yay or nay?

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

Are you so sure this buck doesn't have a little more age on him than you are guessing?

You know, you're not the first person to say that. I showed the pic to one of my neighbors and he says an easy 6.5, maybe even 7.5. But last year I would have sworn he was 4.5. I've never been good at aging on the hoof, so I just count up the years I've seen them and guess from there.

this is him last year. yeah, i know. pretty big difference. ive been able to ID him because of the notch in his left ear. here he just looks young to me.

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I have always sided with letting a buck get to 6 or 7 yrs of age. A few bad things could happen if you let him go. He could move during the rut and someone could kill him. A poacher could kill him. He could get hit by a vehicle. He could die from the rigors of the rut. He could stay the same antler size next year. If we get into a drought he could go downhill. What bothers me from this pic is that it appears as if is his right antler/skull has had damage in the past and causing that side to grow at an angle. If that is a permanent damage he could pull or break that side out of his skull during the rut this year. That could greatly effect how that antler grows and looks in the future. Only a couple of good things can happen if he makes it another year. He can continue breed and pass on his genetics. He can get much larger antler wise.
The thing that would make me want to hunt a deer like this is the challenge. If I could get a chance at him this year I would make the decision at that exact point. That challenge of hunting one deer makes that deer a trophy to me more than antler score.
Good luck and if you do get him...

the way I feel about it.


take him if you can


I have let a lot of very nice 5 1/2 year old bucks walk, most I never saw again, a few that I did shrunk considerably in antler size due to drought conditions.

I can see that this buck has a lot of other bucks around him. He may fight and break off points. If he still has a "perfect rack" when you see him this year then take him. There is always the possibility of "hit by a car"; another hunters bullet, natural causes, etc. Just hunt this year and make your decision while your watching him through your sights!

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^THIS^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Just don't shoot a hole in your fertilizer wagon when you start shaking

Yes. And good luck

If I knew he was 5.5 and believed there was very little chance of him getting shot by another hunter, I would probably give him another year to breed and hopefully grow some more. 10 years ago that wouldn't be the case. That being said, he's put together a pretty unique rack this year, which he may not do again. If you like the way he looks and would treasure having him on the wall to admire for the rest of your life, by all means go after him.

Like STX said, I think it's a ton of fun targeting that one special deer.

awesome buck, definitely mature and very unique, like someone said above, unless there are much "better" targets out there, i would take him at the first chance.

good luck and keep us posted

I'd probably wait another 4-5 years and see who he grows into...on second thought....PUT HIM ON THE GROUND NOW!!!!!!

had a confab with the two other bowhunters in my area and they both agreed that i should try to take him now. so I'll definitely try my best and post if i can get lucky. the reason they said i should i never thought of before, but i guess it makes sense....they said this year should be the year because of the younger bucks i also have here. they stated if he's still around next year, he'll run them off, and could possibly do it this year. i hadnt thought about it that way, but i guess it makes sense. along with the fact that his rack may not be as good next year if he's actually peaking now. the two young ones that stay around here are gonna be really good bucks as well so I'm going to start planning for them now.

to be honest, i haven't shot a buck in 10 years, so my level of excitement is through the roof. I've had chances, just passed on them for different reasons. after hearing y'alls opinions, i feel good knowing he should be harvested this year. thanks guys.

Hell I'm excited for you now. Hunt hard amigo, and keep us posted!

... IDK how much pressure is around you, I don't how long deer live in your area. Idk how big your place is... I know that he is mature, I think he could easily already be 6-1/2 but I also think one pic is not enough to really say. Go look at the studies that talk about buck survivability... a lot can happen and he is real big so a real big target....

If he offers, i'd take it. Who knows you may never get a shot at him...

if he is a personal best I would take him. you can always wait a few more years and start targeting your next one after you put this one on the wall

after reviewing the pic, I think I would just take him

I would not wait..he's mature and has trash..and if he's 5.5 I would not risk losing him for the few extra inches he MIFGT add. Go shoot him asap...and good luck.

It also depends on what you feed him ... I wouldn't expect 20 -30 inches of growth unless you feed a lot of protein on either a high fence or a very large property.

not sure what a fence or property size has to do with antler growth on a specific buck from year to year...

i saw a LF buck on 200 acres add 25-30ish inches without protein or a tall fence. its genetics and groceries.

SHOOOOOOT

yay

X2

just to mention again. EVERY 180 inch buck was a 160 inch buck at some point. Sure it is hard to pass that deer but what if he is a 180 in the making? just food for thought

Wow, done deal. Pull a string and let it go