Shoot what you want. Plain and simple, just shoot what you want.

If you want to shoot nothing but big bucks, great......more power to ya. If you want to shoot the first deer you see......again great. This is hunting and different people hunt for different reasons. For some, the size of the antlers does not matter enough to pass on a smaller buck, for others it does.

I have always said that as long as you do your part to try to keep the herds in your area as healthy as you can, then go on and shoot whatever you like. If the herds are not as healthy as they should be (for whatever reason) try to find out what you can do. This mayintale taking more does, it may mean passing on small bucks, or a combination of both. Again, you don't have to do this but it just makes sense to try to do what we can for something that we all like to do, so we can continue to hunt as well as the generations to come.

You can also say "To hell with that I will shoot what I want, herds be damned" Again fine with me as long of course you are not breaking any laws. Nobody can force another to shoot or not shoot a certian specific deer if it's legal to do so, nor should they.

Some states have implemented restrictions, be it the number of bucks you can shoot, to the size of their antlers,to earn a buckprograms. This is intended to try and create a healthy herd with a good buck to doe ratio. Most states where something like this has been implemented are starting to see a healthier overall herd and that is nothing but good for hunters. Overall, Whitetail herds across the countryhave good numbers if not over populated in someareas, so something is working.Things overall are going in the right direction as far as Whitetail deer are concerned so we should just keep it up, and for Gods sake let people shoot what they want. There is no "dark side" and there is no "trade off" just hunting.

Personally, I shoot what strikes my fancy at the time and what I feel I want to shoot. Sometimes I pass on smaller bucks, sometimes I shoot them.