He will be a monster next year. I don't intentionally hunt bucks from year to year like they do on the shows. I will kill the first two 120" or better 3 1/2 year old or older deer I see. I tried letting those walk to become 4 1/2 year old monsters but that was a very disappointing way to hunt. This deer is one of two that I have repeat years on camera that actually make my 300 acre farm home range so to speak. If I limited myself and my hunting partner to 130" or better 4 year olds we would have not killed a deer for the past 8 years. I'm not near as good a hunter as Mark Drury. I'm more like Fred Eichler. I am tickled just to get to hunt and I am so thankful to have tagged out with 2 120 class bucks this year.
On a side note my hunting buddy is very numbers driven. He has pictures and video of deer he passed on this year that I absolutely would have shot....Good on him for sure! Those deer should probably avoid my side of the farm. He measures every deer we shoot and we (he) competes with all of the other hunters we work with. We have a group text and all of the pictures start rolling in with antler scores in early October. I love the success and I love the pictures and conversations. I get that antlers drive the hobby and keep people interested and pass it on to their kids. I have always been more into the deer camp camaraderie, cooking, fall leaves, watching the deer and the hunt. The older I get, I just like a great, fall, cold weather rut hunt. It keeps me wanting more.
