Would you shoot a big one with a broken side or do they always get a pass from you? I usually would just pass any of them, but I'm having a harder time deciding with this guy.

My opinion he’s a mature deer half a rack or not I’d shoot em

I'd prolly give him a pass he'd be better next year.

Pass

Pass - he will be a Stud next year

Pass.

Pass

Depends on your reasoning. Can’t eat the rack. Kill it to say you killed a buck? Self gratitude worked hard preparing for it so shoot it? Kill it knowing the neighbor will? Will everybody else let him walk this year? Needing meat kill a doe? I’d pass

Myself? I pass on them.
My fiancé? If it's mature then I'd let her shoot if she wanted to. She shot one last year on her last afternoon to be able to hunt.

Pass

Had one I let pass twice thinking I would get a shot at a "better" buck. Never did kill anything with horns that year and I still kick myself for not shooting ole broke rack when I had the chance. It was a nice deer much like that one, would have been a great 8 point with a complete rack. If you are thinking about it I would just shoot him.

We mostly pass on our club We have a lot of broken racks this year.

Pass unless he has a crap rack and an older deer.

Hard pass, if his non-broken side is good.

Depends on if you're hunting meat or horns. Since I shoot an elk every year, deer meats not on my list often.
I won't shoot one in Idaho that's broken off unless he's HUGE on the good side.

Pass

Definitely pass in alabama, not sure in Idaho, maybe shoot him in Hawaii!

Pass

Not on purpose

Just don’t interest me

I reckon thats the kinda decision a fella has to make for himself. Youre the only one who has to live with it. The way this season is going, i would probably kill it. Next year maybe not

Unless it was the last day of season and needed more meat then yes I would pass.

Wouldn't hurt if that deer went another year any way I

On my club, pass.

On WMA, shoot

I passed on what was about a 130” 10 point that I’d been hunting all season last week. He’d broken one side off right at brow tine. Had him at 15 steps, but just couldn’t see shooting him.

Yeah, I was planning on passing him, just needed some affirmation to boost my resolve lol. I like to decide wether a buck is a shooter or not before I ever encouter him if possible. Saves some regret of ground checking a buck and realizing he really need another year or two.

Pass on that deer 100%. He should be a much better deer next season.

That's a great example of another way that cameras have ruined deer hunting. In the old days, you found his track and decided if he was worth hunting. Found his scrape line, set up on it , probably multiple times, and then sometimes you would eventually see the deer and get to shoot him.

When he finally appeared, it didn't really matter whether his rack was big, small, or broken. It was just a curiosity to check out after the deer was dead. It was all about the hunt and using your woodsmanship to outsmart the deer. Now it's just about the horns and nothing else matters.

Pass

False. I shoot deer most every year with less than desirable antlers but they are all mature. I simply hunt for mature deer. A camera is a tool that gives you a history of each deer. Why would I settle for shooting a buck just because I outsmarted him. If he is an immature deer or a busted horned deer I let them go. If I pass them the worst thing that can happen is I never see him again. I use cameras to help age deer to make me more successful in hunting mature deer and in return by shooting mature deer I get more meat per animal, the enjoyment of outsmarting a animal that has been around the block a couple times, and occasionally a good set of antlers.

Why is it in every other sport we push ourselves and our kids to be the best that they can be while learning more about it and we criticize participation trophies while striving to win the big championship but when it comes to hunting we are supposed to stay stuck back in the old days of our dad’s and granddad’s limited Knowledge of how to manage a deer herd and settle for just being happy to shoot any buck. Just because you decide to not change with the new technology doesn’t mean it’s hurting hunting because it has helped someone else be successful in what they are trying to accomplish.

And just to be clear I don’t care what anyone decides to shoot as long as it’s a legal buck for the property they are hunting and it makes them happy.

Like it or not, it has always been about the horns when speaking strictly of the deer we are after. Everybody dreams of that giant buck stepping into view. Even the guys I know who claim it's only about the meat are FOS.

EDIT: I should mention that I know people who just like to shoot deer.....any deer.

No, it's still the same hunting, we just don't shoot every deer we see now. I'll outsmart the deer, but then if I decide he's either no mature, or has a broken rack and will be much bigger after another year, then I just won't kill him. I often will see 10+ deer and multiple racked bucks on a hunt, I just don't feel the need to kill everything with horns. I already have 6 deer in the freezer, so I don't need any more meat and can afford to let the small ones go in hopes of there being a bigger one behind him. It's as simple as that.

There's a lot of people in this thread with either

Huge amounts of property to hunt on

Ideal neighbors that don't shoot just anything

A skewed view on how likely it is for a buck to survive to the next year


I don't have any of those, so if I see a deer with a good half rack he's going down. Like I said earlier in this thread I made that mistake a couple of years ago and I shouldn't have. He probably would have been one of the larger deer I would have killed off that property.

That's a good point. Your situation definitely makes a difference. I have two properties I hunt. The one he's on is roughly 400 acres and has neighbors around that hunt, but I've just seen a great survival rate on mature bucks over the past couple years, so I think he's got a good chance at making it. I have pictures of 4 other better bucks on the property, so I don't have an issue passing him. If he makes it he makes, if not so be it. My other property is only 20 acres and very difficult to hunt. I would shoot him in heartbeat there. I have other big bucks in that area and he would still have a good chance at surviving based on past experience, but the chances of me ever getting another shot opportunity would be very small, and he's still a fine buck as is. It's all situational.

A sure fire way to guarantee that buck won’t make it to the next season is to shoot it.

Yep......

The way I look at it is a little different than most. On my family land there isn’t any rules. Me and my granddaddy plant the plot and put out the corn every year and anyone in the family or any friends are welcome to hunt. They can shoot whatever they want. Even though I have money and time invested in it, I never pull the trigger unless my granddaddy tells me to go kill him a deer because nobody else has given him any of the meat. I will not shoot a buck if I do go because I would saw off the horns and throw them in the shed and not be proud of them. Someone else may see that deer as a trophy.

I was probably 19 when it clicked for me. I had killed a lot of deer but very few bucks bigger than a 6 point. I was hunting by my house and a little 4 point came by and I decided not to shoot because I had a decent 8 point I was hunting coming in pretty regularly. That little 4 point crossed the landline and a 50 something year old man shot him. I went over to help him after dark and he was still shaking. We blood trailed it probably 40 yards out of the patch and he was just as proud of that 4 point as humanly possible. That’s when I decided that I wouldn’t ever shoot a buck out of greed again. It was a trophy for him and I almost took that away by me shooting just because someone else may.

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