pass..pass...pass...bah time running out!

[Geno C]

Geno its not fair to compare you passing up on smaller bucks on Long Island where you know there are much bigger bucks running around. My pals hunt Long Island and they have a 6 pt rule or better and they all tag out every year. Why because there are lots of bigger bucks there. Now the guys up north don't have the opportunities you have , no farms and lots of woods deer with little to eat makes for fewer big deer and less opportunity to get one. You can only hunt what your area has to offer. Don't compare apples to oranges and I live on long Island and hunt up north no comparison. This is not to criticize it's just different on long island and the racks are much bigger and more of them.

what are you talking about Dave? its apples to oranges from county to county not just up north to long island... IMO there are monster deer taken every year in western NY and their are plenty of guys who pass up deer all day long i am sure. passing them up doesnt make then any better hunter then you or I so to be honest i really dont get your comment and why you singled me out right now when others have told newbreed the same thing. it has nothing to do with me hunting long island. I see some guys get the wrong ideas on those who pass on deer and thats fine. if your limited to shoot what you can then by all means, DO SO... if you have other oprotunities and decide to pass than thats my call and should have no bearing on you or anyone else in here as to what i choose to do in the woods so long as i am safe.

i see alot of comments about guys who appear to me who generally have small deer in their area or little time to hunt pass judgment on those with (lack of better term) better oprtunities and im tired of seeing comments about the guys who choose to pass on small deer and how crazy they are. If you or anyone else choose not to pass then shoot the dang thing but like newbreed said iam tired of shooting small deer and if i need the meat ill fill my doe tag.

[Geno C]

and BTW dave, no offense to you or anyone else but you WONT kill a big one shooting the first thing you see simply to fill your tag... if one holds out on the smaller ones maybe one just might have a crack at something nice... but if every guy in NY shot the first thing or anything they saw it would be no wonder why there are only small deer or few and far between...

[Doewhacker]

Simple answer, shoot what makes you happy. If I were were in your shoes I would wait it out too because you have seen so many bucks and Im sure you know what is in your area. I never had a good doe in range either this year, just fawns and a few bucks, what can you do.

I see no sense in trying to compare what one hunter see's to another, different areas and different methods of hunting give different results.

[Dave]

and BTW dave, no offense to you or anyone else but you WONT kill a big one shooting the first thing you see simply to fill your tag... if one holds out on the smaller ones maybe one just might have a crack at something nice... but if every guy in NY shot the first thing or anything they saw it would be no wonder why there are only small deer or few and far between...

Geno, not putting anyone down, anyone can shoot what whey want as long as it's legal. The point I was trying to make, which didn't come out right was if you hunt an area and know that there are large bucks there you can be selective and wait and pass up on the smaller ones because sooner or later you will probably get your big buck. In areas that don't hold larger bucks many hunters will shoot a lesser buck. Because it wouldn't matter how long they wait that big buck will never be there. No argument, just can't shoot bigger deer if you don't have them in your area to shoot. Example there are a few guys in our camp who will not shoot anything but a trophy deer. They haven't taken a deer in the past 10 years maybe more but I only know them for the past 10 yrs. Their last big deer was a monster 7 pt taken in the late 1980's

[Doc]

so this year i have been passing on everything cause theres a big 10 i got on trail cam that i want to kill. i have had 3 incounters with this but that last being yesterday morning he was 25 yards out....one problem is it was 6:15am way to dark to even think about shooting. im starting to think i should just take the next buck i see. the spot i have been in the past 5 sits i have had 8 diff bucks less then 20 yards away everything from spike to small basket eights. i have always killed the 1st buck i have had a shot at. this is getting frustrating

I'm thinking that no one here can tell you what kind of deer will make you feel you've had a successful season. We all tend to get too involved in trying to tell people that all ready. I would suggest that you don't need anybody's permission or approval with a personal choice such as this. Just figure it all out for yourself and apologize to no one regardless of which way you choose to go.

[Fletch]

In this case and in the question you raised in your first paragraph, i would say yes it would be wrong to shoot the 1.5yr old. The original poster stated that he has a goal to shoot a big deer and has even gotten a bit tired of small 1.5's and 2.5's so i think he should hang tough and do all he can to reach his big deer goal. And as far as farmers agreeing with you to shoot the 1.5, i would disagree. Both antler hunters and Farmers would much rather see you take a doe and leave the buck. (Of course the farmer would prefer you take both). But shooting the young buck instead helps neither group. He won't be around to grow another yr. and the doe will be here to drop a couple more fawns into his fields to eat. If i mis-understood your statement, i apologize, but big deer hunters and farmers are usually in agreement on shooting does.

Yes you misunderstood or I explained poorly. I meant a farmer as in if he was raising cows for food. Not as in a farmer protecting crops who would like a lot of deer removed.

Venison in the freezer is still number one for me. I do pass a bunch of small bucks. Just read my journals the past years. I prefer to hold out for a older buck as a challenge to myself. But when it comes down to the last week I will take the young one instead of nothing. I would definitely rather take a doe but unlike most the others I do not have the does others do. And gun season for sure is no guarantee I get a shot at a deer.

Each can make there own choice an I agree with that.

[dave6x6]

Fletch, Thanks for the clarification. I'm following you now..

Dave, the problem with some of your comments are that they have nothing to do with Newbreed and the situation that he raised. He has seen a big buck, he has seen little bucks, he has seen does, and he has shot plenty of young bucks and wants to reach for higher goals. The opportunity to shoot a big buck is not a problem for him. It's right before him right now. Geno is giving him his opinion on this situation alone, but you keep turning it around with your own experiences that have nothing to do with newbreed. Thats what is puzzling.