How important is antler size to you?

[jeremy]

I don't give a hoot about trophies. I want my freezer full.

My idea of a trophy is a full freezer.

 

[kludge]

Option 4:

The smaller the antlers the better the deer will taste.

 

[hotfarmboy1]

If I take a buck its nice if its a good one but for the most part I am a meat hunter so Ill happly fill my doe tags and if a buck happens by Ill take him as well...Id much rather eat a young doe than an old buck. back in the day when I had more time to hunt I was all for hunting the biggest boy in the herd....I just dont have the time it takes to hunt big mature bucks.

Same here. I'm all up for filling the freezer. That's the important part to me.

 

[disengaged]

Early in season, I'll pass on a small buck and harvest doe for the freezer. Near the end of the season (great antlers or not) - I'm filling the tag.

If I had to hunt public land, limited time to hunt, or not much meat in the freezer - I'm filling the tag.

 

[bw210]

Option 4:

The smaller the antlers the better the deer will taste.

Agreed - I prefer does mostly except if that magical 16 point ghost buck that is seen in various spots at the same time wanders on by. We have on shelf in the freezer for wrapped packs labeled "baby". A spot for yearlings. What? Don't you like Veal?

 

[joshennis84]

I agree, but not always, sometimes genetics lack in bucks. Just because they have small antlers does not mean that is a mature buck. Also, you could have what a lot of people would consider as a wall hanger but it might only be 2 and a half years old. I don't consider that a mature deer. If you'd change your post to taking mature deer I would completely agree. I say give them a chance to get to their prime, but prime is not always shown by antler size alone.

 

[Cpt Caveman]

I'm strictly a meat hunter so I hunt does on purpose. I have and will again hopefully take a big buck( sway backed, sag belly, mature, toad of a buck) if given the opportunity but I don't wait to see what is following the doe. I just shoot the doe.
Big mature bucks killed during the rut smell and taste like an old goat that rolled in a pile of dirty gym socks. Couldn't eat the last mature buck I shot in Mid November. Made the whole house smell like skunk. Next one I kill will be processed by Archer's up in Greenwood( normally I do my own) and donated to the FHFH program so I don't have to worry about trying to eat the dern thing.

 

[savageayape]

You can not eat the rack.

That's true, you can not eat the rack, but you can not look at and cherish the meat as it hangs on the wall for the rest of your life either. At my property, I shoot mature does and let the fawns and small antlered deer pass by. I want to let those deer grow. Believe me, the taste of the meat has a lot more to do with the care taken in field dressing, processing and preparing the meat for the table than in the age of the deer. I'm sure fawns are a little more tender than a mature buck, but if properly taken care of, I'll bet no one reading this could tell the difference if given two plates with the same cut of meat prepared the same way from a mature buck and a fawn.

Now, after writing that, I'd like to add the fact that I will shoot a young buck or fawn if I'm hunting somewhere else as long as the property owner doesn't mind. For instance, I'm hunting at a State Park next Monday and Tuesday. I'll shoot any deer I see, unless I have reason to believe there is a monster buck following.

 

[trophy hunter]

I love to deer hunt and love to put meat in the freezer. Any doe is usually fair game with me and I'll shoot them any chance that I get so long as I have a need for the meat. I'm fortunate to live in a county where deer are plentiful, so it usually isn't too difficult to put 3 to 5 does in the freezer a year.

However, when it comes to bucks, I am extremely selective in what I shoot. I'll admit it that I am an antler junkie. It has to be a mature buck and a certain antler size or characteristic that I am after. I have no problem NOT shooting a buck in any given year, as like I said, I'll gladly shoot my share of does. So for me, shooting a buck is not about the meat. It is totally about the antlers for me. It is not a bragging thing. It is not an ego thing. It is what I like. Some guys like fast cars, some guys like black guns, some guys like a trophy wife ... I like big antlers.

That being said, I have no problem whatsoever in others shooting any size of buck. I've always felt that taking a deer (ANY DEER) is a very personal choice. Shoot what makes YOU happy and then be happy about it. My only annoyance with some hunters is when they shoot a smaller buck and then get all whiny and complain that they are disappointed with the size of the rack and that they never see "big" bucks. If you are going to be disappointed, then DON'T SHOOT IT. Like I said, shoot what makes YOU happy and then be happy about it.

x2 well said!!

 

[Eprobertson1]

No matter how big or small the antler, I have never been able to get the antlers to taste good.

A young doe is might tender!

 

[HICKMAN]

I've been waiting 41 years for a rack worthy to hang on my wall....






well....ok...not that I've actually seen a buck in my sights to shoot at

 

[ajb]

I personally wouldn't care if the buck only weighed 100 pounds.....as long as at least 20 of it was antler

 

[jeremy]

That's true, you can not eat the rack, but you can not look at and cherish the meat as it hangs on the wall for the rest of your life either.

I'll give you that much. You can stare at that rack and relive your past glories. While your family is with you staring at the rack on the wall and wishing they had meat in the freezer. Mine is well fed...

 

[ajb]

I shoot does for meat. A buck has to be big before I pull the trigger. If it comes down to shooting a small buck or nothing, I get nothing.

This is my choice, everyone has one

 

[langb29]

Most people I hunt with tried the Quality Deer Management, but with hunters closing in around us, they would rarely make it past 2 1/2 years. So, we shoot whatever we can for the meat, although we try to let the yearlings go if we can. I get laughed at all the time for shooting a fork or a spike, but usually from the same people that come from the city looking for an easy rack, and don't even want the meat.

 

[jonny4523]

I'm basically hunting for freezer meat. So I'm mainly looking for good sized does. If I see a young buck that has potential, I definitely wouldn't take him. But if I see a trophy buck, I'd try for him.

 

[Mike H]

I have deer hunted for 37 years, killed a bunch of scrub bucks over the years along with countless does. Not saying this to brag, just letting everyone know that I have evolved into a trophy buck hunter. I have had a comprehensive lifetime hunting license sence 1987 therefore I have loads of tags. I try to kill at least 4 does with my bow every year for meat. I save my 1 buck tag for a wall hanger. For me this means a 150" or greater. Granted those are few and far between but I have been blessed to take numerous der in the 140 range, then in 2006 I bow killed a 152 8 point, thought that was my lifetime deer, then in 2008 I was lucky enough to tag out on a 177" 15 point with a 22" inside spread with a MLR. This year I am paying for it though....but thats ok, I'm having my worst deer season in decades, I have not killed a deer yet this season. But hey.......still plenty of time left. Good luck to all

 

[42769vette]

i cant vote for some reason but very important would have been my vote. i make sure to fill the freezer every like most everyone else but i do that with does. i did screw up and shoot a 3.5 yr old buck this year but most years i pass abything under 4.5 yr old

 

[42769vette]

You can't save up wild animals like they were money earning interest.

If you have animals you CAN save up like money, or like you describe, you are not hunting any more you are killing livestock and the horns don't mean any more to me than a blue ribbon at the 4H fair.

I'm a hunter, not a farmer.

yes you can save deer and i am a hunter and i garentee i work just as hard and spend as many hours in the field as anyone on this site. i hunt a area with quite a few hunters. 9 times out of 10 i let a small buck pass only for him to be shot a few minutes later by somone else, but thats just the way it is and always will be.

i dont care what anyone says they would be happier with a 150 inch 220lb 12 point than a doe. if for no other reason more meat in the freezer. i just am willing to make my freezer meat does.

im really not sure how that makes me not a hunter. so i decide to HUNT one sepcific buck a year and you decide to take the easy route and kill anything that moves. im pretty sure my HUNT is a little more of a challenge than yours.

i guess the diffrence if i am a hunter not a killer

 

[x10]

I truly believe that "trophy" hunting gives anti's more incentive than anything else, the new scopes that "measure" racks and whole articles and magazines dedicated to hunting only trophy bucks are disgusting, I have taken trophy deer, I have taken yearlings, I enjoy hunting for the time out in the woods, I butcher my own deer and eat every scrap of edible meat. If I have a full freezer I will wait on a buck if I've seen it but I don't take pride in getting a big deer because random factors aligned and I just happened to be in the right place at the right time, If I work my way into a situation I enjoy a big deer.

One of the most disgusting things I've ever seen is a guy where I work wanting to buy big racks. He said it was just for decoration but I knew better.

A true trophy is a yearling doe that I helped a new hunter, or youth hunter harvest.

I don't like wanna be's