Ok I have been small game hunting for awhile ( rabbit, gophers, squirrel, an those pesky possum that get into my garbage every other day )

I have gotten comfortable with that. My buddy is saying I need to ramp up to larger game, only then will my (balls) have dropped so he says.

Would you guys consider whitetail or deer in general a good step up or is that still considered smaller game.

( I dont think im on bear and moose level just yet lol! )

Mind me asking how old you are?

I'm 27, only been hunting for like a year

yep, whitetail and turkey are next.
-Jake

Frankly I'd get a new buddy if he made comments about my balls dropping. But that's just me.

Haha right! He just thinks he's great because he's been doing it for years. I honestly think he's just trying to hurry me into doing it because he's lonely and doesn't have any friends to go big game hunting with lol.

Dove, quail, pheasant, duck & geese are next in the hierarchy.

Turkey, pig, coyote and bobcat will prepare you better for deer hunting however.

haha, thanks man I didnt even think of those. I was just so fixated on moving to deer. I wouldnt mind trying to flying targets at all!

If he talks to friends like that, it is no wander that he doesn't have many. You move up when you think you want to and are ready, not to please a friend.

I would say go deer hunting whenever you want. I don't really see why you would start out small and then work your way up. It's not like you're leveling up a video game character.

Not that it matters, but I started three years ago on deer (also in KY), then moved to turkey, then rabbit and squirrel and groundhog, with coyotes spread in there somewhere after they started eating my birds. I don't really see any experience in the smaller game that would have "prepared" me to hunt deer more effectively than just hunting deer did. Similarly, I don't feel that a great deal of the deer hunting experience has enriched my ability to hunt the little things.

As others have said, though, hunting with this friend of yours might be the biggest detriment to any hunt.