hawgdawg

Last weekend I took my wifes 14 year old out to make a morning hunt. We have talked a lot about management and he rreally made me proud. About 8AM a small 4 pt. buck came within 20 yard of him (he was hunting off ground) and he watched him for about 10 minutes and let him pass. About 15 minutes later we heard a shot and another fellow had killed this same deer. After all that he said he should have taken the deer or someone else would. I just told him he did the right thing and that some folks are not thinking about good management practices.

Do you think I was correct? This young man has never killed a deer and I know it took a lot of self restraint to hold off.

justhrowit

Same thing happened to me this year.


I passed on a fork horn that crossed me at 20-30 yards about 4 times. I was' nt sure if I wanted to or not!!!!!! I finally decided not to, even though it would have been my first buck with bow....


Well, another guy shot him that night. Looking back....I would have made the same decision today.


J

Krotalus

You guys made the right decision. There was no way that you could have known the other hunter was there and going to shoot it.

GR8atta2d

I' ll disagree

I don' t know your hunting area or the average rack size or number of deer per acre, but still, a new hunter, age 14, let him tag a legal buck 1st before worrying about quality management

PABowhntr

I think that practicing this type of deer management is an individual choice. There are so many conflicting theories as to " proper management" that it becomes difficult to sort on theory from the next. If you and your son talked about and you both agree that harvesting small bucks in your area would be contradictory to what you believe good deer management is then he definitely did the right thing and you should definitely be proud of him.

Five Minute Willie

On one level, I agree with Badatta2d. Let the youngster fill his tag before he goes long enough without scoring that he loses interest in the sport.

On another level I think that habits must be practiced early on. Or he' ll take any buck each year regardless of management practices. Only you know the kid well enough to know what' s best for him. You wouldn' t get an argument from this group either way.

DaveH

Personally, I always pass on young deer in general--and young bucks in particular. However, I didn' t impose my personal standards on my 14 year old son when he went bowhunting with me for his first. I did encourage him to pass on truly small deer, which I saw him do the very first evening. He was rewarded with his first shot which was a 128" P&Y buck. The standards don' t have to be high, but fawns should always be given a pass IMO.

DaveH

Sorry, accidental post

adams

HD, I feel your pain. I certainly commend the kid for letting it pass, unfourtnately the woods aren' t always full of sportsman. People shoot virtually every deer with antlers no matter the size in the aera I hunt and then complain that they don' t see any good bucks. Well go figure. I' d like to see Maine(the state I hunt) got to a size limit on bucks simillar to PA(I think PA. bucks must be 6 points to be legal, Correct me if I' m wrong). You are doing a fine job of molding not only a hunter but a SPORTSMAN as well and I take my hat off to both of you. It' s too bad they don' t teach these vaules in hunters safety.
They say what goes around, comes around and I hope Mr. P&Y shows him self for the boy soon. Anyway both you and the boy should be proud. I believe you did the right thing.

Rack-attack

I am sorry but I think you did the wrong thing.

IMO you took away a great trophy for a 14 year old - a deer to be very proud of.

I understand your intentions - but let him - with your guidance - take the necessary steps to become the hunter you want him to be.

I just think you passed on a having a great memory with your son - for no real good reason.

Let him get his feet wet - let him learn through real experience - and i am sure as he matures he will not let you down