I passed on a 115" 3yr old buck the other day in hopes he will make it through the year and be a stud next year. The issue I am have a hard time dealing with is he would have been a personal best, and if he walks infront of another hunter in the area he will not get a pass. How do you guys deal with this that have transitioned to a trophy hunter. There are bigger deer in this area of East Texas.

Best saying I have seen on here.....If you shoot a young deer simply because your afraid your neighbor will, then your that neighbor. IMO, you have to do what YOU think is right. If its your personal best deer and your happy with him, then pull the trigger.

I had about a 140" at my feeder every feeding a couple years ago and since this was only the second year we had our property I let it go hoping the same as you. Well the last weekend the neighbor's son killed it, 20" wide 10pt. They had it mounted and even though I could have killed it, it doesn't bother me that I let it go. It's a chance you have to decide on.


And yes that would have been the biggest buck I would have ever killed too.

you just can't be that mad at the deer.

One more thing I can add. Once you decide you will only be happy killing mature bucks then you are just in for a bunch of dissappointment if you have the kind of neighbors you are talking about.

Once you decide to become a trophy hunter versus a deer or meat hunter then you must accept the fact that you'll have to pass on some bucks that are going to give a little heartburn. If you know there are bigger deer in the area then you gotta hold out.

When I first started hunting South Texas my personal best was mid-140's ten point. I knew the ranch that I was hunting had produced a fair number of 160-180 class bucks in recent years, and a 190 class back in the day. I knew the ranch had the genetics and the terrain to grow big deer.

I set a realistic goal for myself to kill at least 150 or better but really wanted a 160 or better. I hunted two years before it happened and got two 150's in a row. I saw and passed lots of bucks that would have been personal bests. I saw several that went well over my goal but for one reason or another I couldn't close the deal.

I passed up several bucks that kept me up at night. I also had a great time and took some nice culls/management bucks to pass the time.

Yes! I found that out this year. The past week has been very frustrating and I basically took all the fun out of hunting since I wasn't seeing any mature bucks. I had to take a step back, realize where I was hunting, be thankful for what I have and start taking pics of all the doe, fawns and little bucks to make it fun again.

If you kill him it is guaranteed he will not get older and bigger. If you pass him he might. That is what I tell myself.

Buy a video or quality still camera and start taking field pics of all of the bucks you see. I find that to be a very close substitute to actually shooting one and its helped me be patient for many years.

Plus you'll learn a lot about deer behavior when you start watching your videos.

First realize that he is not your deer. From there, I got nothing.

Last season, opening day, I video'd a really nice 9 point for about 10 minutes. Others that I showed the video to asked why I didn't take him. He just didn't seem like the one to take is all I had to say. Next morning watched a 10 point for a while and passed. The next weekend my monster walked out and I knew that second, he was mine. I was glad I passed on the others. Just got lucky but I've let a lot of nice ones walk away.

Don't think I ever said he was my deer.

Thats a beautiful feeling, when you know you know. Ive had people ask all the time why I pass on pretty nice deer. Well you just know why. You let the young ones walk and hope one day it pays off.