I don’t run cameras at all. I own 1 and the last time it was in the woods was 3 years ago when i set it up on a roadkill deer carcass. I think they negatively affect the way people hunt, and spook deer. I work with people who keep cameras out all year and don’t hunt until a good deer walks in front of their camera. I tell them all the time, he could be bedding down behind your camera and walking 20 yards in front of it everyday an hour after daylight and you will never get a picture of him. All those same people go check their cameras every 3 days and spook deer and leave scent. One of those guys spooked 2 shooter bucks that were standing in front of his camera when he walked in to check it and hadn’t hunted a day yet. If he would have been sitting there hunting that morning then he could have just killed one of them. I hunt the old school way and never know what’s coming and don’t know when they’re coming but i still consistently kill or see mature bucks.

I’ve seen quite a few dead and jawbone aged Alabama bucks 5 and 6 years old that never broke 120”

I've killed several old 6-7 year old bucks that won't make 120, much less 130.
to me the trophy is in the age. A 7 year old buck is a trophy no matter the score.

I’d say at least half or more of 5-6 year old bucks, even in great habitat, don’t hit 120”. Some of them never will, but they’re more of a trophy to me than a 3 year old of any score class.

I'll just say about killing 3 year old and 5 year old and whatever year old, refer to Michael Wadels rant, any of them could be a trophy depending on YOU. Who am I to tell you "should have let him walk." If you think he's a trophy, he is, bust'm!!

Cams, I want as many as I can get in the woods. They teach me so much that I cant learn without them. This makes me a better hunter, less trigger happy, more interested and certainly debunks a lot of BS I hear all the time from hunters, stuff I use to believe.

Whatever. I don't buy the fact that the "Alabama Great 8" spindly 2.5-year-old deer that "my neighbor would've shot it so I had to do it" is the only thing that can be grown here. Alabama has ample food, a hearty population and smart hunters who want better.

Obviously, you are incapable of getting my point.

1) I know we can grow big deer in AL. Never disputed that. My folks have about a 150" hanging out in their back yard in city limits.

2) I don't think everyone should plaster every small buck they see. Never said that.

3) A 130" buck is a stud in AL.

So a 6 year old deformed 3-point and a 145" 3 year old walk out at the same time, you're taking the 3-point, correct?

I bet right now Matt would shoot the 6 year old. I also bet there was a time in the past when matt would have smoked the 145” 3 year old

I can tell you with 100% certainty I would shoot the 3 year old. I don’t hunt managed properties though. To each their own.

I would shoot the 3 year old I have never seen a 145" 3 year old and would be willing to bet not many if any on the board have seen a 145" 3 year old in Alabama. Now if we are talking about something that could actually happen a 115" 3 year old which is still a stud for a 3 year old in Alabama I would shoot the 6 year old.

Simmer down Mike. It's just a scenario. Imagine the state is Kansas if it's more realistic for you.

145" 3 yo are not behind every tree but are more common than some of ya'll think.

I’ve let a 135” 3 year old walk in KS. I’ve never seen one here, but we do our very best to protect all 3 year olds, and that’s one reason we run cameras. I’m not going to say a 3 yr old never gets shot, because it does happen, and at the end of the day it’s hunting, and should be enjoyable. I have let several really nice threes walk this year in the 110-120 class, including a couple with my bow. The best three year old I’ve ever let walk was probably right in the 127-130” class and we never saw him again. I’m not going to say I’d never shoot a 140+ 3 year old because I very well might, but I’ve certainly shot lower scoring mature deer with higher scoring younger deer standing in the same field or cutover.

I rarely check cameras mid season. I pull all but a couple early season. Last year I got in a mode of hunting places I “thought” mature deer would be and was not seeing anything but does and young bucks, and not many deer at all. I was headed out one day around 11 or 12 wondering what to do and thought of a camera I had on a road dividing a clear cut from thinned pines. I went back and got the card out and sure enough, had a mature buck cross the road that morning. Hunted the ladder stand 40 yards down the road the next morning and nothing, went back that evening and killed him. It turned out that the one pic was the only pic we had of him- ever. I still don’t like running the cameras mid season. I always think of stinking up the area.

Don't know how many "a lot of folks" adds up to be, but I believe you'd be suprised.
I'm not saying anyone shouldn't be proud of a 110" buck if it makes them happy. Shoot what gets you excited and don't worry about it. But, there are more people than you think that are at a point in their hunting life that blood on the tailgate is not as important as it used to be, and way down the list of reasons they enjoy time in the woods. I know there are people on here that routinely pass on bucks with nice racks because of age, want their children or grandchildren to have a chance at that deer, or just already have bigger deer on the wall.