I know on private property or leased land most are now letting young deer walk to practice some deer management and grow bigger deer. But do ya'll let deer walk on public land or shoot about anything legal cause the next guy will too?
I will let them walk. I plan on doing a fair amount of public land hunting this season so I can keep the pressure off my 40 acres.
Let them walk. I've killed two nice bucks off of public land. Both days those were killed I let two little ones walk before.
If you want to practic QDM and take more mature deer, it'll never happen if you're the guy taking the young ones. I'd pass if I were you. Can't control what others will do, but you can make decisions for yourself.
In PA, I don't have the option to shoot just a legal buck and still be able to hunt for something bigger. We're a one tag state. That said, in truth if I had another tag I would be less picky than I am. I've been advocating for years that PA should offer a "trophy" tag. Run a lottery system similar to the doe application process prior to the season. 25.00 dollar application fee, 100.00 tag if drawn, sell 25,000 tags. THey'd get another 2,500,000 in revenue and those that make hunting their main hobby would get a second tag to score a second buck. They could put a 4 point, 100 inch restriction on it with forfeiture of next year's trophy tag option and the animal if it didn't meet the requirements.
Gotta remember a lot of hunters are going to kill a buck each year, they don't care what size...not evil of them or stupid, it's just their way of enjoying the woods (gotta remove right and wrong from equation). If we, you or anyone who wants to kill bigger maturer deer start shooting lesser caliber bucks, that's one less buck the pool of "don't care" hunters have to pull from, meaning another lesser buck or if lucky a big buck could fall to one of them that "would have taken the one you did possibly". Example is this past 2011 season. We deal with a lot of the "don't care on size" mindset hunters around us, and to battle that the only thing we can do is not do the same thing. Last year I passed on nice young 8 that was a 2 year old...I passed him knowing he very well would probably get shot, but he had an outside chance of surviving or at minimum eating a tag of a hunter who wouldn't be tagging a deer/buck I wanted. Sure enough come gun season he dropped on a neighboring property after 30 minutes of legal shooting time. A little 3 or 4 pointer got passed on as well and bit the dust later too. If we'd taken them...those two hunters would have just fulfilled their tag elsewhere on another buck big or small. Passing on a young buck is the best way to help build a more mature buck population.
Thanks, good advice. We are a 3 bucks state, with no way of really knowing. (We fill out a card that you can print offline or get out of the hunting guide every year, just in case a warden stops you. but if you don't get checked, you can just throw it away and a warden would never know.) But you guys are right, If I want bigger bucks, I can control my actions not the actions of other hunters. Good thing about this land is that it is 18,000 acres of bow hunt only, so should have some good bucks growing.
I hunt public exclusively and I follow the same mindset I would if it were private. I shoot what I would mount first day or last day but thats just me do what makes you happy!
I could not disagree more. QDM is simply impossible unless you have people working together. If you want to pass up small deer, be my guest. But don't trick yourself into believing it will benefit you. The chances of the deer surviving the season and you seeing it again next season are close to zero in most circumstances, especially if the hunting pressure is like it is on most public land. I hunt on private land and I have three buck tags. If I see a small buck first, I take it. I've had seasons where the only shot I had all year was a small buck, and if I hadn't taken it there would be no meat in the freezer.
I've hunted a small 10-20 acre spot my entire life and we usually get 2-4 bucks living each year. If I'd shot them that's one less buck getting shot because think of it like I stated above. If I shoot the small basket 6 that comes by, that's one less buck for the pool of local hunters who no matter what are going to take a buck (not caring for size). If I pass up that small buck, there is a chance he will get harvested instead of a unlucky 2 1/2 or 3 1/2 up and comer by the same guy that would have shot the 6. It's not a guarantee but if you pass up the small ones, the chances do increase no matter how slight. Guys just have to be willing to be content on possibly eating their buck tag (or tags for you more than one buck tag states).
