Any chance of something better? Shoot or not?

So I'm hunting a 160 acre cotton field bordered by CRP. Most people don't realize there are even deer here because habitat is very limited. Each morning deer move out of the CRP into the cotton for short time and move back where they came from. Four mornings in a row(this the first with a gun) and I have only seen two bucks, both young. One is a 2x2 that looks 150lbs or so, and the other a 3x2 that may also have row tines and looks about 200-225lbs. Is there any reasonable chance that something bigger will move through in the next few days? If not is this a stationary herd that will grow and probably yield a good buck in a year or two, or, since this is probably the fringe of their range in this county and habitat is rare and sparse, is this simply where non-dominant bucks will be pushed every year? I would love to fill the freezer, but hate to damage the herd. So far I've seen six does and two fawns with the two bucks. Last year I shot a very old pot bellied sway backed buck with a 23" spread but no mass, crab claws up front, no brow tines and his G2's were not forked. He filled the freezer nicely and had to weigh around 300lbs. Unfortunately after eating only one backstrap I found the freezer unplugged and the rest of the meat ruined. I've been disappointed in the quality of bucks I've seen this year but if it will have very little correlation to next year I don't mind shooting a meat buck one bit. On the other hand, if waiting a year is likely to produce a good rack if be happy to give him a year.

I really expected whatever deer filled that old man's niche to have been a pretty solid buck. I wasn't expecting these two youngsters to be here with six does.

Take the worst one and hope for the best for next year. JMHO

shoot a doe

Sounds like he's hunting muleys and you can't kill does.

Bill, where you hunting? I'm in Dawson County. Saw one doe early this morning before the rain.

That was my plan if I chose to shoot one.

Correct. Otherwise the doe would be in the freezer already.

Hockley County. Mostly cotton for miles and miles.

I'm in a similar situation but I'm hunting CRP land surrounded by cotton fields. Had some good ones on camera but I'm afraid the weather messed them up this morning. Hopefully, they're ready to feed after being laid up all day.

I would opt on giving that buck another year. He will be older and hopefully have a good year rainfall wise.

I shouldve picked up on that by weight he wrote. Thanks for clearing that up.

I meant to mention they were muleys. I'd whack a 225lb WT in a second, cause if he still ain't got a good rack he ain't ever gonna. I know these will be better next year. Just trying to figure out if the deer here are here because they are non-dominant bucks being pushed to the edge of their range and will fight for better turf next year, or if they will always be here.

If two bucks were together with six does, does that say anything about the status of the rut or the possibility of a more mature buck wondering accross the property?

Good luck.

I hunt in western Pecos County and our rut is around Christmas or a bit later. I saw a 3x2 that came in from the neighbors property. He was really old buck and that area was on the west side of our lease(70,000 acres). He was moving east then. 2 days later he was in the middle of the ranch about 4 miles from where he was before and still moving east. This was the first week of December a couple of years ago. Some of the bucks on our lease move a lot and cover a lot of distance. Some stay in the same area year to year.

So that would mean there is reason to assume these may not be the only deer I'll see. I've seen these same two bucks four days in a row, but maybe something else will move through.

I would think if those deer moved in, then others would also. If you have water, food and cover for them to stay then another one could move in. Also all it would take is another hunter to push a bigger buck to your cover area. He might take over that small harem of does. We have had a new buck show up in an area with other deer in the same area. He would be seen by us one time and then never again. Sometimes it was a really good shooter and he would just disappear. Same happened last year the day before the season with a really big 4x5 that was wide. He was seen that day and then not again until first week of January. He had moved about 3 miles south from where he was seen. We hunted for that deer in that pasture and surrounding ones for most of the season off and on. He was seen again this fall in the same pasture. We think he is moving in and out from the neighbors into our lease. Which means he is covering a lot of ground even before the rut.