will this buck be a shooter?

[gregg dudley]

There is something about antlers that draws most hunters to hunt whitetails.  We all know that you can't eat bone, but that bone is somehow symbolic of the hunt.  Each antler is different and unique.  If you are like me, you can look at a set of deer antlers on the wall and recall the hunt in finite detail.  You can take them down and trace their curved surface and notice the bark or clay still embedded in the bases and if you are lucky your olfactory senses might even allow a brief scent of pine or cedar that will sharpen the memory of the day.

When you shoot a doe it serves a management objective, provides food for the table, and affords a satisfying and necessary hunting experience.  But...  Does the experience of killing a doe honestly equate to that of killing a buck?  For most hunters the brutally honest answer would be no.  If it did, more does would be killed each year and far more small bucks would get a pass.  

I have hunted with literally dozens of people that swear each year that they are going to hold out for a mature buck only to drop the string on the first legal buck they see.  That spike or forkhorn comes into range and the desire to inspect the antlers just a little closer takes over.  The lure of the tangible trophy, the antler to fondle, the ornament for the den is like a siren's call.  Despite what you have heard, size does not seem to matter at all!

But, the good news is that's ok.  There are far too few hunting seasons left in your lifetime to worry about meeting someone else's trophy standards.  Shoot what you want to shoot.  Pass on what you want to pass on.  Take the time to enjoy the hunt to maximum potential every time you go afield.

[josef2424]

If it was the last day of the season I'd say hes a shooter.

[James Wrenn]

But... Does the experience of killing a doe honestly equate to that of killing a buck?

I guess that depends on who you are and how you hunt.To me it is about the hunt more than it is about the animal.My first deer with a longbow was a small yearing.I was more excited about it than any buck I ever killed.The same goes for a young buck I shot running a doe with my first bamboo/backed osage bow.We all hunt for different reasons but in all honesty if I could not answer yes to your queston I would not be hunting.Just me of course.I certainly do not care why or what others do..just don't want them thinking there idea is my ideas of how things should be.  

[Scarne]

Horns are always important...that's why guys shoot little bucks...'cause they want the horns whether they mount the critter or not.  They WANT to be able to say "I got my buck".  Yep...ego counts.  If horns wern't important hunters would just shoot does and leave the horns to somebody else that valued a little buck.

It's human nature.  The very first record books were drawn on the walls of caves.  If horns wern't important there wouldn't be cave drawings of the hunt with pictographs of critters with huge horns. It's genetic...nothing you can do about it.  It's what makes us run...

Bringing us up to date if horns wern't important the "hunting industry" would have dissappeared long ago and this web site would not be in existance.  The industry sells the dream everyday.  It is a proven fact that horn porn sells just like the other kind of porn...that remarkably nobody buys or looks at either.

Anybody that says they don't dream about putting a tag on a record class deer is a liar, just the same as...well...you know...the magazine hotties.  Everybody wants that bone and some will pay dearly for it.  What is it worth to you?

The only question you have to ask yourself is can you live with the decision?  Will you be proud to say you killed that deer regardless of what anybody else thinks?

I have a 10 pointer mounted that many hunters will never see in the woods let alone tag. It serves as a reminder that killing is easy, living with it is far more difficult.

[OkKeith]

FeelTheHunt,

Without being critical of what you and others have said, I thought I might add my comments to the discussion. What just about everyone else has being talking about is a personal code. They are either describing theirs, or telling you to define and stick to yours. I would counsel the same thing.

In answer to your question, no, I would not shoot that buck. It does not meet my personal code as a shooter yet. If I am going to shoot and tag a buck, I prefer them in the 4 and 1/2 to 5 and 1/2 year old range. I have killed older bucks, but they are few and far between in my area.

I look at deer in my hunting area as an investment of sorts. Like investments, I think a longer term approach is beneficial. Not much invested in a year and a half old spike buck but the long term benefits will never be realized if it is killed. Older bucks (yes, with larger antlers) have a greater return on investment but are riskier to realize as they get older. You need to decide what it is you’re in the game for. Are you satisfied with small, quick returns or do you want larger, long term results for your efforts?

Now, I am not a financial type, but I think the analogy fits. The idea of shooting it now because someone else will get it later seems to be like selling short, getting yours, and getting out, so to speak. If you have a desire to kill a big, well antlered deer, let him walk. I think in another two years he will be a dandy. True, you are running the risk that someone else might kill him, but is killing him now so someone else can’t, really a good motivation?

I think there is a difference between "Trophy Hunting" and "Hunting for a Trophy". I like to hunt for big deer. I consider it a great accomplishment to kill a buck with big antlers and memorialize the experience by availing myself of the talents of a skilled taxidermist. There is no need for me to kill a small, young or otherwise non-trophy buck. I think that if a deer is a shooter on the last day of season, it should have been a shooter on the first day. I do kill does whenever I have a tag for them, but my buck tag more often than not goes unfilled. I hunt with a rifle, a muzzleloader and my bow, and have the exact same preferences for which deer I would kill for each. What is it you are hunting for? Not why are you hunting, but what do want to get out of it?

The sun rises are pretty, the woods are beautiful and I love just being outside doing things away from civilization, but make no mistake, my purpose for being there is to kill an animal. Without this specific motivation, it is simply an expensive walk in the woods. Like many have said, I don’t have to kill something to enjoy the hunt, but I have to be there to kill something to have hunted.

Enjoy your hunt.

OkKeith

[Colt]

I don't hunt with a tape measure.

I wish the hunter's names were not put into P@Y and B@C record books.

QDM only works for those with large tracks of land.

SHOOT HIM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Scarne]

excellent post kieth...

[Scarne]

Colt...

What you say simply isn't true.  QDM works regardless of the how much property is involved if everybody in the area has the same motivation.  From your post it is obvious that killing something is more important QDM.  That's okay...it was for me to at one time.

As for the record books...even the cave man had his name on the wall.  They didn't know how to write "thor" but they knew how to draw stick figures and you can bet each cave man know who was who.

[Don Stokes]

Scarne, that's a big "if". I would love to practice QDM on my place, but it's just too small. The deer roam over several of my neighbor's properties too, and they seem to shoot everything they see. I still don't shoot the small bucks, but I don't expect to see them again, either. I prefer to eat does. I haven't killed a buck in several years, holding out for a bigger one. I guess I'm practicing QDM for my neighbors!

[Two Arrows]

Great post Keith!

[the force]

Shoot him    

[BMOELLER]

If he's what you want.  Not me. I'd shoot a doe for meat.  I don't need anymore basket racks laying around.  His antlers are barely longer than his ears.

[Scarne]

Don...

The world if full of "if's".  One thing is certain "IF" you do nothing you will get nothing.  "IF" you don't plan with your neighbors then nothing happens.  Just as "IF" you shoot a little buck he will certainly NEVER be a big buck.  

"IF" a hunter says they are meat hunters then there should not be an issue with passing up small bucks so those interested in bone can have what they want as well.

But that is seldom if ever really the case for the meat hunter.  They want the bone too.

[Don Stokes]

Agreed, Scarne. That's why I let the little ones walk anyhow, even though I might never see them again.