Buck

[Tater]

Nice Buck....waiting for some pics of the boss..  

[KentuckyTJ]

Yeah its a personal decision for sure.

I wish I had my phone at the ready on the one that walked by in my first outing of the season. I had just pulled my bow up and was standing up bow in hand putting my glove on when a squirrel started his alarm bark. I looked at him and he wasn't looking at me he was facing away. I peered down under the canopy and see a good buck trotting my way.

Now it is the first minute of my first hunt of the year and at 4 pm was 93 degrees. With that said you just don't expect to see a buck under those conditions that early in the day.

He was 30 yards out when he slowed to a walk. With every move of his head the shredded and hanging velvet would slap around from side to side. He walked right in front of me at 5 yards and stopped at the fence.

He hesitated a minute and then leaped over. He then stopped broadside at 12 yards. Through all of this I am frozen, just soaking in this amazingly beautiful encounter. He hesitates a minute as he surveys the long open strip that runs along the corn field and then walks away.

I quick figured him at around the 130" mark with good mass, nice beam length, an 18-19" spread but short tines. It was an unbelievable site.

As he was walking away I thought "maybe I should have shot him", but if there is a maybe in that thought I wouldn't be satisfied to use my only tag up and that's a personal decision.

As I have gotten older the drive that I used to have that made me believe I just have to kill a buck every year has faded. I am really enjoying encounters like these with these beautiful animals.

[awbowman]

Too COOL!

[kat]

Be confident in the fact that you have some great deer and are to make those decisions. You are a fortunate man.

[kbetts]

Nice pics.  I'd let him walk too.

[Bonebuster]

It would be extremely satisfying to be able to pass a buck like that!
 

[bogeyrider63]

Cool pics. Man i can't wait to get out in the woods.

[30coupe]

The first and only buck I have taken was an 8 pointer with similar mass but a heavier body. I've passed on a bunch like that since, and had tag soup a few times because of it. The older I get, the less important that seems. I do intend to put something in the freezer this year, hopefully a nice, fat doe. Since I have a landowner and a statewide tag, I can be pickier about the bucks, especially since I have pics of these guys on my property:

 

 

That first one is a huge bodied deer. I've seen him a couple times. Along with these are a few more mature bucks I have either seen or have trail cam pictures of that I haven't had time to upload to Photobucket. That makes the young bucks easier to pass.

Good luck to you on the rest of your season. Ours opens on Oct. 1, but I never get too excited until around Halloween when it comes to bucks. An early season doe would suit me though.

[xtrema312]

Tom I hope you find the one you want.  I am sure you had fun watching that one and getting some pic's.

[shankspony]

Awesome set of pictures. I bet you still had that excitement though you decided not to shoot.

[riverrat 2]

I need to move south.

[leftyfred]

Tom,
I am a camera hunter also, with the bow along of course.  I get just as much satisfaction snapping multiple photos as I do driving an arrow through the boiler room.  We do like to eat, however, the whole process of getting the meat to the freezer in warm weather usually warrants the camera.  Very nice hunting spot.  Talk with you soon, Mike

[Sam McMichael]

You are definitely more picky than me. I could not have passed up the chance on this guy. I hope you get a shot at the big one.

[KentuckyTJ]

Just added a video from my phone.

 

[ISP 5353]

Great pictures!  Thanks for posting them!  I am not sure I could have held back on him!

[MnFn]

I face a similar dilemma regarding whether or not to shoot a buck like that. For quite a few years now, I hunted with my bow for a real trophy and in one case let a nice 5X5 stand in my shooting lane at 13 yards and then continue on. Why? Because my cousin (who owns the land) asked me to not shoot a buck unless I would hang the rack on my wall. He told me of three bucks he had seen, one a 20" inside spread and two 18"ers.

I saw this one on the first night I had ever hunted this land. I have hunted there for about 4 years now and that is the nicest buck I have seen to date.

Every once in awhile when I think of that encounter, one thought slips into my mind, and that thought is to say to myself " you IDIOT". I can not believe I let that buck go. It would have been the nicest buck I had ever shot with a bow- maybe with rifle shot bucks included.

But, If you take one you are wondering about you will never have the opportunity to shoot a really big one. That is where I am, and it has been a few years since I have tagged a deer.

The passion for hunting is just as strong now as ever, and that is what I enjoy so I will probably continue on as before. I do like venison, so I may take a smaller deer as I have a tag for two different states this year.

Still, in my mind it would be a shame to take a smaller buck that has the potential to grow into something really special. I recognize that I am blessed to live where I live and have the opportunities to hunt a few big deer, and I know there are many who are not that fortunate. So these thoughts are just for me- not directed to anyone else. My two son-in-laws are relatively new hunters and I do not impose my thoughts on what they should shoot when they hunt my farm.

[KentuckyTJ]

Yep to each his own. We all are at different stages of our hunting lives. For me finding and figuring out how to kill a mature buck trips my trigger. I do get the itch to shoot something quit often. When I do I am lucky enough to live in a place with good numbers and I shoot a doe.

An eight to nine year old brute that's rack is down hill runs this wood lot. Killing him would do it for me. Here is KY we get one buck tag.