buckeye

I personally do not or will not shoot a buck that I won't have mounted. That goes for out of state hunting as well, not just at home.

It wouldn't matter if it was the last evening of bow season and I had an unfilled tag and had a big 2 1/2 year old 20 yards broadside. He would live to see another year.

Case in point, my last 4 bucks are on the wall. Well 3, I am still waiting on the 4th to come back.

What about you guys??

Rangeball

Yes. Mounting's not for everyone. That said, I am reall picky about what bucks I'll shoot with what weapon. I had a really nice 10 that hung up just out of range with my bow that I couldn't get a shot at, but would have if offered. I let a similar sized 8 walk by at 20 yards with my shotgun.

The only thing I'd probably spring for mounting is a really big deer. Others will get the skull mount treatment, or left to walk to reach mountable status...

Gryan

Of course. I have over sixty racks on my wall in my garage. Deer killed over thirty year of hunting with a bow, shotgun, and muzzleloader. My son is amazed that I can stand there and tell him the story of all of them. Well almost. There is one that i just can't figure out at all no matter how long I stare at it. I will though.

Sometimes and on some property I shoot the first legal deer to come through. Other times, like this year, I wait for the biggun. Case in point, the big nine pointer that my buddy and I are after. We have both passed many bucks waiting for him. Then on another day, I hunted another piece of property and took a nice basket seven pointer. Great hunt, great story, fantastic memory and man was I pumped. It depends on a lot of things but rack size is not that big a deal. Of course I'd like the big ones - just not my main priority.

Greg

cardeer

Boy ,what in the world would I do or be able to afford a life time of nice bucks made in to mounts?????????? I mounted my first 150 plus buck .cause thought I would not ever get anything better.Well 23 years later I have a shed full of antlers like that and bigger. To be honest I rather shoot doe anymore at my old age. they all taste the same

Greavous

I shoot bucks and doe for food and the antlers are only a byproduct of the harvest. I know there are those who only are interested in the antlers and need them on the wall to feel successful/macho but it is the meat that is precious not the antlers guys.

benhuntin

I personally wont shoot a buck that I dont intend to EAT.
Im growing more and more concerned that new young hunters are being told that shooting a young buck is not good.
I proudly display all my buck antlers, whether they are spikes on my shop door or a small 6 pt. on a plaque in my den.
Each to their own, but I think this prevalent big rack trophy mentality is turning alot of youngsters away from hunting.

Blodg

Well I don't know if I will mount every single buck I kill, but I do limit myself to only shooting bucks at least 3 1/2 years or older. These are typically in the 130+ range for the area I hunt. Of course it has not always been that way and I used to take a 1 1/2 year old buck on the last day before gun season but quit doing that about 10 years ago.

I did run into a dilemma from this though. I went 4 years in a row without taking a deer at all because I was being selective and waiting for a mature buck. I have no problem going without a deer but my problem developed when I decided I might be getting rusty from going so long without taking a deer. So I decided to take a shot at a doe at 22 yards and missed! This really started my mind twirling because all I could think of was how I had spent all this time on stand waiting for a nice buck and how I may have missed him if the opportunity had presented itself. Now of course I was still practicing and was an excellent shot, but there is a lot that goes into staying calm and picking a spot on a live animal. Anyways I decided that I don't want to go more than 2 years without shooting something. I now go for a doe for the meat and also to stay in practice of shooting at a live animal. Back then I was the only one in my family eating the deer meat but now my wife and kids are eating it as well so I am killing 3 birds with 1 stone (meat, staying in practice, and QDM). And I will say that this year the does have eluded me so far. I have passed shots on 1 1/2 and 2 1/2 year old bucks and several yearlings but was busted by a few mature does. I will say those mature does are some wary creatures and can be as difficult to kill as a mature buck (or more).

Sorry for getting a little off topic but I was curious how other hunters who are selective deal with this.

rybohunter

yes, sometimes funds just don't allow it, and my house isn't that big to keep mounting every one. It still may be a real nice buck, so those i'll do a homemade skull mount for.

Handles

I'm lucky to have a 160 buck mounted on the wall. He isn't mine, but was shot by my grandpa in the early 70's. I have four racks that I feel deserve a plaque, all around 110-130, each one a little bigger than the last. I still haven't gotten one that is close enough to grandpa's to deserve a full head mount.

By the way, I can't stand it when people hold off on a small buck on one property (often their own property), and blast away at them elsewhere (ususally someone else's land). If you have a standard in one area, stick with it all the time.

Thats like telling your child to earn A's at school, except in some classes, where it isn't important.

RiverBottomBowHunter

I have a wall of fame in my shed. I've hunted for 13 years and bow hunted for 10. I've managed to kill a buck every year. Every buck is special. Not all are mounted. In fact I have had 3 mounted and the fourth one is on the way. I have 2 130 class deer that I shot with a gun not mounted. But I sent off my last bowkill to get mounted and he was smaller, but a lot more special. I say to each is own.