We are in the third year of not shooting any bucks younger than 4.5 years old, at least that is the goal. We have seen an uptick in older age class deer without a doubt. Out of the bucks killed the last three years, 25% were misjudged deer. We kill about four bucks on 2,000 acres each year, so three have been misjudged. I shot a 4.5 year old deer this year and from the time I saw him until I pulled the trigger was 20-30 seconds. Big deer that was chasing a doe. Had I had time to watch, I probably would have let him walk because he had strong potential to make a really, really nice deer. Still happy that I got a nice deer, a freezer full of meat and experienced a great hunt. In Alabama, its just hard to manage perfectly based on terrain, length of season and land fragmentation. I know some folks that do it and have great success but they are the exception.
