ORIGINAL: Antler Eater
However, I do agree that because of the region of the country I currently live in, I have a better chance than a lot of my fellow hunters to harvest a 150" class buck.
That is what I was getting at.
But again the point is if I don't let the little guys walk they have no chance to reach maturity.
Agreed.........unfortunately even if I let them walk they are not going to reach maturity.
If a 6 or an 8 pointer is as good as you can realistically hope to harvest in the area you hunt, then by all means take him with pride.
I do. This statement of yours doesn't really go along with your earlier comments about what kind of satisfaction can a experienced guy get from shooting a 1 1/2 basket rack.
Atlas my young friend, you assume to much. I have indeed spent much more than "a couple" of years hunting "under conditions like those". For twelve years I lived in Michigan, hunting public land competing with approximately 700,000 hunters annually (Some years more hunters took to the field than any other state in the country).
My assumptions were based on the content and tone of your post........and I don't think they were off base.........based on that. Obviously in reality they were wrong. You didn't come off as a guy who has been where the grass isn't greener though.
Heh heh, Your first statement in the above quote couldn't be farther from the truth. I have been lucky enough to have hunted a number of places in this great country so I have a pretty good idea of what expect in the different regions. That is why you should never judge a hunters skill by the size of his buck. No illusions here, believe me I know what the facts are.
Again, from the comments you made it read like you can't see why anyone would take a young buck......then you say you saw 60 of them this year. Seeing how I can't even imagine seeing 60 bucks in one year I figured you thought everyone had such good fortune.
The last twenty minutes of the last day of gun season I had doe and a fawn out in front of me and a two and half year old eight point buck walked out at 25 yards. I could legally shoot either deer. It wasn't even a contest. I enjoyed watching the buck make his way through the woods and then shot the doe (if memory serves me correctly it is only the second deer I have shot with a gun in nearly a twenty year period). I may never see that buck again. Usually I don't. But you know what? I just might ...It could be that in the next year or two I will get a chance at him with my bow...and just the thought of that makes it all worth while.
If I had that luxury I may just do the same. Glad you have the choice........also glad you realize that not everyone does.