To those admittedly chasing big antlers as priority 1, what if ....

[Chris B]

If I shot what I thought was my Lifetime buck already, I would adjust to trying to consistently shoot a good buck year after year. Say my buck of a lifetime is a 140 class. I would try to consistently shoot bucks in the 120 class range. there's always a chance of shooting something bigger though....ya just never know what can happen.

[Carbonelement]

if the buck of a lifetime grew that big in the area, to me it is 100% proof that it is possible, and if one did it another sure can.  believe me i would not be able to pass up a "Giant" in my area id def shoot it if it was considered a good buck. but i know I am killing my chances for it to be a beast.  

 

I hunt Southern Illinois and there is a group of guys who consistently kill 180+ class deer, and they consistently pass 160s and 170s. One thing is for sure a deer stops growing as soon as it is dead.... 100%! cannot be argued. so if you want to shoot the buck of a lifetime pass on anything that isnt. (easier said then done!!!!)

 

I would never stop hunting no matter what I killed in the past.

[G-Man]

I've shot 140 in and 130 in and 120 in. Bucks after over 100 deer (buck and doe) I do not get excited and would rather see another person get the deer I scouted and hung a stand for. I still put some effort into bow, it's always a challenge but only when i feel the need to, a good time with friends is what hunting has become for me personally....

[Critter4321]

as I have stated in the past I am by no means a bone collector I will try to fill every DMU tag and other tags as they come. I see no need to keep trophy's they just collect dust and sooner or later you forget the real reasons as/per the hunt.

   now I do know of a lot of fellow hunters that spend there seasons looking for a certain animal but to me they are just a source of food my family and I enjoy venison and have for over the 40 years i have been able to hunt. 

   Before You go crazy I do have three mounts and only three they have a special place I have a real nice wide 8 pt memory to my dad a 10 pt memory to my old hunting partner and a impressive 12 pt shot one week after my daughter got married on ready for this OPENING DAY!!

[dbHunterNY]

hard to say what the best buck would be.  I don't know as if I care though.  I just know it'll be larger than all of them I've got on the wall now, because I'm see one maybe every other year.  a friend has a non-typical just over 200" and that I could definitely see being the his biggest he'll ever get.  if you go at it long and hard enough, generally you end up shoot what you've seen.

 

in my situation I've got a lot of buck of a lifetimes to help fill so that will hopefully keep me going.  haha... half a dozen think they've had there's this year but they'll see or have seen bigger so there's a good chance they're peaked out yet.

I don't think I fit the original post criteria though because I've got multiple goals that are equally important vs just bigger antlers every year.  I screwed one up already.  didn't pull the whole jaw and send teeth out to get an age on a doe I took that was probably around 12.5 yrs old.

 

[nyantler]

I don't have a goal of shooting one bigger... just shooting a mature buck. The fun for me is making it more of a challenge somehow. Either with a different weapon, or by setting challenging criteria for myself... For example... I have yet to kill a buck with my recurve because I have given myself the challenge of only taking a buck that I believe is 120 or better, on the ground and at 20 yards or closer. In 14 years of using a recurve I have had only 3 times where all the criteria were met... the first time I had a slightly uphill opportunity at a big 10-point and shot just under the buck shaving just hair from his chest... the second two were inside 20 yards, but never offered me a good opportunity for a shot and I had to let them walk away. One of the opportunities I had just this past season at 10 yards in such a thick area that I could not find a hole big enough to slip an arrow through even at 10 yards... after a 5 or so minute encounter I finally had to just watch as the buck wandered off... I saw that buck two more times but never closer than 25 yards. Still exciting hunts and great experiences!

[coonhunter]

I probably have already killed my biggest buck, but I will keep trying for something bigger because I see at least a couple every year. Sometimes they are on land I have access to, sometimes not.

 

I already have pretty much given up gun hunting, giving my time and experience helping youngsters and newcomers get a deer. It feels good to experience that first buck killed through someone else.

[ATbuckhunter]

I doubt many people realize that they have already shot the buck of their life time. I would always think there is a chance at a bigger one in the future which is correct. 

[ATbuckhunter]

I doubt many people realize that they have already shot the buck of their life time. I would always think there is a chance at a bigger one in the future which is correct. 

[The_Real_TCIII]

Good heavens, no big buck will ever slow my drive down. You may not believe it but the size of the rack is far from the top of the list for me. Honestly a perfect shot is the pinnacle for me, especially with the bow. I LOVE a perfect arrow..........

If I NEVER killed another "good" (in the eyes of the hunter of course) buck, it wouldn't mean beans to me. I'm tickled to kill any mature buck.

Depending on how early it is in archery season, I'm happy to pass a 2.5 yo buck, not necessarily to shoot something better but JUST to extend my time in the woods, during the rut with a chance at a rut crazed buck. After about the 7-8th of November, my standards slip fast.

As far as I'm concerned, my best buck IS on the wall. WGAF though? I promise, I don't.

Im with you on the perfect shot. I've killed a few deer where my shot wasn't great and it bothers me. When that arrow disappears into the 12 ring THATS a perfect hunt

[sampotter]

There always can be a bigger or older one out there. Deer are a wonderful renewable resource. Every year that two or three year old you passed last year could show up bigger and better.

[turkeyfeathers]

I don't horn hunt. Don't shoot little bucks but if it's a big body it's coming home with me for the freezer. Best buck I ever shot was this one. ML many years ago.

[nyslowhand]

Although I don't fulfil the OP's criteria, I do try to hunt mature bucks or ones that provide a thrilling experience. The buck of my lifetime hangs on a neighbor's wall from the 2013 season. Did a lot of grumbling & cursing that neighbor, but it didn't stop me from hunting the past two years, or the next 10! At least for me the great thing about hunting is not knowing what'll step out of the brush when those big boys are ranging far & wide!

[Doc]

There are plenty of reasons to hunt besides antlers, but I do remember a co-worker who on his first deer hunt downed a monster buck within sight of the truck. He never went hunting again. So, I suppose it is possible to get turned off when you believe you have already gone as far as you believe possible.

[moog5050]

Good answers but I think some missed the point of my question.  I realize that no one knows for certain that they killed their biggest buck.  The question was premised on the fiction that you do know for certain and without a doubt that you will not kill a bigger buck than you have already.  It also assumed that size of antlers was your numero uno priority.

 

Regardless, interesting responses.

[moog5050]

Im with you on the perfect shot. I've killed a few deer where my shot wasn't great and it bothers me. When that arrow disappears into the 12 ring THATS a perfect hunt

 

I agree with you and Law on this.  Last year I shot a doe from the ground at 27yds (measured later) with a recurve and it was pure joy to see the arrow hit EXACTLY where I wanted it to.   I was so pumped at that shot, the fact that it was a doe made no difference.

[jjb4900]

ok, back to the original question............I'm fairly confident I've killed the biggest buck I ever will, this is based on hunting the same areas for 30+ years, and family hunting that same area for years prior. I shot the biggest buck that was ever taken by any of us in that area about 10 years ago and nobody has come close with another. I still hunt he same way I did the day before I shot him.........

[The_Real_TCIII]

I agree with you and Law on this. Last year I shot a doe from the ground at 27yds (measured later) with a recurve and it was pure joy to see the arrow hit EXACTLY where I wanted it to. I was so pumped at that shot, the fact that it was a doe made no difference.

That is awesome, congrats on getting it done with the recurve

[sampotter]

Good answers but I think some missed the point of my question.  I realize that no one knows for certain that they killed their biggest buck.  The question was premised on the fiction that you do know for certain and without a doubt that you will not kill a bigger buck than you have already.  It also assumed that size of antlers was your numero uno priority.

 

Regardless, interesting responses.

 

 

This kind of ties into the "Progression of a Hunter" theory. I know I've killed a couple of bucks I may never top, especially in the specific areas they came from, but I set new goals like age of the buck, method of kill, degree of difficulty, etc. Having the upper hand on a fully mature buck is extremely satisfying no matter what his antlers score.

 

The other nice thing is antlers are never exactly the same. "Character" is used to describe a funky-racked buck a lot and there are some low scoring bucks that are really fun to look at.

[NFA-ADK]

  I love antlers but to say that is the number one reason I hunt would be incorrect even as a trophy hunter.  Many seasons I eat tag soup but if I tagged a 200 inch buck I would still hunt just as much. 

 

The guys who I know that only hunter for antlers are what many call poachers and will do ANYTHING to get those bones.

 

 

[sampotter]

  I love antlers but to say that is the number one reason I hunt would be incorrect even as a trophy hunter.  Many seasons I eat tag soup but if I tagged a 200 inch buck I would still hunt just as much. 

 

The guys who I know that only hunter for antlers are what many call poachers and will do ANYTHING to get those bones.

 

 

There's a lot of truth in the above statements. I made a bad shot on one of my biggest bucks and he was still alive 18 hours later when I finally caught up with him before I finally was able to end his suffering. I still look at his rack with mixed feelings and wish I could have a do-over on the initial shot.

[Doc]

No, it really is not right for me to have even tried to answer this question since my motives, challenges, and expectations for hunting are way beyond antlers. Yes, the fact is that I am content with just about any deer. I like challenges in my hunting, but I am not really into the "my rack is bigger than your rack" game. For me it is more about the quality of the hunt and the overall experience than he quality of the deer. The two deer that gave me the biggest thrills and sense of accomplishment was my 1st bow killed deer, a mere buck with 6" spikes. And my second most impressive and fulfilling hunt resulted in a doe that I took at 8 feet with a recurve. The rack had nothing to do with either of those. So, I guess I measure success a bit differently than most, and way differently than the premise of the question. I like big antlers, but they really have nothing to do with why I hunt. And so I am disqualified from answering the question with the criteria specified.

[Merlot]

Priority 1 is the thrill of getting within 10 yards of a buck on the ground and making a kill with the bow. Done it several times and trumps the biggest antler of a lifetime thing...but that's just me.

[wildcat junkie]

A little off subject, but I would like to have one nice bearskin rug. I wouldn't shoot a small bear, but after taking one nice one I would quit.

 

As for deer, I've taken a few nice bucks for my area & was losing interest. I took an average one this year with an iron sighted Krag that belonged to my Dad. That has piqued my interest & now I want to hunt with it rather than my scope sighted tack drivers.

 

If you kill a really big buck with a CF rifle & begin to lose interest. Build or buy yourself a nice flintlock rifle, learn how to load & shoot round balls accurately & ad some challenge. They're still legal during the regular season!

[518BowSlayer]

bigger is not always better, just ask my girlfriend... um second thought... stay away from my girlfriend! lol