Lesson in field judging


fly

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Saw this 10 point buck yesterday evening at about 80-100 yards. He came in down wind of me after I did some light grunting. The vegetation was so thick I had trouble spotting him in my binoculars. Once I did I saw all the points and from my angle his bladed main beams looked thicker than they actually were. Just then I think he caught my wind and strated to leave. Although he looked narrow, I was thinking he was a mature buck well over 200 pounds and decided to take him while I still had the chance. My ML did the trick, he only went about 75 yards. Walked up to him and was thankful for a clean kill, but upset with myself for not letting this one walk for at least another year. Thinking he's only 2.5 years old and weighed about 170 pounds field dressed.

If had been using a trail cramera I might have got pictures of this buck and knew to watch for him and let him go another year or two. Thinking I may need to grab a couple for next season. Still, he'll make a nice Texas mount and my family and friends will benefit from the additional roasts.

fly-albums-deer-2011-picture11298-2011-10-point.jpg

fly-albums-deer-2011-picture11296-terrain.jpg

fly-albums-deer-2011-picture11295-truck.jpg

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Before butchering I thought I'd get a shot from above (the view from my treestand that fooled me). Notice how a bladed main beam can really make a buck look bigger / more mature than he really is. At least it did to me at any rate. When you look at the picture below it almost looks like a different buck then the one above.

fly-albums-deer-2011-picture11299-bladed.jpg

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Mike, William, others, you're right. God was very good to me this year and blessed me with 3 very nice deer. I'm truly thankful. Hunting will always be a life-long passion of mine and it amazes me that after 25 years and harvesting nearly twice as many deer there's still a lot I have to learn. I've got enough meat now and used my 2 buck tags so the remainder of my season will be about getting my 9 year old son a deer and filming a friend I hunt with as he is still trying for his first.

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Congratulations on the buck fly!

Don't beat yourself up over it. It's sure easier to make a judgement call with a bow vs. a firearm. Been there before myself. There's 2 kinds of firearm hunters when it comes to that...those that have had regrets about killing a certain buck and those that will.

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That's still a nice buck Fly! I wouldn't beat myself up over it. We've all experienced a little ground shrinkage at one time or another. Like others have said, some people hunt their whole lives and don't get an opportunity to take a buck that nice. Congrats! What matters most is you got a quick, clean kill and he's going to feed a lot of family of friends.

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