Shoot or let 'em walk?

[luv 2 bowhunt]

It is mid Sept. and you see a beautiful 5 1/2 year old 10 point buck.
You set out some stands and anticipate the upcoming hunting seasons, with hopes of getting a shot at this mature animal.
Well as it usually goes with mature whitetails, you only get a few glimpses of this buck and never get a shot at him.
Bow, firearms, muzzleloader seasons all come and go.
Well it is now late bow season and you go out for one last attempt for the year.
Guess who comes right under your stand at 15 yards and is broadside and looking the other direction. THE 5 1/12 YEAR OLD BUCK.

BUT!!!! He has already dropped his antlers!!!!

Do you shoot or let 'em walk.?????

[hypox]

That one is easy. LET HIM WALK! I'd be sick to my stomach If I shot him after he shed his antlers.

[SR-Mechead]

Let him walk. Its hard but no horns. Next year he may have 12 points

[Nimrod1]

A 5.5 year old buck at 15 yards?!?:yikes: I would pass, and hate myself later!:bash:

[Loudy]

Let him walk, I have been hunting the same buck for 3 yrs now. I had pictures of him last year as a 13-14 point. I hunted all this season figuring that he was taken last year or hit by a car when low and behold New Years Eve this year he stopped in front of me about 60 yards out and stared me down for about 5 mins, Here I am late season doe hunting with a shotgun, I had to let him walk.........He got me again this year. <GRIN>

[swampstand]

Sure would be sad to see a buck at his full potential killed after he shed his rack.


I doubt that buck would have been dominant during the rut if he busted his antlers off at the end of september, like it or not, antlers matter. To a hunter they are admired and to the herd they are respected.

To me it's a no brainer. Never would I take him if he lived to drop his antlers. I'm sure he would be pretty good at 6 1/2, particularly with his antlers.

Some guys who are starving strict meat hunters have no desire for antlers and really couldn't care a less I'm sure.

For me, I'd allow the quest to continue. The anticipation for the following season would begin at that encounter with him without his rack.

[weatherby]

That one is easy. LET HIM WALK! I'd be sick to my stomach If I shot him after he shed his antlers.


I agree. If i needed meat i'd shoot a doe

[OTIS]

Shoot him. Mature animal is a mature animal no matter the head gear.

[Sprytle]

LET HIM WALK!!! And dream for 9 months of what he'll look like next year!!:D





And worry he doesnt get hit by a buick or stare into a spotlight and catch a .22 bullet between the eyes!!!!:rant:

[aquanator]

Let him walk.......but maybe first intentionally spook him, so he knows you just won! :lol:

[skulldugary]

I'd have to let him walk also...

[Adam Waszak]

You have to let him walk what is the point of shooting him now? The whole reason you wanted him was because of the headgear anyways and now that is all gone so let him go and become the 6.5 rarity the next year.

AW

[Sib]

Me, I'd probably shoot him with my camera and hope he makes it through the winter and and the coming summer, so I could get a chance next year.

It's an accomplishment, imo, to even get that close to such a mature buck, the photo would probably be all I need to satisfy my ego and offer me the proof I need to show my peers. Letting him walk will just make the story all that much better, imo. Not that I hunt to impress others, but I do enjoy a little rivalry with my friends and the pressure that comes when one of them takes a real nice buck. I always tell them about the animals I'm hunting and they share the stories of the animals they hunt, so more than likely my friends would already have knowledge of the deer and would be asking me if I got my chance, or not. Most of the time the guy that uses restraint is repected as much, if not more, than the guy that bags a dandy.

[Gilbey]

Definately would let him walk. Id shoot a doe for the meat, but a buck's headgear is almost like the buck's dignity in my book. I would not shoot a buck if it was missing half of it's rack. Let it get bigger for next year.

[Ed Spin04]

OK, Luv 2 bowhunt, you got our curiosity up to a fever pitch. Please tell us, what did you do?

[Joe Archer]

..Well it is now late bow season and you go out for one last attempt for the year......

If I am hunting this time of year I am probably doing so for the venison. If this is actually my "one last attempt" and I do not have anything in the freezer... I think I'd eat his heart! <----<<<

[NorthJeff]

First...It would be near impossible to tell he was actually that buck and this is a situation that would most likely not be a reality...BUT, in the "make believe world",

I'd happily shoot the guy and look for his sheds until summer. If I couldn't find the sheds, no problem, I'd be real happy to take him in some "make believe world" if this ever were to happen and I'd probably make a nice frame with the pictures I would have had from him.

I'd already made up my mind I'd shoot a mature 1/2 rack in the last couple of weeks if I saw him and I would have been tickled...didn't happen though.

[luv 2 bowhunt]

Ed Spin04:
To answer your question : I didn't shoot.

It was actually the last day of the 1991 Muzzleloading season.

I don't know what his head gear was, I never saw him except for the last 45 minutes of shooting light on the last day of 1991 ML season.

In Jan. of 1991 the same year I had been scouting some new state land hunting areas and found some 8 inch diameter rubs in one particular swamp.
I went back that Sept. and found many new huge rubs. I bow and rifle hunted the area and never saw the "big guy".
I did shoot a 2 1/2 year old six point the day before Thanksgiving with my rifle.
But on the last day of Muzzleloading season with 45 minutes of daylight left out walks this huge deer, as it got closer, 50 yards, I really looked him over good with my binoculars. He had scabs as big as pop cans on his head.
He was also partially pi-bald. His white throat patch went right down to his brisket, and his left side was almost totally white. Very wide head and hook nose.
I never pulled the hammer back, I just watched him for about a minute until he spotted me. He then just put his head down and slowly walked away.
I never saw signs of him again or have never seen rubs of that size in this area since.
I always wonder what happened to him that winter, coyotes, starvation, moved on, who knows.
I was just curious as to how many others would shoot or let 'em walk.

[ArmyHunter]

Let him walk and wait till next season. :) But pray that someone else doesn't tag him before you see him again! ;)

[Sib]

luv 2 bowhunt,
During that time period of the early '90s Menominee county was really giving up some dandy bucks. The Journal puts out a book called Menominee County Trophy Whitetails Vol 1 and then later came out with a Vol 2. When you start looking through Vol 1 and note the dates, that '89 to '93 period really gave up some nice bucks. It seemed like it was on the front end of the population growth, before the population started to get way out of whack. I'm hoping now that we have gotten the population down that those trophies start coming from around the county again.

It just seemed like an incredible time for trophies then and there. And as you know many of those trophies from the area never get scored, or make their way to the downstate press. I must be getting to be an old fart, looking back at the 'good ole days.' :lol:

[QDM 4sure]

Thank the good Lord there is only one.Anyone in there right mind would let him walk.Im sure you did as well.
The person that gave you the advice to shoot him,well lets put it this way.Whenever you see his or her posts again, move right on by, because that advice isnt worth your time to read..
I would hunt that deer the next year.If another hunter got him, I would be happy for him as well.At least I would know that Ive done my part for proper management.
There is no doubt. If you do the right thing and practice good management and proper ethics in the field, you will be awarded one way or another.Be it with a trophy of a life time or be it within your own heart.