[Bobmuley]

buck/bull of your life?

- I hear alot of guys saying they try to improve over their last one. The problem I see with that are that sooner or later you run out of options.

- Go back to shooting "normal" bucks?

- Keep looking and probably not kill anything for several years?


What would you do for the years after you shot a 200" buck or 400" bull?

 

[AmishArcher]

that'd be a great problem to have...

i'd still wait for above average animals, but to wait out that long for a bigger one would take the joy out of it for me

 

[eyedoc]

that'd be a great problem to have...i'd still wait for above average animals, but to wait out that long for a bigger one would take the joy out of it for me

+1

 

[kevsuperg]

i shot a 150 buck back in 1997 ,havent seen a bigger one since, i have passed up 4-6 pointers some years in hopes of a bigger one and ended up eating my tag. antlers are nice but back straps are better

 

[jms375]

I wouldn't change anything. A shooter is still a shooter in my eyes. I try to keep about a 130" min on what I shoot even though I have a 140" and 150" already. I mean shooting a 200" deer would be the ultimate but it wouldn't keep a 130"-140" buck from getting my blood pumping.

 

[bhanks55]

In

my mind a trophy animal is a trophy animal. If you just happen to take a MONSTER that doesnt meant there are no other trophies that will equal that one again. Heck some might not even have antlers at all. I have taken some nice bucks in my day, but I would shoot anything I personally feel is a trophy. It really is in the eye of the beholder and not necessarily a numbers game depending on who you are talking to.

One of my most memorable deer is an OLD doe that had a split ear that you would get nailed every time she walked into the field. Smartest deer I think I ever hunted. We had a pool at our camp that got up in the hundreds when people would try to hunt her and fail. She eluded hunters for 3 years until I lucked up and caught her in a mistake when I wasnt intending to take her at all.

 

[Lov2shoot]

that'd be a great problem to have...

i'd still wait for above average animals, but to wait out that long for a bigger one would take the joy out of it for me

+1, I have to agree that waiting and only shooting one better than the last would take the fun out of it. I have personal standard, and the deer has to meet or exceed that standard before I shoot. Everyones standard or criteria on what = a shooter are diff. Set yours and go with it. :wink:

 

[hardwoodhitman]

most guys i talk to who have harvested big buck don't really try to get hold out for a better deer but they do tell me that after that big one, they won't shoot anything that they wouldn't hang on the wall. i like these guys because 1. they let the bucks grow and 2. they shoot a ton of does

 

[JOSHM]

My wife shot a 223" whitetail on her first hunt, the next year she killed a 50" 7 pointer with her bow and was just as happy:wink: I guess some worry more about the score than the experience, I just can't handle the taste of tag sandwich myself, I killed a 167" whitetail in 2001 and have had much better hunts since then, but none has been as big

 

[Jeffress77]

I still would try my best to shoot mature deer/elk. You will still get the same satisfaction from shooting a big, fully mature animal, knowing that you have taken him at the peak of his life. He may not be the biggest you have taken, but just as great of a trophy knowing you waited for the biggest deer/elk in that geographical area.

In 2000, my best friend shot a 219 5/8" buck here right by our houses. It was the highest scoring buck in Indiana for 2000, and I believe it is still close to #10 in history for the state.

This was his first deer ever!!!!

The jokes are still the same. "You might as well hunt caribou or elk, because you won't shoot a deer that big again!" Which is actually probably true. He isn't much of a hunter, and he doesn't even hunt that much anymore anyway. A hunter who hunted hard day in and day out throughout every season, and made all of the best moves should still get satisfaction from killing a big old mature buck/bull, knowing t may not be the biggest in the state that year, but it sure was one of the biggest in those woods.

 

[IGluIt4U]

Take up competitive archery... :lol: :wink:

My best is no state record, but unless he's a messed up buck that needs to be culled, my goal is to better my last. If I do ever get to the point where that is unrealistic, I'll just do more Elk huntin.. they're way bigger than these dinky whitetails.. :chortle: :wink:

 

[mn5503]

If I'm not going to mount the buck, I "try" not to shoot it. I've had a couple judgment errors in Iowa and one in Minnesota since I started this line of thinking. They were still fine bucks, just didn't end up on a wall in the house. They are on the wall in the garage though, except for that one MN buck. My buddy took it and was going to mount the antlers on a plaque for me and I haven't seen it since

This was an Iowa (shotgun hunt) 9 pointer "Oooops" from 2006. A young buck that I should have passed on, even at 10 yards from the ground I was fooled, it happened so fast. Judging deer between different states can be frustrating sometimes. His antlers collect dust in the garage now. He was still tastey to eat but tag soup would have been better as he had great potential to become a beauty in a couple more years...

I still think about the nice ten I passed on last year and hope he's still out there.

 

[OHIOBUCK]

It simply depends on the area I'm hunting. I hold out for a good buck for the area......if a 200" shows up, that's GREAT, but if a 120 is a good buck for the area, i'll take him.

The place i hunt in ohio, a 130 is a good buck. I see lots of 110 to 120 bucks.

In WV a 100" buck is a good one.

If you set your sight's too high, hunting won't be fun any more. For me, I don't want my hunt to be easy, but like to be successful from time to time. I didn't get anything last year, but had some close encounters. Maybe this year will be the year.:darkbeer:

 

[RxBowhunter]

Take up competitive archery... :lol: :wink:

Join the Salad Shooters??? NEVER!!!


I never try to shoot one bigger than my last. I set goals for the season and every season differs from the last. If I have one buck that I'm trying to tag I could devote 3 or 4 seasons or more before I make good. Been there, done that......still didn't tag the 200"+ buck I was after. I got really trigger happy the next season and took one I would normally pass. I was thrilled to put one on the ground again!

This year we set a 140" minimum on this new property and I have already seen two that would make that (missed one of them last Saturday :sad: ).
Every year is different.

 

[Wbuffetjr1]

I would just hunt without any more pressure. If I killed a bull cool, if not I'd just kill a cow. As long as there was meat in the freezer and the big boy on the wall - no worries. I'd probably start trying to help my son get a monster if he doesn't beat me to it

 

[saskguy]

What would you do for the years after you shot a 200"

Well since the 200" I've lucked out and killed 2 more of them. Seriously....each deer is unique, antler size is not the only thing. Each set of antlers in kind of like a piece of mather nature's artwork, they're all beautiful, the colors, veingin, the beading..I could go on and on. In 06, i killed a 235" whitetail, I'll likely never see one that big again, will it keep me from getting excited about a 160"? Not a chance.

 

[MULEY CRAZY]

I will have to wait till next year to see what I do. Surly I will look for a better one but may never find him.

 

[jdcamo]

I always try to get the biggest animals I can. But I also need the meat, so when it comes down to the season ending I will often settle for a smaller critter. They all taste the same.

 

[hoyt19]

Dont get me wrong, I'm as antler crazy as anyone else I know. Is a 200'' whitetail a trophy of a life time, yes. What else is it though? It's a tangible treasure from the hunt. What do you search for after killing an amimal of that quality? For me it would be hunting for the untangible things. Watching the animal come into range, knowing it has no idea you are there. Making the shot. Following the blood trail. Finding the animal. Lighting the girl, and enjoying a snack stick with a beer. No matter how big my last buck was, or how big the one I might shoot tomorrow is, it's the untangible things from the hunt that take me to the woods each day. I know that whether I take the biggest buck on my land, or take a doe, I will have those feelings. Most of all I know somewhere my Dad is watching, and buck or doe, he is smiling.:darkbeer:

 

[djmaxwe]

Find the biggest animal that I can and go after him. hell, I would like to kill a 150" whitetail. My biggest is 137 1/8".