early in

There's alot of truth to that. I LOVE that squint that a mature buck has. I think it looks bad ass! It's almost a "don't even think about it" look.

Germ

There is one on my wall, Huntinson seen it. The rack does not even break 100, ask him what he thought when I showed him the picture

TX_Hoghunter

I have to agree with a lot of what HuntingBry has said. Its a lot easier for me to pass up a 3 1/2 year old because I know that I will see another one the next time I sit down. In his post he said something about seeing 7 deer that are 3 1/2 in a year. I will have at least one and probably several when I see that many in a day.

-john

GMMAT

Good for you, man......that is awesome.

fletch920

"Who" "cares", hunt for yourself. If someone elses legal hunting methods "rub" you the wrong way you either have too much time on your hands, or you are hunting for the wrong reasons.If I say I will only shoot 7 year old Booner's with double throat patches than so be it. If another type of deer catches my interest on a particular day, so be it. Who cares? I dont understand how any of that could ever cause a moments concern to anyone but me.

jackflap

Rub the wrong way wouldn't be the way I describe it, but it does tend to get old.

The "defensive" attitiudes and convictions in trying to sell this concept is what I findfascinating from a philosophical point of view. It just ain't likely to happen with the masses.

It is like trying to compare thechampion feather weight boxer to a champion heavy weight. The feather weight may have trained twice as hard and be three times more 'sound" mechanically in his skills, and may be the absolute "best" in his woods, but in most circles, he will never get the accolades that the heavy weight champion is going to get. Right or wrong, that is how the world operates.

Sames as a smaller Division II football player. How many times have we all heard references about a certain DII player that go like "Pound for pound, _______ is the hardest hitting player I have ever seen." This may be a true assessment, but the kid still won't be playing in the Rose Bowl come New Years.

Sliverflicker

Jeff, I can only say that I would take a big rack over a worn jawbone any day in any state. Not being smartazz, just the way it is.
Some of us see a big deers rack as a form of art by nature.
I have never seen a deer jawbone collection on anyones walls, even in Florida.

Try this next Whitetail Deer show you go to, Take the jawbone from the 4 1/2 year old you taged and start showing it to people and tell them what a trophy it was without a picture and see what reaction you get, they will be pushing people out of the way to get away from you.

Its all about how much bone is one their head (allways has been, allways will be), and to most, has nothing to do with how old they are.

hillbillyhunter1

I'd say you're easily "fascinated". Perhaps you should buy yourself a slinky (It walks down stairs alone or in pairs)

gzg38b

How do you tell a 3.5 year old from a 4.5 year old? That's a pretty tough distinction to make in the field under hunting conditions.

GMMAT

I don't begrudge anyone their view on this, Sliver.

We all know it's more than a "jawbone", though. What if you'd only shot 2.5yr old 130" deer? You sure couldn't claim to be a "mature" buck hunter, could you? But the guy shooting the 100"'ers with the "jawbones" might could.

It's only a different mindset. Never said one was right.

Hey don't take this the wrong way....because it isn't intended to say anything about you.....but the more I hunt deer.....the more I find I respect the guys who DO put age structure before " of antler. It may very well be because of where I'm from. I don't know. But I think someone else said that it won't always be the popular view. That's OK.

Thanks for the reply.

And Hillbilly.....Don't make fun of me because I can read and write. It's not becoming