RE: How old? How long? First "mature" buck?
 

I just have a theory (hence the reason for my post)....

I think that people who start bowhunting later in life (and again...it's just a theory) achieve success on an accelerated curve than those who begin at a younger age. I think this is true for many reasons. One....maturity. Two...."means" (ability to afford all the equipment one wants and needs). Three....Ability to gain access to better land/purchase land/lease land.

That was the reason for this post. I was trying to test this theory of mine. I'm not sure what I've learned, so far....but I'll be watching to see all the posts.

Do you agree or disagree?

[Deleted]
 

[Deleted by Admins]

RE: How old? How long? First "mature" buck?
 

I dunno. The down side to starting later in life is family. The younger guys have MUCH more time to devote to it.

RE: How old? How long? First "mature" buck?
 

Does it really matter??

I did not know another Deer hunter when I started much less a Bowhunter. So I am sure my learning curve was slower than young guys today.

Successful Bowhunting is about One Thing!

TIME SPENT IN THE WOODS!!

You make your own Luck to a huge degree. Sure Nimrods kill Big Bucks every year, but year in year out the guys who are successful over the Long Haul put their time in.

Dan

RE: How old? How long? First "mature" buck?
 

It can go either way in my book. I started hunting at the age of 14. Killed my first buck with bow that season. A basket rack six pt. at that. From then on I passed up every buck that wouldn't score over 130". I blew a ton of chances until I was 22 and killed a 153" ten pt.

I was lucky to have a father who took bowhunting very seriously and taught me a lot. He seriously would've frowned if I would've kept killing 1 1/2 year old bucks. Yes, maturity has a lot to do with being sucsessful. I really believe in that. But, I took bowhunting just as serious as any 30 yr. old man when I was 17, 18 and 19. I think it just has a lot to do with when you started and how you were taught.

RE: How old? How long? First "mature" buck?
 

I can agree with your theory Jeff, especially the "means" part. I'm working minimum wage to finance all my hunting this year (and the past 2 years).

Now in my case, I have been bow hunting for 2 years. I'm 100% self taught (my father is a gun only hunter and he rarely goes out), and my cousin who i look up to taught me how to shoot.

My first year i shot a 1.5 year old 6 point. And last year i shot a mature doe. So in 2 years i have 0 mature bucks.

RE: How old? How long? First "mature" buck?
 

Disagree. Too many variables. What if he had a good teacher?! [8D]

Although I told him to shoot any deer in order to get a few under his belt, my son decided to hold out for a mature buck.

His first deer.

RE: How old? How long? First "mature" buck?
 

There's always a few exceptions

RE: How old? How long? First "mature" buck?
 

True. As you mentioned, it can depend on how you were taught. The exceptions may not be that few.

RE: How old? How long? First "mature" buck?
 

A lot of impact comes from friends and hunting partners as well. I know lots of guys who see their buddy kill a nice buck and they automatically change their outlook so that they can kill a bigger buck. Their are way too many variables to list impacting what somebody will and will not shoot.