The rush passing on a deer vs The rush on killing a deer?
 

How many of you get just as much of a rush passing on a deer as you do shooting a deer? I personally get just as good of a rush passing as I do taking a deer. It makes me sick to my stomach to read all these threads that state I took 7 deer this year, I kept 1 and gave the other 6 away, or I catch a limit of fish and kept 1 and gave the rest to friends! If the pond or lake is over fished, no one catches any, the same for deer! I use to manage 120 acres here in southern Indiana, I was the only one that hunted the land, never taking a doe and taking just a couple of management bucks as for their racks were messed up, in the 10 yrs doing this turned out to be a trophy deer habitat! When I was a kid there were not many Deer, so we as hunters need to be more conservative on shooting so many deer a year! Just my .02!

I pass a lot of deer, probably shoot one out of ten or so. Problem is I need to do more shooting, we have way too many does in our area.

My hunting area has way too many does as well and some hunters still refuse to shoot a doe.

I see no problem with people taking multiple deer, as long as it is legal and the animals are not being wasted. I normally take several deer each year. I freeze what my family will use and then donate the rest to Hunters for the Hungry.

While I pass on a lot of deer every year, I hunt to kill them. I enjoy the close encounters, but it's nothing like killing one.

Also there is no management you can do on 120 acres that will make any difference unless others bordering you are doing the same.

I don't pass many as I hunt for the table but I get excited seeing every deer. I passed on the best buck of my life this morning. He wasn't a monster, but would have been my best. In the county I am hunting, you have to shoot a doe before you can shoot a second buck and I have not seen a doe since bow season. In fact, haven't seen any deer since mid November when I shot my buck.

I get rush every time I see a deer. I get a huge rush when I see a big buck! I pass on a lot of deer. I normally take a doe early as I also have the earn a buck where I hunt in NOVA. Where I hunt in Central Virginia, I pass on a ton of deer waiting for a good buck. Plenty of people in Central Virginia LOVE to shoot any deer they see. So I pass on alot of does there. I normally will take my share of does in NOVA because NOVA is loaded with deer.

I think its funny that you mention this. This is exactly how I feel and wish more people where like this. I actually think one of my buddy's think I'm kind of strange. The other day I had a 4pt and a doe walk across my field I was hunting over. I lined up on the doe and was actually going to take it and let the buck walk. I lined up on its shoulder and for some reason I was just not able to do it. I waited and waited just watching the deer. The doe soon made it to my incoming route and smelled me. It stopped dead in its tracks and looked directly up at me. I continued to stand and look at the doe though my scope. I literally stood there lined up on her shoulder for 2 minutes while she just stood there trying to make me out. I noticed her slightly bob her head and knew that she was soon to run and it was now or never. I still just couldn't pull the trigger for some reason and she and the buck finally ran off. I had such a rush after this encounter I was almost shaking. I don't know if it was because it was more of a "me vs. deer" since she was looking at me for so long or what. I soon got out of my stand saying to myself "I LOVE THIS STUFF!". I called a friend of mine and told him the story and he just kind of stayed quite like I was stupid or something, lol. This is the same friend of mine though that has no ethic and no doubt would of shot the 4 pt first and then blasted his remaining rounds at the doe as she ran off. I do think this rush depends a lot of course on the amount of deer your use to seeing. Anyway, your not the only one that gets a rush from this. I feel you bro.

Not all areas have just a few deer and are in danger of to many deer being taken. I take out alot of does every year, usually more than 7 and a buck or 2 of the size and age that I choose and I give most of them away. It is different depending on where you are located and the deer numbers you have. So get sick or not what's right for your hunting area is not necessarily right for mine or any one else's.

I dont get any "rush" from shooting young bucks. I like to let them go and grow for another day. I hunt public ground in northern Minnesota and Ontario. Heres an example of what I mean. This is the buck I tagged in 2010. I have pictures of him since he was a 2 yr old and could have killed him each year prior to this past season. Here he is at 2 1/2 years old.



Same young buck at 3 1/2 years old. Maybe 130 inches gross.



Here he is at 4 1/2 and still not very impressive. Almost shot him here thinking he'd be a runt all his life. Maybe 140 gross. Glad I let him walk.



Here he is in 2010. He now grossed 162 inches and has a ton of character. He also will grace my wall in the form of a full shoulder mount. Glad he didnt become just another dink buck thrown in the garage.

That my friends is a beautiful example of "Let him go, so he can grow" Thanks dc, thats awesome!

Very Nice DC, and well put together!!

THIS!!!


Some of you need to stop worrying about WHAT or HOW MANY deer others shoot..... Hunt for yourselves and let others do the same

There is no comparison for me.Killing a monster buck is better than anything.Jumping monster bucks is the absolute worst.Not being able to get a shot off or even point my rifle because of safety reasons is not a big deal to me, neither is passing them up. I only point me gun at an animal I want to kill, have proper shot placement on, and it is safe to do so.Over the years I have seen only a few walking through timber that would not offer me a clear shot on the vitals and didn't even raise my gun. Those gave me a sick feeling about not getting them,but that's not passing up, that's just wanting to shoot them, but knowing better.My heart sinks, but I know I did the right thing.
The one that still hurts is the one monster I blew my knee out going after.After I twisted my ankle crossing a creek I still pushed after it.
Was maybe 500 yrds away from it and I had to let it walk cause I
couldn't go any further.I had 2 mountains to climb to get back to camp luckily I had tensor bandages on me and taped it up.I hunted the next couple of days but couldn't get back to that mountain I was limited to where I could go.But it was the climb down that mountain with all my gear on wrecked my knee.It took some time and plenty of physio to heal.That one I wish I had back. I will never forget that one walking away.I know I did the right thing, but I honestly could have cared less about getting another monster if I got that one, cause I highly doubt I will ever see an animal with that size of a rack again in
my life.

So are you telling me you've never fished a body of water that everyone performs catch and release and found the majority of the fish to be stunted? Many lakes, at least in MD and VA encourage people to take small bass for this very reason and have a slot size that you can't keep.

Where I agree with you that I get a rush any time I pass on deer when they're within 50 yards of me, you're generic logic is messed up. On the land I primarily hunt, we are completely over run with does and even bucks. There's not as much farming in the area as there used to be and we are seeing a decrease in the average deer's weight and antler mass. I can't recall how many deer I passed up while others were thinning the herd, but I make it up at the tail end of the season. Six of us have taken a total of 21 deer from about 300 acres (more woods surrounding that as well) and we're still seeing loads of deer. Only time will tell if thinning the does will help gain mass, but I'm willing to bet it will help provide a healthier herd.

Mike

For someone that has spent a fair amount of time in the woods there is a big difference in adrenalin when a encounter goes to kill status.
Yes you can make a difference with management on 120 acres. It certainly helps if the neighbors do too, but even they don't, you can still make a difference. One must keep in mind that SteveBNy is the most negative and the unhappiest person on this forum, poor guy...........

I get a rush from passing on Deer,this past year I had 5 Deer run up by my stand..I waited and watched for a Buck but didn't see any with them or behind the herd of Doe's...I ended up shooting the large lead Doe.She ran about 50 yards up behind my stand and fell into a brush pile that was cut up for timber stand improvements...as I watched and waited the other 4 Doe's came back to investigate what happen to their leader?I watched them for over 30 minutes (with a bonus tag in hand) watching them and hoping a nice Buck would come in,they left and about 45 minutes later a nice 6-Point Buck came into view...I decided to let him walk because I knew from trail camera pictures that there was 3 other Bigger Bucks in the same area.

Fast forward to the next day in the same stand,I'm Hunting with my Bonus Any-Deer Tag and I can shoot a Buck or tag another Doe?I'm sitting there from just before sunrise til about 8:30 AM when I hear something behind me while I'm up in my 17 foot ladder stand,4 Does walk in and feed behind me,I'm shaking a little,yet still excited to see more Deer the next day form the same stand...well I look to my right up by the logging road and here comes 2 more Doe's and a button Buck...then after watching them a little while a different 6-Point Buck comes from out of the woods off the same logging road and circles around the other Deer,then a Spike Buck comes rushing in chasing a Doe in Estrous and they leave running all around the woods.I had a total of 10 Deer around me for about 45 minutes to an hour.....it doesn't get any better then that!I ended passing on all the Deer because I was looking for a nicer Buck to harvest....my waiting paid off because I ended up getting a nice 8-Point Buck the following friday evening.

I get a rush from everything I see in the timber! Hell this year I had 3 little fawns under neath my stand and I was shaking and getting all excited just as if their was a big buck in front of me. Luckily I haven't had to make the decision on passing up a "Could be shooter but not sure" type of buck yet. All of those bucks are always to far away. :D Im sure ill have to make that decision sometime in the future.

DC thats awesome to have all the history of your buck...congrats!!

As far as the original post....NO it doesnt give me a rush at all to pass smaller young bucksm, but it does make me feel good when I let a 135 walk knowing I could possibly get him next year much bigger.

I guess if your fence is high enough, you can do wonders and apparently it makes you a happy guy.

Does this sound familiar? "When looking for hot doe's, mature bucks will travel a long ways out of there core area, unless there is enough hotness in there imidiate area and the don't need to. When big bucks are not breeding there cruising." 120 acres is not a long ways.

Disagreeing with you on cover scents makes me negative and unhappy??
Stretching just a bit, aren't you/