^^^This for sure^^^

I'm in a club now that has good genetics in the area. I let walk several small baskets racks and got ridiculed for doing so. I told them if the deer had been old I would have shot it, but they didn't quite understand that. Same goes for does too. The youngins are a bit more tender but the old ones are harder to kill in my opinion.

X2

I haven't killed a buck on our place in Alabama in the past two seasons. Had several opportunities to shoot 120-130 class bucks but I will continue to be patient, waiting for that 140-150 class buck. I tend to pick out one or two deer in the early fall and I will stay after them. The past two seasons, they have won and they all survived this year too. I will stick 4 or 5 doe every year, as I find they eat better than a musky buck.

Last year i hunted a particular deer, i had decided it was him or nothing. This year i watched a 6pt grow and really liked him so i decided i would shoot him if i saw him, he was an impressive 6pt, to me anyhow, but a young deer. I saw him and shot him. Later this year i saw a good 8pt on a really exciting hunt, i was jacked up and i killed him out of pure excitement, he was a nice 8pt, but a little young, i guess. Next year my goal is to get a mature(5yr old or older) buck out of a treestand in the woods. I have an idea how im going to do it.

I shoot bucks that make me happy too, but it takes a mature buck with 140+ inches of bone on his head to do it. I might kill a lesser buck if he's a good one and clearly 5+. I don't have to kill anything to enjoy the hunt.
I'm looking for a buck that will make it into my top three and my current number 3 is over 130. I checked cameras yesterday and had a big 6 that is at least 5, he'll be on next years hit list.
It's a year round process for me, I was on the tractor today, planting season is right around the corner. To each his own, I'm getting old and I thank the Lord I'm still in the game

Yep!

Spikes die got dammit!!!

Like the rest of the guys that kill big deer that supposedly don't exist in Alabama I am all about age.

I manage and shoot for 4YO and older regardless of headgear. That's if I have time to look him over and satisfy myself he's 4+. The exception is if I don't have time to age him but he has serious WOW factor on top . As I've posted before , I hunt many places that are super thick, hardwood cut over. Some where the longest shot may be only 40 yards. Unless I've seen the buck before or have pics , I better be shooting if I like him even a little. If he has serious wow factor and is only 3 when I get to him , I don't beat myself up . I'm happy , he's dead, move on. Now if I'm on a plot , which is rare, I'm can be slower with the trigger and hold out for a no doubt 4+.

BTW, I was quick on the trigger on a buck in a thick area back in January '92 . 154" main frame 5x5 with 4 stickers pushing him to 160", he only field dressed about 130lbs. Biologist aged him at 3YO. He occupies some prime real estate in my living room.

Everyone should make themselves happy and don't look back.

shoot what ever is legal, if your want to kill a deer, if you don't, watch the birds and bees, and go on home.

I have transitioned into trying to kill age (4 or older) over antler score. I was able to pass up a nice 4 year old this past season that will be an exceptional deer come fall. Were I currently hunt it is rare to kill a 130" deer and age as become the measuring stick for me. I have grown into the stage I get just as much enjoyment out of trying to grow a big one as I do killing one. I'm blessed to itch my trigger finger on my Midwest farms pretty much annually so it takes the pressure off when I start hunting around home.

First off, he has to be mature in my estimation, and then secondly, it depends on whether most of our guests have already come to hunt with us. There might be an average size 8 point that I think is 4 years old early in the season. Shooting that deer would mean nothing to me but many of our guests would love it and put it on the wall. I'll save him for them. It would have to be an exceptional deer for me to shoot him early in the season now that I no longer bow hunt. I do video these deer when they cooperate and send the videos to our guests to get them fired up about their trip.

Now towards the end of the season, any old buck becomes fair game for me. That is exactly what I have done the past two years. I've killed three bucks total in the past two years that had messed up or just decent racks but all were 4.5+ in age.

So to answer the original question, two variables come into play for me, age and time of the season. Early in the season, size matters but late in the season, I'd shoot a spike if I was pretty certain he is old.

Well never had much private land so i did the best i could. Basically hunted with a bow and shot does,ive killed a few decent deer with a bow and the rest have been scrubs. Hard to do better on public land. Now if i had some nice private land..well ive seen what letting deer get old will do...even if you did absolutely nothin for the deer...youd see above average bucks in this state if they made it past 4.5. If we had a more robust age structure youd see alot of nicer deer come from this state. My oppinion..

In Alabama it’s all about age because if you’re hunting in Mobile county and holding out for 130 inch bucks you might as well take up fishing lol. In Illinois I am trying to hold out for nothing less than 130 inches. So far I have succeeded in that, but also think I might have let some walk that I shouldn’t have because heck until Illinois I really had seen deer that big in person lol.

All of what deer you decide to take really depends on what you have to take. Don't expect a 150" to come strolling by on most public land. Just are not many there making it to 3 yrs old. With restricted access and LEO patrolling the area 24/7 your odds start rising. The tract would then have potential unless someome else is shooting the deer nearby.

We shoot what makes us happy. We strive to shoot 3 year olds or better, if an accident happens we don't treat it like the end of the world. Small club.

I have 2 private place I hunt and some WMA. On the private land we use cameras and pretty much know what is there and know what we will shoot or won't shoot. Usually the older deer, and that goes for bucks and does.

I primarily shoot mature bucks. I will be the first to say I am not good at judging age past 4. Every buck I have killed in the past 5 years has been 195# or more so I'm pretty confident that I am shooting the mature age bucks.

But I have definitely made mistakes. I don't really sweat it when I make a mistake and shoot a younger buck. I don't hold spikes in high regard. That doesn't mean that I go "hunting" for them but I have a couple places with low deer density and if I am feeling bloody while hunting there I will shoot a spike instead of a doe.

Right now I have absolutely zero standards for my son. I told him he will get picky once he has killed more, not to feel like he needs to be picky like I am. But he did pass on every spike, 3 pt, 4 pt and basket rack he saw this year.

As far as primos goes they have evolved over the years as many of us have.
That video was more than 20 years ago as big bucks 26 should come out about May
Brad told my nephew at the convention the other day that it will be the last dvd as it will all just be on YouTube from now on

If im on my land...trophies only. If im on a friends land its gonna die, big or small! Im kidding im kidding...
Depends on how far i gotta drag one out really. Then the time of day affects me too. I aint shootin no doe or little buck if it aint early in the day. I process my own meat so it takes me all day to get done. So i wont shoot anything but large racks if the schedule aint jiveing....like work the next day and its after 1pm.

If it's a deer, good chance it's gonna at least get shot at.