early in

I am curious how many of us let legal bucks walk in hopes of killing a big boy? Are you willing to eat your tag if "your" buck" doesn't show?

Edcyclopedia

I usually try to get some meat in the freezer 1st off, so I go to areas that have a high deer ration (for NH).
I'll hold-off on littles ones and try to take +100 doe.
From there I concentrate on antlers, but being from NH if something bigger than a 4 pointer comes along I consider wacking him.
Of course this all depends on how many deer I have been seeing and hunting pressure.
As an example 2 seasons ago I saw the most deer in one NH season I had ever seen, a whopping 29! I got a 115lb. Doe that year,
passing on little ones. Last season I only saw 5 deer, and arrow a 6 pointer and then an 8 pointer with my pistol.
If my hunting area provided more chances I would certainly hold-off more often.
So that's kind of yes and kind of no.

rybohunter

I do. Yes, I did that this season. I don't need to shoot a small buck just for the sake of doing so, I can get plenty of meat from doe tags.

Schultzy

I've ate my tag many times! 80% of the time we only get one tag where I hunt, when we get a bonus tag the meat usually is a guarantee then with a doe or doe fawn. Its senseless to me if I were to shoot a small buck for meat. Where I live and hunt thats poor management by my standards by shooting small bucks for meat.

wisbowhunter2009

I let all the small bucks go till december 20th, Then i'll shoot a small one if its a 4 pointer or bigger.. The only reason why i do that is because my area has high hunting pressure and my neighbors shoot everything they see. So this year i moved my stand 2 miles from them and im gonna let everything walk unless its a 125 incher. Thats my goal anyhow

dayna0306

This past season I made a stew out of a montana ,illinios,and a pa.buck tags.I had a great season even though I didn't take a buck [I did put a bull in the freezer in sept.]I am not sure how many dozen bucks I let walk but I still consider it a successful season b/c of all the time I got to spend in a stand.

5575gb

Why wouldn't you, there are so many does out there for eating. And tag soup tastes better than fork horn soup to me.

GregH

This is exactly what I do. You will not kill a buck that meets your goals if you shoot something smaller. There are plenty of does for meat and yes, I've eaten my buck tag plenty of times.

Hunter_59

I don't mind eating tag soup at all! After I started letting the small bucks walk I started "seeing" the big boys. They were there all the time but I would shoot the first buck to walk by and never laid eyes on them. I hunt public ground and have hunted the same spot for several years. I've seen several 150"-170" bucks over the years and due to my working tokill one of them have ate my tag at the end of the season. However, my hunting isdefinately more exciting than it ever was, whether I kill or not!

It seemsthat most of the hunters around me also shoot the first deer to walk by because for the last few years, right when therut kicks in, I have the place to myself. I'm usually the onlyvehicle in the parking lot! I've walked outat times in October and come across otherhunters loading up small bucks and does. They are exstatic, as they should be, tokill any whitetail. I congratulate them and then they are off. Thenas November rolls around thehunting gets serious with very few hunters left to worry about! Tag soup's not all bad!

GregH

Attention, attention!!! [:-] [:-]

Guys, this is scripture that is actually written in the deer hunters bible. It's gospel!!

I had to learn this the hard way myself. There are many hunters that swear that there are no big bucks on their land, but there are, you just have to be patient and wait for one. Now remember, the number of sightings per season may be very low, but they are there. Typical sightings in an average area in the midwest may be from 0-3 per season. That is why a hunter wanting to tag a big mature buck must be willing to eat tag soup.

Good job Hunter 59