We trophy manage our club, so small bucks (which include buttons) are encouraged (strongly) to be left go another few years.

I have made errors in the past (twice). Once was on a deer drive, and I was in a thick cut row. The deer nearly ran me over, and I had to fire in defense (at least thats what I tell people). Happened to be a BB, oh well.

Second time was this year. Sitting on peanut field at a friends property. I had my 30/30 Ackley with a 4x scope on it. Four deer came out at 200 yards. I picked out the biggest one, which I assumed was a big doe and rolled her at 180. The next to largest one, (I figured maybe a yearling doe) ran towards me, confused by the sound, and stopped at about 160. Rolled it as well. Feeling smitten, I got down to see that the first deer I shot was a doe fawn of about 60# and the second was a BB about 45#. What I want to know, is how much (or should I say little) those two SMALLER deer that were with those two weighed! Must have been the orphans club. Fortunately, my friends place does not trophy manage, they just need deer shot off their farm.

The best way to tell if a deer is a button buck, assuming you opt not to take them, is too look at the face. Button bucks have much shorter noses and very round heads/faces. If you have good quality binoculars, you can often see the buttons as well, if the deer are close enough. But the best way to tell is to study the face. It also helps if there are other deer around it, so you have something to compare it to.

But at the end of the day, its a right tasty mistake to make...