Great Reponses everyone


except DUKFVR

Very true. I like the way you think. Don't everyone become Lemings and have to follow others.

I let my niece shoot a 2yr old buck. it was her first deer. I was super happy. She was happy to know she helped feed her family. She has the antlers in her room. I told her next year she could shoot a doe or a better buck. I want them to always try and do better than a 2 yr old 8 pt. still she is hooked on hunting. I hunt for fun though I rarely shoot anything anymore.

Not all hunting areas are created equal. In my hunting area the State limit is three deer, consisting of two bucks and one doe. (Stupid, but there it is.) Otherwise, I would be happy to leave the bucks to those who crave them.

Hurry up deer season.....

I've got two boys in their pre-teen eating phase. They love venison. My freezer is getting low because I passed on a couple young bucks last year because I that's how I was taught. I'm hoping to see one of them this year. I'm adding shooting lane this year and moving my blind this weekend in 100 degree weather to give me a better chance to see and get some more meat this year. Hopefully with those boys in tow.

if its legal, to each his own, counties that are buck only, sometimes you come home empty, I have been skunked two yrs in a row, waiting for a older buck. this year its going to be different.

I love the old photos of Texas deer hanging at a camp and guys standing around. There are lots of young deer in them photos, and we do not have a deer population problem at all these days. Guys have been shooting bucks at will for centuries, still no deer problem. I have shot a few bucks, but about 20 does to a buck. To me the bucks are for kids and ladies. I get a kick out of getting them a big deer, I enjoy it much more than getting a big buck myself.

Things must be getting slow here on the THF

Do you skull mount does? Why do we owe bucks something that we don't owe does?

I'm making that last sentence my signature line.

Guys kill young bucks for a lot of reasons. I hunt for both meat and antlers and yes my preference is that everyone would wait and take only mature bucks but that's just not what most people hunt for. And most simply have a tough time NOT shooting a buck if they think it might be a "good one". And average joe doesn't hunt on land that produces even 140 class bucks...not necessarily because it can't but because it never has. People simply don't know that it could if effectively managed and then if they were willing they don't trust the neighbor would let the young 8 or 10 walk and live another year so instead of chancing it they shoot it. And then there are the guys that hunt for meat and simply don't care about antlers. I've heard some guys like this literally say they like taking young promising bucks to prevent "trophy hunters" from getting it. Like I said there are all kinds....

and there we go...not passing judgment but this to me is just human nature. I spend a lot to deer hunt each year and I definitely don't want to get skunked!

Right on brother! I personally don't shoot young bucks, but my problem is why do some head hunters think that their way of hunting is "the right way" for everyone. I love big antlers but I know lots of folks who love 110" bucks. Who am I to tell them what makes them happy!

Boom!!! Nice Sneaky I love it!

I leave the mounting of does for the bucks.

I new to deer hunting and my opinion my be different from people that have seen 100's of deers.
I shot one buck so far, on Valentine's day 2017 (managed land). It was. 4 1/2 9pt that might of been a little over 100 on the charts. It was my first buck, and although it was a cull, I was extremely happy with him. If I somehow get a green light to take a mature 10+, I would have to make sure he was 5 1/2+. Yet that was a managed high fenced private ranch.

This year I'm getting am itch to hunt more. It's kind of like a disease that clouds my thoughts at random times of the day. I will be trying public land. I imagine it will be real had to find a legal buck, much alone let one walk because he is 3 1/2. He might be the only one I see all year on public land. With that said, I also imagine that my standards may chamge if I got a decent legal buck, even if he is younger. That next buck might have to be bigger/older than my first on public lands.

Guess what I'm pointing to is there may just be am evolution of a hunter. That the hunter that hunts just a few times a year will have different standards than someone who is out there every week. Same goes with new hunter verses a seasoned vet. I am not one to judge what others do with their shots, as long as it's legal and the meat is eaten.

Nailed it.

A lot has to do with the area or property you are hunting. To kill big mature bucks you have to have them in the first place, and also have lease members and neighbors that are willing to do the same by not shooting young deer.
You can do your part to try and break that cycle by passing on those younger buck and only shoot does, but don't look for instant results.
You can talk to your neighbors but I know from experience it doesn't always work, but at least you tried.
I've found that it's not enjoyable to hunt on a place that you are forced to have to judge what the other lease members are doing.

I just don't shoot them if they are young the neighborhors would enjoy it more if they do get him

A lot goes into the answer. The biggest thing I see a lot of hunters miss the boat on is finding a place to hunt with like minded hunters. A trophy hunter has no business on the old traditional meat lease and likewise the old style shoot what ever is legal guy will be like a turd in a punch bowl on a trophy club. There is a place for either style of hunter to pursue deer how they see fit, but they mix about like oil and water.

Good answer.

Had a cousin that was also a life long friend. We hunted and fished together and shared a lease for many years. Cousin would literally kill every buck on the ranch, but as long as he lived would never kill a doe. Needless to say, every few years we would run out of bucks and have to relocate our operation. He just never got it.

Jack

I just got off a place in Val Verde where there were numerous deer seen on camera that were 7+ years of age (low fence 3000+ acres)

Whom ever leased the place the previous 18 years were very selective and it showed in the age group and quality of the animals


I'm hunting further west (about 2 hours further) this season and it couldn't be any different. All the preaching "shoot mature bucks" hasn't made it in that area yet because you'd be hard pressed to see bucks in the 4-5 yr old range (I hunted there from 1996-2014)

I'm not disagreeing with you, but I do find this a little puzzling.

Most people exist somewhere on the spectrum between an extreme trophy hunter or a pure meat hunter. I.e. we are going to fill our freezers every year, but we'd also rather have nice bucks to hunt. I've never been with trophy hunters who didn't have plenty of doe to shoot and didn't do so on occasion. I guess what I'm saying is this -- why can't meat hunters just shoot doe?