If you are ONLY hunting for meat, then it really doesn't matter. As long as you are harvesting game legally, thats all that counts. There is really no way of telling what a yearling buck will be by the time he reaches 4.5 - 6.5 years old. You cant really tell by what kind of antler growth they are sporting on their heads at such a young age. But one thing is FOR SURE. You will NEVER know what they will become if you shoot them as yearlings. This is a fact. Although its not certain, odds are, the more yearling bucks you shoot now will probally lead to less trophy bucks you will see later on. If you never let them live to their potential, you will never know what they would have become. There is nothing wrong with being a meat hunter. But there is nothing wrong with that same meat hunter dragging out a Boone and Crocket buck out of the woods either. Ill bet he will taste just as good and he will look great on your wall too and you will be able to share many stories about it too. There is nothing wrong with taking a big mature doe either for meat hunting. As long as what you are doing is legal, then the methods in which you hunt is entirely up to you. If it was me, I would let the yearlings walk and try to shoot the big does, and hope an nice shooter buck comes by too. But thats just me.