ccm352

Do you think that these hunting shows on TV have skewed our idea on what to shoot. I see alot of you that wont shoot something because its not "big enough". I do have issues with this. I hunt because I enjoy the sport and eat what I shoot. I could care less if the deer I shoot is a doe or a 230" non typical. Regardless what it is you are after.. You should be happy to shoot what you can.I do agree with antler restrictions to let the smaller bucks make it another yearor two.But I thinkalot of people are more hopped up on shooting the P&Y buck.

Dampland

I will shoot a doe if I want the venison. (already harvest one this year) For a buck, I want to shoot large bucks, and so for the last 10 years, I have been letting anything under a 6 pointer go by. 2 years ago I started letting small eights go by.

This year we have 5 bucks on my trail cameras that are all around the 125" size or bigger. Not the monsters that some people see, but big enough for me.

The reason I want bigger bucks, is that I noticed that the small racks were sitting in a box in the garage. I want my racks to all be displayed proudly.

The buck below walked by my stand 20 minutes after he walked by my trail camera. He was as close as 7 yards quartering away, totally relaxed. Not sure if I made a mistake letting him go or not, but since I have bigger bucks on camera on my land, I'm holding out for a bigger one.

Buellhunter

Don't you know that within a half an hour(the length of most hunting shows) you'll always see huge bucks that will walk right over to you? Jeez, haven't you been paying attention?

Of course they usually don't show the feeder 40 yards behind their stands

I've been bow hunting for over 20 years and still haven't shot a wallhanger.
Part of it is my fault. I have missed a couple and I prefer eating doe so I don't wait for the big ones.
I figure it will happen someday, or it won't. Til then I'll always have a full freezer.

tschammel

Why would you have an issue on how others aproach deer hunting. Esspeccialy if they are doing a good thing for others. By passing up little bucks that means they grow up to be big, that means there are bigger deer out their for everyone. Seems like the more ethical thing to do! Just emagine if everyone filled their doe tag then let the little bucks go by. It would be great! Why would you want to shoot a little buck to hang his little horns on the wall. The people that are waiting for the trophies are the experienced hunters that know they can fill their tag at the end of the year with a doe, and don't bother waisting all the little bucks.

Buellhunter

That's why I usually shoot the doe.

Funny story.
I was ML hunting one year with my hunting partner and his son.
The wind started blowing really hard and i don't like being in a treestand whent eh tree is weaving all over.
I got down and slowly hunted my way back to the truck.
On the way I found Chris, my partners son(he was bowhunting) on the ground walking too. He must not like the swaying either.
We slowly worked our way to a field edge where we could see the trucks.
We didn't see his Dad at the truck so we held up where we were to wait for Larry to come out of the woods.
We stood there for a little while and all the sudden 2 deer, a 6 point buck and a doecame out of the woods and headed to the cornfield.
They were about 75 yards away.
I pulled the ML up and shot the doe.
Chris says "you missed the buck and hit the doe"

I started to laugh!
I said I didn't miss anything, I shot the deer I was aiming at.

Here in Iowa I get 6 or 7 tags every year.
All but 2 of them, one ML and one bow,are doe only.
I save the anysex ones for the buck that always eludes me!
Maybe this will be the year I get a big buck with my bow?

cardeer

I use to watch them .Then I went hunting and got disgusted I seen nothing like they did .Fooey on them shows ,dont watch them anymoreI hunt my deer in my area and am happy

dangolbowhunter

This is definitely an issue thatall of us will never see eye to eye on. I prefer to let small bucks walkand kill more does in an effort to do my part to help balance the buck to doe ratio here in SouthCarolina. Its ridiculous how many does there are to every buck. As a matter of fact, rattling isn't effective here because bucks don't need to competefor breeding rights.

I have no problem seeing a youngor new hunterkilling whatever makes them happy, i'm just as happy for them. But it is a little bothersome to me to see an experienced hunter killing spikes and passing up does. When fishing,we all thrive on catching the big one. Why is deer hunting so different for some of us? Like a lot of you guys, I would love to see more mature bucks in my neck of the woods.

elkaholicid

Hey guys you might want to check out Explorer's Big Game Journal on the Men's Channel on Dish Network. We will show does and you bucks and bulls being shot. We are you every day hunters that fund everything. We do have some sponsors but that is not what we are about. We want to show what every body deals with when hunting public land.
Check it out.
elkaholicid
Michael

MNpurple

I dont think they have skewed anything, and there is no right answer to this question. Yes I am hung up on big bucks, but only because I have shot my fair share of small bucks and I could easily get one every year. But focusing on the big boys is a real challenge, and I fail many many more times than I succeed. I have never ever had a rack of mine officially scored. Mainly because I dont care, as long asI am happy, and whatever kind of deer someone else chooses to shoot, as long as they are happy too.

Finch

I wish I were at the point to pass up the small bucks and wait on the big boys. I have no bucks under my belt but will have one this year, hopefully. I do want to eventually get to the point of passing up small bucks in seach for the bigger ones. Everyone has his/her own style of hunting so it does not matter how others hunt, correct?