So I have access to a place with a few deer on it that will NOT allow hunting in the future because the business that owns it is going to start building on it next month and has said this will be the last time hunting will be allowed. Last I hunted next door and saw a nice 2 1/2 year old 8pt that should be a nice deer this year and was eating on the place I'm hunting now. I haven't seen him this year. I have seen an 8pt with tall tines and decent mass but probably only 13-15" spread. I think he's 2 1/2 and normally wouldn't shoot him, but with no future hunting, and the neighboring business saying that he and a spike are the only two buck they've seen this year should I shoot? I wouldn't normally shoot a 2 1/2 year old, but with hunting shutting down there would you? He's got good mass, and tall tines, but he's need gonna be the prettiest unless his proportions change. What do y'all think?

Unless I was just really needing meat, I wouldn't take him.

He'll move off when construction starts and eventually maybe make someone a nice trophy.

Can you still hunt next door to this place next year?

Nothing unethical about taking a legal deer.

Nope. I could hunt both places last year, but the place next door sold over the summer and construction starts here in a month. I'm looking for somewhere to hunt within an hour or two of Cherokee while I'm here for the week, but thankful that I can at least see what creeps by here this week if I can't find anywhere else.

How did this subject ever turn into an ethics debate? I just don't get it.

Agreed.

Caring to much about other peoples opinions would be my guess.

2.5yo = too young to shoot IMO

If you haven't killed a buck all year and he's nice, go for it ...

If its a legal deer then shoot it. No questions of ethics if its a legal deer.

Happy Hunting!

I probably would have already taken him.

I don't think ethics has anything to do with shooting it, unless your going to let it go to waste or something.

If the state of Texas says you can shoot him, take him.

Under those circumstances if I was you, I would probably be pulling the trigger if I liked him

yup. Why do you care what others think. If YOU want to take him, go for it.

If there isn't any property around (decent sized that someone else may be hunting) I'd take him. If there are other places around to hunt, it's a little more complicated. But I also don't see it as an ethical question. More of a "help the fellow hunter out" deal...and that is completely up to you. He could make someone else a nice deer in a couple of years, but I wouldn't see anything wrong with taking him either way

I'm thinking because his thread title??

As far as his question, I think he should do what he feels he can live with.

Nothing wrong with shooting him regardless of the other properties and their hunters around. Legal and edible.

I meant in general, as in, why would anyone feel the need to ask that question.

As long as he's going on the table, go for it.

Yup i would do the same, let him pass early in the season but if i havent shot a buck yet i wouldnt even think twice, he is legal i would shoot.

If you want a set of antlers to mount and you like him, I would take him. If you just want meat, I would kill a doe if possible and let him walk. Either way it's not a question of ethics as long as he is legal.