need for the freezer. If I get a deer or not I leave the stand in a good mood instead of previous years of worrying about bragging rights. I think im right were I need to be.
My first bow killed deer was when I was 12. Starting then, and for several years I would take the first deer to give me a good opportunity. For several years after that I would shoot bucks only. No requirements, just had to have antlers. Then I started passing the 1.5 yr olds and took what were very average deer for the area for several more years. For the last 7 years I have been focusing on bucks that would score 150" or better or just happen to be old. Not that I have always stuck to the game plan, but that is my plan at the beginning of the season. I struggled with that for two or three seasons because I still really wanted to fill my tag. Then the bonus doe tags became available and I have opportunity to stretch my itchy trigger finger and also fill the freezer. That has been the demise of the best bowkilled bucks of my life. Now, I dont put any pressure on myself to kill big deer and I just enjoy getting out.
I have certainly "evolved" as well. I went from any deer, to any buck, to 2.5 year old plus bucks, and then trying to hold out for 3.5 year old plus bucks. This year, depending on what I see on camera, I may go to a P&Y gross or better limit. I try not to put pressure on myself to shoot a buck, but I do like to be successful at reaching my goals so I always do have that pressure. However, it's more of a personal ambition than a need to prove anything. I will say that as my standards have changed I have had more fun because I see more deer and that is the best part about hunting for me.
I think Im evolving in the way I hunt and the deer I allow myself to shoot. If I didn't, I think I would get board and I would not challenge myself to reach a new goal. I started off shooting anything I could, then moved mature deer then to 130 inch class (one was 5.5 years old and the other 4.5). I have shot two of them and now am holding off for a 145ish or higher deer and have passed two really nice upper thirties the last two years. FOR ME...it's all about learning more and evolving to acheived more. I don't want a wall full of 130 inch deer because that I think I could now do that without being challanged. I also feel blessed that I get to hunt some of the land I do where I can be choosy, some poeple don't have that, so Im greatfull.
The short answer to your question is that my standards have basically stayed the same from one year to the next. I am fortunate in that I can kill 3 bucks statewide and with MLD tags (depradation tags), I can kill all the doe that I want. I usually kill at least 2 bucks and sometimes but not often 3 in one year. I won't go into any detail as to why so not to hijack your thread, but while I will not purposely shoot a 2 1/2 yo, I will on occasion shoot a 1 1/2yo if the urge hits me towards the end of the season and especially if the 1 1/2yo has an "attitude" (sorry excuse I know). For the most part, I target 4 1/2 yo deer but sometimes come up with a 3 1/2 yo that I thought was a 4 1/2. I have never gone a bow season without killing at least one buck. Not saying that it is right cause it probably isn't, but thats been my experience so far and likely will not change.
Like many I shot at the 1st buck to walk by. Eventually as my skills both hunting & shooting improved that made for some short seasons. So I slowly raised my "standard"...very slowly, sometimes caving on my intentions. For a bit I got pretty confident then realized I shouldn't be. Depending on where I am hunting & the potential, I would say my minimums could range from 100-120" and if I was really seeing some good action, maybe even 125+
I am the weird one here... when I first started hunting I had some good luck and managed to take some pretty decent bucks for the area. I started putting more effort into hunting big bucks, I started planting food plots, supplimental feeding in the off-season, game cameras, glassing fields 7 nights a week during the summer and it eventually wore on me. To me, this started to take from my enjoyment, I didn't want to take something that was enjoyable to me and turn it into a job. Now, I really have no standards at all, I may pass up a buck and shoot a smaller buck a few weeks later... it really just depends on if I want my season to continue and how much I am "feeling it" that day.
I would guess that for most of us, the ability to have(or not have) multiple tags makes a huge difference in how we approach our seasons. And also how we may change our goals over time.
When I first started as a kid, I had no goal. If it was brown, I was shooting at it. In 2003 I took my first "good" buck with my bow. He was still a 2.5 year old and scored around 120". This buck, and becoming more comfortable with seeing and judging deer in the field, evolved me into more of a "trophy hunter". I try to set my goals to a 3.5 year old or older, with a 130"+ being the preferred goal. I will still shoot does if the a shot presents itself, but I hardly ever go to a stand with the thought of taking a doe on my mind. I don't know if I can honestly say I will never shoot another 2.5 year old, as there will probably be a time where I get caught in the moment and make a poor decision. Only thing I can do is try to prepare myself to make the quick decisions when the time comes.
I started out just trying to kill any deer. I've now set the bar to any buck that excites me and as many doe's as i have tags for. I'd love to set a pipe dream standard at 120" or some random number but I need to be realistic. I can drive around and spotlight the best private land and only see 2-3 a year that are around 120". I love to shoot deer way to much to wait for one of them.
Still at that stage "if it excites me, I'll shoot at it". Going to scout my OH lease this saturday, for that property my standards will def. go up, but for NC 100"+ will get my attention.
First priority was - take a deer w/bow. After that the priority went to take a buck w/bow. Then, taker a larger buck w/bow. Now, if it's a higher (150ish) scoring buck, I haven't taken the shot. I've missed a few, but the standard remains the same. I get enough tags to take does w/bow, shotgun or muzzleloader, and high power to put meat in the freezer. The rule many have down here is "If you shoot a buck on my property, you have to mount it." I think it's a good rule.
Great post's everyone!! It's really neat seeing how some of your goals have changed along the way. I figured Ben I'd throw fletches post In here with yours. In all the years I've hunted I've never really thought much about what you said In your post Ben with It pertaining to me an evolving as a deer hunter. I'm wondering though how many people If they were In my shoe's would be as picky as I am because of the usual one tag a year that I get? In all honesty I don't think It's had an effect on me on passing bucks up but rather pushing me to be a better bow hunter which at times seems to not be happening. Maybe It's done me more harm then good being sometimes I know I'm pushing too hard when I shouldn't be pushing at all because of the one tag a year here. Who knows I guess. Good question bud!!
Last year was my first year and my only goal was to make sure I made a nice clean shot on a buck that was bigger than a spiker. I didn't know anything about aging bucks but figured I would set my goal for shooting a 4 point or bigger. Well the first 4 point that came through I got all worked up and excited and rushed a shot through a area that wasn't cleared for a shooting lane. I wounded the deer and never found him after 8 hours of tracking, but did see him 2 months later walking around with a little limp. After that I convinced myself to pick a small spot on the deer and to aim for it, I also learned to calm down and learned how crappy it feels to wound something. I will do everything I can to not go through that again. After reading on here and learning how to do some aging on deer, I am trying to only shoot mature bucks, and hopefully anything that will be 125" or bigger. I'm not just shooting them for their score, but around here I think that if a buck is over 125" than he will have a good chance of being somewhat mature. I am going to try to shoot a deer or two each year for food, and am going to try to work on convincing myself to shoot a doe. We aren't over populated where I hunt, but each year I see a couple dead does in the ditch so I want to try to cut back on them a little. I know that I have matured big time in a year in terms of mentality for huntinng and am sure I have a whole bunch more to learn.
I like the 4.5 year olds and older. As far as evolving goes, I am only concerned these days with visual evidence I collect of mature bucks moving during the daylight. These are the areas I am targeting and using trail cams to do my scouting. If I don't see t/c pix or get video or glass a buck moving through and area in the daylight, I dont waste my time hunting it unless I am hunting the rut, then I set up on known doe family group daytime movements. My ultimate goal is to find a state record caliber buck and kill him with my bow, that and fill the freezer every year. I get 2 tags in Idaho, and will most likely always hunt at least 1 out of state hunt per season, so with 3 tags per season I dont have to nor do I want to hold out for giants only, I just want to hunt and kill old bucks, like I said above, I like the 4.5 year olds and older.
My standards were very high from the start since my first buck was a 150 class deer. I agree that unlimited doe tags have certainly helped my itchy trigger finger. I let myself down a little last year by taking a 128" 3.5 year old 8 pointer. I guess the circumstances that I had never taken a Halloween buck before and he looked like he was bigger overwhelmed me. Regardless I was still pretty happy with him. I sometimes feel I'm a prisoner to my own standards which I believe in time a couple of things will happen: Our farm, that I've put so much work into, develops and holds and draws larger bucks or I stop caring about my standards and shoot what makes me happy.
I am in the minority I guess, not only do I not have "standards" I don't even look at it like that. I mean I hunt hard, I know my woods and deer, and yes I like shooting nice bucks I just don't stress over it. The driving factor in my hunting is having a good time with the couple of good hunting buddies or my brother, dad, & sons. I shoot does, yearlings, young bucks, scrub bucks, decent bucks, it doesn't really matter to me. I take people hunting and I don't care what they shoot as long as they hunt safely and we all have a good time. I have spots I hunt that I know hold some decent bucks and when I hunt by myself or just my dad or main hunting buddy go we may sneak in there and give it a go but even then we might shoot whatever walks by. I don't have a ton of hours to log in the stand so I don't get a lot of time to hunt by myself nor do I really want that right now, maybe that day will come and my hunting may shift more towards chasing down specific big bucks. For now though when we go it's more about comradery, fun, eating sandwiches on the tailgate, catching a good nap before the evening hunt, getting back to the camp skinning out what we kill while having a few cold chillies, and talking about when we can do it again.
