crazylegz70 Posted July 28, 2008 Report Share Posted July 28, 2008 Considering in Illinois that I get 2 deer tags for bow season....only one buck...do I try to wait and shoot one better than the one I shot last season? I considered myself more of a meat hunter until I shot the 160" last year. Its really kinda bothering me cause I think it is going to be a while before I see one like him again. I am thinking that my release finger is going to make the decision for me when the time comes....What do you guys think? I want some advise from people that have been through this before , but ANY harvest is a blessing for me... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tominator Posted July 28, 2008 Report Share Posted July 28, 2008 Personal preference I guess. I know after I shot my big deer I had/have no desire to shoot small deer when it comes to bucks. For the last few years I've set my goal to be 125" or better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MUDRUNNER Posted July 28, 2008 Report Share Posted July 28, 2008 I suppose it depends on what kind of deer are running around your hunting property.I would put some trail cams out and see what's there.There's no point in holding out for another 160" deer if there's not one around.I've been passing on all 1 1/2 old bucks for a few years now, but a lot of guys that hunt the same property are more of meat hunters, so the big boys are few and far between. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted July 28, 2008 Report Share Posted July 28, 2008 I suppose it depends on what kind of deer are running around your hunting property.I would put some trail cams out and see what's there.There's no point in holding out for another 160" deer if there's not one around.I've been passing on all 1 1/2 old bucks for a few years now, but a lot of guys that hunt the same property are more of meat hunters, so the big boys are few and far between. Good advice here. We are kind of surrounded by hunters with the "brown its down mentality", so the chances of seeing a 160 caliber deer are probably non existant. We try to hold out for more mature bucks and pass on all the 1.5 year olds as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazylegz70 Posted July 28, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 28, 2008 I'm sure you remember me posting my deer like 5 times on here, but I think his son is stalking the property now. I have seen him for the last week and he is taller, but no more width..... I will try to get the batteries in the cam today and see what I can do.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Born4it Posted July 28, 2008 Report Share Posted July 28, 2008 I'm kinda in the same boat as Tominator. I shot a 161 a few years ago, and now I don't shoot them unless they're at least 125 or 130 depending on what part of the season it is. If you're looking for advice though, I always say that you know whether he's a "shooter" within the first few seconds of seeing him. Go with your gut! Don't let other people's standards affect yours either...if you'll be happy with him, take him! Take care, Ryan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazylegz70 Posted July 28, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 28, 2008 I'm kinda in the same boat as Tominator. I shot a 161 a few years ago, and now I don't shoot them unless they're at least 125 or 130 depending on what part of the season it is. If you're looking for advice though, I always say that you know whether he's a "shooter" within the first few seconds of seeing him. Go with your gut! Don't let other people's standards affect yours either...if you'll be happy with him, take him! Take care, Ryan I think that is great advice for me.....If my hearts pounding a mile a minute.....I will know..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texan_Til_I_Die Posted July 28, 2008 Report Share Posted July 28, 2008 Something I've been working on lately is taking mature bucks, rather than just bucks with nice racks. I've learned to age whitetails in the field, and I base my decision on whether or not to shoot on that. To me, mature is 5.5 years old or older. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mach1 Posted July 29, 2008 Report Share Posted July 29, 2008 I shot a 174" 9pt my first year bowhunting and have only drew back on one buck since then (a 140" 10pt that I took). I try to get my doe each year, but with the bucks, we're trying to manage them the best we can on our small hunting properties and not take any until they reach at least 4 1/2 yrs old. We do have some guys that hunt around us that shoot just about anything with a rack that walks by and then they wonder why there aren't an big bucks roaming the woods. Same situation when it comes to turkey hunting too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichiganHunter Posted July 30, 2008 Report Share Posted July 30, 2008 well you got a doe tag and a buck tag right.....I would fill my doe tag on the first fat girl that walks by....especially if you can kill her pre-rut, I TRY to pass on smaller bucks inorder to kill larger and it's paid off pretty well with 2 bucks in the last 2 years over 130 but at the same time I did shoot a small 6pt last december with my muzzleloaader...just cause i had never killed a deer with my muzz (first year hunting with it) but aint nothing wrong with filling that tag with meat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazylegz70 Posted July 30, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 30, 2008 Thanks for all the good advice guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dubie Posted July 31, 2008 Report Share Posted July 31, 2008 I don't know what to tell you. I've passed on bigger deer, and shot smaller deer, passed up smaller deer, and killed bigger. To me a trophy isn't a number, its an individual animal. When I see the deer I'm going to take with that tag, I just know... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fly Posted August 3, 2008 Report Share Posted August 3, 2008 I quote Tominator. In addition did know you can harvest 2 bucks with your bow in Illinois? Walmart sells a combination buck/doe tag and you can buy as many as you like. From my understanding there is no limit to the number of permits you can buy. Regulations indicate you can only harvest 2 bucks in one season (no limit on does). My plan is to shoot the first 125" or greater buck I get a good shot at. The second buck (bow or gun) would have to be a real monster. If any fellow Illinois residents have heard differently let me know. I have not read this years regs yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazylegz70 Posted August 3, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 3, 2008 All these pieces of advice have been great..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimPic Posted August 3, 2008 Report Share Posted August 3, 2008 I don't know what to tell you. I've passed on bigger deer, and shot smaller deer, passed up smaller deer, and killed bigger. To me a trophy isn't a number, its an individual animal. When I see the deer I'm going to take with that tag, I just know... Exactly.I take the shot when a deer gives me the shot I want to take Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RangerClay Posted August 3, 2008 Report Share Posted August 3, 2008 Tags just don't taste the same with peppers and onions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huntermq32 Posted August 4, 2008 Report Share Posted August 4, 2008 Thats how it's been in the past 2 bucks and unlimited does. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ildrhntr Posted August 6, 2008 Report Share Posted August 6, 2008 My Rule Of Thumb Is If I See Abuck And I Know He Will Make Pope And Young I Take Him. My First Buck Was A 146" 10 Point That Took Me 15 Years To Best. I Shoot A Good Deal Of Does But Don't Take Anythiing That I Know For Sure Won't Make The Book Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbaker Posted August 20, 2008 Report Share Posted August 20, 2008 Let them grow! if its justmeat your after, take the doe's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rad_112176 Posted August 20, 2008 Report Share Posted August 20, 2008 I quote Tominator. In addition did know you can harvest 2 bucks with your bow in Illinois? Walmart sells a combination buck/doe tag and you can buy as many as you like. From my understanding there is no limit to the number of permits you can buy. Regulations indicate you can only harvest 2 bucks in one season (no limit on does). My plan is to shoot the first 125" or greater buck I get a good shot at. The second buck (bow or gun) would have to be a real monster. If any fellow Illinois residents have heard differently let me know. I have not read this years regs yet. You are right. You can take 2 bucks with your bow tags, but if you do that you are out of buck tags for gun. Which is ok if you shoot a couple of nice ones. I would say shoot the first good buck that you consider a trophy and then the you can set a better limit for the second one. Be sure to pay attention if you are hunting any public land though. There are alot of public land tracts that are requiring you to take a doe before you can take your buck. If that is the case, get that doe tag filled quickly cause you never know when the big one is going to come by. Good Luck !!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohiobuckhunter Posted August 23, 2008 Report Share Posted August 23, 2008 i myself set my goal each year for a mature buck rather than the size of the rack. don't get me wrong the bigger the rack the better but i've passed on alot of 140+ 2 1/2 and 3 1/2 yr olds to settle for a 125 or 130 class 5 1/2 yr old and to me it was more of a trophy than the younger deer jmo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazylegz70 Posted August 28, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 28, 2008 I can def. see the point in all these suggestions. I guess my big concern was that I dont want to lose my passion for being out there just because I have shot the biggest deer that I might ever shoot. Ya know what im saying im sure. Kinda like sports players that just retire after they win a world series or super bowl.....I just hope that one day I can best what I have done already..... Its kinda weird always hoping to shoot a nice whitetail and once you do it you hope it happens again......LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazylegz70 Posted August 28, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 28, 2008 forgot to mention that my 158 inch deer was shot on a 10 acre property Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhino Posted August 28, 2008 Report Share Posted August 28, 2008 I guess my big concern was that I dont want to lose my passion for being out there just because I have shot the biggest deer that I might ever shoot. Ya know what im saying im sure. Kinda like sports players that just retire after they win a world series or super bowl.....I just hope that one day I can best what I have done already..... Its kinda weird always hoping to shoot a nice whitetail and once you do it you hope it happens again......LOL I had some friends of mine ask me the same thing after I killed my 175 net B&C buck bowhunting Kansas back in 2004. If anything, it gave me more of a passion for killing big mature bucks. It also made it easier to know (at least for me) what a big shooter was real quick. Since 150 class bucks are very rare here in MS I just try to kill mature bucks regardless of their score but we get 3 bucks here. Now on the road hunting the midwest where they're are a lot more high scoring rack bucks running around than there are here in MS, I'll hold out for a big mature buck. As a rule of thumb a big 8 point to me is 140 or better and a big 10 would be 150 or better. It seems every year I'm hunting in the midwest I see at least one of those. That's more than a hunter can ask for even if he has to eat tag soup when he goes home. Killing one of those size bucks is a bonus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazylegz70 Posted August 30, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 30, 2008 Thats really good advise Rhino....The closer I get to the season the looser that trigger finger gets Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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