I would have let the 14 year old first timer shoot the little guy. But if he is happy about it and knows why to let it go, then you are helping to raise a mature hunter. The selfish side of me says " right idea." The more people who pass up little bucks the more bigger ones we will have a round. Maybe want to let the youngin shoot one and get it under his belt though.

Well... I think that letting him make his own decision on his first deer would be good... But also trying to manage a herd when others are just shooting anything is nearly impossible anyway... I mean it sounds like others around on the land don;t care, and that makes it real hard to pass deer unless you only have 1 tag or something... And youngers need to get into it... I Manage a farm we hunt on, but I am taking my GF' s son out this year... and I' ll probably let him shoot whatever, except a Button... Just for his first time...

Sounds like you imposed your standards on the young guy. Were your standards the same as they are today as when you were 14?? I doubt a 14 year old kid is so deep into QDM that he wants to watch deer after deer walk by. Maybe he does.......if so I apologize. Let the kid whack a deer.........he will be so excited that you will have to drag him out of the woods next time.........keep telling him that he can' t shoot and he will start to wonder what the point of going out is if he can' t shoot all the deer but everyone else can.

Think big picture with the little guy.

Besides, it sounds like the other hunters out by you have no interest in QDM so you are really just taking the deer from the kid and giving it to someone else. If no one else would shoot it either then I could understand a little more. I myself would rather see a young kid get a buck then anyone else.........and a 4 pt looks pretty darn big when your a little kid

Right or wrong who decides?

If the boy decided to let him walk then great. If it was his decision, then even better. I would ask him why he passed and let him know it is ok to take a legal deer and get some experience.

But most importantly with any young hunter is to keep them engaged and actively learning. I think coaching is ok but more importantly discussing hunts and teaching them is nearly as important as harvesting an animal. Let him shoot a legal one and pop his " hunting cherry" so to speak.

Hopefully he can get another chance at one. If he ain' t seeing them he won' t have a chance at harvesting one. If he isn' t seeing anything he will probably lose interest.

hawgdawg:

You are teaching the young man the right information and skills in the appropriate order. Does not sound like you laid a hard rule on him. You explained what you believed to be best for the management of the deer population, and he made his own decision. Nevertheless, until he learns more about taking wildlife, and eventually hunts using his own methods and ethics, there is absolutely nothing wrong with using your standards as an initial guideline.

Atlas: If he is being taught correctly, the young man will not wonder why he could not shoot the deer when someone else did. He may wonder why someone would shoot a deer that he would not. By being exposed to such experiences, he will learn that as long as an individual' s choices are legal, individual preferences will differ. In this case, maybe he learned that the other hunter may be a meat hunter, not a bone hunter, and that killing the 4-pnt did not devastate the population.

My belief is that you can' t make a wrong decision not to shoot, you can only make a bad decision shooting (and later wished you didn' t).

Much like the saying about air travel..." I' d rather be on the ground wishing I was up in the air than being up in the air and praying I was on the ground."

In this case, I can understand the disappointment, but if your main goal is to try to teach management you did the right thing.

On the other hand, a 14 year old may lose interest in hunting if he/she does not get a deer. That' s the last thing you want. He/She has the rest of their lives to practice management.

Not to knock anyones methods of hunting or raising children, But I think it would have been better for all if he had taken the deer. Next year when my son turns 14 it will be his choice also, and knowing my son he will opt to shoot and I hope his aim is true. He' s already hitting the bull' seye with my slug gun. Hope he gets another chance this season.

I would say, let him take the 4pt.(I know this is too late now though) But let him set the goal of not taking a buck smaller than a 4pt. the next time. At that age, goals are everything. He has shown that he has the ethics of hunting, which is great, but let him get his feet wet.
And kudos to you Hawgdawg for taking him hunting in the first place!!!![8D]

GET THAT KID A DEER when i got my first one i didnt care if it was a doe besides all states ned to get teh buck to doe ratio under control