3 year Old Decision

Im in a bit of dilemma.. My neighbor told us about this 180 inch young buck he has been seeing in the pre season, but he is younger buck. But the biggest deer Ive have ever killed is 155-160 ish. This buck has been coming to my field every morning and night. I am going to shoot him...Any thoughts?

Why would you want to drop a 3 year old deer with all that future potential?

how do you know he is 3?

Assuming low fence, if you're happy with him, shoot him. I've never broken 140; if a 180 trotted out I'd have a hard time not shooting him. He would be one of the top 3 deer ever taken in our county.

If it's low fence, a 180 buck is hitting the ground no matter how old he is. I don't usually like to use this reasoning, but a buck that big isn't going to be passed up by anyone else around you. I've passed up a lot of bucks with the "give him another year" thought process, but not one that big.

You said you were going to shoot him. Should have left it at that and not asked. My uncle don't care if you shoot him.

I want to pics of this free ranging LF 3yo 180" buck one you take him....

see

I don't believe you that he is 180". You definitely need to shoot him so that you can measure and prove me wrong!

I agree with almost everything said so far. Is he REALLY 180? Is he REALLY just 3? If both those are true and everyone hunting with you hasnt killed anything close to that then I think you should kill him. Like others, I believe in letting them grow but the reason you let them grow is so they will get big. Well, he IS big!!! So kill him. STx has said on here, and its great advice, and thats there are 3 things that can happen if you pass a buck and 2 arent good. Understand that STx passes em up as much or more than anyone but every situation is different and you have to use common sense.
Very similar scenario happened to us last year on one lease and again this year on a new lease. Last year we had a 167 that we thought may just be 4 and we want them to be 5 at least. Well, the 14 year old ranch record was 159 and almost none of the 18 guys had killed a 167 before. So we all agree he was "old enuf." This year 4 of us are on a second lease and there have been really big bucks killed by family members over several decades but never been any paid hunters. So we get a 181 we think may just be 4. None of us have killed a 180 so we deemed him "old enuf." Now that I killed the 181 I wont kill another 4 yr 180 but I wont expect the others to do the same. Our places are both LF and big properties but we were still unwilling to take the chance. Depending on HF/LF and property size and neighbors, you have to factor all that in.
Waiting with baited breath for any pics, either before or after. One last thing, if he LOOKS like he is 180 then it shouldnt matter if he scores less, its the same deer.

I think everybody would like to know what part of the world you are hunting and more about property size and other hunters and neighbors. Not expecting more info than you want to give but info like that will make a difference on advise.

Does your neighbor have any pics of this young stud? Do you? Otherwise it's wait and see (hope).

TRUTH

I used to hog hunt for a guy that was always waiting on this buck or that buck to mature just one more year and then his next door neighbor would shoot it and my landowner would be pissed that "the idiots on the hill shot MY deer," as he would exclaim.

So did your neighbor tell you about this deer and say he had plans of not shooting it and hopes you'd give it another year or two as well? Or was he telling you that it was his target buck? The latter makes the decision easy, with the former, lots of factors to weigh.

How many acres are you hunting on? Are you actively trying to grow and manage a herd of trophy whitetail?

If you hunt a relatively small tract of land and are not actively managing trophy bucks..........shoot him when you see him; put him on the wall; smile every time you look at him. He could get hit by a car tonight...................

I'd of done killed him with a crossbow or compound by now....I ain't giving no buck that big a pass on my LF places.

I’d dropped the hammer at a 1.5 year old 180 w milk on his lips!

There are only two sizes of deer, big enough and not big enough, and each hunter makes his own decision. You need to worry only about what you want. There are many reasons that deer might never be bigger than he is now, injury, death, illness, nutrition levels are just a few. There is nothing wrong with taking a deer you want and you have no one to answer to but yourself. "To thine self be true."

Shoot it if you want to
It doesn't matter the teeniest bit what anybody
else thinks, or who's "seen " it, or how many
game cam pics someone else has, or if they're
" managing " their 37 acres
If it's on the land where you're legally hunting and
it crosses in front of you and you want it, pop it.
It doesn't belong to anyone until it's dead on the
ground with a tag on it.

Yep, pictures would help here.

Didn't know bucks got that large in Nowhere.

As long as it's legal...........to each their own.......

The reason I told him it was a young deer is because I don't want him to shoot it! I'm wanting to do the honors myself!
I've already got a spot picked out on my wall!

^^^ This.

Assuming your neighbor was referring to antlers and not body weight, shoot him already and post pics!

If I saw a rack that went 180" he'd be dead as soon as I had a good sight picture.

^^^^^ What he said.

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Damn Skippy!

Did he ask you not to shoot it?

If so, what was your answer?

What will the consequences with him in the future if you shoot it?

"If you snooze, you lose"

I don't have the willpower to resist a 180 LF.

Hell yes.

I'm with them....

Personally, on my place I would kill a 180 with spots still on him!!

for me it is all relative - if you are hunting a small property with lots of neighbors in an area that does not produce 180 inch bucks then I would be all for taking him (unless there was an agreement between other landowners in the area to let the deer age)

if in an area that produces 180 inch deer and is a large LF property then that is a different story IMO

my guess is in your case it is the initial situation mentioned above so I would take him

Me too

Here is how I see it. A big majority of hunters wouldn’t let it walk. If you have the understanding with the neighbors to grow deer, let it walk. If not shoot it. They will if you don’t.

Agree w jhenderson