GMMAT

I like that explanation, Shed. It fits me, too.

Jeff

_Dan

My personal motto has become "Don't shoot something on the last day that I would pass on the first day."
If I need meat, I just shoot does. I personally would feel little satisfaction lowering my standards at the end of the season, just to kill a buck.
I also feel that the last 5 minutes of a hunt are just as good as the first 5 minutes. But then again, I get to hunt some prime areas.

GR8atta2d

Good reply..and yes I've hunted 1 deer for the last year and a half (prior to this season)..foregoing others. But this year I never saw that 1 deer, that I would hold out for, above all others.

burniegoeasily

I take my two doe early in the season and pass small bucks till the end. Im going to put a third deer in the freezer regardless. Mind you, most of the time it is a cull buck anyway, but im not above taking a lesser buck. I only get three tags, two doe, and on buck, so on my last hunt, a buck is going in the freezer. When some one shows me how to cook a set of antlers, ill be a little more picky. Now if you do not care as much for the amount of meat in the freezer, Thats fine. to each his own. My family will eat three deer in a year, easily. So Three deer are going in the freezer. Id shoot a fourth if my county would alot one more tag. We always run out of deer meat around mid summer.

isatarak

I have the perfect answer to this question.

It's all a matter of personal choice.

quiksilver

I'll pass up deer all year long, but when the clock is about to strike midnight onmy archery season, I will shoot what I believe to be the last legal buck to present me with a chance. I like to kill my buck with my bow, and it's that simple. A 70" scrub with the bow means more to me than any rifle buck ever will.

rybohunter

I've twice passed on a buck and then shot him later in the year. Once was several weeks in between and the last day I could hunt, the other was about 5-10 minutes later when I noticed the buck had a drop tine. I've got mixed emotions on the deal and I really don't know what I'd do if presented the situation in the future. I might lower my standards a little, but I'm not going to just shoot anything.

RJ Hamby

We're all different in what is important. And it changes!!

davidmil

There is NO RULE. You're out there to hunt. Do what makes you feel good. I've never had remorse over a single deer I killed or ones I let walk. It's a daily thing to me. It's a particular property or state thing. For example, in Ohio I passed up several bucks that would have been dead in NY or Maryland. I had bigger ideas for Ohio. I also have some unfilled tags. But that's OK. I planned it that way, one day at a time. Do what makes you happy. Of course if you're on some managed properties you go by "The Rules" in that case. If I know someone is trying to raise some big deer but they tell me, you shoot anything you want. Well hell, you know you can't do that so you pass on deer you might shoot somewhere else. About 4 years ago I watched this rag horn buck pass me opening morning and evening. He passed me the next morning. When he showed up the third day I said, "hell boy, you're dead". He ate just fine.

gri22ly

same here