with one general sesaon left..(for most of us) is there any woulda, coulda, shoulda, thougths out there? Lessons learned, etc..

My question or thought is why take a sub par buck on the last weekend of season? Then say he needed to go. If he needed to go then why did you leave him in the herd to breed throughout the rut. The damage is done already and you have let him spread his genes to who knows how many deer. Not trying to stir the pot, but I guess in a way I am. . Just looking for a little clarification.

Find an MLD place.... check

Shoulda told my wife to stick her work schedule sorry you work shift work, but it was your choice, I asked you not too and gone hunting with my dad and brother.

Well there is always next year right? I think I will hunt almost every weekend through the end of doe and spike down south.

Never show your game cam pics to LO

I got a refresher course on why it's a good idea not to pull the trigger on the first weekend. Chances are real good that I will be eating tag soup next season to prevent being tagless.

Never pass up a deer on the first day that you would shoot on the last!

Not me personally, but I was with my buddy in a blind and he let a nice 10 pointer walk because he was about 2.5-3 years old. Within half an hour we heard a shot and somebody about half a mile away we heard a shot and it ended up being the same buck. He didn't really regret not taking the shot, just the fact that he didn't get to see how nice the buck would have been next year.

I'm in a 1 buck county, not AR, just one buck period spike or otherwise. So I waited until last week to shoot a big 6 I had, he was 6.5 and just a 6 point. Sure he bred a few doe but its not like he bred my whole herd. If I would've taken him in Nov. and the 170's buck I was after stepped out then I would've been screwed.


To the OP I shoulda shot the mid 150's 8 I saw the 2nd week of the season, but had my heart set to break 170 this year......didn't happen.

That's a rule.

Got two more weeks after this one

Gotta love south Texas

We can shoot does till feb.

shoulda not sold my 243 win last summer. 30-06 doing too much meat damage on Hill Country does. Gonna buy another before next season fo sho

I shot 2 nice bucks within the first 2 weeks of the season. I was glad to get them and they were nice but, being in a 2 buck county it put a damper somewhat on the rest of the season.

I get what you guys are saying. I guess my point is if you are truly trying to manage your herd and eliminate certain genetics or genetic traits. Then those inferior deer that you let walk until the end of season have the chance to spread there genes. In doing that you will never eliminate the inferior genes. So are you truly managing your deer herd for nothing but trophy potential or are you only managing when that trophy doesn't show up by the last day?

I'm one hunter on 640 acres. I'll never get all my cull bucks killed ever. I could shoot my cull in the first week every year and be done I suppose but it'd put a damper on the rest of my season. How many doe do you think one buck breeds per year?

I could help you out with that...

i personally am thinking i shoulda shot a tall racked tall brow tine (at least 6 inches plus each) teh second weekend of the season...havent seen him on camera or in person since....im trying to decided if i see him OR any other good buck, do you shoot said deer or let them go hoping they grow and make it till next year

Personally i shoot any deer that I take a liking too. If I think he is a good looking deer and I want him then i wont hesitate to shoot him and he or she will be a trophy to me.

Pulling the trigger once or twice a season isn't going to change much except eliminate 1 or 2 deer out of their age classes.

That was my point killing my one cull won't change anything anyway. A buck won't bred but a handful of doe a season. Throw in fawn mortality rates and my cull don't matter.

Only "shoulda" is a blown stalk after Thanksgiving on the biggest buck I've yet seen at our place. Wind was wrong but I tried to force it anyway. Needless to say it didn't work out. If I could do it again I'd have taken my time and made a real wide circle to get down wind of him. Upside is I discovered a pretty great game trail with a hot scrape. Should be good for future seasons.

I understand very well what you guys are saying here as well..are you the only one on your lease though? What about your neighbors? If multiple people are on the same supposed game plan covering a large area wouldn't shooting these supposed cull deer early on make a difference? It definitely wouldn't if everybody waited until the last weekend or day to take them.

Not enough tags to do much good.

Same here

Yes I'm the only one on 640 acres. Neighbors are about the same 1 guy for every 400-600 acres. We are on the same game plan as far as what's a cull, maturity of bucks, and ratios that we need, but without bringing in lots of other hunters we don't have enough tags. We know there's always a chance of a 170-180+ stepping out so shooting culls early is hard for anyone to do.

MLD is our only answer and that's being discussed now.