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For those who say pass....question?

Gladiator

Gladiator

PMA Member
First of all, let me say that I am a huge fan of quality whitetail deer management, and I believe taking mature whitetails...

BUT...for those who say pass on a nice whitetail until next year, how many of you who have honestly, deliberately, intentionally (and all the other -ly words) passed on a deer at 3.5 and harvested him at 4.5?? So many people say pass on here, so I just wondered about %'s since numbers say that a 4.5 to 5.5 year old deer will only show himself less than 5 days a season during daylight...and that is during the rut...

Just a question...again, I believe in QDM because you don't give yourself a chance to shoot a big one when you shoot "tweeners" every year.

Again, the question on the table is: how many said "pass" or "let'm walk" as a 3 1/2 and actually shot that same deer as an older deer?

Just wanted some other opinions and stories behind the "pass" call. Thanks!
 
I will start by saying that passing on 3.5 year olds is not a QDM program recommendation, instead, it is trophy management. They are two sometimes similar but sometimes very different philosophies. A good QDM program will result in more "trophy" deer but is not a trophy deer management program.

For me, when the right deer comes by, I don't care how old it is, I am taking a shot at it. I do have some that I think are good 3.5 year olds and wonder "what if" but have no regrets. Have my hunting partners or I taken "tweeners" that have been passed on? The answer is, yes.

Passing on the "tweeners" is one of the most difficult things to start doing but once you do, it becomes increasingly easy to do. It depends on what you call a "tweener" and my "tweener" may be much different than the neighbor's or yours and if I pass and you shoot or visa versa, that is just fine with me.
 
150...I would agree with you in taking the right deer...I took a 3 1/2 last year because it was the perfect hunt and the deer was a good deer...I try not to shoot anything that is 2 1/2 though. But if someone likes to take them, that is awesome; to each their own. My bad on the QDM...interchange QDM with trophy management...thanks for the opinion!
 
Brother passed on a 3.5 year old in 2003. I had the same deer at 4.5 come in and he was a giant in 2004 but couldn't get the arrow in him. Finally, 2005 we laid the smack down, grossed just a shade over 189". So we did pass and ultimately kill this deer, we saw him 3 times total, 1 pass, 1 no shot and 1 kill. Only deer to date that I can say we know for a fact we have done this on.

Kratz
 
i would say just think of all the genes that they have passed on.
I hunted a deer for 3 years and screwed up on him every year so he is a slob now
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The percentages are low that you will harvest the deer in the years to come, Obviously where you hunt and the pressure the deer recieve will increase/decrease your odds. I'm 2/11 (18%)but we own two very productive farms that have a good base of genetics. The too ended up being 162"(4.5 yrs) & 172" (5.5 yrs). It really depend on your goals. I already have more mounts then I had planned on and don't have any other use for the horns. I'd rather eat a nice young doe. We do take some cull some young bucks, 1st we identify them with our camera's and do our best to make the right call. Some deer will never become trophy animals.

Bill D
 
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so I just wondered about %'s since numbers say that a 4.5 to 5.5 year old deer will only show himself less than 5 days a season during daylight...and that is during the rut.

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That stinks. I've seen at least 20 bucks in the daylight that I'd guess 3.5 and up in past month. I'm assuming hunting pressure is to blame.
 
For me, i dont like to shoot anything less than 3.5 years old, however, i have been in situations, like last year, where i got down to the last day i was able to bow hunt and i stuck a 1.5 old buck. i had permission to do so and that deer is a trophy to me.
However, i have passed deer up to 130 inches and a few times have regretted it at the end of the season.

Last year, my hunting partner, Jonny passed a great deer that was every bit of 130", that was a good call and i respect that decision, that took lots of discipline on his part. it was the first of 4 solid days of hunting, and we know that the farm we hunt has the potential and holds giants. but at the end of the season, he ate his tag......(sorry to be telling your story Jon, but i feel there is a good lesson here)
He will tell you to this day he wishes he would have shot that deer, but he made a responsible decision to let a good buck go to become a great buck.

unfortunately the land we hunt, we dont get to tell the landowners what they can or cannot shoot, so we ended up getting word from them saying they had shot a buck that matched the description of that buck perfectly......(it is possible he is still alive, but my guess is its unlikely)

my point here is this,
if you own, or have a lease, or have exclusive rights to land where you can implement a QDM program, or like 150 said, 'manage' the bucks, then by all means pass the younger/lesser deer in hopes of taking them when they are huge. Many of us do not have the luxry of making the rules of the hunting land we have, so killing a solid 3.5 year old deer that may score between 125' and 140' is a huge accomplishment, especially on land where the landowners would kill that deer in a deer drive during shotgun!

i have lots of respect for the hunters who have passed solid book deer in hopes of taking larger older deer. but there is lots to be said for the hunter who kills deer in the 130 to 145 slot every year on land that has alternative hunting pressure on it.

bottom line, 3.5 is maturity for whitetails and there is no shame in taking a deer that means something special to you!
 
If you are not going to mount it...why shoot it?

IMO

Plenty of does out there that eat better and having the chance of having bigger/more mature deer in the woods makes it worth it for me to pass.

Have passed over 20 bucks the past 2 years that many would have harvested. Ate my tag both years with no regrets.
 
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If you are not going to mount it...why shoot it?

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Not Jumpin on ya Dewy at all, if that works for you, keep on!!

But

Every buck i have ever killed has its spot on the wall......some are in the process of being displayed and arent finished cuz im a lazy turd sometimes, (when i decide im not lazy anymore, ill get to it)
 
I have been bowhunting 8 years and killed a buck every other year with does in between, not intetionally just the way it has worked out. My first with a bow was a 100" 8 pointer. I told myself after that deer I wanted to upgrade with each kill and wouldnt shoot anything smaller until god willing I was killing 150" deer consitantly. Since then I have killed a 120 a 135 and a 140. I am lucky enough to have a good friend who lets me join him on some great propery a couple times a year, if not for him my chances for good deer would drop a lot, I still have them in my local areas they are not managed near as well. A trophy is in the eyes of the beholder.
 
This is a good question and discussion. My OPINIONS are that many people say "pass" when asked a theoretical question about someone else's pictures and then "shoot" the first semi-decent opportunity they get.
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My favorite buck was the smallest one I ever had mounted, about 135", but I shot him with my son in the tree with me when he was 9 I think. Not surprisingly, he is hooked on deer hunting at this point and I am pretty sure it started with the harvest of "his" buck. It is all about why you hunt... I hunt for enjoyment, time spent outdoors, time with family and friends, etc, and I do not want to get wrapped up with net scores and so forth that I end up "hating" deer hunting because a Booner has not appeared lately.

I agree with the person that wrote that a 135" 3 1/2 year old is a trophy in many areas. Having hunted in a variety of pressured areas and circumstances over the years and nowadays being fortunate enough to own land in a high quality area, it is far easier to drop a 140" animal where I am now than a 120" animal years ago hunting higher pressured areas.

That being said, I routinely pass up 120" - 130" class deer now and then it gets dicey after that for me. Sometimes I shoot them at 140'ish and sometimes I don't, but mostly I do if I can.
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I really will not zing a buck I know to be a 2 1/2, defintely no 1 1/2's unless it is a kid's first deer, etc, but a 3 1/2 is a possibility for me, it just all depends on how I am feeling, etc. But truly, to have the biggest bucks going they have to get past 3 1/2 years IMO. I really do not have good way of recognizing for sure though that a buck I passed at 2 1/2 or 3 1/2 is one I would recognize at 6 1/2 or so. (I don't do much trail cam work, some, but not much.)

Shoot a deer that you are happy with, what does it matter what someone else thinks? Generally, we shoot about 8-14 deer off of our farm every year, with 1 or 2 being bucks.
 
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My OPINIONS are that many people say "pass" when asked a theoretical question about someone else's pictures and then "shoot" the first semi-decent opportunity they get

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I agree...
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Different strokes for different folks. The only thing that matters is that you are happy with what you harvest.
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For me it's been a 0% affair, but as long as I stick to my goals and do what I feel is right, I can live with it. I certainly wouldn't want to kill a 140 inch 2.5 year old deer and be left to think, "wonder what he might have grown to be if i would have let him walk and he made it to 4.5"

Nature is nature and animals are going to die, as well as free chase is free chase AND I don't have exclusive rights to 1000's of acres so I'm sure other hunters benefit from me letting them walk. They probably have shot the 2.5 year olds that I would love to see reach maturity, but it gets back to the ideals that i have and I just can't renig on them. It wouldn't be right...especially since I've let some good ones walk.

Let them walk or not is easy to say when looking at a picture...but the reality of it boils down to setting goals AND STICKING TO THEM.

I personally don't have a problem with letting decent bucks walk, to be left with harvesting a doe around thanksgiving time. That's what I do if I can't harvest a target buck or one that meets my goals.
 
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If you are not going to mount it...why shoot it?


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Dewy, I'm not trying to pick on you. I've heard that statement many times before and don't like it. What is wrong with shooting a buck and having the rack screwed to one of those cheesy plaques? Or nailed to the shed wall? Or piled in the corner of the man cave? The only way to pay tribute to a deer is to pay $300 to have it stuffed? Do people think the dead buck feels better that you "honored" it by taking it to the taxidermist? And if you aren't going to spend the cash, why shoot? I'm not sure how big a buck would have to be for me to have it mounted, probably some where over 200 inches. Still isn't going to stop me from shooting a 150-175 class deer (which I won't have mounted).

Sorry for the rant. For me, it comes back to what many have said so far in this thread. If you personally are happy with the deer, that should be enough.
 
Hunting is about the opportunity!!!

I have hunted alot of different areas, and never been around alot of big bucks!! Where I have hunted a 130 inch deer would be huge. There is alot of public land surrounding the area, and the deer don't get to maturity very often!

So here is the deal, and the way I look at it!! On a nice breezy cool 55 degree afternoon a 125 or 130 inch buck may walk by and I may just enjoy the beauty of the animal and never draw my bow back. Or I could see him when it is 10 below on a cold November morning and he could come walking in and get smacked right away with no question! I'll tell you this from my experience. a rack on a buck looks a hell of a lot different on any giving day!

I still get the pounding heart when I shoot does, and I shoot a lot of them. I have eaten my buck tag the last 2 years, but have harvest 15 does in those two years as well...

Shoot what you like. My feelings, I could pass every buck in my timber for the rest of my life and may never see a 175 inch deer! Doesn't mean I will start shooting bucks, doesn't mean I won't..

I guess my ramble is this... I can look at a million pictures and never plan to shoot, but from a stand, the angle is A LOTdifferent!!!!
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Its a personal choice I guess. I have a hard time justifying taking a buck (unless its for a purpose ie. deer number control, cull buck (poor genetics)). I have taken at least 20 bucks in my years of hunting and just believe in my situations I'm better off shooting does and letting the dominent/mature bucks do the breeding this usually means taking does. Depends on your goals, if everyone wanted the same thing and felt the same way the world would be a mighty boring place.

When someone on this site asks for an opinion they will most likely get an anser, if that upsets you..... then maybe you don't want to read those posts.

PS. If you really want horns, try shed hunting.

Thanks Bill D
 
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