no more head hunting

[cooncrazy]

last year i shot a real nice buck almost 150 class so i told my self this year id only shoot a deer about the same size or bigger past on alot of deer cause they just wernt big enough to sum it up had the werst season yetit aint for me takes all the fun out of the hunt and the real reason were out there i just wondered if any body else ever got caught up like this next year im going back to the way it should be thanks

[Shawn Leonard]

I think if I lived in an area that had 150" bucks that were fairly common, I would hold out for a big one and be happy to take a deer like that every 3 or 4 years, but where I live 100-120" buckis a real good one and not real common. Shawn

[rybohunter]

Sounds like your reason to be out there is to kill something. In which case waiting on a big one is probably not for you. I’ve taken up the stance that IF I kill a buck, it will be big. I don’t care or need to kill a small one. I’m ok just being out there trying & learning. You can go after a big one and still make it fun.

[Dave Lay]

yep, been there, took some soul searchin to get it straightned out. I still like and always will like a good set of horns, but anymore sure wont shy away from a doe or younger smaller antlered buck either. just personal thing but I lay off the yearlings.As you can tell, I am NOT a fan of QDM and the stuff that goes with it. In fact I think that helped turn me off the horn thing.

[killinstuff]

I try and hunt the biggest buck in the area. That was a 9 point and I was 7 yards from him but he was walking off the trail 7 yards behind me and I didn't get a shot. The 4 point that came along later wasn't as start and I took him. Better then nothing is the way I look at it and there's always next year.

[bacon]

I would be more than happy to take a wise old Doe than a young Buck any day. Now if I get the chance for a wall hanger I will kake it.

[fatman]

In year 2000, put away the bows(gasp!) and decided to concentrate on shooting a nice buck with a rifle.  I went for five years passing up does and lesser bucks, didn't even buy a doe tag.
In 2005, I was able to kill a nice (156+) buck.  To be honest, I was burned out and didn't deer hunt until I picked up my longbow and went back out this fall...didn't shoot a deer, but I had both buck and doe tags, had a couple ALMOST in range, and had a ball...
This is supposed to be fun;  I compete every day in the workplace.  I LIKE killing things with the bow, but putting a "score" on things kind of left a bad taste in my mouth.  Not to say I wouldn't like to shoot a 160.....

[Bob Macioch]

If it takes the fun out of bowhunting don't do it."We're supposed to be having fun out there"


Best
Bob

[Killdeer]

Yup. killing deer got to be formulaic, and I would pass on a good buck because it wasn't bigger than any I had gotten before. That led to a blasé
 attitude, and ennui followed close behind. Now I realize that it is peevish of me to turn up my nose at a Gift because I don't think it's big enough. Insults the deer spirit that gives it, and its Maker.

Some use the size thing to up the challenge, however, just as we move to more and more difficult methods. Keeps a goal in view that has to be striven for. It is the striving that makes an accomplishment meaningful. Or gratitude for a gift.

Things have dried up a bit where I hunt, and I think on the bucks I let pass about ten years ago, and sigh.

Killdeer

[Onehair]

I have hunted all traditional for about 30 yrs, no guns at all. I got caught up in the horns due to a good lease and have to say it ain't as fun. Finally hunted a bud's place in Al. last week and took to small bucks in 4 hours of hunting. That's fun.

[Larry247]

I tried to hard this year for a big one. Thier not to common in my area, but some are here. I missed a couple and settled for two smaller bucks, i'm happy with what i have. I'LL TRY HARDER NEXT SEASON!!!!!

[varmint]

I shoot whatever deer decides to give me the opportunity.Like to put at least 4 in the freezer every year.........we love to eat venison.

Don't get me wrong,I would love to be able to shoot a wall hanger every year,but I'll very rarely pass up a Doe,unless the freezer is already full,even then tho I sometimes shoot them for other folks that like venison but don't/won't/can't hunt.

[John Scifres]

I don't choose the deer, the deer chooses me.  Every one a gift from God.  I don't pass up many gifts.  You can always tell that gift deer.  He continues to walk straight at you.  Even looks you in the eye and seems to give himself to you.  I had 2 of 'em this year.  Some say "lucky".  I say "blessed".

[joe skipp]

Every opportunity I get to drop the string on a whitetail...is taken. I'm not a horn hunter and even if I took a beautiful deer like your 150 class, it wouldn't deter me from filling my tags with the smaller ones. I'm out there to hunt and put meat in the freezer...plus donate one to the Feed the Hungry Program.

[Bob G]

I never have been a "horn hunter". But rest assured, I do get excited by a large set of ....


Tenderloins. Yum Yum

[ISP 5353]

What Varmint said!

[Orion]

I don't try to shoot a buck with a rack of a certain minimum size, but I do hunt what I call mature bucks, usually 3 1/2 year olds or older.  There aren't a lot of those where I hunt, and they're pretty hard to get.  Was a time when hunting mature bucks enabled me to spend more time hunting because we only got one either sex tag for the year.  Shoot a deer early and your season was over.  Now, I'm allowed one buck tag where I hunt and multiple doe tags.  This enables me to keep hunting for a mature buck while taking a doe or two for the freezer, the best of both worlds.

[Gatekeeper]

I hunted all does this year and had fun doing it. I passed on several young bucks because I would like to shoot a wall hanger and I will never get that opportunity if I shoot all the young bucks.

I like hunting the does. The older does can be very wise and a true challenge to hunt. Right now my hunting property is heavy on the doe population and light on the bucks.

This year was a blast for me. Two close encounters, but no opportunity for a shot at the old boy that runs around on my hunting ground, several close encounters with younger bucks, opportunities to make calls to younger bucks and watch how they react, called in three does, got busted visually and by scent several times, missed a couple of shots and I brought home the meat.

This year was a great year for me. I don’t understand why you can’t combine trophy hunting with meat hunting in the same season.

[cooncrazy]

yea ive learned a lesson next year god willen i wont put so much pressure on myself and just have fun and enjoy it like i use to

[hickstick]

threads like this make me chuckle...up here in one would be lucky to even see a deer during the season, let alone NOT draw down on it cause of a shortage of  bone....
 
I will pass up fawns, or doe fawn sets sometimes (mostly cause thats what the landowner requested)....but any, and I mean ANY adult deer is on my menu.