Say If your hunting late season and a 3.5 year old or older buck walks In front of you at 15 yards broadside (without a rack). He apparently has just shed his rack but you know It's him being you've seen him before and recognize him by his body. Do you shoot him? My brother had this very same thing happen to him In mid December this year but elected to pass on him hoping to get a crack at him the following year when he has a rack on his head. The buck my brother passed on we figured was a 3.5 year old with about a 130" rack when he still had It attached yet. This buck never gave my brother a shot when he still had his rack but he saw It several times during the rut. If this same scenario would happen with me he would of gotten a pass as well. So what do you think you would do?
Great post Jeff and I was hoping you'd chime In on this!! I wouldn't expect anything less on what you said. Well said on all accounts.
I was hunting a P&Y this late season. The deer in our area started dropping early, and I told myself that if he stepped out w/ only a 1/2 rack, I would pass... That's what I told myself anyway. I didn't see him for the last 2 weeks of the season, so I have no idea if I would have actually passed. All I know is that if I had been fortunate enought to harvest him fully racked, I would have been gentile with his horns and used my Drag Buddy that I got for Christmas.
Whether I would shoot him or not would depend on other things but not the rack. If the "other things" were right and I was ready to take a deer when I saw him then I would shoot him.
Lets assume I have what I consider "enough" freezer meat already, which is normally the case late in the season. If that is the case, I would pass the buck and hope for a crack at him next year. However, if the freezer is low or empty, rack or no rack he is in trouble!
I'm really not much of an antler hunter. The rack from my '07 buck is outside, laying on the deck of the boat. (at least, that's where I last saw it). The rack from my '08 buck is leaning on a metal rack out in the mudroom. Having said that. No, I wouldn't shoot that buck. For me to happy with my kills, they have to fall into fairly tight parameters. Within 30 yards, good shot angles, no brush, blah blah, blah. If I'm after a buck, I'm after him with is rack at least mostly intact. If he showed up in front of me sans antlers. I'd have to acknowledge that he once again had the upper hand in our encounters. Same if he had busted off a side or a bunch of tines. Wouldn't hurt me in the least to let him walk. I'd smile and look forward to next year that much more.
At this point in my hunting I wouldn't shoot the buck. I've never shot a buck that was big enough to do a shoulder mount on, and that is my current goal. I even get angry with myself whenever I shoot what I think is a doe and ends up being a button buck, because you never know what kind of potential that button buck could have in the future. I don't know if my view will change once I get a bit older or not, but as of now I'm more than willing to take a doe, and won't shoot a buck that scores less than at least 130". I've seen the deer that are in our area, and know that if I keep putting hours in the woods my time is bound to come.
I guess I am a horn porn hunter as well, I pass. I personally would just think it would be a shame to take that awesome buck, when he wasn't at his "high" for that year...if that makes any sense. He was a beautiful 135" 10 point, I just think it wouldn't do him justice to take him as a slickhead just because he beat me all season long. I agree with Jeff in that, to the hunter, it IS the same trophy wise...well accomplishment wise. Either way you arrowed the same buck. Would he really be any smarter or mature the first day of next season as he was the last day of this season? No hunters educating him... Accomplishment of taking a mature buck? Same whether the rack is there or not. Trophy wise? I just see it as not taking that buck at his prime. Similar to why I wont be taking any 1.5 or 2.5s from now on unless by mistake. I realize a 3.5 buck is FAR from his prime, but you have to draw the line somewhere. I personally would look for a full racked buck 3.5+...right or wrong. Another way of looking at it for me...where am I hunting? Am I taking a 4 day out of state trip down to TN to hunt? I smoke the deer in a heartbeat on the last day. Only way I hold off really is if it is on my normal farms around here, that I have a chance to hunt year in and year out. If it is a one time trip kind of deal, my standards might not be as stringent as filling my only buck tag here in KY on farms I have to hunt the following year as well.
If It's a choice between him and tag soup I'd shoot,but I'd rather not. I voted no, but again I like venison and Need to have some in my freezer!
That would be a tough choice for me if it was a buck I was chasing all year(s) and had history with. If it was a random buck I haven't seen before, I would probably pass. If it was a buck I knew well, I'd consider shooting him. I hunt more for age and difficulty of taking an older buck, but if he has dropped his antlers, I feel like he won for that year. But if his rack was busted up and not dropped, I would shoot for sure. Not sure how that makes sense to me, but it does. The dropping of his antlers feels like the game is over for that year.
I'd shoot him.. but only if he was perfectly broadside and close. Then.. I would just try to pass him as a doe in the photos and stories afterward. Ashamed at my inability to let the buck live.. I would seek out his antlers and hope to find them to help justify my stupidity.:d I can be very stupid sometimes. No.. but seriously.. I likely wouldn't shoot. This time of year it is extremely hard to judge age on a whitetail. Bucks are thin.. smaller necked.. it would be hard for me to find his age.. and I consider myself pretty good at it and always learning it more. But.. where I am from.. WAY too hard to tell age on a whitetail when it's real late in the season. Especially a buck who has lost his antlers rather early.. and would likely be under stress and unhealthier conditions. So no.. I likely would not shoot. Fear of taking a young whitetail.
But how do I know? I know.. I suck at these types of Q's.. my wife says so all the time. I just don't know how I know? Does he have a tag? A dope ear? What?
I too would not shoot. I'm currently engulfed on this deer management tip and love producing huge whitetails on our property. I love just watching deer mature and get old and big. In fact, if he had his rack still in tact I still would not shoot. This was the case for me this year. During the late season I told myself I would only shoot one buck if I saw him a low 130s bull that I had an encounter with earlier in the season. I was planning on passing on a 140ish and another 120ish if they showed, but they didn't. Now I say that, but I would like to see if I could actually follow through if I had actually seen them.
Well then.. shoot him and pass him off as a doe. I seriously couldn't tell you. I guess I'd have to be in the situation where somehow I knew who the buck was. But I would hope to god I could find his sheds if I did.
Duke what I'm asking and saying Is you know this buck from before (no question's asked). You recognize his body features, maybe a marking or something but you know for damn sure that It's the same buck you've saw before that you would of shot In a heart beat If the shot presented Itself when he still had his head gear. Edit: Didn't realize that Jeff already said what I just said In this post.
I know what you are asking. I just don't believe it would be possible for me to recognize a mature buck with no antlers.. after the rut.. after the weight-loss.. in the dead of winter when he has a large furry coat.. all in a 30 second span where I need to decide if I'm to shoot him or not? I couldn't do it. I would never have the confidence in my decision. I shed hunt like mad.. and run into hundreds of does every year. Many at less than 10 yards.. looking at me. They all look like bucks with their winter coats on.. and they all look different than they do at any other time of the year. Heck.. a 2 yr old whitetail buck missing his head gear is easily mistaken for a doe... easily. Sometimes I can't tell a male from a female.. and your asking me to identify a mature buck.. when he's stressed. I'm not that good. Just being honest. I can't do it. No.. I likely won't shoot. 99% sure.
My point with the picture was not to find their age, rather, re enforce how tough it can be to distinguish one buck from another once they have shed their antlers. Even if you are sure it is a buck you have history with, there would still be a little bit of doubt in the back of my mind.
I guess I should retry this....I was referring to a half rack...I would likely never shoot a fully shed buck. I may get to hunt TN next deer season, but it certainly won't be in hopes of finding a deer bigger than what I have around here, just a chance to get out and hunt. Only way I would be looking for bigger than home is if I head north into IL, OH, IA, etc...but even then, my standards would likely be near the same of what they will be for around here. I am blessed to live with some pretty decent sized deer....and from now on, it is big deer (to me) or bust. Got the first one under the belt, now I can be selective as I was without kicking myself later. Fully shed buck will always get a pass from me. Kinda like what Duke said, I would never know what the shed buck is. I realize it is hypothetical that you do know, but I see what he is saying. Fully shed= Pass. Half shed= pass at home, half shed out of state= just depends, but definitely not a certain pass. Jeff, am I crazy or did I catch a glimpse of you in a video teaser Andy posted up of hunts from this year?
