Monie

Yep, I signed up and no I didn't see any mature bucks. I had 2 button bucks come by and that was it. I did, however, take a doe in early archery.

I must say that one of those bucks is going to be a bruiser if he's allowed to grow! His pedicels were huge!

npaden

I've been watching this thread with interest and have enjoyed the comments on both sides. One thing I would like to point out though is that the original post was regarding people that entered into a contest that is scored based on the size of the deers horns.

That was the most perplexing thing to me, if people who spend time on a hunting bulletin board and enter into a contest are still going to shoot small immature bucks, then I'm not very optimistic that the guys leasing my neighbors land are going to be very choosy.

IL-Cornfed

I say to the folks who enter a score based contest that shoot a yearling basket racked buck, the other Team members should be able to drive to their house and publicly stone them! [:@]

skeeter 7MM

I think the sampling is somewhatskewed, why?? First off the internet spurs instant desicion based on mood. AKA: people sign up and forget about it or really had little interest to begin with just did it based on spur of the moment. Secondly such a contest is nothing more then fun wherethe point is enjoyment and freindship/teamwork with a small dose of competition(for most anyway!!)as a hook.Being a team contest it rewards entry - big or small they all count. Personally I harvested 2 mature bucks in 06' and was in the contest, however I didn't enter either. BTW both buckswere 5+ years and over 130",though not what I consider big bucks. The point being trying to draw a conclusion to point to the average harvest or thought process of deer hunter is misaligned.

I harvest more does then bucks and have stopped looking solely at rack/score when field judging but rather pay more attention to maturity.Ie: this season Ipassed a solid 5x5 that on the hoof I pegged a 150 ishbuck, after finding his sheds I see I was a little shy and he was closer to 160. I passed him because he was immature and has unbelievable potential. How did I know he was immature??? Body mass and type(just like a teenager he looked a little out of proportion), flat back, little belly slip, etc. Features(mostly area driven)and demeanor(skidish - especially around the rut, run off by mature bucks who were wearing 30+" less but had the strut due to maturity. Had it been 10 years ago that deer would have hit the dirt based on the 150 "s of boneI figured him to own, which to my way of thinking would be a mistake/poor desicion for herd management (anyway you slice it..TDM/TBM, QDM, ETC). I had no way to be sure that buck would survive season or winter for that matter, though it was the right desicion personally. AsI mentioned I found his sheds this spring so it appears it also panned out the wayI hoped it would as well that he pull through and be harassing does/passing on his genes this fall. I should also mention we culled out 3 off those mature bucks last fall so this deer and other like him have room to compete without being run off by the over the hill hogs that offered very little to the herd health or TD potential. Sorry I like antlers, bone, horns, racks..whatever you want to call them but I do believe we practice Deer Management in an area where deer have no fences and QDM isn't a daily topic of discussion.

All said I don't see anything wrong with a meat hunter, I love he meat myself so 100% understand. Nor do I care if you shoot the 1stbuck (immature) or whatever, as long as your happy and don't say we don't have any xyz like you so no choice...then pleasego hard, except my congrats & happy for you. I consider hunting much like golf, competition is within not with the other 3 in your 4-some or club members. (Set goals, achieve goals and thenrepeat if necessary)

Charie

So my question is... other than looking for a rack to hang on a wall, why would a hunter go after an older buck rather than a young one?

The way I see it, hanging on to the older, mature bucks would tend to strengthen the herd. If hunting regulations required three point and below (Washington State), the survivors, the bucks smart enough to evade hunters, would tend to be the best of the young. They would therefore be competing with the mature bucks for dominance within the herd. Wouldn't that produce better animals?

Someone please tell me why that doesn't make sense.