she is NOT blonde- you can have her.
ANYWAY, I am going to put my other .05 cents in this mess. here is what I was taught about hunting. this is a serious thing and I still do it today. we hunt in the FLAT desert, very few hills and no mountains anywhere. there is NO WAY to have 2-11 guys climb to the top and set up $75,000.00 worth of optics and watch 25 different bucks, score each one of them- then pull a stalk after the largest. it is not the way I was taught to hunt, or the way I am teaching my son to hunt. we drew an ANY buck tag and went hunting. while "spot and stalk" hunting (never even knew there were different types of hunting we just hunted) we leave camp or the truck BEFORE daylight, and begin walking slowly into the wind, hopefully with the sun at our backs. we walk along slowly, looking as far ahead as possible- again you normally cannot see 100 yards in front of you. when/if you saw deer- up went the rifle if it had horns it was legal. I SHOT THE FIRST DEER WITH HORNS I SAW, as did my father, grandfather, etc..... now I will tell you that time of year, time of day, and unit hunted are ALL part of the deal. I have been very fortunate in my 29 years of desert MULE DEER hunting to take a 165 and 180 inch MULE DEER bucks in arizona alone. I am also telling you there were 12 bucks in between 125 and 150, several forkhorns and spikes also filling out the time frame. I also did not hunt alone until 1996 so since there were usually at least 2 sometimes 3 of us hunting there were many times when we were dragging at least 2 sometimes 3 deer out of the flats back to the truck. my father and I took 2 deer each year, same day for 6 years in a row- none scored squat, just desert 2x4,3x4,4x4,etc MULE DEER that were the first bucks we had a good shot at. several years we took spikes- and it did NOT bother me at all. we were also not the only people hunting in this large unit, others took deer too. on december 31st 1984 my dad took the states #10 p&y MULE DEER buck (at that time) from our unit @ 172 3/8" (it is on my wall now) from that day until he passed in 12/1995- whether it be rifle or bow my father never shot anything smaller than a 4x4 buck or he would take nothing. does that make him a trophy hunter ? I think not. he explained it to me as "I've taken 100 deer in my lifetime, with you hunting now too I don't have to shoot the 1st deer I see, I don't NEED to shoot a deer at all, but if I do I want to take a 4x4 or better or nothing" I never understood that until after he was gone. in 2002 I had my scope on a 3x4 at 155 yards broadside, I shot and saw a deer go down. upon walking up to where I knew my buck was dead I found a spike buck of only 3.5 inches tall, between the time I shot the larger buck moved. first I was glad I did not hit a doe, but after seeing that small buck on the ground I was pissed. I decided right then and there that although the 4x4 or better was a good rule that I would only shoot mature bucks, as I know there are some 3x4's and such that are freaking huge. since then I have been lucky enough to take some really great bucks including my colorado buck in october. I passed up 17 legal buck deer BEFORE I even loaded my gun. does this make me a trophy hunter ? I hope not because I only want to hunt my beloved MULE DEER I will pass on every small buck I see but I will shoot what alot of you consider a smaller buck, ie; 3x3's, 3x4's, freaky huge 2x2's. the last time I drew a tag for our unit was 2002 and I hunted for 5 days without seeing 1 live deer or other hunter. on the 6th morning I took a 27" wide 3x3. I am not a trophy hunter by any means I will shoot the 1st mature buck I see, no matter what antler size. there are not alot of people that will do that, but to each his own- I will not tell others what to shoot or not shoot. I won't tell a kid on his deer hunt not to shoot a nice 2x3 because of the things I read online or in "trophy" magazines. it is up to the person who has the legal tag in his pocket, it is up to the guy who has spent $1,000.00 and time from his family for this hunt- he decides what is ok for him to shoot. not us, not trophy hunting magazines, not super cool "hunters" who work for television, or a hunting manufacturer, or website. those people sell thier "hunting ideas" as a product. I won't let companies, exas super deer ranches, matthews bows or lumenock or anyone else for that matter tell me what a trophy is, or what size deer I should shoot or pass on because it is what they do. honestly does ANYONE on this planet/website give a flying bucket of whale poop what size deer mike waite shot this year ? I am not that stoopid I mean if there are 2 deer I could shoot properly I will try for the biggest but c'mon now who really cares ? todays hunters are easily offended and very easily swayed. if they put a 200" MULE DEER buck next to anything- most of you will buy it. it could say "I took this buck because I used supersnotty foot and butt powder" and that day alone 15,000 cases of supersnotty foot & butt powder would sell. it is up to you what you decide to shoot- I don't care how big a buck you take- congrats on taking a buck in the first place- yee ha ! heck I even fall into this myself- I try for the biggest one but will shoot the one I can, I mount every deer I take, I try to score them all as well- I'm not perfect either. but no one REALLY gives a poop how big or small your deer is.
M WAITE, AZ.