"Standards"

[InTheNorthwoods]

I saw a post in another thread that made me start to wonder. With deer season just around the corner, curiousity got the best of me and I just have ask the question.

Do you have standards set going into the deer season as to what deer you would be willing to put your tag on? Do your standards for what deer you are willing to shoot change from the first day of the season to the last day? At what point in the season do your standards change? And finally, why do your standards change (or why do you set a "standard" in the first place if you aren't going to stick to it)?

To be clear, I don't care either way - whether someone sets standards or not. My thought is that "as long as someone is happy with the deer they shot, I am happy for them."

[mrklean]

my buddy gave me the standards speech last week when we were at Ripley about why he didnt shoot a doe, i about punched him. With bucks yeah i have standards, with does as long as its not a fawn and doesnt have spots why not harvest for some meat the extra tag is there and tag soup doesnt taste good

[Cheetah]

For me it varies from year to year. I don't hold out for big bucks though since they are so few and far between on public land. Horns don't taste very good anyway.

[nofishfisherman]

I've been thinking about this a lot lately actually. I'm a new hunter (picked up the sport last year at age 29) so I haven't shot my first deer yet. I am debating what I'm willing to shoot and at what time my standards may change.

I'm hunting in a managed zone and won't be able to get out until thursday after opener, I'll be hunting thursday-sunday of the second weekend. I think my standards right now are Thursday and Friday it has to be a buck 8 or better and then once the weekend comes around I'll also be willing to take a doe.

As a group we may also purchase a couple bonus tags and then party hunt them so that may change my plans a little.

My friends have been telling me to take a smaller buck if a shot presents itself since its my first deer but I'm just not willing to take a spike or fork buck. I'd rather take a doe if thats the case.

Do you guys think different standards should apply if its someones first deer?

[jerkbait]

I think standards should apply to yourself, not what someone else tells you. Whether it is your 1st deer or your 20th deer. You have set your standards and you may change your standards in a instance if a spike or fork is standing broadside for you. They are tasty morsals. It is totally up to you. Me personally I shoot the deer that presents me a shot.

[CrewJones]

standards are easy to make sitting behind your computer screen looking at all the monster bucks that are shot by the members on this forum. Like most of you I dont hunt bountiful farms and my public land doesnt seem to shoot out 8 pointers every time I rattle. I have things set in my mind, but nothing can control your feelings when the deer start coming, thats why I hunt. Im only 30 so I dont have tons of experience hunting but I do know what I like. I like to eat the deer, and I like being around my hunting buddies. Whatever else happens is how stories are made.

For my first deer I was 15 and shot a fork, after I rattled in an 8 pointer and flat out missed. That was the last deer that I have ever rattled in, pretty pathetic hunter i am...

[96trigger]

I try and have high standards for bucks. Does, I am not picky. I like to try and shoot a doe immediately then simply enjoy the woods and get after that big bruiser. Trying to outsmart a mature buck is very tricky, and it takes some luck.

I like chasing whitetails and being in the woods. I constantly tell myself that if it doesn't happen during archery, than maybe during firearms, and if it doesn't happen during firearm, then maybe during muzzle loader. If a small buck walks in front of me during Muzzle loader, I often tell myself that it made it through 2 months of being hunted, and will more than likely make it to next year. So my standards don't really change.

[uptracker]

For buck hunting...if it's not going on the wall, I'm not pulling the trigger. IMO, if I shoot an immature buck, I'm basically shooting myself in the foot for next year.

[Bear55]

I will take a doe or at least a 3.5 year old buck that is close to PY. I don't really care if a deer makes PY because I don't enter them anyway but that is about the size I am looking for. If I see a very old old deer with a smaller rack I would have no problem shooting him as well. I have ate tag soup most years and have never wavered from my standards first day or last. Same goes for rifle/muzzy season.

[gurkster]

Do you guys think different standards should apply if its someones first deer?

Yes. Shoot your first deer and be proud of it!!!

My standards change year to year based on where I hunt, what I am seeing, days I have to hunt, etc. I will generally shoot a doe if I want meat, and hold out for a mature buck. In our camp we always encourage people to take their best buck. Meaning if you never shot a deer take any buck. If you only shot a spike or fork take a basket rack, etc. Once you have a few deer under your belt then you can get a little more selective.

[TooTallTom]

nofishfisherman, my first deer was a spike. I was about 20, IIRC. I am still happy to shoot a spike or fork, since they taste much better than the big boys. If I see a smallish basket, I can make a logical case sitting here that I should pass (not real big yet, probably won't taste the best either) but I don't know what I'd do if I was looking at him from my stand. (Plus, the racks aren't that big where I hunt anyway.)

A little bit of unsolicited advice, so take it for what it's worth. Go buy your management tag, put it on the first antlerless deer you see, then try and fill your either sex tag with a nice big buck. That way there's no question about "wasting" your only tag on an antlerless deer, and no question that your tag is available to you. Well worth the extra few dollars in my opinion. But, unsolicited advice from the internets is generally worth exactly what you pay for it.

[MNice]

I wnat to make sure its a deer In my book, any whitetail is a trophy, I enjoy the hunt, i enjoy the butchering, I enjoy making the sausage & sticks, I enjoy the guys I hunt with.

[Fever]

Uptracker, that is my view up until the last day I'm able to hunt. I've been burned by it several times where I passed on younger / smaller 6's and 8's right under my stand... only to come away from the season skunked. It is bitter sweet in that I feel good about letting them walk as they then can grow a bit maybe for next year but I'm also stuck with an empty freezer and a wife that questions my reasoning. I don't have a problem with a smaller buck on the last day because of that. I am hopefull that one day my methods and sacrafices will pay off as I have yet to put one on the wall. My best is a 3x3 mulie with a tall rack n 21 inch iside spread and a 9 point whitetail that prob goes about 115-120 inches. Maybe this year is the year.

[uptracker]

Uptracker, that is my view up until the last day I'm able to hunt. I've been burned by it several times where I passed on younger / smaller 6's and 8's right under my stand... only to come away from the season skunked. It is bitter sweet in that I feel good about letting them walk as they then can grow a bit maybe for next year but I'm also stuck with an empty freezer and a wife that questions my reasoning. I don't have a problem with a smaller buck on the last day because of that. I am hopefull that one day my methods and sacrafices will pay off as I have yet to put one on the wall. My best is a 3x3 mulie with a tall rack n 21 inch iside spread and a 9 point whitetail that prob goes about 115-120 inches. Maybe this year is the year.

At least you're holding out. To put it in perspective, I've only killed one buck since 2006. I made a camp move though, so I'm on year two in my area this year. If I could kill a mounter ever 2-3 years, I'd be happy as heck. I don't HAVE to have the meat though. My wife doesn't like it, so if I eat tag soup instead of venison, that's OK with me....as long as I had a good hunt.

P.S. I'm also hunting public land in the big woods.

[nofishfisherman]

Some good perspective here. I know things are much different when in the woods. I'll probably end up playing it by ear and likely we'll have some bonus tags for our group to use so I won't have to sit with just my either sex tag all week.

I do like the idea of making sure any buck you shoot is a personal best. That ensures that each buck is a true trophy to that individual hunter.

[96trigger]

Shooting personal bests can be tough if you end up shooting that buck of a lifetime early. I just look for a mature buck, hopefully outside the ears and tips to the nose with good mass.

[creepworm]

I don't have standards, at the bar or deer hunting.

[surewood]

I usually take a doe during archery which I havent done yet. Then I wait for a mature buck. My standards don't change.

[ClownColor]

-I hunt public land

-I hunt 9 straight days

-2 to 3 person party

-I hold off for a nice buck(my interpetaion)until the following Thursday

-Then I'll shoot what comes into the scope for some meat the last four days.

I was shoot anything for the first 10 years of hunting. Now I'm trying to get some nice bucks but still love the meat and the hunt.

I can see myself going for mature bucks only after I've bagged a for more nice bucks.

[ERdeerhunter]

For buck hunting...if it's not going on the wall, I'm not pulling the trigger. IMO, if I shoot an immature buck, I'm basically shooting myself in the foot for next year.

How many do you have on the wall?

[InTheNorthwoods]

-I hunt public land

-I hunt 9 straight days

-2 to 3 person party

-I hold off for a nice buck(my interpetaion)until the following Thursday

-Then I'll shoot what comes into the scope for some meat the last four days.

I was shoot anything for the first 10 years of hunting. Now I'm trying to get some nice bucks but still love the meat and the hunt.

I can see myself going for mature bucks only after I've bagged a for more nice bucks.

I am not trying to single you out, there are many others who have expressed a similar view point, I am just using your post because you are the most recent and your post is easy to understand. But this is one of the big questions I had when I started this thread: Why do you set standards for the first ___ days of the season (in your case, 5 days) only to change them towards the end of the week?

If people are willing to "settle" for a deer they wouldn't shoot on opener towards the end of the week, why isn't that deer good enough earlier in the week? Why set that standard at all?

I can understand if you only have one tag and are looking for a "big" buck and don't want to shoot a doe to early and be tagless only to take a doe later in the hunt, but if we're talking about multiple tags, or bucks only, what is the benefit of passing up shooting opportunities if you'll gladly take that opportunity later in the week? It seems counterintuitive to me, both on the "I don't want to eat tag soup" and the "I am looking to shoot a trophy first" mentalities. To me, it seems that you are giving up opportunities this year (for filling your tag by passing on a deer early that you'd take later) and/or for future years (by killing a young buck that could grow into the trophy you were looking for.) Finally, for those who have declining standards as the week goes on, are you taking "happy" with the deer you got or do you find yourself wishing the deer had met your early season standards?

*Edited for clarification - I don't have any problem with people shooting any deer that is legal and makes them happy. I am just trying to gather insight from people on why they have standards, what they are, etc.

[HandGunner]

you gotta realize things change over time. 20+ years of SE MN my family has hunted public forest and now I only started going for about 5 years now and from stories I hear things change alot, not as good as it was back then the land has shrunk because the state sold some of the state forest to ppl. we are all clustered up a lil more because the land got smaller. Plus laws and ppls view of hunting has changed were more modernized and so many of us are city bound to living its all changing to were I dont have time and money and my resources and where I hunt is not good enough to be chasing the big boys, what Im presented with just dosnt work. Im fine with shooting an 8 or 10 point and size of the rack can be small big whatever Im just glad to be able to still hunt and put meat in my fridge that I know will last til the next season, I have not yet been unsatisfied with what I have shot, sure do wish that monsterous buck walks in but its like going to the casino, win big or win little as long as your having fun, because really we all get free bevereges at the casino right be happy with what you get its a blessing either way and to each their own wheather ppl hunt only does or big boys or mature bucks or even only fawns and spikes

[candiru]

Limited time to hunt and no antlerless permit - again = any legal buck.

[ClownColor]

Northwoods, thats entrapment!

I'll explain...

I only have ONE tag. Like you suggested, I'd "like" to shoot a larger buck (I think most people would agree) but I also like to eat venison so I'd rather have something then nothing.

I have been fortunate in the area that I hunt to see deer on quit a few of the days I hunt. If I was only going to see 1-2 deer, then I take first come. If I saw hundreds of deer, I'd probably be waiting for the monster.

I feel I'll see at least one deer in the last four days of hunting so that gives me some releif to fill the freezer. From our small group, (everyone likes to take their own) someone has taken a huge deer...but its been only one a year. I'd just like the "chance" of taking a larger buck with MY ONLY tag, but when Thursday rolls around, it's cutting it and I want meat.

When years of extra tags (bonus tags), I'll be waiting for a very nice buck cause I'll have the extra tag (doe) for the freezer.

Make sense?

I will not get into a whos right and whos wrong cause we all have our own agenda here and NO ONE on here can tell anyone else how to hunt (granted its legal in all)

good luck!

[Musky Buck]

3.5 year old buck or older, nothing else or I'd be done hunting opening day every year and that would be 0 fun in my book as I don't party hunt.