Curious on your opinion regarding Trophy animals with broken anters/horns or missing a side...how much is too much? Or does it not matter at all? This past year I had 4 encounters with the largest buck on our place, twice at chip shot yardage. He had 8 points on left side (5 pt with 3 kickers) but right side was broken off completely just above the brow tine. It was the first time I passed up a mature deer due to a broken up rack...I'm just hopeful he is so active during daylight again next year (and near my stands:D). What would you have done? What if just 1 tine is missing, or 2? Any similar situations? Does final score matter that much - or just want it to "look good?" To me these are good things to think about before they happen...I'll never regret passing an animal as that means I get to keep hunting...
I have no qualms saying I deer hunt for a representative set of antlers for the area...down in AL that may be a 110" 8 pointer while in IL itd be 135"+... I'd pass a half rack unless it was the last day and it was just huge, even then I'd just have to be there... Now for a busted up rack missing tines, I could care less so long as the overall frame is still there
If it was a complete side broken off I would probably pass on the deer. One or two broken tines and he is getting in arrow thrown his way. Although, if you did have previous sheds from him and you had the side that was broke off I might reconsider. That would be a tough decision!
I've passed up bucks because they were broken up. One big 4x4 specifically that was a Gr8 buck for my hunting area. My neighbor ended up picking up the the broken off side to his rack later that year in the shedding season. I will try to get a picture of it and share it. He was a 150 class 4x4... broke off at the main beam just beyond the browtine. I drew on him and then just couldnt/didnt want to shoot a half racked buck when I had plenty of season left to hunt, and I hoped he would make the season for the following year.
In most cases I'd pass a broken racked buck In a heartbeat. No different then If this same buck shedded early and get the pass.
I let a buck walk last year that had a snapped off brow and a snapped off G2. He probably would have gone 125 or so, but figured he'd go 140 if he was all there. I had already shot Muley, and really wanted something a little bigger. If he hadn't been all busted up, I would have shot him...
Hard to say really, if I'd shoot it with a full rack I am very likely to shoot it with a half/busted rack. The only thing that might hinder that is if I have to decide quick and the lack of seeing a lot upstairs makes me think its smaller than it normally would be. But if I have time, and realize its an older & good buck, I'm most likely gonna shoot.
One of the stupidest things I ever did was pass a really mature whitetail buck 5-6 years ago. I made a great stand move in the afternoon to account for the wind change. I had seen this bucks unique rubs for 2 years around a certain doe bedding area but had never seen him until one blue bird November afternoon. He came in right to my set-up at 10 yards. His rack was all funky, not busted, but really funky. I bet that buck was 4 or 5 years old, which for me would be my oldest buck to date. I let him walk because I thought I was some kind of big buck hunter when in fact I sucked. So the point to my story, I am dropping the hammer on an older funky racked/half racked buck.
I passed on 150 inch on oct. 29th, thats if his left g-2 wouldn't have been busted off, I know there are bigger bucks in this particular area, plus I had my hog from october 1st already under my belt!
I shot a buck with a few inches broken off at the same tine on both sides of the rack. Still had over 1" on those tines so its still a 10 pt. As long as its minimal breakage like that that deer is fair game.
A buddy of mine got this last year on opening AM of the WI gun season as the buck was heading towards me. I consider this a trophy....he considered the 1.5 year old 8 pointer he got the next day the true trophy.
If they are busted, I will pass 99% of the time. I want to say 100%, but if a 187" 8pt comes by with a broken tine, he will get an arrow sent down range.:D
BROKEN UP I have on a few occasions passed on a broke up buck, this year was a different story though. Will 'aka' Imyourhuckelberry was up for a 4 day hunt and I had a mature buck walk bye at 8am with most of his left side broken off. I didn't know this at 1st so I let him walk ,he got a sniff of the scent Will had brought to try and bee lined straight to the scent. This brought him with in 5 yards of me and then I noticed the broken off P3 P4 and brow tine. He made it 60 yards from that moment , I usually would have let him walk again but I only had a 4 day window and I needed the meat. Rocky
It would be a hard call for me. I think anytime you can get a mature (4 yrs or older)buck in range thats a day I would like to remember every time I look at my wall. But if you have a property where seeing them is a little more likely then my public areas then let him walk. For me in the areas I hunt the few mature bucks that I get in range each year I have to be trying to get an arrow into him.
All depends on how broken up they are. I shot a 21 1/2'' 11pt in Mich that had a broken brow tine, but I can think of 3 Kansas bucks that I have passed on, 2 that were broken up and one that just had a slick right main beam and a massive 5pt left side. I passed a 20 inch 8pt in Kentucky that there was nothing wrong with except for it was just to thin of a rack (no mass) , made it ugly looking to me. Then on the other hand the one I shot last year was ugly, but it had mass!
To me it all depends on recent deer activity on my public land hunts. On my dads land I have deer that are off limits to me and these include broken racked deer young deer and fawns
In the public woods of Tennessee you can't let one walk with the hopes of killing him next year so I would shoot him no matter how broken. If I had a sizeable tract of private property where I stood a decent chance of getting a shot the following year I would let him walk.
I love the challenge of getting close to mature bucks with a bow, doesn't matter if the antlers are broken or not. If it's a 4-5 year old buck, I'm going to take the shot.
