Originally Posted by
joker80p
4th year of hunting I finally shoot a deer and I realize I need more time in the stand observing so I can judge size. While I got my first it's not very big and I thought at first it was a doe. Ended up being a button buck I shot from my ladder stand at about40-45 yards with my 12 gauge.
My first deer was a button buck and my son's first deer a couple years ago was a button head. Nothing wrong with that so don't be too hard on yourself. Now you can concentrate on getting a larger buck or mature doe.
Here is what I do to keep from shooting button heads. I don't shoot small deer that are by themselves, unless I can get a good look at the top of it's head. I have found many times these are button heads and it can be hard to tell during low light, even with a scoped rifle.