Anyone that professes to be for QDM should be answering "yes, if the buck was mature enough that I would have shot him with both sides." I think this question and debate pinpoints the difference in trophy hunting and QDM.

I personally would shoot it if I would have shot the same buck with both sides. My answer might change if I hunted a property(s) with any sort of QDM or trophy management in place, and would allow me to see bucks more than once, and in years to come.

There is a very good article in the current NAW about when a buck is mature, and the opinions of several as to when to shoot. Those guys say they would pass a 3.5 180 in lieu of a 5.5 anything buck. I just cannot see me ever getting to that point, LOL.