What are your thoughts?

[growalot]

Some times in our yearly hunting areas there is a doe or buck we just know, unmistakable.....

Now that animal has managed to avoid everyone for a number of years and you can see it's aging...white face old...old  ect.ect...Ppl talk about it...... talk about seeing it........ it has gotten a name put to it...years have gone by and old so and so browses into range with a clear clean shot and looking very healthy all things considered.

 

Do you shoot or not?

Edited August 11, 2014 by growalot

[gfdeputy2]

I would shoot happend to me last season watched this buck for 5 years another hunter shot him about 300 yards from my stand. of course NH hunting is different then NY. If it isn't posted it is legal to hunt it

so if you don't take the shot it is a good chance someone else will

[Lawdwaz]

Grow....check out the recent NYOutdoor News. There is a cool article about a doe shot by a guy that had been watching it for years.

The doe turned out to be 18.5 years old!

I don't know if I'd shoot one that I've been watching for that long, it would be a bit like shooting my dog....

[growalot]

To be honest...that article is what prompted this post...curious as to what others would do... no judgements none needed, legal shoot is a legal shoot..that said.... No I would and could not shoot the deer and this is my OWN PERSONAL thoughts on it...I have to show it the respect I see it deserves and allow it to finish a long life in natures own way..be what it may be...also if it was seen so many times over the years I have to believe that the locals were giving her a pass...probably for the same reason.

 

I had a 8point buck ...shootable as racks would be concerned...but he had to be the oldest living deer around..I had never seen him before, but he had the whitest face and sagging eyes...skin and bones...no not sick ...you could just see the age in him...I watched him a long time and he got a pass...As he left I softly said  May you leave this world curled up in your bed...now to me that was a memorable hunt I'm proud of.....

[nyantler]

Remember we are part of ecosystem... and we have a job to do ... they don't live forever... if he gets too old his death will probably come at the hands of coyotes or starvation... I would think an arrow or bullet might be a more noble way to go.. Just my opinion

[chiefbkt]

Shoot it. We had a doe at camp that everybody saw at one point and nobody could get a shot on for years. Finally she messed up one day and my buddy shot her. She weighed 174 lbs dressed and was aged at 9 years old.

[PREDATE]

All very good responses! I have given passes to many deer for a wide range of reasons and some have been touched upon in this thread. A true survivor is a survivor in my eyes. It is quite a comforting thought in knowing that old girl or old boy is living out their days in peace and living a deers life. In high pressure areas I often whisper to the deer that they best get the move on. Oh how I enjoy watching a deer outsmart/outwit the modern man with all his fangled gadgets and knowing that I wasn't outsmarted by that deer is just as good as making a harvest.

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[Doc]

I don't think it happens very often that any animal dies peacefully in its bed one night. Mother nature is a ruthless game manager, and I suspect that the most likely ending comes by being weakened by age to the point where you cannot elude the predators anymore. Or it can be a lingering disease due to health difficulties. But I doubt there are really many critters that simply curl up and die quickly and peacefully in their sleep. I have had dogs and cats that we have eventually had to put down because of age related  problems that were causing all kinds of misery and pain. It was the humane thing to do. I think I would not hesitate to shoot a deer because it was getting old. In fact while it may not really be my true motivation, it could be considered the "kind" thing to do given the alternative ends that the critter would likely come to.

[growalot]

We all enter the woods with different perspective..

I have taken down many..unfortunately....... wounded, car hit and even diseased animals...why I get so many doe tags each year, and taken the time to drive all the way to Avon turning in unfit deer...and will continue to do so... That said...

 

To me a deer is born to live out it's God given life.  In that life are dangers, we being one of them...When one can avoid being killed by nature  or predator for so many years...there comes a time when I have to say you just plain ole deserve a pass..I'm not God I can not predict  how many more years that animal might live...I do know how long it has, if I can see the age on it or recall the encounters with it. I know it has worked hard to be able survive another year...I feel  that instinct ,pure will,or just luck should be allowed to play out on my hunting grounds...I hunt for the challenge,for the meat....killing an animal I know ppl around me have been give a pass... has named.... just would not be a challenge and meat not needed

 

Then again...over the years...I have had many pets just pass away...our last old boy was out in the woods with me ...I called him as I returned home and he wagged his tail and just hung out ..figured he'd follow in a bit...got home Mr B called from work and said keep an eye on Bear...why?...I looked in his eyes this morning and he said good bye...I hung up the phone and ran to the woods...Bear was no where to be seen...I searched for 3 days....he tucked himself up some where and passed...no one ever saw him again...So that is where my perspective comes from...

Edited August 12, 2014 by growalot

[thphm]

Gro, I have done it with a buck.It would come behind the house with his sisters when still fawns every day,He had his favorite spot in the woods and hang out there.If I were posted near by he would walk by stop look and continue on walking.This went on every year,from it being a spike to last year when it was a 10 pointer. We will see this year if the old boy is still around. 

[Waldershrek]

Remember we are part of ecosystem... and we have a job to do ... they don't live forever... if he gets too old his death will probably come at the hands of coyotes or starvation... I would think an arrow or bullet might be a more noble way to go.. Just my opinion

 

Exactly what I was gonna say. I'd rather shoot her than let her starve when she can't eat because she lost all her teeth.

[nyantler]

I look at is as God is putting this once elusive deer in front of me for a reason... his days of stealth and cunning are over and he deserves to be harvested and remembered as one of the hunting stories we will tell for years to come.

[ATbuckhunter]

Depends if its a buck or doe. If its a buck I would probably shoot it but if its a doe I would probably let it go. I give a way old buck meat but I usually keep all of my doe meat. 

[PREDATE]

I give a way old buck meat .

Can I send you my address?

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