I would have to let him walk...

I am shooting the spike not because I have to fill a tag but simply because I want the meat plus if its the last day in Illinois that means its mid-January and in mid-January I'd definitely be shooting 2-3 deer by shooting a doe. So there is a very good chance I'll be shooting a buck that has yet to be born............so whats the difference between shooting a spike buck or an unborn buck?

Just throwing a wrinkle in there.

I wouldnt even wait till the last 15min. Im picky from opening day of bow, till the end of the 1st week of gun season , after that, any brown (or black), legal hunk of meat walking around, is freezer bound. Sure I get pleasure from hanging a bigger rack on the wall, but I also get pleasure from serving my family pure protien that I hunted, killed and butchered myself.

I also dont think "you have to kill to have hunted" but I also dont think you have to only seek mature big rack bucks to have hunted either.

I killed a nice rutted up ,mature 6pt in nov. during bow season, in woods w/ very little pressure. That was awesome, but ya know, I consider my public land 4pt w/ my ML while stalking ,last monday an even bigger "trophy" cause a heck of a lot more work went into killing that buck and to be honest, was even more fun!

To me its not the size of the rack, its the size of the hunt that matters.

tag soup for me

I am going to shoot the spike. I know there is data to prove me wrong (this is a case of don't confuse me with the facts, my mind is already made up) but I still don't think the likelhood of a spike ever amounting to a "shooter" is very high. And if I haven't had a shot opportunity on a doe, then maybe a doe is the last thing to be shooting in this particular area anyway.

And now I am reading more into this Tony than you asked, but if it is my own area, there are way too many spikes and forkies walking around anyway. (maybe due to overpopulation)?

I am seriously considering shooting one with myremaining buck tag towards the end of my season if presented a shot as part of our herd reduction program. Granted, this would not be as good asshooting a doe, but for some reason that spike is a little easier to shoot than that mature doe and weare sill needing to get numbersdown.

I've passed on some spikes this year, but I did kill a BB early, so I'd shoot if I had no deer yet.

I'm shooting. I got to have my venison. Luckily, I don't usually have to worry about it because I've shot something better or a big fat doe or something. I burned 2 tags this year because I didn't need any more meat. I'll try to whack a doe in early season next year with the antlerless tag and the pressure is off... then I can just hunt to hunt. I burned my buck tag for firearms this year. Shooting a buck in Ohio with the bow and one with the bow here filled my freezer. A 200 pound deer puts a lot of meat on ice.

Sheesh, you need to get a bigger freezer, David.

I'm shooting as well.

I voted tag soup but it would be awfully hard not to give him a arrow, especially if there isn't a doe in the freezer.