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Late season changes......

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Bottom Hunter

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Are you the kind of hunter that changes his "priorities" on what to shoot as the season progresses?

Will you let a deer walk on the first day, yet kill it on the last day.??

I know hunters that settle for smaller bucks at season's end and I'm not sure that I understand that way of thinking. if you want meat, then shoot a doe, if you want a buck for the wall, will it grow during the season and be bigger at the end of the season....?? of course not. I hear them say things like,"Well, i wanted to take a buck and was waiting for a bigger one, but since a bigger one didn't show, I settled for the smaller one"..

Why do some hunters feel the need to kill bucks that they may indeed pass on early in the season?
Especially, when meat is not a factor?

thanks...
 
Why does it matter? Are they less than? Last I checked they purchased a license, they invested hard money to make a choice. I don't skin their deer. I don't pay their taxidermy bill and I sure as heck ain't going to tell them what to do when they are enjoying time in the woods.
 
I agree with you if you're talking about private land where you can pattern and "manage" for a certain class of deer. I doe hunt with my bow until I fill the freezer (usually 2 or 3 will do me), then I buck hunt for the rest of the season. I keep a good survey of the deer on my hunting land, and I will not shoot a buck that I won't mount. Of course that's only my opinion and my way of doing things up here in 1-buck territory. Last season, I ate my buck tag. That makes for a long 5 months of deer season when you kill your does in September!

On a guided hunt (which I've never done) I wouldn't have a problem shooting a buck within their minimum guidelines late in the hunt.

At the end of the day, if someone feels moved, they can pull the trigger. And if they do so within the law, I cannot fault them for that - agree or not.
 
Bottom Hunter said:
Are you the kind of hunter that changes his "priorities" on what to shoot as the season progresses?

Will you let a deer walk on the first day, yet kill it on the last day.??
Click to expand...

Who cares either way? What other hunters choose to shoot and why is none of my concern.
 
I'm the kind of hunter that will shoot what makes me happy, regardless of what point in the season it is. I'll also shoot a deer with a bow that I may not shoot with a gun...b/c I'm on a different level with a bow than I am with a gun. :)
 
If I need venision I shoot does. Bucks are for wall mounting in my opinion. They are a tougher meat anyways. The only time I would see this different is if you see no deer late and want meat and the only thing to walk in front of you is a small buck.

So I agree with the original poster, I don't disagree with people shooting smaller bucks, but don't know why that same hunter lets them walk early or lets does go for the little one.
 
Yes, I AM the hunter who changes his goals as the season progresses.
And if you or anyone else say they are not, I will call them a liar.

Let me explain.

It may not happen every year, but it may happen to any one of us on any given year.

If you hunt long enough, it will eventually happen.

For whatever reason, family problems, money problems, healthe problems. You just did not get to hunt that season like you had planned. In fact, it may have been for the past several seasons. Maybe you missed. Maybe you were sick, maybe someone needed you and for whatever reason, you just did not get to put any deer in the freezer. So, it is the last day of the season, and you have killed ZERO to put in the freezer. You are in the stand for the last hour of the last day for the entire year. YOU NEED SOME VENISON and a spike walks by your stand.

As you draw your bow you realize this is the last chance you will get at a DEER all season long.
 
Also, I pay about 500.00 for ONE buck tag and a license and a doe tag for the SEASON in Illinois. I generally get about 2-3 weeks to hunt a good buck for that year.
I promise you I pass, ON VIDEO, MANY bucks I would not think twice about passing in Tennessee. But in Illinois, I pass.

You let some of those same bucks walk by me the last hunt of the year in Illinois and I will not be eating tag soup that winter.
 
Also, I have killed bucks over the 150 mark. Several over the 120 mark. Yet eavery season I spend countless hours looking to top my best buck. Even though chances are I will never top him.

Sometimes, I just want to shoot a good buck. So I shoot one. Maybe not a P/Y, but still a good buck.
 
To each his own! You shoot what you want and I'll shoot what I want. I paid over $500 for my family to enjoy the outdoors this fall and we are going to get our moneys worth. Antler score and other people judging what you shoot will be the death of hunting!

I have killed 3 public land deer that have scored over 150" a double droptine and numerous 130"'s and none compare to the 7" spike my son killed! This year I am taking my wife and youngest son on their first hunts what have you done to help the future of our great sport?
 
Ha! Funny!

Everyone thinks it's so wrong to shoot a small buck. Almost like TN has a shortage of deer or something. Last I checked the deer population in TN was growing by every minute that passes, and in most places is becoming more of a problem every year!

If this guy shoots a small buck 200 miles from you. That small buck that was shot is in no way shape or form going to stop you from filling your tags. Even if the small buck was shot on the adjacent land to yours. It's still not going to hinder your hunt!

I think it's ridiculous how people think they are so much better of a hunter because they don't shoot a deer smaller than a 130" 8pt. Who cares? To each his own! It's all about making yourself happy and not making the next guy happy, is it not?

Beings that TN is so expensive to hunt. I'm going to shoot whatever walks in front of me, and that in no way shape or form makes the next guy a better hunter or person than me..

I used to think that way until a few years ago. I was on stand and thought to myself how stupid and childish it is to argue about how big of a deer someone shoots. Why should someone go out in the woods to hunt a deer just to make the next guy happy? To me that ruins the entire reason to even be in the woods hunting!

Did you buy my permit? Did you buy my license? Did you buy my gear? Cause if you didn't, and you aren't a State Official. Then you don't have the right to dictate how big of a deer I shoot!

I think that if someone can't handle another hunter shooting a small buck. Then maybe it's time to take up a new hobby!
 
All this talk about having a buck be a wall mounter before you can shoot it is BS. Some of you guys must have barns to put all your heads in. As MUP said earlier, I shoot what makes me happy. You don't like it, it don't matter to me.
 
Bottom Hunter said:
Are you the kind of hunter that changes his "priorities" on what to shoot as the season progresses?

Will you let a deer walk on the first day, yet kill it on the last day.??
Click to expand...
No and No. This is just how I choose to hunt, not how I expect others to hunt. To each his own.
 
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Here is a prime example of me dropping my standards.
I killed this buck on November 30th last year. I got it all on video. It dressed 90 pounds. I hunted all season for a good buck, a P/Y buck and passed several bucks that would have DWARFED this one in score.
I knew that for me the season was winding down as I had hunted hard since September.

I only had a chance at one other buck the rest of the deer season. I missed it at 35 yards.

THe reason I "lowered" my standards for last season was simple. I had a "monkey" on my back with wanting to make my 200th bow kill and did not want to have to wait all summer for this season to get my chance in 2012. I also knew I would mount that kill and did not particularly want a doe on the wall. I already have one.

It is mounted and hangs proudly by my 100th bow kill.

I am as proud of it as I am ANY of the P/Y bucks I have.

Hunt for personal reasons. Afterall, it IS personal.

ENJOY!

102
 
Good posts 102 I agree! Nothing is written in stone and shouldnt be imo, especially when it comes to self satisfaction! Im not normally one to lower my standards much, as I have let good bucks go late in the season same as early, but that said I have also changed my mind before and decided to not go without!! The great thing about hunting in TN, we have CHOICES!!! Im happy for the happy hunter!
 
Bottom Hunter said:
Are you the kind of hunter that changes his "priorities" on what to shoot as the season progresses?

Will you let a deer walk on the first day, yet kill it on the last day.??

I know hunters that settle for smaller bucks at season's end and I'm not sure that I understand that way of thinking. if you want meat, then shoot a doe, if you want a buck for the wall, will it grow during the season and be bigger at the end of the season....?? of course not. I hear them say things like,"Well, i wanted to take a buck and was waiting for a bigger one, but since a bigger one didn't show, I settled for the smaller one"..

Why do some hunters feel the need to kill bucks that they may indeed pass on early in the season?
Especially, when meat is not a factor?

thanks...
Click to expand...

Well stated. In the past I would have done just what you wrote about. It has taken a few years and a lot of patience but now I can say that I will let them walk the whole season.
 
Some here seem to think this thread is ONLY about buck size.....yet it is not, even though many here want it to be..lol.

There never was a mention of what size deer to kill, i do not care what you kill. It was just about goals and giving up on them to fill a tag. i didn't fire a shot last season, and it didn't bother me at all.


My point was very simple......do you set a goal for the season , to only shoot a certain size deer and not waver until the bitter end...regardless?

Do you settle for a deer that does not qualify under your previous standards just because the season is ending....? If so, why?

Why are your standards higher in October than they are in January?

Do you really NEED to kill a buck every season and/or do you feel obligated or entitled to kill one because you paid for a license?

Again, this is not telling anyone to or not to shoot a spike or a small buck or anything else, it's more just about what type hunter you are, when it comes to goals and what you go in to each season wanting to accomplish and then as time goes by , if you change your mind year in and year out or do you stay the course, even if it means going home empty handed at the end.

No need to take offense and get angry thinking I'm trying to tell you how to hunt or what to kill because I could not care any less what you do.....it's just a question, answer it or not and let's move along.
 

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