Hypothetical question....

elks96

Long Time Member
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You are hunting a general or real easy to draw unit with decent deer numbers but it is known for having a very low percentage of mature bucks. On the second day of the season you have a 2 point with a large frame walk out in range. It is obvious that it it he buck is older than 2 years but not sure how old.... Do you hammer the buck? Let it walk? Why?


I would try and convince my wife to shoot it if I could, but I would also strongly consider dropping the buck myself since it is in a slightly older age class and I would believe I would be doing the genetic pool a favor....
 
It's a buck and it's in range. That's all I need to know about the animal to make a decision. My decision to take it or not will depend on who's with me who may also have a tag or how long I have to hunt or how difficult it may be to get it out, but it will have NOTHING to do with the size of the antlers.
 
It would depend on MY expectations for the unit. If I just past the _ _ mile hike point and I see other hunters and he is the only MATURE buck I have found..? I have no problem being proud of any mature animal.
If I have only covered _ miles and I have not seen another soul since the trail head...? I would wait due to the "what is around the next corner?" thoughts that are always going in my mind.
 
+1 you can't shoot a big one if you shoot a smaller one first :) BUT based on your question it sounds like the area you are describing May not have better animals. Sometimes if you know there isn't much better in the area or there is tons of hunting pressure. That buck you described is Dead Dead Dead and meat on the table :)

))))------->
 
if its a mature 2 point i may tag it. It all depends on who with me at the time and quality of the mature 2 point. Ive seen some mature 2 points on the winter range id hammer in a second if I saw them during the season.

avatar_2528.jpg


who farted?
 
I've never in my life concerned myself with how many mature bucks that a area was known to hold. If you are hunting, you have a chance and can be as selective as you wish.

For me, there are two things here that probably would make a difference if i cap that buck or not.

When i take the time off my business, no compensation, and pay to travel over 1000 miles just to get to a hunt, i'm going to want to hunt it unless a dandy comes along. I'm not going to shoot a type of buck that i could get within 5 miles of my house. A big part of my fun is looking over deer!

If i were local, general like tag close to home, i'd probably shoot that buck. I do like venison and around my area, decent bucks can be hard to come by unless you sit on trails in timber which i'm not good at. I never know though, been known to pass on some pretty decent bucks just because... i must like tag stew.

Joey


"It's all about knowing what your firearms practical limitations are and combining that with your own personal limitations!"
 
Hard to pass a mature buck on a general unit. On principle, I decided years ago that I would never shoot another two point buck. It would have to be pretty obvious that this was a mature buck with 2-point genetics for me to hammer him.

With that said, a mature two point could be the perfect buck to harvest as you could use the cape to mount a larger deer from years gone past with, and do a cool skull mount of the mature 2-point antlers...

"Therefore, wo be unto him that is at ease in Zion!" 2 Ne. 28: 24
 
After many early years of taking the first general season buck I saw, I came to the conclusion that, any deer that is not going on the wall is a meat buck. That could include a 4 point as well as a spike.
So depending on whether or not I want meat determines if I shoot or not.
I don't shoot many deer any more, but I hunt a lot more days than I used to. I also think I enjoy it more.
 
MT general deer season is a month long.
I love the hunt to much to fill out on the second day.
Early season I'm out for the hike, and scouting.
To kill a 2 point on the second day is out of the question, mature or not.
It would be different if I were hunting a few days in a general area with no chance of getting a bigger buck. But then, I recon I wouldn't be hunting an area like that.
 
No way would I shoot a buck on the 2nd day unless it was a buck I had been watching for awhile or another buck that fit my criteria. Now, if he was 36" wide with 7" bases and carried the mass, I would probably whack him!!

He sounds like a last day, last hour buck to me. For the reasons you mentioned... to get those genetics out of the herd.
 
I'd let (non)lead fly unless I had hoped for a longer hunt and had the time to hunt a lot longer. Inches don't matter much to me, especially on a general season hunt.

If we were talking a hard to draw LE unit, the discussion is different.
 

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