Do you shoot small bucks ?

[Buckstopshere]

I just want to say, "Thanks!" to you guys. Great thread. Very enjoyable read and good points on both sides!  and maybe...just maybe deer hunters are beginning to turn the corner and get back to what is real....just nice to hear it said so well.

[gjs4]

  GJS4 if you ever take the time to read any of my post you would know that I practice QDM I just don’t believe in forcing my way hunting on to anyone else. Like stevemcd it’s my choice on what I shoot. Steve has it right. As for AR’s my source at the DEC has said there will probably be no more AR zones in the near future. So this is probably a dead issue. For now . here facts for you: Let us look at the BUCK take for the last 5 years. The buck take has been increasing for the last 5 years and the percentage of 1.5 year olds has remained the same. This would suggest that not everyone who claims they are practicing in QDM is doing so. The data seems to say there is not a lot of support for AR’s in the state. If there were a lot of support for AR’s you would see a reduction in the buck harvest coming out of the percentage of 1.5 year olds taken and that is not happening.

For the record- I am not bashing, though surely not endorsing, the shoot anything thats legal philosophy.

QDM- most folks do not get it..it is not about huge bucks or food plots.....

Agree with your point. If guys knew their neighbor wouldnt shoot that 6..there goes their biggest excuse to pull the trigger. Know what happened when i started passing on little guys? I saw more deer including bigger bucks. But thta was a commitment with not exception. I had the ability to shoot 5 does last year......no need for me to kill a buck unless he is of my trophy level.

Guessing the dont shoot doe mentality is almost as harmful as the shoot any buck one.

Wish folks would get it in western/central NY we have big bucks..just hold out and dont shoot them early....plenty of does to shoot. Age is all we're lacking to have trophy bucks a more common occurence.

Just my $0.02 though

[wztirem]

I will take the first legal buck that I happen to see.  Antlers don't mean a thing to me anymore.  Much prefer to have some meat in the freezer.  Besides, the area I hunt doesn't exactly hold deer in great numbers.  You pass up a buck, you may not get to see another one.  Most especially when one hunts the first few days of the gun season and then only the weekends after that.  If one lives close to the area they hunt, maybe they can be more selective, but for the people who have limited hunting time, any buck should be a shooter buck.

I most certainly agree, after all it is "deer hunting season"!

[gjs4]

cant keep every littl efish you catch during fishing season can you? an shoot everything duck that flies by during duck season either.

[Culvercreek hunt club]

Bad analogy...no minimum bill size in duck hunting...and there are many catch nd release areas....so maybe tranquilizers and a quick picture would better satisify the trophy hunters....like some African rhino hunts....come on?

[nyslowhand]

Hummm... Think you are onto something!

[gjs4]

Bad analogy...no minimum bill size in duck hunting...and there are many catch nd release areas....so maybe tranquilizers and a quick picture would better satisify the trophy hunters....like some African rhino hunts....come on?

but all take self control.......the lacking factor (although legal) of most NY gun hunters and a limited few bowhunters in this state  ;D

[Tony Sorrento]

It depends how much meat is in the freezer 

[furman_ny]

Not so sure its all about self control, in my eyes its all about opportunity, mostly driven by money--or a lack of it. Ask a guy who only hunts on state land and/or farms where everyone is allowed to hunt- hes gonna take what he can get, the guy who owns or hunts on private land where hunter numbers are small, he will be for laving small bucks alone. The guy on state land has 20 or more guys hunting same area as him, while guy on private land gets to hunt much less pressured deer, therefore seeing more deer moving around in daylight. The guy on state land would gladly switch places, private land guy not so much. They took quite a bit more 2 1/2 yr. old and older deer around where I hunt than normal last season,is it because they let yearlings walk?? in part yeah, but main reason is the use of rifles now here, many guys now can plant food to bait them out in the open and sit back 300 yards from the field and shoot them when they come out, much of this being done because they dont have to get anywhere near edges of field or bedding areas to kill them, watching many deer per hunt til one that suits them comes out. At the same time other guy sits up in a tree, sees 4 or 5 other hunters walk by, drives go past,and so on, and is lucky to see even a glimpse of a deer, and it surely will be on full alert. The vast majority of these hunters will never be in favor of passing ANY sized buck. Many of these guys are the ones who say there are not enough deer cause they see very few, while on neighboring, private land with little to no pressure, they are seeing and passing tons of deer every day.

[nyslowhand]

As a hunter innterested in preserving the sport I can not condon either.

The person that is interested in feeding his family along with enjoying the experience is justified in taking a doe or any legal buck.

The trophy hunter that passes on every buck 2 1/2 years old or younger has his own set of criteria and is not to be faulted either.

Both types of hunters are justified if their harvests are legal, ethical and makes them happy.

I try to achieve both, a filled freezer and a mature buck.

Given the circumstances; not seeing mature bucks, weather patterns, length of time on stand with no sightings - have been tempted by less than mature bucks.

During bow season my personal choice is always a mature buck.

When the muzzleloader comes out in gun & late seasons, filling the freezer is my main priority.

[fasteddie]

I have shot a lot of bucks over the years but nothing bigger than an 8 pointer . I am retired and I make it a point to spend as much time ine the woods as I can during deer season . The 1st few weeks of archery , I will hold out on shooting a small buck . Does are another story ! I try to fill those tags .

[MountainHunter]

I have shot young/small bucks in the past.I don't and will not any longer.It has been a very long time since I have taken a small buck.

Even with out management permits it is not difficult to put a couple doe's in the freezer.with the amount of hunting I do it is not a challenge to me or rewarding to shoot a small buck.