After reading a lot of posts about what can you get from passing bucks I figured I would start this thread. If anyone who is doing things similarly and wants to add pictures and stories please do. We have hunted the same farm in SE MN for the last 27 years. When I first started to hunt here with my Dad's side of the family my Dad and I still lived and hunted in Pennsylvania. For a long time the best bucks we saw and hunted were in that 130" range. In fact the first picture I am going to post is of a buck I shot years ago that was the largest anyone had ever shot on this farm for over 10 years. Back then we shot EVERY buck we could. Around 14 years ago we started passing smaller bucks and trying to shoot older bucks. At first we did not shoot many bucks but were excited by the opportunity to chase bigger bucks. It took a while and definitely was not a short term goal. For a couple years there always seamed to be a couple bucks worth hunting but the last 6 years we have a number of really good mature bucks to hunt. Not all of these bucks turned into really BIG bucks at 150 inches and up but there have been a number of 4 plus year old bucks to hunt every year. I am also going to post pictures of the bucks we have gotten on trail camera the last few years. The pictures are all going to be from one section of the farm that is divided by a river and a road from the rest. It is about 400 acres and I will not post any pictures of any bucks from any other sections to show what you can get from a piece that size. 2009
I like it. I only have a couple of small tracts of 25 acres to hunt and still pass on smaller bucks. Everyone says someone else will shoot them but as long as we think like that nothing will ever mature. But as the same time I say do what makes you happy. Its the thrill of the hunt that keep many coming back and if thats what you need by all means do it.
I hunt 60 acres and I passed numerous 8pts last year... I just pray that those deer are smart enough to avoid other hunters until next year. It's really the only thing a guy can do if he wants a chance at bigger bucks in the future. I feel a guy with 40 acres or a guy with 400 acres has to do basically similar things to let the bucks grow into 4+ year old deer. You can't control outside variables but you can control what you do with your property. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I had shot opportunities at my three largest bucks in previous seasons. 162, 160, 156. They were around 125, 130 and 130 (last one would have been close to 140 but had broken tines).
I let legal bucks go by every year (tired of "basket" bucks), and I'm hunting public land. There's a certain satisfaction, as well as a good feeling that I get when I do. Yea, he'll probably get killed by somebody else, BUT, at least I'm giving him a CHANCE to mature. Early this past season I let a small, but legal 6pt go by. I didn't see another in range until the pre rut/rut kicked in. On Sat evening Nov 8 I saw my biggest buck in 12 years of hunting there. He was a thick racked 8pt, in the 130" range. Big for my area! Long story short, I didn't kill that buck last Nov, BUT, I gave myself a chance at him by still having a tag, because I let one walk.
Like I said earlier this was not easy to get things this way it was a lot of work and sacrifice and took time but now even if we shoot a couple of bucks each year there are still mature bucks too hunt.
I've got access to a few farms between 200-400 acres in the SE part of the state as well. Outside of a couple of mistakes, I've been letting younger bucks walk for at least 10 years and have finally noticed a big jump in the number of 140+ deer in the last 4 years. I don't know what the magic number of acres is, but I think much under 1000 acres (especially when it is a patchwork of ag fields and timber) and you are really at the mercy of your neighboring landowners more than anything when it comes to the number of mature deer around. The big jump in the last 4 years coincided with two things, antler point restrictions and the number of surrounding farms, also in that 2-400 acre range, that now have hunters that are letting young deer walk. Instead of 1, 300 acre farm trying to grow bigger bucks, we now have 5 or more farms resulting in close to 2000 acres that are letting young deer walk. Tom, I'd guess this is the same for your area, not just that fact that your farm has been practicing some deer management, but I'll bet some of the surrounding farms are as well. Much under 1000 well managed acres and passing small bucks will help get some bigger deer, but you are really at the mercy of your neighbors more than anything. That said, most of us don't have access to that much contiguous property, but the fact remains, if you shoot that young buck, well then you know he is dead, if you don't, then you know he has a chance to make it until next year. Don't shoot that young buck and say "well if I didn't the neighbor would have" AND THEN complain because you have no big deer.
We have about 50 acres 75% surrounded by other land that doesn't get bowhunted only shotgun. They pull 30+ deer out of the place every year. It just very frustrating when I pass on young bucks just to see them hauled out by shotgun hunters. Haven't seen anything bigger than 100 since I was young and hunting down there (8 years ago). Is it even possible to get the deer to hold on the little land I have to work with or is it a waste to try and set up food plots, better bedding areas, and practice rigorous management? And there is no way the shotgun party is going to stop what they are doing. Seems like very good hunting land is going to waste IMO.
just checked my inbox, still no invite....lol!!! Those are some great bucks, looks like it's paying off!
My parents own 70 acres that when purchased 10 years ago was a very mature forest, almost no under story and although deer passed through it, they didn't use it for bedding or feeding. We take a small section of this woods each year and do quite a bit of work with some hinge cutting and clear cutting all in an attempt to get light to the forest floor, diversify the age of the forest and ultimately increase bedding cover. After 10 years of doing this, the number of deer using the property for bedding has increased substantially. We hunt only the fringes of the property so that it is relatively undisturbed during the hunting season which also aids in keeping deer on the property, especially when the surrounding land is getting hunted. When it comes to growing big deer, this 70 acres doesn't accomplish much, but I think anything you can do to increase your lands appeal to deer will help. We focus our efforts in bedding cover rather than food plots as there is plenty of food surrounding the property. Maybe that day or week when the other properties are getting hunted, those couple of young bucks happen to be bedding undisturbed in your property that you have made more appealing to them. Its almost become more of a hobby than anything for me, something I just enjoy doing while being fully aware that deer can and will get taken when leaving the property. Its all about increasing your odds.
We used to go through every part of the property. Now we stay on the edge of the woods and leave the bedding areas alone. We also leave a big chunk of it for a sanctuary.
