QDM/button bucks
 

OK, I have one more thing on my mind. In the pa. hunting digest that we receive when buying a license it had an article titled ' consider letting that button buck pass' .

With an anterless deer tag and a deer that you could positively identify as a button buck well within archery range in front of you broadside would you let him pass because he was a button buck?

Do you honestly believe you can positively identify a button buck?

RE: QDM/button bucks
 

yes

RE: QDM/button bucks
 

Yep. I do it every season.

RE: QDM/button bucks
 

I let a spike and a small 6pt walk last season not to mention 3 buttonheads

It paid off though because i harvested a large 8 pt buck in the very same spot.

RE: QDM/button bucks
 

Yes.
Todays buttons can turn into tomorrows monsters.:D
Plus just think if all button bucks where shot how many mature bucks will you see in the future?

RE: QDM/button bucks
 

Absolutely! You have to let walk, they' re the big boys of the future. All world records were once buttons!

RE: QDM/button bucks
 

Definately!!!

RE: QDM/button bucks
 

Yes, in most cases you can tell. I let them walk. I' ve made a couple mistakes in 32 years, but both were at longer distances, 33 and 35 yards. That said, I think if you pinned down a biologist and ask him this question with regards to thinning an overly out of whack population he' d tell you shoot NUMBERS first and worry about selection when you get the herd numbers under control.

I recently was selected to be on a Whitetail Management Group here in Maryland. We will work in pockets where hunting has been limited or prohibited, parks, land that is to be cleared for development, neighborhoods where hunting has been prohibited etc. Any place there' s a population problem and someone wants help. We had a meeting last night. Our guidelines will be to shoot NUMBERS. It doesn' t matter what it is. If it comes by we' re to shoot until a level is attained. After that it will be more selective and " Herd Maintenance" . We will be working closely with State and County Governments, developers, land owners, companys, towns, Hunter and Farmers Feeding the Hungry etc. We offer guidance, suggestions and a method of tightly controlled population control.

All team members are qualified with the weapons they use(you have to pass quite strict proficiency shooting standards). All team personnel have to pass background checks, be Bowhunter and Firearms Hunter Safety Graduates, You have to be graduates of a firearms course to hunt with a gun in Maryland but the Bowhunter Education for regular hunters in Maryland is voluntary. The members of the Whitetail Management Group must complete both. Shooting proficiency, clean record with DNR and background checks must be done every year. We pay for a $2,000,000 liability insurance plan for the land owners and ourselves. We work in groups, NEVER alone.

We' ve received some very good, favorable news coverage lately. We are a Corporation whose Executive officers talk to groups, testify at hearings and do all the politicing. It should be good for all concerned and especially good in a state that has at times in the past been a little tough on the hunting community.

RE: QDM/button bucks
 

YES!

RE: QDM/button bucks
 

Yes let the button buck AND spike walk on by.[:-][hr]
You need that there davidmil. there are deer runnin through the streets. Deer everywhere! My buddy had a buck leap into his living room in the middle of the night, trashed his house then jumped back out the window he busted. Freaked him out! This happened in Gaithersburg, MD. Crazy!:eek:

RE: QDM/button bucks
 

david, What type of test with the bow for prficiecny? yardage, groups, knowledge of anatomy ?

RE: QDM/button bucks
 

Sometimes I have, and other times I haven' t. It' s more or less a decision I make based on what I' ve been seeing up to that point in the year. If I' ve been passing up a ton of button bucks, I might be inclined to shoot one for the freezer. If I haven' t seen too many of them I' d more likely opt to take a pass.

JRW

RE: QDM/button bucks
 

Yes, I do let them walk, although sometimes difficult, I have been able to positively id them. This year, I had my 7 yr old in the stand with me. We had a doe fawn and button buck in around and under us for almost 2 hours. Letting them walk gave my boy them greatest thrill watching them for all that time. He had a ball and so did I. Paid off big time!

RE: QDM/button bucks
 

BIGEMY: 3 Broadheads inside a bullseye circle at 20(Easy for most of us but it weeds out the wannabees and lazy tuners. I shot my qualification with the bow and had two in the X and one just out but they' ve changed the target and I have to do it all over. Shotgun, 3 inches at 50 and good group at 100. Rifle 100 same deal.

RE: QDM/button bucks
 

Its the last day of the bow season in Pa and my buck tag is gone. I do however still have an anterless deer tag. There were turkey and deer all around my stand. A turkey walks within range i shoot at its feet. Meanwhile there are 2 button bucks directly under my stand munching away on acorns. Even though it was the last day, i was not going to shoot them under any circumstance. Those deer survived cause i saw them just today and they are my next years bucks

RE: QDM/button bucks
 

Yes, let the button bucks walk. Seems like I see them every year and I always let them pass in hopes they make it through 3,4,5 seasons. Thats when I want to see them again.

RE: QDM/button bucks
 

I let them walk.
They can be tough to tell sometimes, if not real close.

RE: QDM/button bucks
 

Yes, let them go. I had a button buck in my stand the last week of the 2001 season that had a clubbed foot. I let him walk as I do with anything with less than six points and ended up getting him this season with the rifle. He had grown into a decent six that I misjudged as an eight. Had one screwed up antler but still had good genetics to go from a button to a six in my area. Imagine what he could have been in a year or two more!!!! Wish I would have judged him better. Still tasted great though!!!

RE: QDM/button bucks
 

Yes and yes! I' m not gonna waste a tag on 35lbs of meat!
It' s fairly easy to distinguish a yearling (fawn) from an adult deer. I wont shoot a yearling doe either.

RE: QDM/button bucks
 

Where are all the meat hunters that posted on the antler restriction issue? I find it nearly impossible to distinguish a button buck from a mature doe even though I know that the face is shorter and the forehead is supposed to protrude. For several reasons I had to resort to the rifle this past season and wound up shooting a button buck that shocked me when I started to field dress him.

RE: QDM/button bucks
 

hafa8pt,

Sometimes they' re easy to pick out. Other times not so simple. When in doubt, a small pair of binoculars makes it easier.

JRW

RE: QDM/button bucks
 

Until there are too many bucks running around...I' ll keep passing them up!

Also, a couple rules of harvest.
*don' t shoot a lone " doe"
*wait for 3 or more and shoot the largest

Our neighbors in the thumb area were Menonites. We had unlimited doe tags in the area, and a ton of deer. They shot nine deer for the season in 1997-7 BB' s, and 2 does. We shot the same number, but 8 mature does, and 1-2.5 year old buck. Were we lucky, or the only ones that cared?

With all the deer available, to me, there was no excuse for what they did. Mistakes deffinently happen, but if you make it a priority to not let it happen, the odds are pretty good it won' t.

Jeff...U.P. of Michigan
Protection of yearling bucks + Populations maintained below the carrying capacity of the land + Adequate sex ratios = QDM

RE: QDM/button bucks
 

Yes without a doubt. In bow season its easy to identify a small button buck. In rifle season in Pa they now have a two week doe season instead of the old three day season. This difinitely helps in chosing only a larger size antlerless deer to harvest. Our buck to doe ratio is terrible here in Pa and we definitely need to pass on the small button bucks ..................

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RE: QDM/button bucks
 

Let them walk this year and the next couple. And yes you can tell the difference. Interesting information from Maryland.

RE: QDM/button bucks
 

My personal rule is adult deer only. Spikes and doe fawns lack quantity of meat and really are not that difficult to take because of their lack of weariness. Locally they have been on a deer reduction push which allowed us to shoot as many as 5 antlerless deer per year. I think it has worked and possibly to well. I will be limiting myself to one adult doe and hopefully one large buck next year. All button bucks can grow into big old boys given enough time and yes you can identify them with a little observation.

RE: QDM/button bucks
 

I will admit that I feel dumber than a post and just as blind. I have put full sized bino' s on deer that were in the 35-40 yard range, in other words out of my bow range, and could no tell by the head alone if they were bb or doe. Having a chance to glass the plumbing isn' t always feasible. I also admit that I can' t count points like some of the hunters that I' ve run into that told me they saw a nine point running through the woods in a snow storm jumping brush piles in red brush 150 yards out.
:eek:[&:]

RE: QDM/button bucks
 

yep.........

RE: QDM/button bucks
 

Yes,Yes,Yes. I let them go every yr. No matter what season I' m hunting. Not just button bucks, but fawns in general. Its easy to identify them even if alone. Simply look at their face. Fawns have that short young face. Another reason why I pass them up. You' ll only average around 18lbs of total meat after butchering a fawn. Why bother I say, let them grow another yr, and at least get some more venison off them.

RE: QDM/button bucks
 

yes i would let it pass I must admit when i first started out i shot a few bb' s but after a few years of hunting i would let it pass now