Everyone does it for their own reasons. To judge others because they don't hunt the same way we do is a bit outlandish. All I can control is what I do. Other people can do as they please as long as it is legal.
Well I know I shot a 2.5 year old yesterday. But it was the biggest deer I've ever seen on the hoof. I've been hunting for 3 years now. I'm growing as a deer hunter. And will continue to. Next year I have bigger goals. I would love to be able to hold out for a older deer. But I'm not there yet. But someday I will be.
Everyone is different. I passed a 2.5 year old 8 point that was prolly 120's area and it was tough for me. I don't know if I could do it again, to be honest. But, hopefully he is way bigger next year, and It would be really cool to watch him grow.
Most people here would have laughed at the idea of drawing back on the buck I shot this year (or many of the past bucks for that matter). However, I also believe most on here are happy to see anyone succeed, and that's evident in the replies I see to all hunters on here when they post success photos. I'm ok with that. To each their own. Remember...life is short.
Same with me sorta. I can shoot a doe during bow season (bucks only in rifle), but there goes my tag for the year, since it's one deer only where I live. I told myself before the season started that I wouldn't shoot a doe if one came along since all the does I'd seen on camera had fawns with them and shooting a doe with a fawn is a big nope for me. Luckily/unluckily, someone hit a big doe in front of my house. I've been watching her with a fawn all summer long on my trail cameras. They hit her in the head and she was killed instantly, and there was no damage to the meat. So I have a freezer roadkill doe hanging in the garage right now, so that's going to allow me to hopefully hold out on a bigger deer unless my itchy trigger finger gets the best of me again this year. As for people shooting small deer. I saw 2 deer last year in about 80 hours of sitting in the stand. One was a doe and one was a forkhorn buck, so it took a nap in my freezer and tasted really good all winter long. If there were more deer where I live, I would probably hold out on a bigger buck and could be more picky, but if the season is getting long and I want to enjoy venison, well then I'm going to.
The county I live in has a 3 doe/day limit the whole season and a statewide 2 buck/season limit. I haven't been able to procure land in any county with this unit since 2010. One county over where my hunt property is now is a different unit. 4 doe for the whole season and the same 2 buck limit. However, after gun season starts you can only take a doe if you're drawn in a quota no matter what weapon you're using. I've went almost 5 years without the opportunity to even draw or pull the trigger on a deer. So, if between now and 11/21 a doe doesn't come within bow range and afterwards a young buck does, I'll take the shot.
To each their own. I don't pass judgment on what someone chooses to shoot on their own property. I do set standards for myself, but I don't force them on others. To me, when you say "pride" what I hear is that you are trying to impress others. Some are happy with shooting young deer and I am happy for them. Fulfillment isn't always measured in inches or years.
2 year old deer are tasty. Can only shoot bucks in my primary area, I will try to get a doe for the freezer from the alternate public land. But come late season, if I didn't fill my rifle or doe tag, younger bucks are on the menu. On the primary land, the population numbers don't look very good so we need does to get the numbers up to the point where we have more options to be picky.
Like said by many, to each their own. I impose limits on our property and impose my own limits on myself. I'm in the same mind frame as Covey is. After shooting a deer estimated to be 6 1/2, we have sheds that add up to that, it is hard to shoot smaller deer. I'm not at all saying I wouldn't shoot a deer in the 150-160 range but that is where I want to start at. I use to shoot the little ones when I first started out. I didn't know any better. It is about what makes an individual happy and what they want out of it all. I absolutely enjoy the whole part of it. Hunting starts for me Jan 16th and ends Jan 15th. It is an all year adventure. For some people it is all about the 15min, 1 hr, 1/2 day or all day hunt that they get. For some it is about filling a tag. I've had tag soup, tag well done, tag salad, you name it. I've ate it. That is my choice like it is all of ours. It really started for me when this guy use to hunt on my folks land. In Macon County Missouri. Opening morning of rifle season he would set on the ground on this ridge in the timber and shoot the first 3 deer he seen. That was it. Didn't matter what they were. Besides that part that aggravated me he was unethical as all get out. I won't get in to that right now. I had met with him about shooting the little bucks the evening before opening morning of rifle season. When I say little I mean basket 4's & 6's, spikes and button bucks. I asked him if he would shoot the does instead of shooting the little bucks. I had talked to our neighbors and they were all about bigger older deer. At the time Macon County was one of the "go to" spots in Missouri for large bucks and does were a dime a dozen. He replied "not a problem, I'm only hunting for meat". I thought we were good. Next morning I'm on the north side of the blacktop and he is on the south. It wasn't 30 minutes after sun up the gunfire rang out. Deer came running by me through the timber I was in like a flash. I decided to get down to see what he had shot. I was back at camp when he showed up about 45 minutes later with a trailer full of 3 little bucks. I freakin' lost it!! I won't use the language that was used that morning but it wasn't kid friendly. After my melt down he said, "I'm just hunting for meat". That was the last time he ever hunted our place again. I know I'm way off track now but it is hard to change a persons idea if they have their mind set on a certain way of hunting. The neighbors finally ran him clear out of the area with all of the crap he was pulling. I guess without rambling anymore you have to educate the people and show them all the possibilities but in the end it is a personal choice. Enjoy what you like.
Its just a personal thing. Some people just like shooting deer. Some people trophy hunt. I've got a friend who is just a great guy and he shoots whatever he wants and feels like shooting. Gives most of the meat to friends and keeps on trucking. Easily killed 100 deer, mostly with a recurve. We laugh a lot and he's a huge help on tracking jobs - lord knows he's done it a bunch!
I hunt pretty good land for the most part. We do management to a certain extent as do most of the neighbors except for one group to our west. They don't see as many deer as we do so they feel they can't pass up opportunities when they present themselves. I'm generally ok with that, but I did get a little miffed when one of the guys shot a nice 10 in the 125" range on opening morning of gun season a couple years ago and then shot a basket 6 45 minutes later, but that was his choice, just a bit of a head scratcher is all. The management has been paying off as generally we try and shoot 3.5 year old deer or bigger. Some bigger 2.5s get taken every once in a while and nobody really puts up much of a fuss. We have a rule that kids and people that have never hunted before can take whatever they want for their first buck for both gun and bow. My brother owns a property (65 acres) as well as my father-in-law (130 acres) and there is another 1200 acres or so of mostly managed land. Quite a few hunters in the area, mainly for gun season. My nephews each shot a nice starter buck last year with their guns and can do the same with their first bow bucks, but now are expected to hold out for a 2.5 for their next one with the gun. My oldest is 8 and the same rules will apply. We have plenty of doe so generally we shoot doe for management and meat most of the time. Bucks in the 115"-130" range are generally in pretty good supply and I think we will start seeing more in the 130"-160" (already a few) in the coming years. I shot my most mature buck with the bow this year, but it was more of a management buck in my book. Ended up scoring 119 3/8" (about 10" bigger than I thought it would be), but it was a great hunt that I will always remember because the buck was the most patterned buck I've ever hunted in my 8 years of bow hunting and everything came together exactly how it is "supposed" to. Hunt for the hunt! Management is fun for us so that is why we do it. All part of the game and watching your hard work pay off is extremely rewarding. I know some guys would dream to shoot a buck like I did this year and others would laugh and not even think about shooting it, but we try and set realistic expectations and standards for the hunter density in our area and that is why we try and shoot at least 3 year olds, but we don't force our will on anyone else and I would never dream of doing so. In my book, if it gets your heart going, let her fly!
that's true....but it also depends on the region where I hunt in NC....if you have a nice 8 pt you have something! nice 10s come sometimes but rare.... now with what your saying its true..keep it in perspective...but a not above the ears cow horn or 4 pt in any state or region is an obvious pass. BUT there are circumstances I could see taking one
this is how I feel about it.. you only have big bucks because small bucks live to become big bucks.... if you want meat...(as I hear a lot of hunters I debate this with say..."well im huntin for meat") then shoot a doe...you know good and well you will see many does to a buck...especially in my are.....so take one of them if you have a child/wife/husband something like that....that has never killed a deer and it would be their first one....then by all means....they should kill the deer if they choose to.... if you are a seasoned veteran with some deer under your belt.....come on....a spike is something that you should pass up.... if you are not going to be proud of it and put its head on the wall....let it go a lot of times this is the difference between a "hunter" and a deer "killer" im not out to kill deer...im out to hunt a specific deer. now keep your region in mind when you say this....im not gonna knock someone for killin a nice 110-120 inch 6 or 8 in a area that that is about the biggest the will get there are areas like that.....but know your region and end the blood bath.... I might be a little bias cause the people that hunt the neighboring property to mine kill anything that moves and its simply bad for herd and bad for hunting in general
i see a lot of people with the 55 gal barrel full of 4 pts and small 6 pts and i just see a barrel full of potential whitetail monsters.....the stuff stories are made of and potential trophy mature bucks....sometimes hundreds of them.....imagine if every state was only allowed to kill mature bucks...and everyone followed these rules...how much great genetics and how many huge bucks we would have all over America!
