Well..... the one in the back may be more tender on the plate next to the potatoes but I think I'll go for the one in the foreground, I can put him in the crock pot if he is tough. I am sure if I bag him he'll taste just as good as any I've taken.


Thanks guys for your input! I got to thinking today... We can't hunt sundays here in Pa so in reality I will be hunting all day saturday,Mon, tues and wed or I could go sat, mon, tues, friday and saturday. Probably will be more guys out the second weekend rather than tuesday and wednesday and pushing deer around more. I think I may do that instead.

Good luck, that is a very good buck!

I guess I go a little bit opposite of you. I love to hunt the first day, then I don't normally hunt my piece of ground for the next 3 weeks. it's hell to wait, but the land around me gets pressured, so the more I am out of mine, the more it becomes a safe zone with no foreign sights or sounds. 4 straight days of hunting is a ton of pressure, and a ton of scent. Even the more scent control freak of a person is going to stink to a deer by the end of a day, when it will likely be very warm. If you hunt two days and don't see the action you want, I say you bail and let it be for a while. The less you pressure your piece, the more likely it will get used when the bucks are really on their feet. Also, if they are using your ground at night, it is tough to say where they are when you are on your way out. Huge risk in blowing that buck out of there as you are on your way out if he is making his way to the foodsources at dusk. Just my opinion, but i've become more frustrated than successful in the early season.

I see your point in every regard. I am torn because while I already considered everything you addressed I feel my best chance of seeing these buck during daylight during the early season will be the first couple days of the season and the 2nd saturday because that is when there will be more hunters in the woods bumping deer around. After that it will be strictly Rut hunting for me. Where I am hunting is 3/4 of a mile up the mountain right off an access road used by the country club. I will be parking in a lot next to their maintenance shed where a few workers park everyday. My walk to the stand is about 4 minutes from there, the shortest I ever walked to a stand in my life, but that is where I found the deer sign back in February. These deer hear people talking and golfing all day long. I watched a doe and a fawn eat right next to the road within 15 yds of my truck, I stopped and watched and they went right back to eating. I have never seen anything like this except in nature preserves where the deer are fed by people. The human scent issue still doesn't concern me like it would if I was hunting any of my other spots where the deer are being shot at or stalked. I think I am going to stick to my plan of sat, mon and tues then fri and sat, after that I won't be back until the rut starts to kick in.
Still... I appreciate your help! And I too have been disapointed more than not during the early season.