If you want to shoot for meat, more power to you. What I've come to realize in my years of hunting is that shooting a mature buck is extremely challenging, which is why shooting a mature buck is my goal each year. I hunt a pretty marginal tract of land in central Wisconsin and have watched a lot of 1-2 year old bucks dance around under my stand the past couple of years-- there's value in watching those animals. I'm just not interested in shooting them.

Some of my most memorable Hunts are ones in which I never drew my Bow!:guiness:

Dan

Now just how do you think this area gets to become "the heart of big buck country"??? I can assure you,.... it's NOT because we kill all of our up and coming young bucks! That is my point... once you can get area hunters to allow the immature animals to pass... good things happen. If more people would do this.... they wouldn't be willing to pay so much to hunt someplace else that tries to keep the lil' bucks alive! LOL !

YOU are the one that wanted to play the numbers and score game and thump your chest a bit... not I. I've only stressed allowing the young bucks to live past that critical first season. I've also mentioned that this "meat hunter" claim is a bunch of bullcrap and surely isn't an excuse to kill everything with antlers! I shoot as many or more Does every season as any other "meat hunter" so I think I'm qualified to call myself a meat hunter then to..... aren't I ? LOL! I think I made for pretty valid, easy to understand points thus far.

I will make NO apologies for living and hunting in the heart of Illinois, however...... you're missing a major point! Just because I'm located here in west-central IL doesn't exactly mean there are monster bucks behind evey tree. There are many areas and regions here that just won't produce many "big" bucks simply because no one will let their smaller bucks live past 2 1/2! It takes effort... no matter where you live. Just becaus you live hee doesn't mean monster bucks with some magical death wish suddenly stand in front of you! What it does mean is that our deer are gentically blessed to grow to awesome sizes WHEN THEY SURVIVE to maturity..... they aren't born giants! They must be passed on as 1 1/2 and 2 1/2 animals to reach this "big buck" status that you seem to think makes yourself a macho man when you kill one ..... get the picture ?!?

Letting the 18 month old, yearling bucks, pass has absolutely NOTHING to do with where I live..... it happens the SAME way everywhere whitetail live. Let 'em go and they WILL GROW... get it? I have never said that a buck has to score "X" number of inches, he just needs to get a little older. I don't care what he scores.... just let 'em live past his very first season that he carries head gear! Like I said, it's time to start holding hunters responsible for the choices they make out there.

Don't act like I'm the enemy and live in some magical kingdom simply because my people are willing to sacrifice more than yours are! We all have the same ops t pass on young bucks evry season.... regardless of what state you live. Deer numbers have never been higher so why no focus on killing some Does and let a young buck of two walk?

Oh, and for the record.... BOTH of my young sons, ages 9 & 10, took their first Bucks this season... guess what they were.... 2 yearling Bucks, one Spike and the other a 4 pointer! I couldn't have been more proud of them.... however, even at their young age they already want to raise the bar! LOL!

I just can't believe that hunters in their 30's, 40's and 50's wouldn't be able to see the light. Man, how boring would that be, to go ot and shoot the most naive and easily killed deer in the entire herd.... every year without wanting to make it more? Maybe it's just the fact that many feel that they need to hurry and kill the first yearling buck they see, that way they can hurry back to the local tavern and brag to everyone that they got their "buck"! SAD state of affairs if you ask me!

I did want to add one more thing. For the record, I'm NOT an OUTFITTER! I do own a small farm but hunt a series of farms owned by friends, several of which I've helped start bowhunting. I've found that through some hard work and a little patience I've been able to open these doors and now have a network of quality managed properties to hunt. It also seems that these guys are MUCH more opened to QDM, despite being fairly new to the sport. I'm convinced that landowners just simply care more about the land and it's animals.... and it's making a difference! I know it sure doesn't seem like I've had to twist to many of their arms not to shoot the immature bucks. They generally respond, "Who would want to" ? LOL!

I guess the part of QDM that leaves a bad taste in my mouth is the proponents come across, and almost braggadocios about comparing the shooting of one small buck to the killing of every doe that passes within bow range.

Half of a deers genetics come from the doe, as do next years fawns.

I just wonder if passion for horns has led to such limited hunter access that the few whom are left to hunt feel the need to kill all but the most desirable.

I feel very lucky to hunt without the need to kill all but the ones that show the very genetics that I find desirable.:patriot:

Buy land and treat it as you like, and grant others the same consideration.:cool2:

for me its a feeling i get when up in the stand if i want to shoot or not shoot a deer is just a deer.i aint getting paid for it im just out to have a good time in the woods.have no mounts really dont want any yet

a yearling is right up there in stupidity with a mature buck trailing a doe, he traded in his smarts for some splittail, but im not out to make my winter hobby challenging i just want to enjoy myself.

a young buck around here weighs what a good doe weighs, if not more, so that just means more meat.i do usually pass on young bucks most of the time and am very happy to kill does 4 or 5 a year but i will stand up for the hunters who want to shoot whatever makes them happy.

I'm surpised you didn't pistol-whip your kids for shooting such "immature stupid yearlings" that they did, I mean you basically do the same thing on here all the time.. But I guess that you can put down the people on here but its okay for your own kin to do what you so strongly preach against... And once again, I DO PASS ON SMALL BUCKS, a ton of them actually and i have many trophies to my credit!!! BUT I feel it completely wrong to spit on the hunters that do kill what they want, let them kill what they want and be happy with their success.. Just like your kids were when they shot their small bucks.. If only they knew how much of hypocrite their father is, man-o-man.. And if a person wants to go down to the local tavern and have a few with friends and brag about their buck (no matter the size) I say good for them, **** if I was there I would buy them one maybe even two!! WHY, becuase I'm an outdoorsman and can appreciate someone's effort in the woods!!!

buck-i---Thanks, I wish more people would appreciate what hunting is all about!! Maybe cornfed can pull that comb out of his ass one of these days!!!

buck
 

I just don't see the fun in shooting a spike.....? I mean its a buck but is it really a buck? I guess when I hear the word buck it means large male deer that has BIG horns...

Once again, another one of your desperate attempts to contribute some sort of rant and ramble without actually getting what I've said all along! Do I have to go through and quote myself to you? I've said many, many times that for someone first few deer or a Youths first deer, by ALL MEANS shoot 'em up. It's the experience needed that will build the platform for hunting, shooting and tracking ability in their future! My problem lies in the guys that bitch and whine about no big bucks where they are and on and on and on! I challenge the notion that any hunter with experiece would possibly need to kill a yearling buck? Why do so and then get in arguments with folks that everyone shoots all their bucks and that they just don't have the big bucks like other regions do.....huummmm, I wonder why? Are you getting any of this yet? Duuuhhh, perhaps you're a bit to thick-headed to contribute to this "debate"?

My Daughter is 14 and has hunted for several years longer than her lil' brothers..... she seems to be cool with "setting goals" and trying to get more from the entire hunting experience each year! She already enjoys, and seems content, in simply watching smaller immature deer and their antics instead of killing everything she sees. Oh and guess what.... her first 2 bucks were both yearling bucks... great experiences!





She didn't get a buck this season, she did fill a couple Doe tags however. What was important to me is that she didn't feel the need to kill a lesser buck.... just to brag about shooting a buck! Overall she said it was her best season.... not judged on the deer she killed, but simply by remembering the lesser bucks she got to spend time watching and learning from.

Everyone is different...nothing right or wrong with it. My grandpa for example may hunt for a week straight and pass on several deer but when he is ready to go home he shoots the first legal thing that passes...and is as happy as can be. He loves hunting and killing. Me on the other hand am a little more patient and just as happy. 2 different people, with 2 different motives. I just hope that I have the same thrill that he does when im 75 years old. And by the way when he started hunting there were very few deer here and you were only allowed to shoot bucks...and a buck with only 1 horn was the same a 10 point. It has taken me 6 years of talking to and convincing, but he finally shot his first doe last year and shot another one this year. I mean he takes lots of pictures and is just flat out pumped about anything that he shoots. So I will never take that away from him.