Buck Hollow Sporting Goods - click or touch to visit their website Midwest Habitat Company

What's it gonna take...

dbltree

dbltree

Super Moderator
to trip your trigger this fall?

We talk about what is a mature buck, is it a "booner", etc, etc. Personally I think bucks that will actually make Boone and Crockett are pretty rare, but that doesn't mean one can't hold out for one.

I always hope to kill a buck better then any previous, or at least very different, and that would mean a mature buck. I'm not sure at times when a buck comes steaking thru chasing a doe, that I can determine if it is a 3 1/2 or 4 1/2...I just have to make a quick judgement in my mind to shoot...or not.

All this means that I mostly fill the freezer with does, I see some big boys that make my knees knock a little and that keep me holding out for what I hope is a mature buck with at least good mass.

What does it take for you to pull the trigger?
A certain score, a certain age, a personal best? A certain individual buck?
Just curious
smile.gif
 
Personally, I don't think it's score or a personal best, for me it's that first view of that buck and the feeling i get from him. Over the years though as i have been fortunate enough to kill some good bucks and that feeling has gotten tougher to get to these days. I suppose it takes a combo of huge body, tall tines,and just being an O.D.B (old dirty buck).
The old saying of "do I want to pay to mount him" as a standard also comes onto effect.
 
Well this should generate some interesting replies. Over the last 30 years I have killed only a couple of pretty nice bucks and have never felt that I could justify the money to have them mounted. With the more recent population problems I have taken more and more does, but I will freely admit to having shot some small bucks or spikes. Most of these have been the result of that being the only deer to offer me a shot, or back when it was almost taboo to shoot does. With the way it is now if I have the choice between a small buck or a doe I will take the doe. I haven't had the chance at a large buck for quite sometime but now I think it would have to be Quite A Buck for me to take one now because I'm still not sure that I could justify 5 or 600 dollars to mount one. If I had to choose between a large or an average buck now, I really think that I would take the smaller one because there are lots of them and not many big boys. Let someone who would appreciate him more have a chance at the big boy. I have said lots of times before that I really enjoy deer hunting, not trophy hunting and I'm just excited to shoot any deer with my stickbows or muzzle loader. The hunters that feel driven to harvest a buck every year and settle for a small one late in the season just to fill their any sex tag and then are unhappy or depressed because of it are missing a lot of what deer hunting is all about, at least in my humble opinion.
 
I hope to take a bow buck bigger than my last or a very unique looking buck, and a couple of does. I’m really looking forward to setting up my lone wolf in the new stand locations I prepared this spring. I’ve got a goofy grin on my face right now just thinking about spending as much time as possible in the trees this fall. I just love the whole experience of being there.
smile.gif
 
Whatever buck makes me grab my bow off the bow hanger is the one that is gonna get it. If I don't grab the bow when I see it coming, I know it's not the one I want. Usually a 150+ 8 pointer or 160+ ten pointer will have me frantically reaching for my bow
smile.gif
 
To start with, I'll shoot as many does as I can afford to buy tags for...usually around 12 to 15. It's a blast!!! – Bow, Shotgun, Muzzleloader & Handgun... if there’s a season and I am eligible for a tag, I’m hunting.

When it comes to bucks I use the following criteria:
1) it has to be mature, 4.5 or older – (I know it’s hard to judge the age in some instances but I do my best)
2) it has to exceed my best buck to date (157")

If there is a buck that exceeds 157 but is not mature (read: not carrying the best antlers he will be capable of growing in his lifetime), he gets to keep walking. I’ve shot enough deer in my time, the challenge for me now is to hunt mature animals. Now if it’s a honest-to-goodness Booner and it’s only 2.5 or 3.5 year old, I’m probably shooting.
 
I'm look'n to fill some doe tags again. Hopefully do my part for the new city hunt. As far as the bucks go, I do like to set my sights above 140", but..... ya know, you never really know until the moment presents itself, and there's been plenty of times I got caught in the moment.
smile.gif
Just love kill'n things with the stick, self restraint can be an issue.
 
I'm with TallTines, I don't think so much about "score" when I shoot a buck... if he makes me say... WHOA, he's goin down. But as he said, that gets harder to do each year... deer I've passed in the last few years, I would have loved to have shot 15 years ago... so the bar does get raised each time you pull the trigger.

I can't forget to mention does either though... I swear I get just as excited letting the air out of a doe as I do a nice buck... the great thing is they taste better, you can shoot plenty of them every year, and there is no taxidermy fee to worry about!
 
[ QUOTE ]
I’ve got a goofy grin on my face right now just thinking about spending as much time as possible in the trees this fall. I just love the whole experience of being there.
smile.gif


[/ QUOTE ]

Now you got me grinning Kat! Just thinking about being out there...anticipation!!
waytogo.gif
 
If my heart starts trying to beat its way out of my chest, its time to grab the bow.
lookin for somethin 145+ but Ive not always been the best judge in the heat of the moment.
 
It sounds so corny, but it really is just being out there. I hung a stand Friday and had a little spare time when I was done so I just sat there in the stand for a bit. It was nice being 20 foot up again.
But if were talking score, 140"+ is the admission to my garage. Saying "bigger than the last" is a good goal when your starting out, but what if your Tony Louvsten. Golf?? I like sealing the deal to much for that!
 
[ QUOTE ]
Saying "bigger than the last" is a good goal when your starting out, but what if your Tony Louvsten. Golf?? I like sealing the deal to much for that!

[/ QUOTE ]

That's a good question TP! Not sure I'll ever have that problem but it is interesting to think about. I do know people who after taking a number of very high scoring bucks over the years, now won't settle for less then 200"!!
Of course it's getting pretty tough to kill that kind of buck but I repsect thier goals as thier own.
Mine are not quite that "lofty"
grin.gif


BTW...there isn't anything corny about having that "feeling"...of just being out there...
waytogo.gif
 
Yea!! EXACTLY what all of you said, but...even IF I ever get even the opertunity at a "Booner", and then get lucky enough to hold it all together long enough to close the deal, and that's all IF, I can't imagine the day will EVER get here when a 150" or even 135" at times, doesn't just turn me insideout! To this day, deer identical to one's I've already got on the wall still get me going to the point that at times I think I'm haveing "The Big One". I pray that RUSH never stops coming, reguardless of the size of the antlers..
 
[ QUOTE ]
I do know people who after taking a number of very high scoring bucks over the years, now won't settle for less then 200"!!


[/ QUOTE ]

Now that is the definition of an optimist. I wish they were all my neighbors, just think of the "leftovers"!
grin.gif
 
It takes a lot......
Or maybe it actually doesnt...
I will usually start out hunting a specific buck in a given area. Usually its one that got away the year before. Or maybe found the sheds to in the spring. (Some of you may know what I'm talking about) Its the buck that shows up on your trail cam in late August early September and he's 20-30 inches bigger than the last year. You're just amazed, yet at the same time, he haunts your dreams. Buck fever has set in and it's July! You're confident that you have the discipline. This is the only buck you'll even draw on.... but once the rut hits, better yet, once you get in your stand and see antlers for the first time, everything changes. I've come to the realization that until I own my own land, nothing is definite. I would like to say that I am disciplined enough to only shoot a specific sized buck, but I'm not. I know someone else is hunting the same buck. Heck, there are probably 5 other people hunting the same buck. Thats why for now, I'll hope to harvest a buck bigger than year before.
 
Reading all this has given me that shakey, nervous feeling in my stomach that I usually get as a deer approaches my stand. It's only the end of July, and I've got buck fever already. Season can't get here fast enough!
icon_headbang.gif
 
What will trip my trigger this fall will be if my 11 year old gets to shoot. I'm going to be the video guy and help him to try to get one. For me, shooting at least 1 doe and a decent buck. Decent for me is P&Y, but even slightly smaller may come home. Biggest is the one in my avatar. He is about 133, but with a gun. Just being out with my son, enjoying the quiet, watching the animals is what will really trip that trigger.
 
i';d love to hunt in an area where i could pass on 130 bucks becuase the bigs ones are that plentiful, but my trigger will be tripped with the first cool afternoon during the rut, with the fresh air and that light nw breeze
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom