Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Minimum standards for bucks?

Do you guys/gals have a minimum size buck you will shoot on your property/lease?

What type of penalty to you enforce if a sub-par buck is shot?


Josh

I have my own place. For me it's whatever I want to shoot but it's been a while since I shot a buck younger than 3.5

I will let my 8 year old son shoot whatever he wants when he graduates from the 22 to a deer rifle

I let two guys hunt on my land - one of them killed his first deer a few years ago. It was a little 6pt but I couldn't have been happier for him. The other is a big time trophy hunter and pickier than I am. Their kids can shoot what they want

With all that we only kill 1-2 deer per year off my 350 acres. My neighbors 350 acres is the same way so with only 3-4 deer killed on 700 acres I don't sweat it if a new hunter shoots a little deer

The coyotes keep the population down so we don't need to worry about killing does to keep the numbers within the lands carrying capacity

Having been a member of several clubs I can tell you that rules
and penalties/fines just don't work very well...

What has helped us most is that most members have a video camera and we have almost as much fun looking at the film every day as we do shooting a deer. We identify most of our good bucks and we can decide which ones are on the hit list. We like to shoot bucks above 130 inches, but there aren't that many. We give kids, especially member's kids a by and let them shoot just about anything, especially if it is a first buck.

Sometimes fun and management can collide with bad results. I think we have a good blend of both.

FYI we have about 4000 acres with 15 members. Most members shoot a doe for meat if they want. We let a bunch of 2.5 year olds walk even though they would be shot on most clubs. Gentlemen's agreements between members and common goals work much better than rules and fines.

Yep we have a low end limit

Must have 4 points on at least one antler.......dictated by Missouri law

$50 "fine" for shooting a button buck

I don't really care what anybody shoots on my land. I want happy hunters, period. As much as we like horns, we like meat more. Deer abound here.

I had a different opinion several years ago. I frowned on little bucks being shot. That all changed....

Dad hunted pretty hard all season, but never saw a decent buck. He'd passed on several smaller deer and the last day of season was upon us. Traditionally, we spend the last day in a really big metal stand on an edge of a field together. Time was running out and it was almost dark. A little buck came out across the field and he decided he wanted to shoot it. After the buck fell, the smile on his face changed my opinion forever.

I realized it's ultimately not the size of the horns that matter...

It's fairly uncommon this far north. If I have a doe tag, I hold out for something that has pretty good mass. If not, it just needs to be legal, which is 3" on one side here.

It used to be that if it was a trophy to me for whatever reason, like a first deer with handgun or traditional archery, then I shot it. Now, even though I am a land owner, the fuggin' elitist antler snobs in my state have gotten the DNR to institute mandatory APR's in my area, even on private land.

If I live to be a hundred I'll never understand why guys see antler size as the only measure of a trophy. Watching too much Michael Waddell, I guess.

I've hunted where it was outside spread and where it was points. Neither allowed for the big grey muzzled cow horn spike a friend let walk a couple of times. And neither allowed for the 4X2 170 pounder 4 or 5 year old with the 2 side palmated and stunted that I shot anyway (and didn't get in trouble for). And neither allowed for the 2 to 3 year olds with spindley racks barely making the rules that got shot every year. Rules that rely absolutely on antler config, points, or width will never be perfect or even nearly so. It depends on the deer.

My preferences will probably change a bit this year. Been seeing more and more young bucks with odd antlers. Maybe 4 points + brow tine on one side with a fork on the other.Others with 3 and 2. Haven't seen a symmetrical 10 pointer in a couple years. I think it's about time to clean the gene pool some. Got a 3.5 - 4.5 year old 9 point and another 8 point that are wide and tall but need a couple years to gain mass. Hope the neighbors don't see them.

ii hunt clubs that have 16in wide minimums and fines for taking button bucks. i also belong to a club that has no rules on size. i have private land on farms that just want the deer gone so i meat hunt on some and trophy hunt on others.

I agree 1000%. We're going through those changes here now in Florida, and I hate them already.

we let young bucks walk and try to shoot 3.5 year olds and up. no penalties or fines, it is all voluntary and you can shoot whatever deer makes you happy. I shot a buck last year I normally would have let walk, but my 5 year old was with me. I dont understand what is wrong with shooting does. A couple of our guys want nothing to do with shooting does, but could care less about the antlers.

And there is nothing wrong with caring about antlers. Some people really enjoy them and to imply there is something wrong with that mindset borders on an elitist attitude.

Texas has a 13" minimum inside spread in some counties.

John

I hunt public land in Illinois Pike Co. Years past I would not shoot anything less than 8pts and I used to see plenty to choose from. In the past two years, the best I've seen is one 4pt. Disease, drought and hunting pressure have changed the scenery. I may need to reassess my minimums to put some venison on the table.

I hunt several places and most all is private land. One place is surrounded by "if is brown it's down" landowners so management is almost impossible there.
Another place I hunt is a farmer buddy and he says all deer is bean eaters so I have to take several to keep him happy, but have tried to not shoot young bucks the last few years. We have several younger bucks on camera that will be nice deer in a year or two. Hopefully they can make it.
I guess in short I can shoot about whatever I want in most places I hunt but choose not to shoot the young bucks. No penalty for shooting the "wrong one"

I firmly believe that if everyone hunted their own conscience and minded their own business as far as others we would all be alot happier as hunters. It was never meant to be a pizzin' contest. As always...YMMV

i shoot only 4.5 yr old bucks and older. I havent shot anything under 5.5 in the last 4 years. Just the way I do it. I see a lot of 140" 3.5 yr olds, but they get a pass. Fortunate to hunt where i do in wisconsin

This sounds almost like a carbon copy of our club. Lots of pictures and/or video of our bucks in the field. Personally, I think showing videos of nice bucks that you let walk helps keep everyone's standards pretty high. Most of the guys in our club are a little older and have shot plenty of good bucks so no one has anything to prove.

Sounds like a sweet spot to hunt. I'd like to see bigger bucks, too. The issue I have that caused my rant on page 1 is the mandating of APR's on private land.

SSB hit the nail on the head-hunt your conscience, stay within the laws and enjoy your time afield.

My minimum standard for bucks is determined by a complicated formula based on the amount of venison in my freezer.

Left to my own devices, if my meat locker is half full or better, most everything gets a pass except coyotes. Below that point, a good sized doe is in danger. If I can see the bottom of the freezer, management bucks, ie, bucks I manage to get a shot at, as well as does bigger than a German shepherd are liable to go home with me.

Otherwise, if I were on ground with antler restrictions, I'd follow the rules and or probably just hunt does, leaving the bucks for those to whom horn size means everything. I just like hunting, I'd still go if bucks were bald headed.

The lease I was on here was pretty much shoot what you want until I ended up as the Lease 'Manager'. I spoke with the P&W folks and figured out how many deer needed to be taken off the place. When we had our lease meeting with all of the members we, as a group, decided each member would get 1 8-point or better, minimum of ears-wide and then had a selective culling of some of the obvious poor quality bucks. Each member was required to take at least 3 does (5 deer limit set by the state) or their guests could take the does and the culls.
When we started, the average 8 point taken by the group field dressed less than 80 pounds and had a 13" width. The average age was 2.5. After 5 years our average 8 point scored in the 120's - 140's, weighed 105 field dressed and was 4.5-5.5 years old. Largest deer taken to date was a 170 class. This is all low fenced and no supplemental feeding. Just keeping the #'s in check and getting rid of the culls.
After 5 years, the number of culls needing to be taken dropped dramatically.

My minimum is whatever the state says. If I feel like flaming it, I flame it.

On our hunting ground, we try for a minimum 145-150 gross. We always thin out a few does on each farm, depending on how we feel the ratio of bucks to does is.

I agree with SAS. Hunting is not all about horn size. Way too many folks have lost the love of just being in the woods and taking an animal. You can simply ruin a kid for hunting if you don't give him appropriate trigger time.

Until you've seen it work, it's hard to believe. I've also seen it work in many places and I'm a firm believer.

I'm all about youngsters or new hunters shooting any deer they choose, but I never really have understood why some guys like to shoot every buck they see when they've killed 10s if not 100s of deer in their life. I've seen guys pass up a bunch of does, but whack the first fork horn that steps out and continue to do so until all tags are filled. The real funny part is many of those same guys will go on and on about how they never see good bucks. I guess I could see shooting the young bucks when you hunt an area with few deer and that's the only opps for meat, but in most places I hunt it's pretty common to see several deer in a given hunt.

I think if more folks climbed out of the tree or left the box blind they'd appreciate what hunting is.

AMEN!

AMEN! I haven't set foot in a tree stand or box blind since 1997 and I don't miss it at all.

I have only hunted one time in each format. My whole life has been free range game on their turf and stalking. I prefer it.

It depends.

I try to have as much video of the deer as possible.

When one looks like (or walks like) they have a liberal bent, I shoot the bastard. Bull queer bucks can get huge....

This is easily done, because they like free food, free steroids, free growth hormone and all kinds of sex (ALL kinds).

No, I'm not Dr. Moreau, I just like to manage deer herds....

The best part about hunting is watching old Fat Albert and Brown Hornet episodes (VHS) in the tower stand....

At our camp, we have no particular standards. This is the first year we will all be adults-- my youngest turned 16. I think it is rather goofy to have kids passing on less than ideal deer unless they choose to do so.

I know there is a lot of stuff out there about QDM and such, and I am not saying it is complete hokum, but there needs to be some sense of proportion. It used to be that I really thought I was doing the right thing by trying to kill doe and eschewing smaller bucks. However, in the 13 seasons I have been on the plot, my ideas have changed. It may be heresy to y'all, but hear me out.

Remember as you read this that I have 200 acres. QDM catechism states you need 300 acres as a minimum. Additionally remember that there may be as many as 3000 hunters that hear my shot on the Opener-- that's about 1 hunter per 4 acres. We have no more than 4 hunters on 200 acres.

1) To me, the secret to big bucks on my size plot is making the doe happy. I do a lot of habitat improvement, and I try to give my resident doe a place to raise their fawns in peace. Then I turn around and use them for bait come fall.
2) The big buck I spy today may be in another county by next weekend. Big bucks roam on a range much larger than my 200 acres. My plot is really too small to successfully manage antlers without putting up a high fence.
3) Taking doe is fine, but taking the matriarch of a herd is detrimental. They are the ones that make the decisions on where to go and what to eat. I don't want to exterminate them or honk them off. After I have hunted my 1 buck (all KY allows) I go hunting for 1-2 doe. I try my best to take the younger females. If I screw up and take a button I don't worry too much. They still taste good.
4) I never think about thinning or culling or that sort of thing. We are in a zone that is very liberal; we can take as many antlerless deer as we want, but only 1 buck. There is going to be no more than 15 deer on the property at any given time. 1 may be mature buck. It matters not a whit what I choose to shoot this year. Next year, the deer will replace themselves from the surplus that surrounds me, and I have no control over what comes in.

Personally, my goal was always to hold out for a buck that is bigger than any I've previously shot. Then in 2007, I shot a real monarch, and realized it might be the biggest one I ever shoot. Since then I have had to revise my standards:
1) I still try to shoot one bigger than what I killed the previous year.
2) If I burn my buck tag on a wounded deer (2005) I count that as a reset. Ditto if I eat tag soup (2012) or only take doe (2010).

As to the rest of Der Bauernhof am Loch im Ende des Stumpfes. . .

Moose? He has never passed on a spike. He says he would like to take bigger, but somehow the gun goes off and . . .
Angus? Angus is the uber-sportsman. He shot his first doe in 2009 and then passed on numerous deer until he got a nice buck. He is willing to go the whole season, waiting for the right set of antlers.
SuperCore? The man is a machine. He will drop two in one outing, but age is creeping up on him and the memory of cleaning two deer in a day is making him think twice.

One last thing: I really had to scratch my head back in 2012. I let a nice 10 pointer pass on the Muzzleloader Opener in October, and then ended up with tag soup in rifle season. I realized in retrospect that the reason I passed was that I enjoy the whole Deer Camp scene in November and I did not want to screw it up burning my buck tag. I've passed on nice bucks before, but this was a wake-up.

As I commented later:


From: And So It Ends Again

On my place I tell friends to shoot any buck that they will be proud of. If you will show your buddies pictures of him and brag about the hunt he's big enough. I do recommend to try to kill 8 point or bigger bucks 3 years or older.