When he gets too old i would shoot him and mount him, better than some coyotes eating getting ahold of him or some random hunter.

Well said. My point exactly.

i couldnt shoot him, i'd let him go, if hes smart, he might stick around and you should be able to find his sheds inthe swamp....swamp bucks rarely leave the comfort of thier swamp so thats probably whats happening!

That would be cool to find his sheds. The others got me thinking as he gets older I may consider harvesting him as well, Honestly though I can't say forsure unless I was in your shoes. There are so many other variables that come into play in your situation.

I have a big flock of hen turkeys that visit my property daily. I honestly couldn'thunt them. I just bought this place in March, the people prior to me fed these turkeys, so I have kept on feedingthem since my wife and sons love watching them. I figure, I can hunt turkeys elsewhere; there are plenty to go around in this country and it's more important to me to see my sons ( ages 2 and 4)enjoying them, than me tag an easy kill. My boys are learning how to mimic hen talk with their voices and during the spring when they are mating we have had as many as 9 gobblers in the yard at once! That was fun to watch out the window.

We have the same issue on our properties. We let bucks grow and grow...then when when they get big enough they arealmost likepets and hard to kill. My cousin passed on a 145" 8 point this fall for this very reason. He passed the same deer several times last year.

I do the same every year. Pass and pass. This year I get a 160 class bruiser in range (that I missed last year) and make a horrible shot. Thank God he's ok. When you are touch with the deer with I am it's hard. I shot 5 does last year and though it is for a good reason it's still hard to pull the trigger.

I respect you for letting this deer walk, but agree with some of the others when he's done growing it may be time to release a precisely guided arrow.

i agree,, i wouldnt take him either. I would hunt for his sheds in the spring and mount those instead si you can have the best of both worlds. You can think of the mount as a baby picture you would keep in your wallet

tell ya what, i might tag him with a dayglo orange paintball shot on the side from my stand. if there was any way to get a collar on him that would be great and may keep him from getting taken, but a paintball shot may make him wary of people in trees and in the woods. may also make him leave, and that would suck. i'd be worried about him every night also.

I have wildlife in my yard nearly every day..........I live in a suburban area and hunting is not allowed in my town.......even if I could hunt them I wouldn't. It wouldn't be hunting.......just killing. I have deer that come to me exactly how you described......bucks, does, fawns.......and I have watched a flock of turkey raise their little ones for the last 2 years. It is something special to be able to see day in and day out. I watch the deer's fur change and I see the spotted little ones running with mom every spring and I see velvet hanging and when they shed.........it is a very cool thing. These are not wild animals as nearly everyone for about a mile lays out food for them at one point or another.......some to watch and be sure they are not starving.........and some to keep them off their landscaping. Either way they are more pets then wild. Shooting them would be pretty pathetic IMO. I have video of a 12 locking up with a 10 in my yard in a playful manner and even though they were better bucks then I have ever seen in the woods around here I couldn't imagine shooting one and being even remotely proud of it...........I would feel more shame then anything else. The deer I hunt are similar to the ones in my yard by appearence alone. Enjoy the special chance you have of bonding with a creature that very few ever have a chance to.........there are plenty of deer in the woods to shoot.

Its nice to have a heart, but i'm talking a fresh one after you shoot your friend. Its not old yeller man. If you really care so much stuff him. He'll be arround alot longer.

well the question i have to ask is , do u see any other bucks around or just him?

I would take him in a yr or 2 when hes at his full potential , that way u wont have to see him get old and start to receed , then get him mounted and have him around the house all the time!!!!

I can see tho if he is that much of a PET on just getting the joy outta watchin him , my grama used to have a buck like that at our cabin , he was a piebald deer that she could almost hand feed , well just so happened one year on the first day of buck season i looked in the yard of a the cabin down the road , and guess who i saw hanging in the tree? Yep the piebald buck , a 6 pointer then , boy did gram have a hard weekend going outside!