Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting I just don't care how old a buck is

Interesting, Every hunter in our deer camp has 4 deer tags and many go unfilled for a variety reasons. Some hunters, including yours truly, donate a deer to the Wisconsin DNR food pantry program. My family's needs come first and we eat what we shoot, but I choose to share the bounty of the resource available to me with the less fortunate.

Right on roundoak. Same here in TX, known as Hunters for the Hungry. Great program. I usually give them 4-5 deer every year. I'm pretty sure the recipients do not loathe us.

I've always shot does. I see very few bucks when hunting and shoot whatever is legal. I've shot maybe 4 bucks in all my years hunting including a yearling that had nubs (thought it was a doe). My biggest buck was a 10 point that had broken off part of his horn making him a 9 point. I enjoyed getting a buck but ultimately prefer the meat. It appears that most of the tv shows are "management" hunting for producing trophies and not actually looking at the meat aspect? It has turned me off to most hunting shows since it is unrealistic.

Sorry Guys,

Not what I meant at all. I'll happily share with friends & family, or anybody that wants to try well cared for Venison.

What I was "trying" to mean was, Shoot a trophy set of horns in multiple states, with no intention of ever eating any of the venison,
& then justify their behaviour/actions by "donating the meat".

It's not the donating I loath, it's the disrespect behind their intentions from the outset !

Again, YMMV.

Hate the adjectives cultivated by deer farmers and lease landlords bleeding over into hunting speak.....cull, trash, management, trophy, etc. Myself, and most all deer hunters I am acquainted with, consider any deer taken legally and ethically worthy of respect.

Hunters against hunger programs I believe originated here in Ohio, due to a major screwup of bowwing to public pressure, that ended in several deaths. (Bambie-Thumpers were the driving cause, and deer fleeing the parks in droves caused several fatal deer/accidents. ). In the end, the parks were culled properly with rifles on stands, but the open shelters were forbidden by law to accept the free meat from the project. It was not Government approved food. Laws had to be rewritten, and methods of disbursement had to be figured out. (Who pays, and how to be .gov approved)

Long story, but bambie-Thumpers screwed up twice running. (Who'd a thunk it?)

How are spikes trash?

Spikes are not trash. That is an old wife's tale. Some genetic traits can be passed, but growth is mainly an age and Nutrition issue. Here is some facts and research on antler.

http://www.iwla-rh.org/html/DGIF_articles/deer_antlers.html

Exactly the spike trash crap had been handed down over the years here too....one of the many incorrect things people pass along out of ignorance and others believe it because of who told them.....

I remember very well in the 70-80s that John Wooters repeatedly said, "once a spike always a spike". I didn't know one way or the other at the time but I've come to know that is NOT always right.

A very young buck may be a spike for his first - short - set but they are not forever a spike.

OTOH, I have killed much larger bucks, 2 1/2, 3 1/2 yo that were STILL spikes. So SOMETIMES a spike will always be a spike but NOT always.

It's also my opinion from 40+ years of deer hunting, that a 1 1/2 or 2 1/2 yo spike will NOT become a "trophy" or very large racked buck.


Jerry

I like killing mature bucks with lots of antler! I try to do so every year. I pass up several that would make others very happy. That’s just what I choose to do. But...

....I don’t care what anybody else shoots as long as it’s legal.
....I’m strongly opposed to antler restrictions.
....I tell anybody that hunts with me or on my land to shoot whatever makes them happy.
....I let my kids or any kids shoot anything they want, from button to spike to giant.
....I don’t care how you do it as long as it’s legal - over corn, with a bow, crossbow or gun - I don’t care.
....I fill my doe tags every year. I enjoy shooting and eating deer. We hadn’t bought ground beef in years.
....I let my kids shoot as many deer as they want (within legal limits).
....I like trail cameras. I consider it part of the hunt. Pictures are neat.
....I want everybody to be happy with their kill.

I know “inches” are killing hunting and it pisses me off.

Yep, I'm aware of that as I've seen studies where spikes turn into B&C deer and sometimes they don't.

My favorite buck I've killed was an older deer the taxi said he guessed 6.5yrs old based on teeth, that is a 7pt. Slightly wider than his ears, good mass, scars all over him, been shot in the past, just an old warrior and that's what I'm after. Score doesn't mean much to me, I'd just rather pull the trigger on an older mature deer than a young one.

Speaking of spikes, I can't help but wonder if it is geographical to some extent. In Iowa I could count the number of spikes I have seen without taking my shoes off but literally hundreds of fork horns or basket 6 and 8 points. We just don't seem to have spikes around here.

I am a fan of letting legal hunters shoot whichever legal deer they want to and try not to judge. If looking for meat I prefer to shoot does and let younger-looking or smaller bucks pass in hopes of shooting something bigger and letting them grow but this is never an absolute. I'm not even sure it really works as I have shot a couple of nicer mature bucks but probably nothing many of you would consider a trophy. In most areas 150" deer just aren't as common as some people would have you think and if you can have one in your sights without getting the shakes; congratulations-you are a better man than me. I doubt I could let one pass. As someone else said it is the situation and the experience that makes the hunt sometimes and not just the size of the horns. I worked my butt off to take my first antelope doe on public land in a unit with limited access and consider her a 'trophy' even with no horns at all.

Great plan. As many get older and more successful, i think they naturally want to increase the challenge, which is what prompts most to deer hunt in the first place.

I totally agree.....

As in most hobbies, sports...etc....

If one bases his " success" or " gratification" by the approval of others.....

And furthermore pushes his or her agenda of criteria meeting approval amongst his associates.....

He will be friendless, and empty.

I agree about the respect even regarding ‘inferior’ bucks. I do ‘ cull’ when I can. By that I mean I kill bucks that are obviously ‘handicapped’ or wierdly
unmatched or freakish. I killed 1 last year that had a normal rack on the right side but the left side ‘freakish’. I posted it last yr in this forum but photoPUKEIT has seized it for ransom. They ‘want’ 300.00 / yr to share to other sites. Want is ALL they get.

I’m currently organizing pix with another hosting service. Hopefully I’ll be able to post some here. This past Oct. I saw a real FREAK antlered Buck ONCE, haven’t seen him since. Both bucks NEEDED to be culled. I eat the meat but their breeding days are over and can’t pass their genes in the herd.

We can have some input to the Buck quality w/o being a farming operation. Everywhere I hunt the deer are FREE ranging. Since 2012 I have only seen 1 Buck two times. All the others I’ve killed, THAT was the only time I saw them.

Jerry

Wooters was the guy who really got the ball rolling with the idea of a "Management Buck." The next thing you know, everyone is out there "culling" the herd of everything with a crappy antler. I've got his book Hunting Trophy Deer right next to me on the shelf.

1) There is no way a few guys on a few acres are going to have any effect on wild deer genetics. It's spitting in the ocean.
2) Half the genetics are carried by the doe, Now what?
3) The previous posters were right: Since Wooters wrote his tome, studies have shown spikes can turn into awesome racks later in life.
4) Wooters got all his knowledge working with captive deer inside fences. These weren't free ranging.


Mind you, I'm all for shooting deer with mangled antlers. I've shot my share.


EDIT: One other thing I left out. Wooters was in the ground before DNA testing came around. Since Wooter's time, genetic studies have shown that it isn't the big racks that do most of the breeding. In actuality, while the big guys are wrastlin' about, it's generally the young guys with the spikes, forks, and dinky baskets that are running around getting all the sugar. Whoda thunk?

Darrick, you and I are more in agreement than not.

1. It P M O for experienced hunters to kill FAWNS . because there is a 50/50 chance they are nubbins. Kill nubbins, you kill FUTURE racks -whether large or small.

2. Some yrs. back Ark imposed 3 pts on 1 side Antler Restrictions. ALL, repeat ALL that did was to let bucks live ONE yr longer. I didn't like the restriction but had NO say in the matter.

3. I tell anyone (Adult - experienced hunter) don't shoot fawns.

4. I agree about kids or women OR newbie hunters shoot anything LEGAL if they want to kill it.

5. I want to fill my Doe tags - 4 or 6 depending on the zone. I don't always get to do that.

Not on your list so -- Hunting Free range deer from all the surrounding property (I can't hunt), I don't kill every legal buck that I could. This yr. alone I passed up a few young - small bodied - small racked bucks, because I know there are better out there. My 'largest' buck is only a 140 class. I have a few that are close to that so I don't have any BOOK Bucks. I like most hunters want to kill the biggest buck I have the opportunity.

As I said above - Since 2012 I have killed ONLY 1 buck that I saw twice. All the bucks I've killed---I saw ONLY one X. Mostly I hunt family property 70 acres BUT Does & Bucks come & go at will. Trail cameras won't help me MUCH, some maybe but not a lot. IF I set a goal of a particular buck - neighbors from 3 sides may very kill it and I'm WAITING on a dead buck.

There are diff things that affect diff hunting areas. We just do the best we can with what we have to work with.(grammar incorrect)

Thanks and I'm glad you are participating here.

Jerry

Reading some of these comments, it becomes very apparent why more and more legally mandated requirements are put in place to protect the resource.

For the meat hunters, letting a deer live to at least three years old usually will produce a deer that has substantially more body weight of a one year old.

You'll start shooting big deer, body weight and/or rack size, when you quit shooting small deer.

Start from what is best for the animals as a whole, conserve the resource.

A doe will Never sprout antlers.......

A doe never has the vast variance in metabolic change.....as she is always lactating.....more consistent meat product IMO

Buck smart.......does smarter.......

Eat does.........watch bucks grow......if you can.