Interesting..... I see morediscussions on these forums where people are telling "trophy" huntersthey are wrong than I do the other way around. I have seen a few say that shooting young deer is wrong but the true sportsman don't "push" their thoughts onto others.

It seems that atlasman is more interested in arguing everyones points rather than understand their reasoning as he suggested in hisoriginal post. We will never completely understand each other.

I don't call myself a "trophy" hunter but I am selective in what I shoot. I don't hunt "trophy" deer but mature deer.My reasons why are similiar to what others have already said:
-I enjoy spending time in the woods and shooting the first 1 1/2 year old buck that walked by would only take a few days.
- I enjoy the entire whitetail experience and can get just as much satisfaction from watching the young bucks as I would shooting one.I have said this before but my 11 year old son has seen deer sparring, seen bucks chasing does, seen several bucks make scrapes, seen bucks make does stand up to scent checkthem,seen deer bed down 40 yards from our stand etc.... Most of these experiences would not have happened if we had flung an arrow at the first deer to walk by. For me it's not all about the kill like it is with many hunters who feel unsuccesful if they don't shoot something. Now of courseareas with low deer densities may change everything and being selective is not an option but it's not like that where I live.
- There is no comparison with the adrenalin rush during an encounter with a mature buck compared to a doe or young buck! None!

Most people who are selective or practice QDM are not simply "letting them grow" to whack them whenever they want. It's about setting a personal standards and goalsand then getting satisfaction when they are achieved. I have several trail cam pics of a nice 2 1/2 year old buck last year and he walked right by my stand once. I found out he was shot by a gun hunter in an adjacent woods. I heard it was a youth hunter and couldn't be happier for him. I will continue to pass on similiar deer knowing they are not likely to make it through gun season because I have no desire to shoot a young one. I get more satisfaction from passing on a buck knowing that 90% of the hunters out there would have taken a shot at him. atlas you will probably never understand but thats OK and that makes us all individuals.