Would you shoot a smaller buck in velvet that would not shoot with hard antlers?

i think it would be cool to shoot a velvet buck but I'm not going to lower my standards to take one.

 

I'd be faced with a moral dilemma that goes beyond velvet/hard horned . Sure I'd like to have a velvet buck on the wall but I set wall worthy standards years ago and held all the kids to those standards . For myself , a buck has to surpass 150" to get a shoulder mount and I shoot a lot of hard horned 130-140" bucks so a velvet buck would have to be larger than average for me to shoot it ..... or I'd have a lot of explaining to do with all the kids

 

If I have a hard antlered buck and a velvet buck out in front of me I'm shooting the bigger of the two. That being said, if I had a 120" velvet buck walk out with nothing else around, it's catching an arrow.

 

What your definition of smaller and lower standards ?? I would have shot 135 - 140 class 4x4 buck in velvet yesterday if I had gotten the shot. Had he been hard horned, I wouldn't have even given it a thought this early in the game.

Now the last week of season... I would give it some thought.

Usually I would rather shoot them out of velvet, but yesterday morning was just a great hunt and I liked how he looked in velvet.

That's what is great about standards... there is no rule that says you can't change them on a whim when you're bow hunting.

Tim

 

I'd love to get a velvet buck but I wouldn't pass a mature deer for an inferior one. A valve mule deer though will be hanging on my wall at some point though.

 

My only minimum is age class and size to hang on the wall. I prefer to take bucks that are 5+ years old and are maxed out in weight like a well fed beef. Generally, they are out of velvet by the time I even get serious about hunting bucks. If I happen to see a buck that's old enough I don't care so much what he has on his head anyway as far as inches of antler. By those standards, if I see one still in velvet that is old enough he's getting thwacked but it's not likely to happen. I would not mind having a velvet rack on the wall, the only two things I don't have on the wall as far as deer...is a velvet buck and a Booner (certified).

Well I don't have an albino, a pie bald or a melanistic either so there's that.

 

I'd go smaller, especially since 99% of the deer have shed by the time bow season opens in Ohio.

It would still have to be over 100" and 3 years old (this year's age standards call for 4 years old 130").

 

We can shoot up to 4 bucks here all with a bow so yes, if a smaller buck walked out with velvet and I wanted to shoot him I would in a heartbeat. I would give up inches for velvet but he would still have to be 100"+


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Never lower standards he will grow up even when in velvet but if its over 4 I will age is our key on our farms

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