Posted: 9/16/2008 5:46:44 PM EDT
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I would wait for the trophy buck. Shooting the ones with great potential just means there will be fewer great deer next year. I do think that's good you finished out your buck tags with cull bucks, that will make for a stronger herd. You know the big guy is out there, wouldn't it tick you off to fill your last tag only to see him running off later. |
Patience is a virtue... |
I've been hunting for 31 years , I have not always had patience , but as I get older I have seen the light and have even let the biggest deer of my life walk because of the shot . I wanted to make sure I wasn't crazy for letting them walk . Thanks for the reassurance , I have always worried that my hard work would not payoff , maybe this is the year |
you might want to read your hunting rules ,it's not illegal to feed the animals just hunt over the food . the food has to be removed 10 days before the hunt if you are hunting in the same place. which I am not , this is where I take pictures and keep up with the herd .  |
+1 If you shoot the good ones before their prime, then you never get the monsters. |
I'm headed over in a minute to change camera card I'll post a picture I'm sure the corn is already gone , but I have a full ten days before season still as of today. when I started hunting this spot 4 years ago all that you would see was bad genetics so I took it upon myself to start QDM on this small track of land and it is working |
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What exactly do you mean by cull bucks? If you are talking about 4 1/2 yr old 6 pointers then I agree. If you are taking about spikes or other bucks less than 2 1/2 yr old, you should do some additional research. It's a huge myth that spikes won't grow up to be dandy bucks. Bucks with poor antlers their first year are usually due to habitat or being born late. They'll catch up soon enough. |
If they are 2 1/2 and are not sporting at least forks, I'll look closer. If they have no forks, but are wide, or have long beams, then fine let them walk. But usually, when these bucks are 3 1/2, they have 6 points, and are still spindly. Which means they die young. But if they are 2 1/2 and have 4 inch spikes, that go straight up, they are a waste of protein feed usually. They die young. |
I have shot many 2 1/2 or 3 yr. old bucks with no brow tines 12 to 14 in.wide , or one beam 18 inches long and the other a nice 4 points and heavy, I shot a spike last year that was around 185 on the hoof and had a gnarly little rack , and have a couple of there offspring running around this year, but you see the nine point in the pictures this is about as good as it gets and I didn't start seeing these until last year keep in mind that I probably am the only person in my area hunting this way , all the others are see and shoot , I harvest a doe before I ever think about that buck. I have a doe population in the area that is way too big and am allowed to take 3 does a day this year and if I can find enough people that want them I will harvest about 6 . |