This is what happens when you let them grow!!!
 

So I had this guy we call superwide within 15 yards twice last year and while it would have been the widest buck I've ever shot and would have looked good on the wall I had to let him grow.

He made it through the winter and is still running around my land, I think I might have to try to harvest him if I have the chance.

Last year in velvet and end of season.





This year in velvet

Nice. Most people's motto is "If I don't shoot him, someone else will" and that's a simplistic and morbid view of the situation. More often than we realize, others may pass as well.

Looks like a pretty good buck. Might be a good year to put him on the wall, looks like he didn't out many inches on over the last year. Good Luck!

nice deer, but I don't see why letting that buck grow is a big deal.

If raising deer is a thrill so be it, but there are 300" deer to be had if letting them grow is the game.

Letting them grow is the game for quality deer management.

Continue with your brown it's down game and enjoy

Unfortunately, the simplistic view is often reality. We experienced that with a LARGE 3 year old with a nice 10 point rack last year that we were hoping would reach 4 or 5 and be a monster. Neighbor shot it and was so excited to see a decent buck he shot it poorly and lost it. Found it after the coyotes got it.

Well my house is a firm believer of pass little bucks Son passed 3 little bucks and about 20 does last year to end up shooting his 150" 12 point. Sons 11 yrs old I'd say I'm doing something right there.

I'm not saying it's wrong one way or the other.

If you want deer meat and have an over population of hunters verse deer, then there never will be a quality herd to manage and select from.

If you can as well as people around you use QDM, it only reaps benefits and not hurt you.

People around us use it, it works well. We typically have a few 150+ and usually at least one booner shot in our valley evey year. Also have a lot of nice ones on cam that we only get once or twice on cam and never hear about someone shooting it.

Good move in letting it go. I don't get to hunt near as much as I used to but I'd rather hang one on the wall every few years then shoot a basket rack every year.

Only by some. And less than you think. Bottom line is you can join them or do your part to fight it. I choose to let young deer pass and hope someone else doesn't "Brown, its down" it.

It doesn't matter how many I may think it is. I am sure it is circumstantial, however. I live in the region of weekend warriors from the DFW area and a LOT of those people are going to be shooting anything legal come opening day. The same has been reported by friends from other areas as well.

So regardless of how often I think it happens, it happens plenty often where I am and happens similarly in similar areas that enjoy the exodus from the big cities each year.

And it is a hope. You can't protect them if they aren't on your property. You can only do what you can do.

Even with the heavy hunted areas, people who don't shoot everything they see and do let them walk are still out there looking for a trophy.

THERES A REASON THE BIG ONES GET BIG.

I'd rather be a trophy hunter than shoot 5 does. I'm old school and I eat the horns! Sorry if I opened up a can of worms...lol

what a bone head. I've taken bigger deer and did nothing to help them grow. I have raised animals though, last hog was prime weight.

Carry on farming deer, you'll get some good ones some day but not from that stock.

How am I a bone head by passing on a deer to let him get bigger when he was a 2 1/2 with a 24 inch inside spread?

I never said he was a booner or a monster. I pointed out how letting him grow another year, and not shooting him to win the bow buck contest for 250 bucks, let him get wiser, moreass and taller tines.

Get eat your pork and play with your little stock of deer. I'm in prime whitetail country where a booner is shot in our valley each year and many bucks over 150 inches.

Answer one question.

Are you part of the group that shoots because if you dont someone else will?

You're either part of the solution or part of the problem. You get to decide.

If more people would take does the quality of the deer herd would increase while thinning at the same time. I'll shoot a doe before a basket 8 any day of the hunting season but I can't knock those that don't prescribe to this mentality.

You don't know me from nobody, but for some bone headed reason you think you do.

Maybe you didn't read it right----300" deer. Guy in Indiana raises them, look just like the Beaty buck. !50's are not all that and more. Last year I got a 250 pound doe, deer round here can reach 400 pounds. Last 2 bucks I took pushed 300, one an 18 and one a 9.

If it gives you a boost to tell people you don't know what a great hunter you are for passing on bucks have at it, no one cares.

There is no prime country anymore, way too many does have been shot, populations have dropped in several states to the tune of 3,000,000 less deer and due in part to bone heads who think qdm is killing off the breeders. Get a clue, it takes breeders to raise bucks and only people who want show animals remove the competition for food from the stock to grow that one special animal. Doesn't work if there isn't a re-supply stock to draw from.

This idea has led to a drastic decrease in the deer herd which the state has allowed simply because the people who benefit are large political supporters.

In Ohio last year the harvest was down 70,000 deer. That's 7 million pounds of deer that didn't find there way into hunters hands. Even at half that 3,500,000 pounds of venison didn't find there way onto hunters tables. I'm all for shooting does when the herd can bounce back. States are well past being able to bounce back and I'm too old to go back to the good ole days when seeing a track was a big deal.

Wow, good for you and supporting deer breeders who sell them for 20,000 to some rich folk who gets to hunt on a farm with 10 foot fences.

All I did was show how a nice looking deer was passed on and how he grew up. All wild all natural.

You keep throwing out these weights and inches thinking they are interchangeable, they are not.

My area of hunting is just fine and not hurting by having 3 million less deer... There are plenty of deer where we hunt and we plant food for them to survive.

Just go and leave the thread since you have twisted it so far fr what it is.

Did the right thing by passing Golfpro. I'm in the same/similar area. Deer herd is healthy and balanced thanks to many hunters like yourself. Good ratio of doe:bucks because people aren't too macho to take a doe rather than a forkhorn. Lot's of very nice 3 1/2's and up for those looking for a nice trophy. And even if you pass on a buck and someone else shoots it, well there's probably a 1 1/2 year old that he won't be shooting, so it will get a chance at another year.
People like you help make hunting not only better for yourself, but for others. Good work, keep it up. Never mind the cavemen who can't progress past the toddler "mine, mine, mine" stage. Those types are becoming fewer and fewer.

We shoot maybe 3 out of 20-30 bucks on our property each year. So, we basically "pass" on 27 a year. We shoot whatever buck we have a chance at and that deer's father, son and brother will still grow another year.

Could you expand on your philosophy a bit? If you shoot the first buck you get a chance to shoot, does that mean you saw 27 before him but couldn't shoot?
Do you shoot a spike because it is the first buck you have a chance at? how many guys and what size property are you referring to? Sounds like three guys.

To "pass" something you have to be given the opportunity to take it.
If you haven't seen them, you haven't passed them.
If you haven't allowed something to live based on your choice, not lack of opportunity, you haven't passed them.
If you shoot the first male deer to come through, that's nearly the same as a "brown and downer."

Yeah, I guess that's why I asked. Perhaps .308 didn't word things the way he meant, or perhaps that's exactly what he meant.
I like your explanation.
I'm also not a fan of the "Don't pass on your first day what you would shoot on your last day". All that means is that you already have it in your mind that you will shoot a smaller animal later in the hunt, and therefore not sticking to your "1st day" standards. Why have standards at all if you aren't going to follow them?

What I mean is, we hunt on 3000 acres of overgrown clear cut. Between sightings and trail cam pictures, we see at least 30 bucks a year. Despite our best efforts, our harvest numbers are very low and about 95% of our deer survive every year.

So, basically, we could harvest any buck we wanted and 90% of the buck would still get a year older. And those are just the bucks that we know about.

Another way to put it: we don't have the harvest numbers to make any impact on a herd so QDM or brown/down would have the same effect. Like swatting 1 mosquito in Canada.

We have a 3 point a side antler restriction so there is no shooting spikes. But, if we killed 3 spikes out of the probably 50 bucks running around the mountain, there would be no noticable effect on the quality of the herd.

Gotcha. Yeah, that makes sense then.
Reminds me of a group I occasionally hunt with in Northern MN. About 10,000 acres to hunt. They do deer drives, each section gets hit once per season. It's very thick and not many guys, not many deer are harvested (especially older bucks) as they stay put or slip back behind the drivers.
Different hunting tactics would probably help them do better, but they all seem to like the exercise and social aspects of the way they do it. Getting deer seems secondary to most of them.

That right there is the difference between a trophy hunter and a grocery hunter.
Myself I'd shoot any 8 point before a doe any day, any time, anywhere......

So you must equate yourself to being a trophy hunter then?? Because shooting a doe will fill a tag and the freezer just as well as shooting a tiny 8 point. Not sure what you meant by your post.
Perhaps you could define your philosophy better?

I would rather shoot a small 8-pointer than a doe, too. I think they're way cooler looking and you can still eat them. Kind of like a cockbird pheasant. You can eat a hen, but most guys would take the rooster, even if he's not 6.5 years old. :D

most guys would take the male pheasant because most places it's the law. Shooting one is no more difficult than shooting a hen. both taste the same. Difference with a buck is that it will never get any bigger when you shoot it small. Therefore, I don't see the point in shooting that small buck (there are exceptions, ie first buck, kids, population control, law etc.) So many guys on here complain about never seeing any big bucks, yet will shoot the first small buck to cross their path. It just don't add up. That's like telling a 4th grader not to play basketball because he isn't tall enough. Nobody knows how tall he might get once he matures.

If you only have one buck on your property, and you shoot him young. You will not see a big buck. If you have 30 bucks on your property and you shoot one young one. There are still 29 that can grow and you can still see big bucks. Depends on pressure and how many bucks are shot. Young bucks get hit by cars, too.

Yes, as you've mentioned, you seem to have plenty of bucks and perhaps have no need or interest in being selective. My guess is that you also have plenty (too many?) doe as well that could be harvested.
My comments are pointed more at the guys who want (complain) bigger bucks, yet shoot them at 1 1/2 years of age. Some guys have been saying, and doing the same thing for years. Repeat history.

We have private property that is jointly owned by several people. About 3500 acres that is surrounded by about 100,000 acres of state game land and state park land. We are in an association and maybe about 20 people hunt. Maybe 10 bowhunters, at the most. A majority of that 3500 acres is overgrown clear cut. Just seeing a deer is tough in those conditions. But, the trail cameras and spotting our 3 fields and orchard, tell us that there are tons of deer and lots of bucks. In PA, we get one buck a year and a doe tag is lottery draw. Not much you can do there to control a herd.

I have passed up small bucks in the past. Usually that ends up being the only buck I see that year. :D

Every choice you make controls the herd. This is the same argument as "I don't vote because it doesn't make a difference" All those votes together make a difference. Same thing here. No matter if you have 30 bucks or 3000.

I may not see a legal buck for several years. I'm not making a huge impact on several thousand acres. Seriously, there are about 6 bucks total killed on these 3500 acres a year. If this was heavily hunted SGL and multiple hunters got chances at multiple young bucks every year, then yes, I would agree. 90% of our bucks die of old age no matter what we shoot. Not enough hunters and a low hunter success rate for those few hunters means very low impact on herd.

You may not see a legal buck for years?

Bucks are dieing of old age?

Seems contradictory. Do they live in caves? Or are you and your 19 friends (10 bowhunters) just that bad of hunters?

Thousands of acres of overgrown clear cut. Visibility is about 20 yards throughout most of the property. Yes, it's tough to see anything. We put stands in the small clearings and hope to get them crossing through. If the bucks want, they can bed and feed all day without leaving the clear cuts. At night we see them in the fields or in our backyards. Trail cams get them. But we don't look across a valley of mature timber and see deer walking by.

I can see lots of deer in the evenings in the fields. Mostly doe and small bucks. Mature bucks come out late at night. Some of the daylight bucks are legal, some are forks and spikes. They are often out of bow range.

They die of old age because nobody sees them. Does that make more sense?

The last buck I shot was a 236lb eight-pointer with a 23 inch spread. Rattled it in and shot it from the ground with a bow. I think I know how to hunt. Plus, I live 2.5 hours from my hunting land and can only get up there once a month in the off-season. And the times I am up, it's usually with the family so I'm not off in the woods.

With all that being said, I spent all my time hunting with my son, guiding him from 6 years old to now 12 years old and he has shot 7 deer by my side in those years.

I am not a bad hunter. I hunt in an area that is vast and overgrown and hunting is very tough there.

While I agree with you on the deer management and letting them grow. On public land where I do all my hunting not all hunters feel the same way. Any legal buck is fair game. So it's either shoot or eat tag soup. Luckily I have been fortunate enough to be the only bow hunter in this little honey hole I found and I tend to be selective (at least until the last week of archery) and have shot 6 decent buck in the past 7 years.