I had an interesting conversation with a buddy last week. Like alot of folks, he usually passes on a few legal bucks in the course of a season, waiting for a nice one. ( Not necessarily a huge one.) Let 'em go, let 'em grow....how many times have we heard this? Funny thing is, though, that by the last week or last day of the season, he told me now he would shoot any legal buck that gives him the opportunity, as time is running out
I hear this quite often too. To me, if he's not a shooter on opening morning...he's still not a shooter 10 minutes before season closes. I'll take my "meat does" right off the bat if given the opportunity. Personally, I get much more satisfaction out of letting the little bucks walk. Most won't make it throught the season, but there's always the chance that they will. Kinda like letting the jakes walk during spring turkey season.
I am a mainly a meat hunter and could care less about a bucks rack. I surely will shoot any legal buck that happens to walk my way. I like venison and am allowed only one doe tag at best in the area I hunt so in order to put more than one deer in my freezer I will shoot any legal buck. Some people don't have the privelege of unlimited doe tags. In some areas in the upper northeast doe tags are not even issued. I can't see hunters in these areas being overly selective on what they want to shoot. If you see a legal buck that might be the only chance at a deer you will get.
I know quite a few guys like you. Absolutely nothing wrong with it either. If you fill your tag with a buck that you're happy with then thats great! However, I know way too many self proclaimed "meat hunters" who will shoot the first buck that they see, not tag it or tag it with someone else's tag (just to say they killed a buck) and will hold out for a bigger one. Worse yet, are they guys who will kill every buck that they see...[:'(]. Unfortunately, I know several guys who do this every season. I too consider myself to be a meat hunter. I passed on some young bucks during season but was fortunate to put 4 does in the freezer between bow/gun season and have propably eaten venison in one form or another, almost every day for the past month and a half. I LOVE the stuff!!!
I guess what seperates me from most other meat hunters that I know, the "you can't eat the horns" guys...is that most of them will NOT take a doe when they want meat just because it DOESN'T have horns. Seems totally contradictive to me?