been feeding this guy for 3 years and he's fairly elusive. I'm guessing 5.5 and it may be hard to let him go, but i think i should wait one more year. p.s. my county is archery only. what do you guys think? this year or next?

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Shoot this year since he is mature. A lot can happen between now and next year.

No way I would pass that deer up especially with a bow

thwack!

thanks guys. i had been thinking about trying to harvest him this season, but was feeling kinda guilty about the prospect. i feel a little better about it now. now comes the hard part...being there one of the 5 times he comes out in the daytime over the hunting season.

Thats a hoss. Might get hit by a car, caught in fence, die of old age............

I would not take a chance on next year. Wish you luck getting him with your bow.

No way you could pass that deer. Goodluck

If you pass on him, immediately check yourself in to the nearest mental hospital. Don't worry about getting a diagnosis. Just show them the picture and tell them what you did. They'll take you.

I would go for it!!! He's definitely mature!!!

How is this even a question!? Wow that deer is a stud! Good luck with him.

If you can pass on that, you're a better man than me.

to me it depends on where you are and the deer where you hunt. Is he a top end buck on your ranch? If so take him. If there is a history of good deer where you are and he is only 5 years old, he has potential to add more inches next year. Yes there is risk - he may not make next year. But we have seen deer put on 20-30 inches going from age 5 to 6. A deer can never reach 180 if he is shot when he is 160.

Best that we can do for you is give you advice, shoot, don't shoot. In the end, the decision is yours. Trust your instinct and make a choice that you can live with. I would shoot given the chance and never have to wonder "What if" in case I never saw him again. Just my 2 cents.

Let that arrow fly

In the interest of "love thy neighbor", I will come chute it for ya, so you don't feel any guilt


Beautiful buck, don't pass the opportunity.

To steal a guys sig "Think long, think wrong". That buck is a no brainer

This was my thinking when I made the original post. I should post a pic of him from last year. His antlers are roughly 25-30% bigger than last season. My thinking was if he gained that much from '13 to '14, he could very well do the same next year.
After reading everybody's thoughts, if he walks out while I'm in my stand, I'll go ahead and do it. I've got 2 2.5 year olds who are typical and I believe they will be studs in 2 years time.
I'm fortunate to hunt where I do. Very few hunters in my area and we all mostly kill for venison and the occasional trophy, and we let each other know what deer are ranging and which ones are static. The non-typ in the pic above has only showed up on my cameras (2) in the last 3 years. My neighbors have never seen him in person or on their cameras and their house and farm is less than a mile from mine.

I think I would take the chance and pass on him one more year, if he has returned 3yrs in a row he will return a 4th, One of the wifes on are place passed up a buck 5yrs in a row once he got to the 190's she took him wita bow. I dont think I could of passed him when he was in the 170's and 180's but she did and it paid off. We got a big place, if you are on a small place then take him I wouldnt pass it. Good luck with him and nice buck.

Nice buck. Good luck.

He is a mature buck now and it could take you more than just one season for everything to come into line so that you can take him with a bow. If he shows and you have a good shot, I would take him this year. If it does not work out, then he has another year to get a bit bigger and the problem takes care of itself.

If you need to ask, you should probably let me take him, lol...

that might have been the quickest decision I've ever made....YES