I will try to answer some of your questions.
To start with...
1. What is it that makes you feel better about killing a big racked buck? If it is the challenge of taking a uncommon, elusive animal that is harder to hunt and takes more time, skill, dedication, and luck to get........then why on earth would you want that task made easier by increasing the number of big bucks out there?? The reason they are so hard to kill in most areas is a simple numbers game. Theyare so hard to find/hunt because they are very few and far between. Ifit is the challenge you are after then you should want MORE young bucks killed so the big ones will be even more rare and special. If no one kills any small bucks and the woods becomeas full of 120"+ bucks as they are of4 and 6 ptrs then what kind ofchallenge does that pose?
The challenge is a very large part of it. If I were to shoot the first legal buck by I would be lucky to get 2 days of hunting ina year. It only makes sense to pass the buck and set my sights on a mature buck if I want time in the woods. I am not guaranteed to see a mature buck in any given year, although I will see a host of different young bucks. When I was younger I would shoot the yearling bucks. Even when I was a "greenhorn" I was lucky to get through the month of October so I could hunt the November rutwith my buck tag.
2. Whatis satisfying about shooting a deer that was"grown" into a big racked buck??
I can tell you the exact moment I decided to hunt exclusively for mature bucks. I was sitting in my treestand on a chilly morning the first week of November with onlya doe tag in my fannypack. [/align]It was my first experience with a mature buck in bow range. Watchingthat buck gave me a feeling I had never experienced before while hunting. The buck seemed to have an aura or presence about him that I could feel. I knew I was witnessing something special. That may sound dumb to you but I am being 100% serious. After that experience I became dedicated to become the best and smartest bowhunter that I could. Watching that buck walk awayI knewI would never harvest an immature buck again.[/align]