I have heard folks say that they try not to shoot button bucks. From a distance, how do you tell the difference? I know some hunters who thought they had shot a small doe only to find it was a young buck. Is there a way to tell without getting up close and way too personal?

It' s easy to tell the difference between a button buck and a doe , does don' t have one " horn" on their belly ...

I' m not sure there is always a way to tell, but there are some things you can look for. First, get a good pair of bino' s. Make sure you look for the bumps. Second, when your out doe hunting, start hunting for mature does. When an antlerless deer walks by, check out the ears. A mature doe will have large ears, and obviously no antlers. Lastly, when looking at a deer in the distance...is the deer alone? As the rut aproaches, Buck deer getting pushed out of groups, even the young ones. If there is an antlerless deer walking by itself, especially pre-rut/rut time of year, you can almost bet it' s a button buck. Don' t shoot it.

Recap---

1. Get good Bino' s
2. Shoot Mature Does (big ears)
3. Don' t shoot singled out antlerless deer.

If you shoot the bigger mature doe,then you have a a better chance not to nail a button. Alot of the times a smaller deer by itself is a button. They are kicked out of the herd in the summer. They wonder around like they are lost and on cocaine . They tend to be the most stupid deer in the area. The word DISTANCE is the key word. Like always make sure of your target and dont fire untill you our positive

Good question...at a distance and if the deer is alone then I think it is rather difficult to do for most folks. Even closer, during bow season, I sometimes have a difficult time making the determination.

You know, I' ve heard that single deer is a button buck deal many times, but every " single" deer I' ve ever shot was NOT a BB. Where I run into problems are 2 deer at a distance, one bigger than the other. I shoot the bigger one thinking its the mom and it turns out to be the brother instead.

Exactly Wimp, that happened to me last year. I had two " does" come in behind me, shot the bigger one thinking it was the mom and it turned out to be a BB. And this was in Nov.

I still my kick myself over this one, I killed a 4 point I thought was a doe a few years ago. I was 20 foot up in a tree stand, he was spooked when he got wind of another hunter on the property next to where I was hunting so he was moving at a good clip, I was convinced it was a doe, well he stopped just long enough for me to drop him in his tracks, the top of his head was obscured by some branches so until I went to get him I thought it was a doe. If it is thick it can be hard to tell buck from doe, little lone button from doe. BTW it was buck or doe so I was not worried about an illegal kill.

Last year me, my brother and a freind shot 5 BB with in 100 yards of eachother. we were trying to cull the doe on our property but i think we might have done more dammage

We shoot a ton of does each season...trying to thin them out. A few buttons get taken as well, shot for does. Most buttons are easily recognized at close ranges. I have no problem when I' m bowhunting. I will scope their heads with my binocs. I haven' t yet shot one during bow season that was a button.

During gun season however, it can be more difficult...especially when they are at a distance, or moving. I guess the best way to lessen the chance, is to check out their heads....adult does have a longer head/face...fawns have a real short looking head/face. Adult does have big ears as well. Also, if you try and only shoot a larger deer...then your chances go way up that it is a doe (unless it' s a buck that shed already [:' (]). When in doubt, don' t shoot if you aren' t sure....assuming you absolutely don' t want any buttons taken.