And the war rages on. I will say this Wolfen, you will NEVER be able to tell people to let the smaller ones go....God gave everybody FREE WILL. That being said, I started hunting for mature bucks a few years ago after it seemed to no longer be a challenge to take a younger buck. And before any of the trad guys want to jump, I've killed deer with both trad and compound...that's not the point. As the younger ones get older, YES they get wise to the ways of humans and become harder to get, but it all boils down to being in the right place at the right time.
I always take at least one doe every year for the freezer so I have venison because it is delicious, but after that; I'm after the big boys. One aspect of QDM that is seemingly usually overlooked, but HAS been stated in this very thread is keeping the DOE population in check. If the doe numbers are kept where they're suppose to be, then the population WILL be better off as the DOMINANT bucks will be the ones doing the breeding. If there are too many doe, the lesser bucks are allowed to breed because the bigger bucks are already with a doe. This is where as mentioned earlier that rattling doesn't work because there is simply no competition for breeding rights. It also goes without saying that there will ALWAYS be smaller bucks that need to be culled from the herd for inferior genetics so either way, this debate will forever rage on.
I say to each their OWN; follow what we like to call PDM...Personal Deer Management, if you like it, KILL IT. It's that simple folks, but just because you'll nail the first deer that walks by you doesn't give you the right to come unglued on someone like Wolfen, you can simply agree to disagree. I mean really....does he hunt around you? If he doesn't, then why worry about what he has to say? Get out in a tree and enjoy the scenery...kill whatever you want.