saltflat

I hunt on public land like many people on this forum do. It is reaaly pressured during the season. Your chance of seeing a big buck on this property is slim. I try to pass on button bucks if I can tell, but I also takr this into consideration, if I can use the meat and can make a good shot on it I will take it. This goes for does and bucks. If I don't shoot the next guy will. Deer on public land just don't survive long enough to grow big. Trust me if I was certain that the next guy that walked thru my little area wouldn't shoot that certain buck I would leave him to grow, but to me it makes no sense to let a deer walk if the chnces of him getting shot by someone else is so high.

mauser06

any legal buck that makes antler restrictions here is going down if i can get 4pts to a side on it......we have one the the largest hunting population anywhere....something like over 1million hunters deer hunt here....unless i KNOW noone else will take the little ones i pass im shooting....im also only 18 and only got 2 bucks to my name...this year i was bummed...had a buck come out of a drive...stopped it...half rack..big half..head behind brush...the other guys kept saying its big..but noone knew if it was legal...took off..next shooter dropped it....awesome buck...not huge...but 4pts on one side...and a mini hand sized moose antler on the other...i would had him mounted...congratulated my friend and helped drag it..thats one of the reasons i am looking to start bow hunting....less pressure..more bucks around before rifle hunters get them....more predictable...more active...and i should be able to count points when i see him coming...and know to get ready to draw when hes in range.....and i see SOOOO many nice ones(for around here) small game hunting and fall turkey hunting..which also is bow season....one day me and dad had 4 shooter bucks walk within bow range of us before lunch time...we were sitting there with shotguns wishing they were bows!!

west_hunter21

I have no problem passing up small bucks...especially button bucks (which are very easily distinguishable if you know what your looking for). I've never actually shot a deer with my bow (this is my 2nd year)...but I've let atleast 3 different button bucks walk by and had 2.5-3.5 year old bucks on my trail cameras have made it through the season.

We do have quite a bit of pressure in the surrounding areas...and most of them take the "brown its down" approach--which has produced maybe 4 bucks with 6 or more points for the 30 hunters (they keep the button buck population down, though [:@]).

Either way, it just makes much more sense to me to let the young bucks walk by and take my chances with the neighbors rather than kill the deer myself and know for a fact that he wont be around next year!

D Man 1

It is cool to hear different people resond to the same question from so many differentangles depending on their location and type of land hunted (Private or Public).

GregH

This is the absolute perfect answer, unless you are a newbie or have never gotten adeer before.

stoneman

Agreed

bowtech_tribute3

my first bow kill was a small buck. now i set my standards for shooting a bigger buck than the following year

mlo3135127

Same Here.

LouisianaTomkat

In Louisiana we have a 6 deer per season limit so a good fat doe is not a problem usually. The bucks are a different story. If you are pretty sure you will see more than 1 buck per season, definately pass up that first small one. I believe the doe to buck ratio is way too high almost anywhere nowdays anyway. So weed out some of the big does and let new healthy ones take care of the breeding. Just makes sense to me.

MA Jay

I have passed up a lot of bucks, for many different reasons. I make the call in the stand in the woods when the deer comes in. I have passed up some bucks once, even twice then shot them the 3rd time. I have passed on mature deer and harvested smaller deer later. For me, and me alone, there is but one simple rule. At that moment when I walk up to my deer when he is down will I be happy with him. If the answer is no, he will definitely be walking alive past me.

I shot a small forker this year in NH that I was as proud of and happy with as some of my P&Y class deer.

I put in the effort all year to hunt deer well each fall and I am always looking for and setting myself up to harvest a real large racked deer. But the size of the rack is just a part of the hunt for me, and many other criteria factor into what I decide to harvest.

I do read these comments from guys who want others to make the same choice of passing small bucks as they do and feel a little sad. Not all, but quite a few of them feel that way based on the pressure and ideas others put in their heads on what makes a "trophy" and they have lost a bit of what makes hunting so amazing.