First Deer - Button Buck
 

I got my first deer on Friday. I thought it was a doe, but turned out to be a button buck. Everyone's been congratulating me on my first deer, but I have mixed feelings. I really wish I just got a doe so the button buck could have had a chance to grow into a nice big buck. I guess these types of things are just part of hunting.

your ok, congrats on your first, just learn from it, its all you can do
RR

Don't even think that! You got your first deer, and be darned happy. It is much like your first fish. I will very often keep a smaller fish than I normally would, but it seems like once that first one goes in the ice chest, many more soon follow. So instead of a doe that might have several fawns next spring, you bagged a deer that is not going to have fawns and is more likely to be preyed upon by coyotes over the winter or not make it through the winter. Just make good use of the meat and all is well.

congrats on the buck man. they can't all be 185" monsters to start off

Congrats! Don't feel bad, My first deer also turned out to be a button buck.

I wouldn't think of it like that. I'd look at it as a successful hunt and meat in the freezer. Congrats!

Congratulations on your first deer. Mine was a "Unicorn" shot up in yhe Pithole area many years ago. There can only be one first and you will remember it for the rest of your life so be proud of it.

Congratulations on you first deer !

Filling your freezer is part of hunting.

If the deer is legal, then you have no reason to regret taking it. I've never seen an antler yet that was edible and if you shot a button thinking it was a doe then you were not shooting it for antlers any ways. Personally, I can't figure out the current trend of thinking every deer has to be some sort of monster before it is taken. Enjoy the meat and remember the experience. The first deer is something to cherish, not something to beat yourself up over.

It is your first deer....don't beat yourself up!! Enjoy the fact that you were able to harvest a deer....enjoy some steaks!!

Congrats on your first deer, you've accomplished what others only dream of!

your first deer is like the first time you had sex. Neither of them are usually trophies.

Congrats!


Learn how to judge a doe from a button buck, and move on.


I think years ago we bought a poster from QDMA about judging does/button bucks, they probably still sell them, nice poster to hang in deer camp etc...

I wouldn't worry to much about shooting a button buck.

The bucks that really need to be spared if your managing for big bucks is those nice 2 year old bucks. People shooting those is where it really starts effecting the heard IMO.

Congrats on your first. Enjoy your harvest.

DONT worry about it! The happiness, excitement and "rite of passage" that comes from killing your first deer overrides ANYTHING that has to do with it's being a buttonhead. Congrats! :party0005:

Congrats! Look at the bright side, if that doe has twin fawns, you allowed 2 more deer to be born and still got some venison

Thanks everyone for the replies. It's definitely a learning experience. I am happy to have meat in the freezer. Hopefully during the late season I'll get a nice big bruiser!

Don't get so wrapped up about the antlers. Enjoy deer hunting for what it is. How much antler a buck has isn't really important in the big scheme of things. I've always believed if the only reason you are hunting is for a big set of antlers then you need to assess your priorities. It is the intangible things about hunting that you will remember long after the antlers are covered with dust. I'd rather take a spike or a forkhorn in the company of some good friends or family than shoot the biggest buck in the woods at some guided facility.

Feel free to disagree if you wish.

Couldn't have said it any better than that flags!!! I was out in Wyoming for 7 weeks this year and only shot a few prairie dogs myself. However, being with friends and helping them take game and just being outdoors seeing what God made for us made it as great a Fall as ever!!!

Choosing to hunt the more challenging game has nothing to do with not having fun with friends and family, "only caring about the antler" or a "guided facility"

Don't let people discourage you from hunting the game you want and having the patience to be successful at it.

A man in pursuit of a wise old mature free range whitetail buck is hunting at its finest IMO.

You can quickly see some people have no idea what hunting mature bucks is really about outside the garbage they have seen on TV.

Setting your sights on a mature free range whitetail buck and having the patience and willingness to put in the work to be successful is very rewarding and a whole lot of fun. Ive spent countless hours unsuccessfully hunting mature bucks and I loved every one of them and when the opportunity presents itself in the form of a buck that has escaped hunters for years that is a feeling that cannot be replicated.

You nailed it Windwalker! And, who knows where that button buck may have wound up a few years down the road - probably not on your farm. LOL, you may also have taken a future 3 y/o spike out of the population!
My philosophy is that I choose to shoot a deer for one of two places - the wall or the table, and, table-wise, I'll pass on a 2+ y/o doe. Plenty of button bucks still running around, and you just got yourself some nice veal! Congratulations!

Congrats on your first deer!!! Every deer is a trophy.

No way around it, harvesting that deer took some some level of skill. Be proud. This is an accomplishment.

Many years ago when I was much younger I shot a button buck in Maine while hunting with my dad and a bunch of family friends. At the time I felt really bad and a touch embarrassed that I was with all of these seasoned hunters who had taken many big deer over their lifetime and I ended up shooting what I thought was a big doe but which turned out to be in fact a button buck who lost a lot of size once he hit the ground. Now many years later I don't feel embarrassed and I don't think about how bad I felt for taking a buck out of the population, what I think about and what is burned into my memory is the time I spent with my dad and those other guys. I remember what it was like sitting around at night recalling our days hunt and the excitement that we all felt every morning before heading out. My dad has a bad shoulder now and probably won't ever hunt again and so for me the memory is the real trophy. The memory of your first deer is the trophy not the size of the animal. Treasure it for what it is not for what you feel like it should have been.

Congratulations on your first deer.

Button Bucks are really legal Doe
 

All part of the hunting process.

Always some to disagree. Especially eagle eyes who didn't get a deer.

I usually still shoot a yearling every year. Good eating, easy processing and I don't even worry about whether its male or female.

Shooting a doe takes more button bucks out of the herd than shooting a single button buck. I just don't shoot the 2-3 year old bucks. I'll shoot and eat a button buck without a 2nd thought.

Congrats and don't sweat it! My first deer was a doe and I remember it like it was yesterday! The big bucks will come with experience! Savor the memory. One button buck does not a deer herd make! I'd much rather see new hunters, especially younger hunters take a button buck or doe than a booner! You see these pics all the time of 8 year olds taking their "first deer," 140+ bucks on more or less canned hunts! That's NOT hunting!
Again, congrats on your first trophy!