B was my choice too. Buck A has a decent rack and would have probably become a very nice trophy if given another year or two. Deer C is just a youngster who hasn't had the time to realize what his genetic potential might be. He'd get passed by me.

Well, id shoot them all, because I did. When we verified age with a tooth chart, all were the same age. 2.5 to 3 years old. I let these guys walk until my last hunt, then took them on my last hunt of each respective season. Now I know tooth wear is relative to soil condition of the area deer are browsing. In this case, they all came from the same stand.


Interesting how QDMmeans two things, antler management, and herd management.

We had a local taxidermist that had several deer aged by their teeth at his shop.He then sent the jaw bone off to the state,only to find out that most were aged wrong by their teeth.



It is hard to tell by the pictures which of these deer are mature,or not mature because they are field dressed.IMO, makes it harder to age them.


I will say that b looks older than the other 2 but but it still looks young for a serious qdm(antler management).BUT,I'm shooting b. 3 1/2 is mature enough for me and I believe b is 3 1/2.


Reason is I am the only 1 that even tries to shoot older deer where I hunt so if I don't shoot a 3 1/2 year old,I may never shoot another deer.

Deer B
then
Deer A

B........ because that's the kind of bucks I'm after. The others are not mature and have not reached their potential.

I suppose from a QDM standpoint it would be "A", something about inferior genetics. But mama didn't raise no fool; I'd shoot "B". I hunt only public land and I know I'm probably seeing him for the first & last time!

hey sb how are you tagged out???

Well if I was truly "managing" the property and that was my main objective then deer c would get stuck. Deer B is a definite shooter but could be a truly monster next year. Deer A has some good genetics and needs another year.

but yes, I would shoot Deer B if I was given the opportunity.

Shoot which ever one you want. They don't have to be justified. They're legal and edible. QDM go to hell, it's hunting, not farming. I'd shoot the first one that gave me a slam dunk, all the time hoping it's the big one. Hell, I'd probably pass on the others and risk missing a shot just to get the big one, but it has nothing to do with QDM. It has to do with hunting.