nyantler

Very Nice... congrats

I stand corrected on the spike thing..if it was your first buck. my point is that not ALL deer are trophies... but I have noticed that many guys like to say it i think to justify them shooting small deer. I will agree though that any deer COULD be a trophy... but not all are.

I know of a wild deer Blur that lived 12 years in Forestport NY... but as for average... hard to tell... things are different now than 100's of years ago. In captivity they live quite long due to the lack of stress.

That doesn't surprise me in the least Doc. lol But I meant head mount...

Guess I wasn't necessarily refering to you Bubba...

I gotta tell ya Doc.. you're a riot. Read my website page about aging in the field.. GEEZ!!!

I've been ground hunting for many years.... just love the tracking or still hunt method.. i see way more deer than in the stand and get much closer to them as well. I feel the only way to kill bigger bucks on a regular basis.

Very sorry for your loss...

Very nice pedestal mounts.. i had a pedestal done back in 1994. I love it

Archer forever.. well put.. except the part about every deer is a trophy... if they all were trophies.. we would mount the spikes too. And for the guys that have mounted a spikehorn .. congrats on your trophy:)

I would explain but I think it would be better if maybe you read it from a source you trust.. because you just seem to what to contradict any fact that is stated here.. so read it for yourself. I notice you are always quick to make a comment on something you don't know anything about.

Had a great first day.. hunted a new piece of land in central NY in the morning.. in 2hrs walked up on 2 small bucks and passed on them. Went to the adirondacks... saw 14 deer, 3 bucks nothing big. My best buddy got a 6-point that I green scored at 109 net, 5" bases lots of mass...will have a pic soon. Other buddy took a beautiful 9-point. Needless to say their was plenty to celebrate at camp.

I remember a time when I hunted the same as you guys.. shot the first deer that came by me... sat in a stand all day not seeing anything. Then when I decided to pass on smaller deer and get off my ass and go after bigger bucks.. I started seeing a ton of deer... started passing on multiple small bucks and saw at least 1 big buck every year. My hunting experiences now is far better than in the past... not only is it more fun.. but I see far more deer being patient about what and when I take a deer. Most of my hunting buddies did the same and have had the same experience. I'm not saying you guys should hunt like i do.. but keeping an open mind wouldn't hurt. Remember, I've tried your method. But you haven't tried mine.

Great Father Daughter hunt.. nice deer.

There are also features and traits that separate mature deer.

Doc .. read up on your deer biology...The key word there was "physiological"

well i guess about 30% of the hunters do take the 65% that are 1.5

I think its for the reason I said.. god forbid they have to say "I didnt' get a buck this year"..

I'm sure there are guys on this forum that shoot smaller bucks that would still be in favor of AR. The fact is that around 65% of all the bucks taken each year are 1.5 years old... doesn't matter who's killing them. It still isn't good for the age structure of the buck population. But I'm sure its great for the ego's of the guys that would cut off their tongue rather than say to their buddy that they didn't get a buck this year.

physiological maturity is a biological thing... not an arbitrary whatever you want it to be thing... it happens between 3.5 and 4.5 When a guy decides to hunt big bucks "only", what he is really doing is making a choice not to shoot small ones.

nope.. not done growing at 2.5

orange is a good idea to help other hunters see you... nothing worse than a guy in full camo sittingsitting still in the woods and you can't see him... good way to get your head blown off if a deer runs between the two of you. He knows where I am but i might never see him. I alway wear at least an orange hat.

Culver.. I love the fireballs too!

Very good point Steve! One thing I know from experience is that if you truly hunt only big bucks.. there are years one goes without a buck. It has been 11 years since I took a buck with my bow and I still love bowhunting... I bet i have passed on 30 bucks in that 11 years... I want my first buck with my recurve to be on the ground and a big boy. But, as you say if I want to talk the talk I need to walk the walk. Not sure many so called "big buck only" guys truly walk the walk.

Interesting stuff.. none of it surprising really though.