ORIGINAL: if a small buck is your idea of a trophy then thats fine if your bar is not set high enough and you obviously dont have enough faith in either your skills to hunt for a big mature buck, or in your area that it wont produce them but i still dont see what a small immature racked buck is worth to you.
Say what you will about small racks not being worth anything. I think they are. When a youth gets to hold that rack in his/her hands it is an awesome feeling. A picture is great but the feel and uniqueness of antlers from one deer to the next is something you don't get from a doe! I love the look, shape, color ect. ect.. of antlers. Antlers make each buck different and gives each it's own character! A token of the hunt to hang on the wall and look at! One that you can touch and study. I know the antlers from all my bucks very well. My first set I know every little bump and nub on them. They are very special to me. I enjoy taking doe's and I love when I come across a real wall hanger but any antlers are a trophy to me. If I had my own farm and had the time to spend on really hunting hard I might get the itch to hold out for a bigger buck. I might not. I love all bucks antlers. As far as setting my bar high enough...LOL! I am not looking to brag to the local idiots at the bar about the giant buck I took. I hunt for me the way I like to. The meat is for me and the family but the keep sake (antlers) are for me only! What are we teaching our youth when we let them shoot young bucks? We teach them that it's not about a trophy you can win it's about the hunt! Most young hunters get just as excited over taking a doe as they do a buck but the keep sake that comes along with taking a buck over a doe is something a young hunter can and usually does cherish forever! I would rather take a small racked buck then a doe the same way you would rather take a mature big racked buck over a smaller racked buck. To each his own and happy hunting all!