Not part of either scenario I've given , but anyway , I'll pass on the road kill.

Any first year deer (6 months old)


Maybe that's what you meant by yearling..............if not, how do you figure a 1 1/2 yr old buck is easier to kill then a 6 month old?

Buckeye,


What kind of land do you hunt on?

Atlas

I hunt farm lands in NE Ohio.

1 1/2 year old yearling bucks are the most naive deer in the woods. They make more mistakes than the other sex or any other age class of deer. Yearling bucks are also very curious by nature.

Sure in most cases you will have a crack at a doe or fawn before a yearling buck. That is because does and fawns out number yearling bucks 5 to 1 or maybe even higher.

So, sure odds are you will see a doe and fawns before a yearling buck but nearly every doe is smarter and better at eluding hunters than a young buck. Does do a fine job of tending to their fawns.

Theoretically speaking say the deer ratio was 1 to 1 to 1. 1 doe and a fawn to 1 yearling buck.

I would be willing to bet the yearling buck would be the first to make a fatal mistake to a hunter.

Before getting back to my 2nd scenario I have a quick question for you Buckeye.

Do you currently practice QDM?

That explains a lot. The land you get to hunt is what shapes your views and opinions on deer and hunting. A yearling buck on land that has low or no hunting pressure will be a lot different then a yearling buck in the heavily hunted public battlefields. The buck on low pressure land may never have even seen a hunter yet or heard a shot from a gun........the buck in the battlefield probably has a few scrapes on him from close calls last year and had to run for his life numerous times. The buck on low pressure land can walk all over the place without a care in the world because even when he does make a mistake and happens by your stand it doesn't matter because nothing happens anyways............he doesn't know the difference between when he screwed up and when he didn't. The buck in the battlefields KNOWS danger could lurk around EVERY tree. He has seen the human shapes, heard the shots ring out and been shot at himself. He knows what areas to avoid and when to avoid them because he's already been there and done that. Sure a yearling is not some crusty old veteran of the woods but you have to understand that not all bucks behave the same and the enviornment they are in is what shapes that behavior.

Here is a perfect example..........I live in area that is NO hunting. I also live right down the street from a local park with a bunch of woods that are LOADED with deer. They are EVERYWHERE around my house. I have gone out plenty of days to hunt and seen deer in my yard............get skunked in the woods..........and see deer in my yard again when I get home [8D]

I also feed them from time to time if the weather gets bad enough or just to keep them off my bushes. Anyways.........I have had several mature bucks in my yard over the last 3 years. I have had them standing 10 yards from me as I do yardwork or even when I shoot my bow. Now I could easily say to a guy like you that mature bucks are stupid and the easiest animals out there to kill because the ones in my yard ARE stupid..........but WHY are they stupid?? Because humans pose no threat to them and in fact most of the time give them food. Turn the tables and start shooting at those deer in my yard or the park down the road and you will see a DRAMATIC change in their behavior.

Don't let your view through rose colored glasses fool you into thinking that is the way it is EVERYWHERE Buckeye

Another good example Buckeye.

I have hunted mostly battlefields my whole life. I hunt with too many people to get permission on private land. I could hunt A LOT of private land around here alone..........but when I tell them I have 4 or 6 other guys that I hunt with they all say that's too many.

Oh well.........I won't abandon my hunting buddies and family for a better spot.


So this year my friend gets permission to hunt a farm near our homes. I tell him that I will go there with him only if no one else wants to hunt that day because he only got permission for us 2 guys.

We went a bunch of times for half days and stuff when my brothers were working and we went during bow season.

I saw more deer and more bucks on that 100+ acres of land in 2 weeks then I have seen in the last 4 years anywhere else. I had 4 different bucks within bow range in one morning. Nothing you would shoot but I did. I took a 6 pointer in October........earliest I have EVER filled a tag. We saw plenty of deer and a ton of bucks. At one point in time in my stand I did think to myself "This is too easy" and I can't even imagine how easy it will be come gun season.

I also hunted the battlefields for 16 days this year.............saw one deer. A doe and she was getting away from someone else.


They are TOTALLY different worlds Buckeye.

I do not adhere to any exact form of QDM. But I do my part to help control the deer herd and improve the quality of the land.

Atlas.

You act as though the "battlefield" does and fawns do not go through the same pressures as the young bucks do. You make it sound only he is pressured and only he learns from the close calls.

With all things being equal "battlefields" or not the 1 1/2 year old buck makes mistakes that does of the same age do not. I still believe the 1 1/2 year old buck is the easiest deer in the herd to shoot.

I hold out for a 8 point or bigger in Ohio but the last week of archery if I haven't filled my tag it's any buck.

But in my second scenario you said you still wouldn't shoot young bucks. Wouldn't that be doing your part to help control the herd?