Trophy Vs. Young buck
#11

Better genetics get removed younger. That is why I don't like point restrictions.
Good genetics have 8+ points as 2 year olds. Meanwhile a mature 6 point just breeds away year after year.
#12

That is why I like Wyo and Kansas. You get any deer. Which means buck or Doe . I passed several dinks and last minute popped a nice fat doe. She was delicious!!! If I had a Buck only, the first small 8 pointer was dead. I want something special or a doe. I will let that little 8 pointer grow up and maybe some young hunter will shoot him next year. But I like the meat too!! With those tags you get to choose and I am not held to shooting a little buck if I want to fill the freezer.
#13
Spike
Join Date: Feb 2014
Posts: 38

It must be nice to have the option of choosing between shooting a mature or young buck. In Vermont if you don't shoot the first legal buck (2 points on one side) there is a decent chance you may not see another legal buck the rest of the season. We don't have the firearm option for does. Bow season and muzzleloader by lottery only.
#14

Older bucks are challenging to kill. I pass on many small bucks a year that could have been easily killable. I'm going after the old buck that has eluded many hunters. If you take on the challenge to kill the ghost of the woods, its a whole different ball game.
#16
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Southeast Missouri
Posts: 2,178

We like to let the Younger Bucks grow and Mature,if there's a Buck that can't seem to grow a nice Rack we have shot one like that and was plenty happy with the meat and I have given the hide away for a Taxidermist to use in mounting a different Buck on!
I've taken many Deer over the years and like to shoot a nice 8-Point or Bigger Buck and I have had several nice Bucks on my trail camera to where I could be much more selective and picky!Still as the Season goes on and Hunting gets tougher I'm just as happy with a nice Big Fat Mature Doe and I save a lot of money when I don't have a Big Ol Buck to mount!

Last year I passed on a decent Young 8-Point Buck....I knew I wouldn't have Him mounted so why waste a nice Deer that will be much better next year?Plus I ended up shooting a decent Doe later on and the Nephew wiped out the front of His Moms Mini-Van hitting a nice tender 7-Point Buck 2 weeks before Rifle Season so I was ahead of the Game from the start!
I've taken many Deer over the years and like to shoot a nice 8-Point or Bigger Buck and I have had several nice Bucks on my trail camera to where I could be much more selective and picky!Still as the Season goes on and Hunting gets tougher I'm just as happy with a nice Big Fat Mature Doe and I save a lot of money when I don't have a Big Ol Buck to mount!


Last year I passed on a decent Young 8-Point Buck....I knew I wouldn't have Him mounted so why waste a nice Deer that will be much better next year?Plus I ended up shooting a decent Doe later on and the Nephew wiped out the front of His Moms Mini-Van hitting a nice tender 7-Point Buck 2 weeks before Rifle Season so I was ahead of the Game from the start!
Last edited by GTOHunter; 04-18-2014 at 05:59 PM.
#17

Yep, its like hunting a different species.
#18

It must be nice to have the option of choosing between shooting a mature or young buck. In Vermont if you don't shoot the first legal buck (2 points on one side) there is a decent chance you may not see another legal buck the rest of the season. We don't have the firearm option for does. Bow season and muzzleloader by lottery only.
Most of us regular folks take that same chance of going home empty handed.
That is the price you pay to harvest the big boys.
I spend hundreds of hours in a tree from the time mosquitoes are swarming my face all the way through the time when I'm hunting in sleet,and freezing rain just on the hope that I get one chance.
Most of us don't just simply get to choose..... We pay the price to earn an opportunity.
#19

Does in September bow season fill my freezer, Im only interested in bucks if they make my heart thump. Or if it's just an interesting little rack that I like. I let plenty of bucks walk before i take the one I want. More often than not that means immature deer walk.