Bottom line is. Shoot what makes you happy and not what makes your grandpa, dad, etc,etc.....happy. I don't care who I'm hunting with. I will not shoot something I don't want to shoot just because everyone else at deer camp would do it. Remember hunt for yourself and yourself only. If I want meat I will shoot a doe instead of a small buck. My grandpa is like yours yooper he would rather shoot a spike or a forkhorn instead of a doe.

My goals...Bow-Shoot a bunch of does and hold out for a nice buck ofr my area(usually 120+)
Gun-Shoot a doe or 2 with my revolver. I really don't know if I'll ever go back to rifle hunting for deer. As long as my hunting situation is what it is, I won't go back. If I was faced with a situation where I had a buck tag come gun season I would really be torn as to whether to take the revolver or bow. I would hold to my size limit regardless. For me, taking a deer with a handgun is quite a thrill and accomplishment.

Now, my opinions on other common attitudes. I know many guys who hold out for a nice buck in archery then pop the 1stbuckby in gun season. I cannot comprehend that mindset. I also really hope the old traditions of shooting any buck(spike or forky) over a doe fades out. That is one tradition we'd be better off without.

I agree I would much rather fill my freezer up with doe but there are not many tags available to shoot a doe. Almost none. Now where I bow hunt it is very different and I will take does allseasonlong. In fact I can't take enough in my opinion. If I rifle hunted the same area as I bow hunt it would be a very different story.

Just another tool to me, bow, shotgun, muzzle loader doesn't matter. I use them all to kill deer. My situation would be the opposite though, I would tend to shoot a smaller deer during bow season if I had the chance, and my second tag for gun season would have an antler restriction so it would have to be a nicer deer.

I normally only kill one deer a year though, if I don't get one during bow season I will break out the shotgun or muzzle loader. My standards don't really change that much, if it has more than 6 points and looks to be over 1 year old I will probably shoot it. I'm not really much of a trophy hunter to be honest. Even if I did shoot a monster buck I couldn't afford to do anything with it, like mount it or anything.

I don't do the camp thing either, I might hunt with a buddy now and then, but we hunt apart and meet up at the truck afterwards. Other than that it is just me and a weapon.

Paul

I have some neigbors who go with the idea, if it walks, its dead. They have 70 achers next to my 500, and they invite every member of thier trailer park out to shot a deer. They have condo stands and will have 4 to 5 people per stand. They have about 6 of these on their stretch of land. Once rifle season starts, it sounds like a war going on next to me. Once rifle season starts, I cant hunt my land next to them due to the bullets flying everywhere, and the fact they run ever decent deer off. I still stick with my standards. I shot what ever I want when it presents its self. Bow, rifle, or pistol. If a nice buck walks up on the first day of bow season, I tag it. If a nice doe walks up, I tag it. On average, I tag my two doe pretty quick during the archery season, I usually do not see a decent buck until Dec.

I find it to be just the opposite. When i bow hunt i will settle for a smaller buck such as a four pointer or something, but when i rifle hunt i go for a big buck or on the last day a doe if I need meat in the freezer. Bow hunting is such a greater challenge than rifle hunting so this is why I am willing to shoot a small buck with the bow. Plus shooting any deer with a bow is a difficult task.