Saw this guy on my camera this morning and he's not small but doesn't look very old to me, either. Thoughts?
Shoot or let walk?
- Thread starter Baizanator
- Start date
Nice deer right now. Can't tell for sure his width. My first thought is that he is a very nice Archery deer, but you are right, I think he may only be 3.5. For gun season, If I had enough land that he is likely to get a year older, I'd love to be able to let him go and see what he's like next year. I agree about him having great potential. ...and shoot a couple of does for the meat. On public land, that is definitely a shooter. Good luck!
Taking a second look at a blow up photo of him, I'd let him walk. He could easily be 2.5 rather than 3.5 Again, he has good potential I think.
My perspective on shoot or let walk conversations has changed drastically over the last couple of years. A doctor looking you in the eye and telling you your a dead man will do those kinds of things. I look at things differently now. A great memorable hunt has very little to do with the trophy. I have been fortunate enough to kill some really big deer, but without question my two favorite hunts certainly do not involve trohpies in the typical sense.
The best hunt of my life was last weekend where I spent it with my 14 yr old seeing very few deer climaxed by him missing a difficult shot on a nice buck. The conversations and even the lack of will live in my memories forever.
At the end of my illness, I guess it will never end, but anyway, I put a spot and stalk on what ended up being a wide 6 point without eyeguards. It was an incredible experience.
Sorry about getting sentimental, but, I really think every man has his own trophies. There was a time when I would have passed on that buck. Will that deer get bigger, of course, would I shoot him... In a heart beat.
The best hunt of my life was last weekend where I spent it with my 14 yr old seeing very few deer climaxed by him missing a difficult shot on a nice buck. The conversations and even the lack of will live in my memories forever.
At the end of my illness, I guess it will never end, but anyway, I put a spot and stalk on what ended up being a wide 6 point without eyeguards. It was an incredible experience.
Sorry about getting sentimental, but, I really think every man has his own trophies. There was a time when I would have passed on that buck. Will that deer get bigger, of course, would I shoot him... In a heart beat.
I think this the right perspective and one I wholeheartedly agree with. I watched a 40 year old man that we guided kill his very first deer. It was the first buck he saw on the first day and it was a little fork horn muley at 200 yards.
You would have thought it had a 30 inch inside spread. Best trophy of the year.
Far from it buddy. I have a nerve condition that causes random nerves to fire all over my body at various times and for indefinate periods (think days at a time) It is quite painful and an overall pain in the ass, but it aint gonna kill me. Far from the horses ass neuro that told me he thought I had ALS but needed further testing. That, was not a good day. It has however changed my viewpoint on MANY things, trophy deer included
Mad has killed probably the biggest buck of anyone on this board, everything is a dink after that 200 inch deer he shot. But I agree with u.
