jag-mag

Shoot a buck thats big enough to do a head mnt. I have been bowhunting
3 yrs now and I have taking a buck and a lot of does all 3 yrs,but like
the rack attack would say DINKS.

formula1

My goal is my first P&Y. Best so far is 113. I also let 5 bucks go last year that did survive, so I'm hoping for a chance at one of them. They should be in the 120-140 range this year.

No matter what happens though, I plan to have a great time trying!!!

ILbowhunter88

shoot 3 does and watch for a mature buck. get 2 kills on video me or my friends have my younger brother shoot a deer.

Diesel77

My goal this year is to be well prepared long before the season starts. I want have a few bucks feeding and bedding areas pin-pointed for the early season which is when I have shot my biggest bucks and when I have had an easier time catching them off guard which is usually the first 2 weeks of the season. I scout our soy fields from a few hundred yards away so I dont go in the woods much at all and disturb them. I watch where they are coming out to feed and assess where they are moving to and from.

scout, scout and scout some more, from July to September.

Double Creek

To just do more "hunting the hard way"...... Spend more time with my son in the woods....

hardcorehunter

I have improved in getting plenty of stands out and never hunting one if the wind isn't right and never overhunting a stand. I have around 15 permanent stands and one climber and this gives me options to hunt. My goal is to get a really nice buck. I refuse to shoot a buck unless he is a mounter. Period. I see some real nice bucks in my timbers and it all a right place right time for me deal. I have shot a lot of deer over the years with archery. We have been having generous doe tags here and I have been shooting 3-4 of them a year to keep me in meat and tuned for the big buck kill. My nicest buck bow kill is a 150 class and now I let them walk. I want 160 on up. Chuck Adams says set your standards high and that is what I do now. I had a 180 class buck within bow range two seasons ago but a bush prevented the shot.

IL Trophy Hunter

I'm going into this season w/my mind made up that I'm not going to harvest a buck. I have 13 deer that score above 125". Most of these deer are in the 130's net. I have three that net 153+ and one that scores 168 4/8. I haven't harvested a 150+ since 2002. I have just had a hard time passing up the 130's. I've always been freaked out each season that I want to kill atleast one deer that makes pope and young, and I have the problem that a few times I've been out of buck tags a few times before the rut kicks in by killing 130's before prime time begins. So I guess what I'm saying is that I'm really going to shoot for 150 + inch deer or nothing at all and be happy if I pass up several 130's in the process. But saying and doing are two different things.

Matt / PA

I just realized that our goals are very much determined by geography......

njbuck22

In the past, my problem has been hunting stands in marginal winds. I wont hunt the stand if i know it isnt right, but if its ify i have gone in the past. I can hunt more or less whenever i want and have multiple properties to hunt, so i need to be more selective on when and where to hunt.

As for goals for the upcoming season, i shot 2 bucks and a doe this past fall and am already out of meat since about the beginning of march. This fall im looking to shoot 10 deer, with hopefully 3 bucks. Here in jersey we can shoot unlimited antlerless deer and can shoot 3 bucks in the fall bow season, and then 2 with a shotgun and one with a muzzleloader. I know it sounds like alot of deer, but i figure could use atleast 5 for myself and room mates along with 1 for each of my 2 brothers and then 3 for extended family and friends. Some of my properties are so out of wack with the buck to doe ratio that i dont even think this will put a small dent in them.

formula1

Someone mentioned geography. Definitely. the guy who lives in IL might scoff at our Georgia bucks. I can see alot of 100 class bucks where I hunt, but something 120 or better would be a prize. The same 120 would be more like the 2.5 yr average in IL.

Let's just say our goal might be the best buck in a given area or a mature buck 3.5 yrs or older. We'll score him after we get him on the ground.