kegei

My hunting party of about 10 tries not to shoot any yearling bucks or bucks with less than a 17 inch spread. Why do so many hunters continue to shoot small bucks? Why not just shoot a doe? Do they brag about shooting little bucks? I just don' t get it. It is like catch and release in fishing. You see a little buck, you should enjoy watching him and let him go. I just do not understand why people need to shoot little bucks. Maybe I am being greedy or non-ethical, but I enjoy shooting mature bucks, and where I hunt they are so few and far between because so many people blast the first little guy they see.

trophyhuntr

Good post, i dont know i guess it comes with age. I am not old only 31 and I can say i used to shoot more small bucks than anyone, finally i realized i am not killing big bucks because i shoot all the small ones. Young kids and first time hunters should take a small buck if the shot presents itself. Now i let them grow and have a wall full of very nice deer. I guess some people dont grow out of it and some do. I did and it has payed off. Good Huntn

txhunter58

I think it is how you were raised and where you hunt. In my neck of the woods, where deer are almost as plentiful as rabbits, most people evolve to shooting mature bucks. The first few years you shoot any deer but after awhile you start to enjoy just watching the little ones and let them walk.

However, I know that in some places any forkhorn buck is the biggest deer that is available in that hunting area, so people are happy to shoot any buck. Can' t fault them for that. Only way to change that is to change the law that allows these little bucks to be shot, or severely limit the numbers, something a lot of people are not willing to do.

Me? My yearly hunting fix is obtained from hunting elk or mule deer on some mountain top. However, I do hunt in Texas on my family ranch. Most years I shoot 2-4 does and only kill a buck every 4-5 years.

Thunderdogg

I' ve never been a " trophy" hunter, and I' m guilty of shooting little bucks. But then again, I' ve shot little does as well. The younger deer make better eating in my opinion. The meat doesn' t seem as tough or gamey tasting than on an old buck who' s in the rut.

I' ll hunt for a larger deer this year, but if the season gets near end and my freezer isn' t stocked, I' ll go for the first deer that comes along, big or little.

Is there something ethical I' m not quite getting by shooting a smaller deer? Again I prefer to have meat in the freezer than have a trophy on the wall. To me that' s what deer hunting is all about. I usually only kill two a year then quit for the season, gives me enough meat to last til next hunting season.

Thunder

Tomster

By me, to shoot a buck it needs to have 3 points on one side and the spike are off limits. Prior to the regulation change, when we could shoot spikes, we would only shoot them if they came in and nothing else was around and it was near the last day of the season.

Basically a young buck tastes better than an old buck or doe.

Tomster

Jimmy S

To add what txhunter said...Here in NH, the success rate is very low. It' s the hardest state to tag. I agree with the saying that if you can consistently shoot a deer in NH, you can shoot a deer anywhere. We only have about 70,000+ deer in the entire state and no area has a density greater than 15 deer per square mile. Where we hunt that number is closer to 8....All that aside, most hunters that I know, will shoot the first legal, adult deer. If you allow a deer to walk early in the season in hopes of punching your tag on a bigger buck later, you just might not have venison in your freezer when all is said and done. Other than that, and if I hunted in areas where I saw deer almost every day, I could certainly agree with the point you' re making.

mainehunt

Cause little bucks don' t give birth to more deer, AND the big bucks spread their genes to the does by creating fawns that will be big bucks and does when they grow up.

Charlie P

Because they want to. Ain' t America great. I' ve seen trophy hunting ruin a few people.

I have no problem if a guy wants to shoot any legal deer.

Maybe he only can hunt a few days and wants meat. So he wants to fill all his tags.

Maybe it' s a person that hasn' t hunted much and has the oppurtunity.

Maybe he doesn' t care about rack size and he just wants to get a deer.

Maybe their hunting an area/ farm where the owner wants to reduce his herd.

I like to hunt mature bucks too, just wish people would stop hitting them with their cars before I can shoot them.That' s where the one I was hunting ended three years in a row.


That' s your opinion and your welcome to it, it doesn' t mean every one else has to agree with it , does it?

rockytop

I agree with Charlie P. I pass on small ones but when I first started, a young buck was a great trophy for me. I didn' t grow up with a family of hunters. I thought any deer you got was cool. Now that I realize what makes big bucks, I shoot does for meat.

WThunter

I used to shoot the first thing that had horns. (I know they are really antlers.) I think I changed when I took my bow during gun season one year. My father-in-law had my rifle and I got to the lease the day before he did so I took my bow. Right at daylight there was a nice ten point in front of me. He was bigger than any deer I had ever killed. If I had my rifle I would have taken him. A little while later something spooked the ten point. It was a huge eight point that had great mass. Then the eight ran off and I could see nothing but horns coming through the brush. It was a monster buck!!![] He had to be close to 180" I counted at least 14 points and he had stickers everywhere. I learned that day in order to see deer like that you had to pass on smaller deer sometimes. Even with a bow I pass small bucks now. I will shoot one if it is late in the season. I believe there is always a big mature buck somewhere close no matter where you hunt. They don' t get big by accident.