GREAT BOW BUCK???

I'm not a bowhunter, but I hear folks on here say "great bow buck". I hear it even more from TV hunters, typically when they kill a deer with ground shrinkage. I also hear them say "nice, mature three year old".

Do bowhunters feel like a buck you wouldn't shoot with a rifle is acceptable to shoot with your bow?

I would say so.. I even get excited to shoot a doe..

really though I just shoot the first 4yr+ old that give me tha chance..

My rule is I wouldnt shoot anything with a bow that I wouldn't shoot with a rifle. Nothing against rifle hunting, but haven't felt the need to pick one up in a few years. With that said I think everyone should enjoy any legal means of hunting.

It's ALOT harder to kill a mature buck with a bow under 40 yards than kill one with a rifle 200 yards away. So many things have to come together to get a mature buck down with a bow. I say a lot of folks would shoot a buck with a bow that they'd probably pass on with a rifle.

Does always get my blood pumping and those old does are really tough to bow hunt.

I feel guilty shooting g a deer with a rifle any more so it doesn't apply to me. However it used to be like that for me and as stated above, getting up close and killing one is not as easy as sniping one at 100 plus.

I consider a doe with a bow a trophy. Its not as easy as climbing in your heated blind with a rifle rest sniping deer 300yrds away with an expensive rifle. Getting within 20 yrds of a buck without being scented and coming to full draw and waiting for him to give you a perfect shot takes a lot more skill. So sure, if a bow hunter takes any buck they should be proud.

Where I hunt in northeast Texas any legal buck is going to get killed due to how thick the stuff people hunt in up here is and the limited number of deer people see in general be it with a bow or rifle so I can't say I would shoot one with my bow that I wouldn't shoot with my rifle.

Start hunting with traditional gear.. that'll give you a whole new perspective.

I'm not that good.

^^^ This! IMO the toughest hunting is when you have 2 or more mature does inside 30 yards. The'll see you blink!

Simple answer, yes. I will shoot a buck with my bow that I would pass with the rifle.



How old was the Hanson Buck

The feeling you get when one of those deer are looking right at you. Sometimes I think they hear and see me breathing

Thanks for the honest answers. Milo Hansen's buck was 3 1/2 years old, txshntr.

I knew you knew...just giving you a hard time

I've heard that northern deer mature, and also die, faster than deer in warmer climates, so a 3.5 in Iowa might be considered mature. Now, if those guys were standing over a Kerr county deer and said that, I'd be laughing.

As to the size, my dad said 30 years ago 'Any deer you get with a bow is a trophy'. I was crossbow hunting on the opener and had 2 2.5 yr old 8s and a 3.5 yr old 8 at 15-30 yards. I thought long and hard about shooting the 3.5 but he was right at 13" and I knew I would never shoot him with a rifle. If he'd been 15" I may have shot him. He started eyeing me the moment they came out around 50 yards. Every time I made eye contact with him he would retreat about 10 yards-this happened three times. Because the other two bucks were not alarmed he eventually came to 22 yards but I had to watch him entirely with peripheral vision. I had thrown some corn by hand and he actually ate some, but was in a spring-loaded crouch the entire time. I couldn't move a muscle for about 20 minutes. It was a great encounter!

Exactly. If its legal, Im gonna try and take it especially in the thick bottoms I hunt in NE Texas. I don't gun hunt deer anymore. Pretty much limit myself to traditional gear now days.

Ive killed a coyote with my recurve Im pretty proud of.

This is a good thread. I do not rifle hunt but my standard for shooting a buck has not changed in that I only shoot bucks that are at a minimum of 4-5 years old.

Now the doe thing...oh man! The old beeach doe that comes in stomping, knows exactly where you are, is continuously moving and even blowing is in MHO a trophy for sure. I took one out this past weekend. She came in acting a fool and was making all the other deer in the area nervous. You take care of managing the herd, get some tasty backstraps, and for me get the same adrenaline rush of shooting a big buck....well almost

I shoot an average of 40 does per year with a rifle. I get just as excited after the shot as I do when killing a trophy deer or a cull buck. If I ever quit being excited by a successful hunt, I'll start hunting them with a camera.

All white-tailed deer are bodily mature at 4.5 years of age. This means their skeleton and muscles are fully formed. That's why we often see big jumps in antlers from 4-6 years of age. More of their nutrition can go to rebuilding muscle after the rut and to antler development, as the animal's nutritional needs for skeletal development and maintenance are lower. Northern deer, due to climate and their large body size, don't live as long as their southern cousins. They suffer much more harsh weather conditions and food shortages. And when they fight, they can really do a lot of damage. I used to hunt in Iowa and any buck 4.5 or older was fair game on that ranch. Very few made it to 6 1/2.

As everyone else has already stated, it's a challenge getting in shooting range with a bow. I have seen many deer this year I could have easily shot with a rifle but never came in range of my bow.
I don't hunt a feeder, I search for where the deer have been traveling and find a spot that I can hide and wait. I then have to make sure the deer doesn't smell me,see me or hear me. I think bow hunting is much more difficult than rifle and am more likely to take a doe with my bow than I would a rifle. It's amazing at how aware the deer are of their surroundings.
I'm afraid to swat mosquitos while bow hunting but have talked on my mobile phone while rifle hunting

Fouz, if I ever saw a buck the size of the ones you shoot, I would probably have a heart attack or not be able to draw my bow. I hunted for a few years with a bow before I got my first. It was a spike and I watched it drop about twenty yards away. Since then I have rifle hunted only a handful of times and just didn't get the rush of trying to move or draw with a deer right in front of me. I'm bow only now and have taken enough deer that I am to the point that I'm not shooting a buck unless it's my biggest or an old cull that needs to go. But if it's a slick head, it had better watch out.

For me, I dont change my goals because I have a bow in hand. I have been bow hunting since I was 15(loooong time ago) so no big deal if I see a deer out of range or a younger deer I would pass with a rifle. Like others, my heart gets to pumping as much when I shoot a doe as when I shoot a monster.

Im at the point in my life to where it will take a very large deer for me to shoot with a rifle. I mainly bow hunt. In fact, I shot a doe last year with a rifle and that was the 1st deer I have shot with a rifle in 6-7 years.

So, I will pass deer with a rifle that I would shoot with my bow.

I have been bow hunting off and on for several years. I have taken does and hogs, but never a buck. I don't think I would shoot a buck with the bow I wouldn't shoot with a gun. We do our best to manage our smallish LF property, not taking out a 2.5 yo 8 pt because its a bow.

Yep. I have different standards with my bow than my rifle. To me, the reasons are obvious.

I would also say, yes. I would kill deer with my bow that I would likely pass with a rifle. I think it is like starting over again. I started rifle hunting when I was 7 and I would beg my dad to let me shoot every single deer that walked out because I had never done it. Now that I have killed plenty of deer with a rifle its lost some luster. Been bow hunting for about 10 years and get a rush no matter how big or small because just getting one killed feels like an accomplishment.