browningbolt

have to shoot a doe first then talk to me snipe .its b.s

turkey guide

I have nothing to prove to anyone, and no regrets about passing on some of the biggest deer I've ever seen, just because I was having a great day and didn't want to spoil it by being burdened with dragging them back. I have looked at some damn nice bucks through my scope and decided that was enough.
I also have to agree with spaniel on the earn a buck program. I feel that we are way past needing it in MO. If it were done right it could solve a lot of problems. I'd like to see a long early season with rifle and bow for does only. The last half of Sept. would do just fine to earn your buck, by helping to manage the herd. Every hunter who wanted to hunt a buck during the rut, a month and a half later, would have to kill a doe. Non-residents could opt to pay an extra fee if they didn't want to take part. In the Nov. rut you would now have possibly fewer hunters, either because they had filled their freezer and didn't care about harvesting a buck and didn't want to buy the more expensive buck only tag, or because they refused, or were unable to do their part for conservation. Point being, their would be fewer people out in the way of serious buck hunters, who killed their doe or paid extra dough to hunt the rut. There would be fewer does to breed which would cause bucks to roam more throughout the day, hopefully in front of me. This would be a buck or doe, any deer, season for buck tag holders only with the same antler restriction we have now, so that there will always be bucks growing to hunt next year. Then after this season the later season should be antlerless only again depending on the previous harvest with possibly a restricted number of tags sold. Hunters who missed the buck season, but still had a doe tag to fill would have another chance. Also, hunters who missed their buck during the rut could still try with a bow or muzzleloader later. I think an earn a buck program done in this way would work best to manage the herd by killing more does, because everyone would try harder if they had to. Allowing everyone to kill our large and plentiful bucks, places no duty upon them to help with herd management. Earning their right to kill a buck seems fair, and needed in order to do a better job of overall management, with a big bonus of growing bigger more active bucks, chasing fewer does and having maybe fewer hunters out in buck season.
I think more does has to equal more unfit to breed bucks, finding opportunities to breed anyway and hurting the overall genetics. Having the does already thinned out before breeding begins would seem to me a good thing because the larger most fit to breed bucks could handle most of the does left to breed and naturally fight off and keep away most of the unfit bucks naturally.

ajstrider

All wild game animals are trophies, big or small, letting them walk or putting them in the freezer, hell even missing them! Appreciating the animal for what it is is what hunting is about for me. Some seasons I get a deer, some I don't but in the end I still enjoy each and every day in the field, except for those windy, ice cold days in the stand when you see nothing, those days suck!

LKNCHOPPERS

I don't have any regrets. My game plan changes according to the area or stand I am hunting. If I am hunting for a good buck everything walks and it usually works out eventually. If I am hunting for meat, only button bucks get a pass. Freezer is full and I am busy mounting my bucks from this past season. It was a good year.

remmy123

im a meat hunter as well as a trophy hunter. as long as i have tags in my pocket i never pass up does. to me a small 6 point is the same as a doe just meat might just as well shoot a doe. when i hunt bucks i do hold out for a big one but when i look at the the racks on my wall i do think about how those bucks are still just deer they just happen to have big horns, in the end the only difference between them and some of the 3 - 5 year old does i shot is that i dont get to look as macho to other hunters when i show them.

iSnipe

They have similar "Earn a buck" campaigns in several states... having to shoot a doe first, etc. Yeah, bs, but what can a guy do but follow the rules? A guy could only hope for better regs to come along... or at least have the DNR start to listen to the hunters and their recommendations because they are the ones out there seeing what's going on.

iSnipe

Sheridan

Your thoughts? Would you let a deer walk if you knew it may be your only opportunity to tag a deer?[/quote]


I did this year, and I'm okay with it................I think, he was pretty nice - I'm a trophy hunter.

nytransplant

Nope I let plenty walk this year and ended up with 7 in the freezer. Great season

rraymond

u know what a trophy is, it is something that means alot to you, somthing ur proud of, some of us have acess to land that produces mature deer and some dont. its all up to the individual, big deer get big by people passing them when they are small, i like to shoot does and manage if i am trigger happy, and wait until the big boy comes.

JoeA

I put a spike in the freezer. Later, I saw a nice looking heavy 6. My first thought was to let him pass, which ultimately I did. He looked young in the body. Even before he fed out of sight, I had thoughts of pulling the trigger; do it, don't, do it, don't. But, I didn't need the meat.

I'm still hoping for one that I'll be proud of. I don't expect that my first will be a B&C buck. I'm waiting for a chance at a nice mature deer. Last season I passed on a basket rack 6. This year it was a better looking 6. Things are going the right direction, so I'm frustrated, but don't regret it.

I know that next year, that heavy 6 will be a nice deer for somebody.