In the early bow season (Sept) of 2001,I was hunting one of my favorite spots and saw a big bodied forked 4pt. with two brow tines.He passed my stand at about 18 yards and I noticed two things about him.First thing was that his rack was very thick and heavy,and he had a grey "collar"with a different shape to it.I let him go by,looking to the future.Saw him again,several times in the late bow season.Last year,just before the rut,I got a good look at him,and he had matured into a nice 8pt,and he got a bit smarter,cause thats the only time I saw him last year.This property has a good deer population,so you don't have to kill the small bucks,just to fill a tag.This paid off,because on 12/09/03,I harvested him,heavy,thick racked 9pt.that dressed out at 167lbs.I'll always remember watching him grow up,and being thankful for that.To me,this is what hunting is all about.Happy Holidays...Bob

Congradulations. It's not often that one can ID a deer from year to year and watch them grow. I am surprised that it was a heavy antler yearling.

congrats! Thants pretty cool that you got to see him grow up and mature into a nice buck, then harvest him.

Congratulations. That definitely takes some patience, a keen eye and a good bit of thoughtful planning.

I do the same thing...watching the little bucks turn into big ones. The big difference is that I am not good enough to get even the little ones into range....

Yea, young deer should be allowed to age.

I am currently on a lease that is part of a 50k acre parsial managed by one biologest. What the biologest says is the way all 50k acres is managed. He usually allows one trophy (8pt or better), one cull (I have always thought a cull should be shot with no limit), and one doe. That means if I let the fork pass, everyone in 50k acres will let it pass. I will have a good chance of seeing him when mature. One of the benefets of leases (there are many drawbacks).

Trestand .. that is a pretty cool story. I agree with you that passing up young bucks is the right thing to do for people of our like minds.

To be honest though, if that young forker walked by my 19 year old brother .. he would have shot it if it was legal to do so and it would have meant as much .. no, probably more to him being his first buck as it did to you as a 9 pointer 3 years down the road. The problem with making statements like "Let the young bucks grow up!" is they only apply to people like you and I who may be pursuing a different deer than some of our other hunting brothers. It is perfectly ok with me to try and convince the rest of the world that your beliefs in deer management are the right ones .. but please don't get frustrated with or hostile towards others who hunt for very different reasons than you and who would truly appreciate that young forker as much as you did when he was a 9 pointer.

MA JAY, Well said, I agree with you completely!

Ditto

Hunters like myself who just like to harvest trophies are a small %age of hunters. I hold nothing against those who harvest younger bucks, does, etc.. That just happens to be their choice. I realize that it is my choice, alone, to only harvest mature trophies that I have watched grow over the years. It's akin to hunting for one of those Hussein boys. It does not happen very often but when you do you know you have nailed one bad boy! The risk are great but oh those moments!

Hey guys,I'm not taking any kind of stand when it comes to what deer people harvest.I'm lucky in respect that I hunt private land,and I'm the only one hunting it.Sure,meat is meat,and if thats what your after,thats ok.Lord knows I've killed my share of young bucks.Some of the properties I hunt,the landowners just want the deer thinned out.I've been hunting over 30 years,and my first buck was spike,and man was I proud of that.All in all,every deer is a trophy in regards to the skill of the hunt,just be grateful for the oppertunity...Bob