We have a rule on our lease that if you kill a buck less than 4.5 years of age (unless it is an obvious cull), you pay a hickey of $500.00 that goes to buying protein for the next year. Does your lease have a punishment for killing a deer that was too young or is burning a tag punishment enough? Most years we can kill one trophy (4.5 years old or older and 8 points or better) and one cull (4.5 years old or older and less than 8 points). We all also agree that after looking at deer from cameras we can target a certain buck as a cull buck for some undesirable factor. I won't kill a buck unless I am going to mount him, which pretty much amounts to being willing to pay $500.00 any time I shoot a buck that is not a cull. I was wondering if there is any better way to determine what bucks to shoot and what bucks get a pass? This is more for our non-discriminating hunters versus hunters that are willing to only kill bucks that are older. There is always someone that gets trigger happy and shoots a younger deer and then they get mad when they have to pay the fine. Just looking for a better way to skin the proverbial cat.

I personally think that if a person pays for a lease he should be able to take any deer that is legal. He should not be told by others on the lease what he can and can't take.

Self policing. There are only 3 of us hunting my place. None of us want to shoot young bucks with great potential. It has only happened once, and the guy that did it felt terrible about it.

(It still stings 6 years later because it was a beautiful 15" 12 point that we are certain was only 2 1/2 years old. A rarity on my place and a buck that likely would have grown into a true B&C monster. I have not seen one with such potential before or since.)

Who determines their age? I think that is the biggest issue with any management plan. Age is really subjective unless you have watched a certain deer from yearling on up.

We are similar. Only three of us, and every man is committed to only shooting mature (~5.5+) bucks as trophies. Our Lease Agreement reads as such, but there is very little "enforcement" required. Over the past three years we all have let several nice 3.5 and 4.5 bucks walk. Sometimes this requires being conservative in your age estimate. Culls, however, have a basic set of guidelines (no brows at 2.5, less than 8 pts at 3.5, etc).

I firmly believe that, when it comes to shooting young deer, once is an accident but twice is a trend.

Qualifications=antlers of some kind

THIS!!!
Kinda sad when a hunter spends $2000+ on a deer lease and then can't shoot a buck. Sometimes I think these "Management Plans" go over board.
Sure, everybody wants a big ole buck, but a lot of people just want some meat.
Where I hunt, as long as the buck is legal (13" or wider or one un-branched antler), you can take it. I shot a 8 pt this past season. Deer was probably 2 1/2 yrs old. Normally I would have passed, but it being half way thru the season and the bigger ones gone nocturnal, I felt it was time to fill the cooler.

Exactly

we have AR on our place and our personal rule is 8 pt or better or a true spike (one unbranched on each side)

land owner made the rule 6pt but we changed it to 8 pt but no penalty from lease holders if some one messes up. MUM's the word.

nobody is forcing you to join a lease with restrictions, if you are after meat dont join one. if a lease is serious enough to have and/or enforce its own restrictions i promise you they will make you aware of them before you sign up.

we try for +5.5 on bucks, gonna be interesting to see what happens if/when a mistake is made.

Yes, the rules are laid out for the hunters before they even look at the place. We tell everyone that this is not a meat lease. Just paying for a lease does not entitle a person to kill a deer. They know all of the rules before they sign on.

Never will understand the thought that "if it doesn't fit my way, it isn't right." Different strokes for different folks.

There are leases for all variety of hunters. Some fit certain leases better than others. Rules and guidelines should fit the group, not the individual. If a new hunter joins, they should either conform or find a place that fits him better.

We own our place, anyone that is invited can shoot anything they want that is legal. No rules, only thing we expect is everything that is done is legal.

If it's legal, that's all we care about.

it depends on your goals and your property.

for us, a 4.5 year old deer with 8 points is a cull.


any deer that is 10 points is off limits unless he is 6 1/2 years old, unless we make an exception.


on other leases it was anything outside the ears and at least 8 points, which was ok for inexperienced hunters but a 3 1/2 year old buck that is 10 points and 20" wide should be let walk.

On our family owned land it is mostly kids doing the horn killing and if the child is young and the deer are young and legal and they want to shoot it that's great. As they get older we try and promote killing older mature bucks. We still have a few young'uns that slip occasionally but that okay. We still have a few parents that get excited and shoot an occasional young deer and that great too. There are a few of us old crusty hunters that will shoot a buck if he has to backup and drag his horns to get around.

that theory doesn't hold water because a person who is trigger happy and just wants to shoot can ruin it for the other hunters who lease because they want trophy deer. Not every place is a trophy lease and not every place is a fajita lease

Getting on a lease is a license to access the property and henceforth must abide by the rules set. Just because I buy a ticket to the rangers game dosent' give me the right to run out on the field before the game and make a few laps around the bases.

same rules apply, some leases have guidelines as far as harvest is concerned and if a person dosent' want to abide by those guidelines then they don't have to join.

does are made out of meat too....

I'm not sayin that at all. If somebody wants to hunt on a place that requires them to feed corn and protein and not shoot a buck unless it's 5 1/2 or older, then by all means, knock yourself out!! Just not for me. So, the place I hunt has no rules, only that the buck is legal per TPWD rules. I know people that spend over $3500 a year, but don't pull the trigger because none of the bucks met the "criteria". Kinda sad if you ask me.
What's really funny, most hunters can't tell a 3 yr old from a 6 yr old buck!!!

most "shooters" can't.

I like structure and rules that preserve the integrity of our ranch. Or I could just say that I would rather have a chance of killing 1 good buck every three years than I would to kill two bucks every year. To each their own. It isn't sad when I don't kill a deer. It is sad when the season is over. I don't have to kill a deer every year to satisfy anything in me. If we need to kill does, I can kill does. I hunt nearly every weekend and probably 6 more days that aren't weekends, so don't feel sorry for me. I want to kill a really big deer. Probably won't happen, but it is more likely to happen on a lease with qualifications for killing bucks than it is if the only qualifications are that a buck be legal by TPWD definition.

you pay you shoot what you want sounds nice w/ butterflies and daisies for everyone, but as a seller/ lessor that is a disaster..... I know I've been cleaning up a mess for he past 5 years that the last "biologist" left us.

there are thousands of treads and posts on here where guys are bit**ing about how the have no "trophy" deer(input your own definition of trophy) and or about leases that are 100acres w/ 10 guys on it and they never see anything.... well the "you pay so shoot away" theory has consequences.....

I set the management goals and what can and can not be harvested. I take input from surveys and what my hunters are telling me they are seeing at their stands, to make year to year adjustments but the main goal of a health thriving deer herd is always top priority. With this goal in mind it ensures hunter will have opportunities for quality deer now and in the future and I will have product worthy of the price I ask and the time each hunter invests.

It is a known rule on our lease if you shoot a buck that is 3.5 years of age you will lose your opportunity to harvest a "trophy" (by our standards the next year) it doesn't mean you cant shoot bucks in fact you can still shoot two but they have to be spikes or culls( by our standards). One guy did this very thing this past year and when I gave him the "bad" news he was shock I was enforcing the rule he knew about... so at the end of the season he quit.... he gone, I'm minus one hunter and a 128" 3.5 year old 10pt is dead.

and the road goes on for ever and the party never end.....

I shoot what I like and if I don't see anything I like then I have no problem going home empty handed at the end of the season. I don't have to kill something to call it a successful season or hunt.

on my own lease I don't care what anyone shoots as long as it is legal. We have some decent bucks that make infrequent appearances and I don't hold claim to them even though I am the only person who pays the lease fee. For the last two years, my son and brother in law have taken the only deer off that lease. I plan on adding my daughters to that list next year, and maybe even some other friends if they so desire to come out, but if it is legal, and it pops their fancy, let them shoot it.

On my other lease, where I am not the only paying person, it is a meat lease. Although there are rules about one trophy buck, the rules are not defined well at this point (I will get clarification as to what constitutes a trophy buck before season) because this lease is not for trophy bucks. It is a meat lease and strictly in place to help control the deer numbers on the fields. Will see how that one goes this year, but couldn't go wrong for the price and it is a great place for sheer numbers with a good manager on board.

I hunt for fun, not for trophy at this point. Antlers are a plus, but not the sole purpose of the hunt. So I find places that I can have fun rather than sweat the rules. That is just me though. Same thing doesn't apply to everyone!

yep, imo of you pay for a lease, there should be no penalty for shooting anything legal.....I think most folks have an age, or number of points or something of that affect that they try to stay at for a management point to grow some nicer bucks but....to each is own