Shoot or Dont Shoot!

Ive got a question. I am getting pics of lots of 5 and 7 pointers. Is this genetic. If so do i need to take these 2 out?

I would not shoot.

Give them another year and se what you see. Should be more mass and points.

taking them out won't affect the gene pool one way or another. shoot one if he's good enough for you. I personally love that big 7 point, he might be huge next year too if you don't want to shoot him

On free-range deer in Tennessee, any buck "culling" is generally counter-productive.

Shoot what make you happy, but I believe you'll do more harm than good by trying to effect the gene pool by shooting a particular buck you think has less desirable antler traits.

That big 5 pt. I think in the second pic looks to be a mature buck to me. He's got a pot belly and good mass, I would hammer him.

Buck in the middle in that last pic would be a shooter here any day. That is a good solid bodied mature deer regardless of how many points he has.

I would use my 2 buck tags on those. But you shoot what makes you happy

Shoot

I would not shoot, experienced this last year on a deer I thought could be culled and I didnt shoot........ Let them have another year.

harvester12":suat46cy said:

I would not shoot, experienced this last year . . . . . . .

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GREAT EXAMPLE, Harvester12!

WORM82":suat46cy said:

I would use my 2 buck tags on those. But you shoot what makes you happy

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As you said, "what makes you happy."

And that always DEPENDS.
Whether to shoot or not to shoot, for me, doesn't just depend on a pic posted on the internet.
It depends on lots of factors.

1) What if you knew there were one or more better-antlered and older bucks using that same area?

2) What if you already has several on your wall larger those those depicted, and were trying to help your son (or a friend) get one of those rather than shoot it yourself?

3) What if one of those above depicted bucks presents, but you immediately notice he's entirely broken off one of his antlers?
(Not only does that make him less of a "shooter" to me, but I'm thinking, "Where's the likely larger buck that did that to him?")

4) What if it were post-rut, last day of deer season, and one of these presented, and you felt he had an extremely high probability of being around the next deer season (and be yet larger & older)? Would that alone give you much for which to look forward and be more excited about for the entire year, as you look forward to the opening of the next deer season?

------------------------------------ Just a few of those factors which commonly present to many hunters --------------------------------

ENJOY the JOURNEY (the "Hunt" in this case), and shoot what makes you happy.

harvester12":1lr36gsp said:

I would not shoot, experienced this last year on a deer I thought could be culled and I didnt shoot........ Let them have another year.

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I assume you have other pics to support that those two bucks are one in the same? Just wondering because I could not make a definitive determination based on those two pics alone.

Never hurts to let em get a year older

Andy S.":1jcpz9d3 said:

harvester12":1jcpz9d3 said:

I would not shoot, experienced this last year on a deer I thought could be culled and I didnt shoot........ Let them have another year.

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I assume you have other pics to support that those two bucks are one in the same? Just wondering because I could not make a definitive determination based on those two pics alone.

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I was thinking the same thing...what brought you to determining that this is the same buck harvester 12?


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I will put together a thread for you, along with some information on this deer. Pics were a "quick" but poor example. Besides a strong Left beam with 4 pts including a brow in 2014 and a weak 2 pts without brow on right side, this deer is living in the same house as last year with the exact travel patterns. We wanted to eliminate "inferior" genetics but didn't know enough about him last year. I will get my pics tonight and get them on here. It is "dead" obvious but he blew up this year with the supplements and minerals along with the acorns last year.

harvester12":3nrjsln6 said:

It is "dead" obvious but he blew up this year with the supplements and minerals along with the acorns last year.

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I suspect his significant increase in antlers had more to do with just another year of age than any supplements and minerals. Of course, the acorns were a plus, but I'd bet he'd still have had most of this increase just so long has his winter food resources weren't bad.

When I first viewed your pics, to me, it just looked like a 2 1/2 moving up to a 3 1/2 age class, and such huge increases in antler aren't uncommon for that, but do agree he had more gain in a year than most.

It's a deer, shoot it. The only time a guy should worry about a rack is when he's looking to get married. And for some, it doesn't even matter then.