To shoot or not to shoot?

A

Aquajunky02

New member
I'm new to deer hunting and I've been working on getting deer into my chosen spot. Today I finally caught on my trail cam what I feel maybe a worthy candidate for a tag? Now I'm not an expert at judging deer scores or age I was hoping someone else maybe? Here is the buck in question. Any idea on score/age? If he is still young and has potential to get bigger I don't necessary kill him yet. What's the verdict shoot/ let walk?
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I have never even once hunted deer in my life... I know next to zero about the sport, but I am interested in any reasons why someone would pass on taking that elegant animal.

Looks to me like the kind of buck a newish hunter would DREAM of having a chance at.
 
Because he is a couple of years away from being prime.
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My guess is also about 3 1/2 y.o. ........For meat quality, he's a couple years past being prime.

Just the same, I'd shoot him: that's a LOT of sausage and jerky!

Barring normal misfortunes of life and death in the wild, he's probably a year from his biggest rack- his neck is still in proportion to his chest, and his back/belly is starting to droop ......
 
It would be no question for me. I'd shoot that joker. Where I am from that is a monster of a deer and they just don't get that big very often. Kudo's to you OP and if you get him you will have a trophy worthy of display,
 
You have to ask?? I don't care about all the official stuff but other than what's legal or not that bad boy would be in the ice chest!
 
up in these parts, that's a BIG buck for a white tail. definitely a tagger. down in texas... that's considered a baby yet.

then again, up here, average mature buck can reach 180+ pounds easy and 200 pounders are common, down in texas from what I've heard average weight is in the 160-ish range.

it all depends on if you are after meat or antlers, and what part of the country you are hunting in. I don't mind killing bucks with little horns, I hunt for meat. I ended up wasting my buck tag on a 130 pound spike, didn't really matter, I still got a bit of meat and I still have a doe tag.
 
Considering the hunting area most people have, I'd say "shoot" IF you see him again. That buck might be 5 miles away next week.
Back in 1979(way before trail cams and such nonsense) I shot a big buck with a very unique drop tine. When my older brother saw the buck he was miffed. He'd seen the drop tine buck 10 days earlier at his farm--5 miles as the crow flies from where I shot the buck.
Fast forward about 10 years. A week before season opened, I'd seen a buck with an odd, misshapen right antler that I was hoping to kill and have mounted . That buck was killed 4-5 miles away the first day of the season and his pic was on page 2 of the weekly paper.
In order to pass up a buck like that, you'd need to control enough ground to reasonably expect the deer to stay within your area of control. I just heard today that the new owners of about 800 acres across the creek from my farm was contacting other landowners with the intention of setting up an area QDM plan. We would control most of the habitat on an area over a mile wide by 2.5 miles long but that's still not enough to be fully sure of keeping bucks inside the management plan area.
 
I ended up wasting my buck tag on a 130 pound spike, didn't really matter, I still got a bit of meat and I still have a doe tag.
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I don't see how that was "wasted", provided you recovered the animal.

Not a giant deer, but likely tastes better than Ol' Mossyhorns, anyhow!

down in texas from what I've heard average weight is in the 160-ish range.
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Ah, the "Hollywood Deer": Giant Racks and no Backs.
 
I appreciate the responses. I was out waiting for him all day yesterday and he was a no show. It's on my property is really the only reason I questioned taking him. I would like to insure I have good hunting right outside my backdoor for years to come. It's getting harder to find good hunting spots locally so I don't want to get rid of all my stud deer before their prime. I also only get 1 antlered tag per year. Really don't want to take one then regret not waiting for the "big" one. I'm in Kansas just for the record so he's not a monster by any stretch.
 
That's not a 3.5yo deer, he's 4.5 or older. A little swayback, belly etc. He's about as good as he's going to get. If you're on managed land and can assure he's safe, give him another year if you want. If you're on small property or a public spot, take him if you get the opportunity because someone else will if you don't.
 
That's not a 3.5yo deer, he's 4.5 or older. A little swayback, belly etc. He's about as good as he's going to get.
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You think so? I'm no expert, but it seems to me the really big deer I see (mostly in real life, as I don't have TV!) look as if their chest runs right up under their ears, with their legs stuck on too far back...... and their belly droops bigtime ..... bases on this one are still in proportion to the rest of the rack, and pretty smooth yet, but that can be a genetic thing .......

The coat on this one looks really smooth/short, too ..... where's this taken?
 
He's a dandy, he's starting to get that roman nose that tells me he's not quite 4 years. But his back is telling me he's almost there.
I generally kill the first deer that comes if it's big enough for my uses, so I would definetly take him and be darn proud..
 
You think so? I'm no expert, but it seems to me the really big deer I see (mostly in real life, as I don't have TV!) look as if their chest runs right up under their ears, with their legs stuck on too far back...... and their belly droops bigtime ..... bases on this one are still in proportion to the rest of the rack, and pretty smooth yet, but that can be a genetic thing .......
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The coat on this one looks really smooth/short, too ..... where's this taken?

You're talking about a 5.5+ deer at that point. At 4.5 he's an adult think in terms of a 20-30yo man. He's got a gut, settled some but still full of pee and vinegar. 3.5 he's a later teen early 20's, still somewhat slim but showing promise in all the right places. 5.5 he's in his 40's, gut, back swayed some but still got some swagger. 6.5 he's in his 50's early 60's and slowing down. Older than that he's on the downhill swing.
 
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