James B, its a shame more of the would be poachers don't share your beliefs. The size of a buck shouldn't be the deciding factor on whether or not you poach it, but I guess to some of the people on here horns are more important than ethics.

That appears to be the sad truth. I guess I was not raised that way. I know a lot of animals are poached and your right, size does not matter here. Ethics is not only part of hunting but theMOST important part if hunting is to continue. we need to police our own ranks and impress good hunting ethics at every turn. Hunting is to good to loose its the job of every hunter to protect that priviledge. As someone else said it is not a RIGHT.

The guy in the picture looks like Mark Martin(nascar driver!) rofl

i agree with DD. i would not try to put myself in a situtation that this proclaimed "poacher" has BUT a buck of that caliber is a once in a lifetime chance for a little poor florida hunter such as myself. like i said, if i only had doe tags left i wouldn't still be hunting over scrapes and rubs to reduce the above chances of this happening. however if it did happen, i would've probally dropped that buck like wet laundry.

i guess my ethics aren't as good as some peoples. but i do not have a chance to harvest a buck like that due to where i live and hunt. my salary does not allow me to lease expensive northern land or to afford canadian hunt'n trips.

just my 2 cents.

This year I saw an elk with it's head cut off in a protected area. How can you poach an animal and then look at it with pride on your wall like you are some kind of great hunter or something? If you can't hunt within the law you should not be in the woods.

Exactly how I feel.

Also the implications here for getting caught means fines, loss of equipment, deer and hunting privs for min. 1 year. Simply not worth it on many fronts for me personally.

Anticipation, preperation andthe chaseare so much of the hunt for me that the harvest is almost anti-climatic. When a big buck wins it just fuels my desire more. Don't get me wrong I like filling tagsI just don't see it as the end all and be all any longer with regards to the hunt. Shooting something outside of my definition of fair chase would not be fullfilling my dream.

There's certainly nothing wrong with having a trophy on your wall, but when did the size of the deer ever determine whatis and is not atrophy? Trophy animals are those that are harvest after many hours have been put in the field scouting, setting up, sitting, and patiently waiting your turn. Trophy animals are those you would gladly tell stories about at the campfire, detailing the season and how hard you hunted for it. If the story consists of "I saw this huge buck and shot him", you may have a big deer, but you don't havea trophy.

I can honestly say I have been in a situation like thisbefore where I could have taken a massive 12 point. Probably one of the largest and most symmetrical deer I have ever seen. I had been watching the deer most of the season, and passed up a couple of opportunities early on because I wanted him to be able to share those magnificent genetics of his with the does in the area. Most of our land is leased, but this particular place was not because most people think it is too open. So I spent a lot of time here, mostly after coyotes, but I saw the deer occaisionally. He was very careful to stay hidden until right at the end of legal shooting hours. So about two weeks before the season ended, I started spending a little more time trying to locate him. I caught a few glimpses of him occaisionally, but nothing within my comfortable shooting range, which for deer is 150 yards. I saw him nearly every day, but he never followed the same path into the wheat field I was overlooking, and I was never able to guess his path into the wheat field. On the last day of the season, I didn't see him. I knew no one else had gotten him, or I would have surely heard about it. As the light faded, I headed for the truck. As I turned on the lights and headed down the pasture road, I caught a reflection of something as I neared the gate. It was him, standing broadside, mesmorized by my headlights. I dimmed my lights and watched him for minute as he stood there. His eyes glowing in the headlights, and that magnificant shiny rack of his made him look almost like some mythical creature from some fairy tale. Then he slowly walked away, disappearing like a ghost into the brush. Even though I had my 30-30 loaded and by my side, all I thought to myself was "Looks like you've made another season, my friend."

Now that's a good story!! Not a trophy on the wall, but a definate trophy story. Im amazed at some of the replies to this topic started by DD. Personally the big buck in question would still be walking if I had no tag. Imagine the size he could have been next year!! IMO, This topic just goes to show that it's not necessary to shoot the first buck you see. Hunting to me is like a chess match. Sometimes waiting and choosing your shots can lead to a buck that people dream about bringing home!!

Wow, just outa curiosity, if they found him guilty of using another's tag, what could they do to him? Could they take the animal or his license.

I hate to mention and it's a good thing my step brother is not computer literate enough to be on the site, but anyways, every year my dad gets landowner tags for my brother and I, and he usually gets some for him too, but for the last 5 years he did not hunt and had these tags. My brother and I never used them becauseI thought it wasillegal. But my dad remarried and she had a step son. He got our landowner tags as usual and all of a sudden Bernie (my step brother) wanted to go hunting. Mydad gave Bernie his tags. He went hunting and got a really nice 9 point. The mass was huge! My dad telechecked it. They got it mounted also.Bernie was going to submit itto the Missouri Big Bucks, butfelt bad (or probably worried if he would get caught), because it wasn't under his name, and didn't wanna put it under mydad's name because he didn't shoot it. At that time, I think you could only have 1 antlered deer.He used my dad's tag and didn't buy any others to get another buck. I don't know if it was illegal, but he really regrets doing it. Now,he lives in NC trying to get a bigger deer, but he says the deerare tiny there.

North Texan. I know just how you feel. Its really a good feeling though. I would rather know that the big one is out there for another try than knowing I took him under the wrong conditions.