When I have a choice, I'll harvest a yearling Doe or two. If the Game Commission (or equivalent) specifies Bucks, I'll take a young one. When I take a Buck I try to judge it and harvest the Culls. I'm not always right, hard to tell what a young Buck is going to turn into in later years. Just the way I do it, probably some sort of ethics game I play on myself.

I get my satisfaction when I shoot and the Deer falls in a pile, instantly.

Bragging rights don't interest me much. I leave the big and trophy Bucks for those who actually give a darn. I have one buddy who has over two hundred trophies. Maybe he should go to Sweden and get a penis extension ? I try not to judge, not everybody is the same or motivated by the same things.

I try to pick my shots to benefit the herd. Lame, injured, incest/deformed etc. I'll take a second year Buck still hanging around his mother before a trophy Buck from a neighboring lease.

Just opinion, but a yearling, two and a half year old Doe, neck shot that drops it in a pile, is about the best eating you are going to get, IMO.

A 5-6 year old Buck, in rut, that was shot, had an Adrenalin surge and ran a quarter of mile before going down is likely to be worse eating.

Side note, I've noticed women eating a rutty Buck full of Adrenalin, that just loved the flavor, ate until they popped and constantly commented on how good the meat was. Same meat I couldn't eat without a load of pepper and spices. May guess is it some sort of olfactory thing.

We do things differently here, we get a quota on a hunting lease and have months to fill that quota. They actually grade the Deer in the quota by sex, age, form, color, antlers etc. Some years it is young Deer heavy, some years Doe heavy, some years mature Buck heavy etc. The lease holders play a game and try to fudge, but it all works out in the long term, mostly. They tend to hunt the borders of the adjoining lease heavily, to try and increase their herd so they get a higher quota. Sure some lease holders try and fudge by under reporting their take, but it always comes back to bite them in the rear sooner or later. A trained eye from the county spends a few days on that lease and they can tell the general number and type of Deer there. They might find their quota halved the next year.

Maybe the Game Commission (or local equivalent) is slowly changing to the North European model in game management??

Always trying to shoot the biggest and best Bucks can't be good for the herd, long term.

I've passed on many Bucks, I always figure if I've scoped them I owned them. They often get taken by another hunter, all I can really do is follow my own conscience and ethics.