Will you wait for a mature buck?

[schlupis]

3.5 or better for me. Not always the biggest bucks in the woods but more fun to tell people you killed a 3,4 or 5 year old deer.

[spottedskunk]

ORIGINAL: ranwin33

Big being a relative term, I like to think I hold out for big bucks, or rather older bucks.  But understand, big to me is 140 class or better.

Last year I passed on several small bucks during bow season, but did take an older, small racked buck during rifle season.  Saw him through binoculars at 200 yards and the antlers looked wide and he looked old which caused me to mistake him for another deer we had on camera .  Ground shrinkage brought him down to 120 class though. 

So I guess I waited about 60 days to shoot a buck, given I had been hunting since September 15th and the buck I shot was killed in mid-November.  During that time a lot of 8 point small bucks did get a pass.

I don't think I would be willing to wait years for a big buck if I have a lot of older age class deer running around with small antlers.  I might wait for a couple of months for something big to show up, but eventually I'd want to shoot one of the older deer.

Points don't matter to me, but I do like to see old bucks with lots of mass. I would rather take an older deer with a smaller rack, then just a young buck with a huge rack.

[Nubs]

I will be holding out for a 3.5 yr old. Anything that would be in the 130s or better is a shooter in my book. I let a lot of smaller bucks pass and I will not shoot something on the last day I wouldn't have shot on the first day. 

[Cgull]

Yes, I let all non mature bucks pass and believe the deer gods smile upon me for doing so. Every year I see more and more bucks, maybe they just sense I'll let em pass. I do take my buck or 2 by years end

[texsalerno]

The usual goal but gets sidetracked most years.

Saw over 50 deer in three months of hunting in 2008(longbow,muzzleloader and rifle). Only 10% bucks. Got no shots at any bucks.

Most bucks in NY are killed by your neighbor, the f-150 or are poached. Waiting for a mature buck can be a waste of precious hunting time.

Seems only fenced deer get past 140. P&Y something to celebrate about. Love to shoot magazine bucks but in 44 seasons seen very few mature bucks during daylight hours. Most of my bucks are archery. By shotgun season it's pretty slim pickings unless we nail them on drives.They do exist, but getting on posted property today is almost impossible.

Mighty big bucks in the Adirondacks, but tough to find. Usually hunt two weekends up there. May not see a deer in 4 days. Pass up a nice 6 or small 8. I don't think so.

I've killed over 60 deer in NY. Not one made P&Y. Lots of great hunts. Rattled and grunted in most of the bucks and the rack didn't matter.Fooling a buck at his own game was what mattered.

[8-)

[Swandog09]

We have an antler restriction of 8 pts or better on our property, which usually puts the deer in the 2.5 range or older but not always.   I realize that it is not true QDM but it was the best I could get the hunter party to agree to.  (baby steps...got to crawl before you walk, walk before you run). 
 
I try to only take a buck if it is bigger than any of ones I have taken in the past.  This system doesn't always work so well as we do not have many bucks that on a quick glance are obviously bigger.  And the fact that I am no expert on estimating scores on the fly.  I have been stuck in the 125 to 130 range for awhile. 

[Demoderby4]

I am like a lot of people, I like to hold out in the beginning of the year and will pass on smaller bucks and will shoot does, (I'll shoot does all year if i have the tags) but as the season goes along, and I don't have meat in the fridge the "shoot-able" buck in my mind begins to change. I know not everyone agrees with that, but that's the truth. I have been doing a lot of thinking as to what I will be considering a shoot-able buck this year and I am pretty confident on what I'm going to stick to all year. As swandog just said, I have decided on not shooting anything smaller than what I have taken. The oldest I have taken is a 5 point 1.5 yr old. I know that doesn't sound like anything special but I'm limited to state land most of the year and here on state land in MI its more than rare to find a 2.5 or older deer! So that is what I am sticking to. I would like to hold out for large mature deer, every year but right now with the land available to me, its not really realistic to hold out and expect to see one. But I will be letting 1.5 yo and smaller 2.5 yo walk this year And Anything other than that will be more than a trophy to me.

[gbelardinella]

In my area I will always let the younger buck go by but unfortunatly my neighbors bordering me will not. My 12 year old son passed on a beautiful 6 point buck only to see the neighbor shoot him a week later. I would love to let my bucks grow at least to 3 1/2 but they usually don't make it do to others. So, I guess in my area that I've hunted 4 years now, I look at what the average size and age is and set my goal for them. I did take a 130 class buck last year which seemed huge for my area. I do enjoy taking does just as much as a buck. Buck fever comes to me with or without antlers.

[Hunting Ohio]

I let alot of deer go by only to see one of my neighbors shoot them.
So if i see i buck i will be happy with i take him.
"Cant get them big if you kill them small"
 
Hunt safe and good luck!
 
 

[DoeEyed]

At this stage of the game I will kill anything that looks older than a 1 1/2 yr old if the look of it appeals to me. I would shoot a tall narrow racked buck before a short wide one if given the choice.