Came home empty handed but I am happy

T

Tsessions

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Have you ever set a minimum standard for a deer and couldn't fill the tag?

This happened to me this past week, I usually do not get skunked because I settle for a smaller deer. But this year I stuck by my guns and came home empty handed. Does this happen alot?
 
>Have you ever set a minimum
>standard for a deer and
>couldn't fill the tag?
>
>This happened to me this past
>week, I usually do not
>get skunked because I settle
>for a smaller deer. But
>this year I stuck by
>my guns and came home
>empty handed. Does this happen
>alot?

Yes. If you're killing Big Bucks every year then something is wrong lol...I seem to get lucky every 2-3 years.
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Welcome to DIY trophy hunting! Lol it'll be worth every deer you pass up when you get that big one finally.
 
you will earn any trophy on a general unit in Utah.

sometimes its better to be lucky then good.



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Archery is a year round commitment!!
 
Story of my life.

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"Yeah, I'll shoot him"
 
I've passed up a couple bucks bigger than anything I've ever killed this year but have learned a ton more about higher aged bucks by doing so and being able to watch them day in and day out is awesome!! If you wanna kill a monster, let anything but a monster walk and pray to the man upstairs for the opportunity...

~Z~
 
I'm trying to stay true to the same mentality. This Sunday I go out for 6 days and that's the end of the season for me. Let's hope I can stay strong and let everything but that 180+ buck walk by.
 
To each his own, If it is getting late in a hunt and I come across a mature buck[especially one that may have poor antler genetics]I usually will try to take it. A 180 buck on a general, public land hunt is a very rare animal. A quality draw area is another story however. IMO If you see a buck that you like smoke him. A young buck with good genetics at 3 years old may score 175, to take him over an older crabby 3x4 that might never gross 160 is illogical,
but I guess just about everyone would want to take the younger deer .
 
I have eaten my tag many times and will eat it many more times huntin' for the monster. Its a personal opinion and one I'm happy to live with. I eat a lot of tag soup. fatrooster.
 
I passed up 4 four points opening morning that I usually would have shot in years prior. A few days later I was wondering if I made the right decision while I was still hiking around seeing alot less deer. The last morning I had to hunt I finally scored.

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This is two years in a row I have passed up bucks most would shoot, and two years in a row I have killed 170 class deer on public land.
Good For you for holding out, you will be rewarded.
 
I typically hold out and consequently only shoot a buck every couple years. I am ok with it. I don't feel like I have to take a deer every year like some do and I am ok letting the smaller ones walk. They will only be bigger next year, right?
 
Last year was the first year I held out. The goal a 4x4. It wasn't a huge one, but it had nice conformation and was heavy. Definitely a lot bigger than anything I'd ever shot before. This year I didn't have the time I wanted, but hunted three days. Saw 29 bucks, a couple really nice ones, but couldn't put it together on those ones.

Still, I think both deer and elk (and antelope) are for eating and decided on the last day I knew I'd be able to hunt to take a legal buck toward the end, if an opportunity should present itself. Shot a small buck, just at the end of shooting light, by a closed road. 2 mile drag, on a closed road, downhill, in the snow to the truck.

I had a few days of really fun hunting, learned a few things I'd not known before, and still ended up with the meat I so do love to eat. Next year I'll take a few more days off and feel confident in getting a 160 to 170 class animal--though something smaller will do if I really like the looks of it. I'm not sure I'll ever be willing to give up that great muley meat like the die hard trophy hunters.



Sweet buck brushbuck15! Why don't you post a new thread with photos and a story?
 

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