To Shoot or Not to Shoot

Common situation faced by many a hunter. Early season, a nice mature 120ish class buck steps out and presents a clean shot, "do you take it"? You are hunting a smaller ranch < 100 acres, with a decent amount of hunting pressure around you. In the offseason and early bow season you have seen 130ish class bucks on camera but mostly at night. "Do you roll the dice and hope to get a shot at one of those 130ish class bucks or do you let it rip on the 120ish mature one staring you down"? One more thing, you know from experience that daylight sightings of mature bucks in this area are rare. Thanks for playing...

If you'd shoot it on the last day of the season, shoot it on the first day if given the chance. I would.

I'll always shoot the first mature buck I see size is no matter

You almost set up the question to be a rhetorical one, but the real question you seem to be asking is this: is a 120 class buck worthy of shooting? All the other parameters you set call for shooting, unless the person is done hunting "small bucks" and is only out for a personal best or something.
So the question you ask, would I shoot a 120 class older buck?

and twice on Sunday

My shooting decisions usually factor in order:

- Is the buck mature and something I'd be proud in shooting
- Do I like the shot as being humane and easily executable
- What have I seen to date and what is practical to expect for where I'm hunting

Factoring those things, I'd mostly likely take the shot on the 120ish, mature buck as the shot is executable and a practical harvest for the area. What say the rest of the forum?

I'd most likely take the shot.

Depends on the area of the state I am hunting in and is it a one buck only county. But if I have seen multiple 130 class mature bucks then I am passing on the shot.

Ranch, the scenario says, "some 130ish bucks" seen on nighttime pictures...Does that change anything?

I always wait for the big one.
No big one, shoot a doe late season.
That 120 might be the 130 I'm looking for next season.
No bucks shot one year gives a better chance the next.
The thrill is it being like Christmas every time you sit in the stand. Never know what might show up

.....and Gumby lives on to see another year.


I'll wait to see what the late season brings in. There's currently only 2 bucks I'd shoot on sight regardless of what they score, in their prime they were studs.

No it does not change anything.

He would not score 120 if you killed a spike and him then added them both together on his score sheet.

This exact same situation happened to me in Fannin county (2010). I let the arrow fly and he actually scored lower to mid 120's. Kind of funny since I wouldn't let an arrow fly at any mature deer under 170 in Oklahoma/Missouri/Kansas (unless cull or meat hunting). It is just tough getting a 150 or better in the north DFW counties with all the pressure. Some of the best places to get the big ones are on Public with limited draw tags.

I would wait. It's about the pursuit for me so I really have to like it to pull the trigger that early in the season.

Tie a few knots in the tape and he would have.

Now I understand your scoring method and you get your scores

Usually on a 100 acre place with a good amount of hunting pressure "a (one) mature" deer is hard to find, let along having many to choose from. I would revisit the definition and evaluation of said "mature" deer.

Chances are I would shoot the 120.

Would depend on how much time I planned on being in the woods. I like to pick a few bucks out and hunt those bucks. I have let the largest buck I actually saw in a season walk many times waiting on one I knew was out there but couldn't find. Killing a buck every year isn't what makes my season a success and shooting a buck early in the season has made for a very long season before. The anticipation is what drives me and while I would be proud of my trophy, I want to take an animal that makes it worth hunting doe/culls for the rest of the season perfectly ok. Otherwise, I won't pull the trigger. As the season nears an end, the reward/anticipation ratio changes, so that same mid-120's might become at risk

would the meat taste as good as the 130? I would shoot it take the meat and leave the antlers for the obsessive to cry over.

Then kill a spike or doe, leave that buck for the "obsessive" would be even better yet

Yes, a 100 acre place with pressure all around generally becomes a, "if it's brown, it's down" area. Shouldn't, but it does. A 120 on a place like that may be the best you'll see. Those 130's are used to hiding from the crowd and may never come out in hunting hours. The decision probably changes if you move the scenario to a larger, managed tract and area.

You know everybody says that but IMO it's just something to say. If a guy wants to wait and see what shows and then shoot something lesser than he was hoping for at first and is happy with it, who am I to say he done wrong? I have seen plenty of guys pass up 5x5 elk the first few days of a hunt and then shoot one the last day or two. For the life of me I don't see anything wrong with it-they understood fully the ramifications of what they were doing. They knew by passing they were taking a chance of going home empty handed.

Sorry I was enjoying some deer chili when I read this post. for the most part I do hunt does but if time runs out and I still have an empty freezer BAM dear burgers.

Sorry I was the grilled backstrap from last night I ate from a doe I shot last year. I have not killed a WT buck in 2 years and still had the meat from 6 does I killed during the late season in those 2 yrs

key point is on a smaller place with hunting pressure in the surrounding pastures... unless adjoining ranches/hunters all play under the same guidelines.

With a 140 incher on the wall, I honestly would not shoot a 120 inch deer ever. Like most mgmt minded guys, I would shoot a doe, period.

If 130 is the limits of this particular lease, I'm moving.

I completely disagree. For me, it's all about the animal relative to where it was taken.

I've been trembling so hard I almost fell out of a tree over a 120 inch 8pt at my last place, because for that place, that was a really big buck.

You could throw a bowling ball up in the air and there's a good chance it would kill a 140 when it landed at another buddy's place in S. Texas.

The 120 I spoke about above would get shot. The 140 in the second example would not. One's a significant achievement. One's a layup.

By all means I am not judging anyone on this forum but if that 120 inch deer had any chance to be 140-150's in a year or two, then he walks. I don't care what the size of the place is. I hunt on 400 acres and it's a roll of the dice but I'm rolling them with the hope he lives.

Merc, you know my philosophy on buck kills, haven't shot one on my place in 4 seasons but if I do see one that is 5+ years or older and maxed out in 120-130 range, he's a falling....