Let him grow another year?

[Musky Buck]

How's he compare to the 9pt. you got the year before and depends on how many nice bucks you've already taken, maybe you won't have to decide on him, with luck a better buck might come by or maybe you won't see him while hunting.

[jdon]

Based on the pic you have of him in velvet he is 4.5 no question...look at his face. If this is in the same general area that last year pic could very well be him. The last year pic looks like a 3.5 yo to me. He should gross 160+. I am a very picky hunter that leases ground in Buffalo Co and he would get the smack down from me. SHOOT HIM. (Unless you're hunting a 180+ on your land.)

[bigbucks]

I'd say if he's not a no doubt shooter in your book you've got WAY better land than 99% of the hunters out there & you must have shot a lot of big guys already. I've probably seen one or maybe two live deer in my life while hunting that are close to that & I hunt a lot.

[The_Duckslayer]

Since in all the years that I have been hunting I have never seen one like that, much less had a shot at one like that, if I got the shot I would take it and he would be on the wall of my home office for the rest of time. Then again I am on public land for the most part. take care and N Joy the Hunt././Jimbo

[CodyDawg]

SD, well, I might have estimated just a tad...

The story goes like this:

On Sunday morning I got to my stand in the SE corner of a 50 acre woods about an hour or so before legal shooting time. I am about 100 yards into the woods from both the southern and eastern edges of the woods. It is really thick with small poplars. I have some small shooting lanes cut in, but not a lot. They are no more than 4 feet wide. It is challenging, to say the least, to get a shot sometimes, but I have always found a way.

About 9:30 am, I saw what was obviously a buck sneaking through the brush about 75 yards away moving left to right. He was going to cross my best shooting lane, so I got the gun up and counted 10 points. After waiting all year, it is now “go” time. This is the minute we all wait for. Except this didn’t turn into a minute or even 2. As he slowly walked toward the shooting lane, I had the gun up, the crosshairs on him and was ready to go. He goes through a small (and I do mean small) opening and for a minute I think about taking the shot. But no, even though I am confident in my ability to make the shot, it just isn’t quite a good enough shot. So I wait for him to move into the shooting lane. Sure enough, just as he stuck his nose into the lane he stopped. Okay, I thought, one more step. C’mon boy, one more step. A minute drags by, then two. Two minutes turn into 5. The arm and shoulder muscles are starting to sing. I have heard many stories about bucks hanging up one step from the shooting lane. Oh please God, don’t let that happen to me. I gotta put the gun down a little as the muscles need a break. As I am sitting, it is only about 4 inches, but it helps the arms tremendously. However, I am pretty nervous as the shooting lane isn’t very wide and if he takes a quick step, I might not have enough time. I am watching his behavior and as soon as he twitches, I am ready to put the gun up again. He licks his nose and up comes the gun. A few minutes later, I gotta relax it again. This has gone on for at least 10 minutes now. He twitches his tail and up comes the gun. He is gonna move…..he turns around! Oh no, this cannot be happening. Sure enough, he goes back the way he came from.

He passes through the same small opening and again, I am tempted. But no, if it wasn’t good enough before, it isn’t good enough now. He is going toward another shooting lane, though this one is not as wide. Oh yeah, he is there. One more step buddy, and you are toast! I cannot believe it. He has just stopped again, with only his nose in the lane. Again, one minute turns into two minutes and then five. The arm muscles have stopped singing…they now sound like a marching band and the gun has to come down again. He licks his nose and up comes the gun. A few minutes later, down it goes. As Yogi Berra would say, “Déjà vu all over again”. After about 10 minutes of this cat and mouse game, I see him twitch the tail and I know that it is time. He takes the step I need and I shoot. He immediately jumps up and then falls down. Before I can shoot, he is up and runs off to my left. Because it is soooo thick, I have no shot. I pull my eyes from the scope to look for an opening and when I look back he is gone. I listen hard and search for him. Did he turn and walk away from me? Where is he? I cannot hear a thing. It is perfectly quiet. I stay ready and continue to look for him. After a little while, he continues walking (quickly) to my left. He had never moved! He was right where I had last saw him. I can tell he is hurt pretty bad. He moves into a natural opening and I shoot again. He takes off on a run for another of my shooting lanes and as he enters it, I shoot the third and final time. He drops in the lane and lay still.

At this point, all the tension of the last half hour releases and I can tell my hands are shaking. My wife and little girl are on the way up and are due here in an hour. I call them on the phone and my wife laughs at my excited recap of the story. She asks why I am breathing so hard and I say it is the adrenaline because I haven’t even stood up in my stand yet! Lauren, my 3 ½ year old girl, is excited to see Daddy’s “big, big buck”, which of course to her, is any buck.

As I think back on the hunting and shooting of this buck, I realize this is the most fun I have ever had shooting one. A half an hour of pure excitement, challenging shooting, and a good clean kill. All the decisions I made worked out in the end. This experience is why I hunt deer. He weighed 200 pounds after field dressing and is a typical 5X5 with a small kicker off the base for 11 points with a 16 ½ inch inside spread. He scores 139 B&C points. I hit him in the chest with all three shots. Not the biggest that will be harvested this year, but certainly one of the most fun I will wager.

That is the story of the buck who will soon hang in my home office. Just posting this has me reliving the memories. As I previously stated, this buck was a great trophy to me for reasons beyond the score of the rack.

[fishuhalik]

You sure could let him go, but I'd definitely shoot! But, there are alot of guys on here that have more control than I do.

[PC's]

id eat him and throw the antlers in the garbage

[CatchPhotoFilet]

Looks like hes going to eat some dinner off camera.....

[boatfixer]

id eat him and throw the antlers in the garbage

Thats the best one yet!

You can try boiling the rack but it aint gonna taste any better! Kill it and grill it!

[PEATMOSS]

id eat him and throw the antlers in the garbage

And the award for post of the year goes to ^

[TMT]

Right on!

I love it.

[lungdeflator]

haha thats good thinking. but thats the real dilema when it comes to herd management. manage for what you are happy with. if it would make you happy to harvest this buck than go for it and post pics for us

[CodyDawg]

So I am gonna play devils advocate. Would it be ok to keep the antlers and throw the meat in the garbage? If you feel that is wrong, why is the meat more "valuable" than the antlers. They sell meat at the grocery store, they dont sell antlers there.

Just to be clear, I am not proclaiming my position here. I am just throwing out an alternative viewpoint for discussion.

[PC's]

i just meant, who cares about trophy deer managment and rack size. big racks are a dime a dozen. i got a garage full of them and there pretty worthless really. im passed the point of sport hunting now its all about meat. i know ill probably be attacked for being the if its brown it down guy but i dont shoot fawns or button bucks even though that tasty veal choped venison would be primed for the grill.

[HNTNBUX]

PC's at a dime a dozen I will take a dollars worth if you don't want them. I love them all, although I am kind of partial to the ones I shoot.

[panfried]

PC - There are plenty of people out there who would give you alot more than a dime per dozen for deer antlers. It's cool that you value the hunt and not the antlers but seriously, to just say they are a dime a dozen? Wow. You must have either shot alot of deer in your day or you have just lost the true passion. I think that is the coolest thing about deer hunting. Especially bucks. Each antler is unique. No two bucks are ever the same nor are the experiences you have in taking them.

MNROOKIE - I would shoot that deer without question. I say he is 4.5 too. The belly and the long face are dead giveaways. Judging age can be a bit tricky though. My buddy shot an 11 pt last year in the SE metro. We swore he was maybe 3.5 or 4.5 at the most. He ended up aging (using his teeth) at around 5.5 to 6.5. They just don't have the nutrition a farm couintry deer has and therefore do not get the big bellies or the heavy racks.

[ARROW 1]

Well said panfried!

[PC's]

found a nice rack in the woods last week while hunting greys. nice 11 point farm rack. I seen someone on craigs list was selling somthing like a 10 point rack for $550.00, thats crazy. Anyway i havent lost respect for trophy deer, infact the biggest buck i ever shot was just a decent eight pointer. But ive shot lots of em, and have found so many sheds, i guess its just not my thing. i respect trophy hunters and there will to pass up game. Im just old school i guess, and have a family to feed. I dont however have any respect for these blowhards who clam to be trophy hunters and hunt privalaged land with deer that are darn near tame, baiters (even were legal), an all that other yuppy nonsense.

[Bran32]

I'd take him, but I'm also the type that gets excited over a big doe as well!

[PC's]

id rather shoot a doe any day of the week. They taste oh so much better.