ORIGINAL: GMMAT
The reason I've increased my goal to 145+ is because they are there. There are not nearly as many of them, but they are there. I may see between 1-3 per season. To me, it is another step up the ladder just as it was when I started holding out for mature bucks from 125 and better. I know it lessens my chances but it has also taught me patience. For the last three seasons this patience has paid off with 147, 126 and a 173 (gross) bucks. In '06 I had my chance at a solid 150+ 8 pointer but missed. I mistakenly shot the 126 (weird double beam 9 point) later in the season thinking it was a clean 5x5 I'd been seeing. I'm still very proud of this. I have to be.......I vowed to myself a long time ago that I'd be proud of any buck I killed. One time, 16 years ago, I felt sad that the buck I killed wasn't as big as I thought it was. I immediatly became ashamed of myself and swore to never let that happen again.
That's just an incredible
little woodlot. Kudos to you for getting in there. I think you said you saw 7 bucks in one sitting int here, last year. That's incredible (comparatively), to me.
GMMAT,
It's really not a little woodlot. It's more like a 40 acre piece in the middle of a 6ooo acre Farm.