How many "big" bucks do you have to kill before…..

[wingnut2000]

I hunt in SE GA and not on prime land either. The last 10 years or so I have become more selective on what I shoot. A 110" deer in my area is a stud but I would prefer to shoot at least 120 and better but if I see a mature buck I will shoot him if he is even a 100". I rarely shoot does and last year I shot one in dodge county because she was big (138#). The biggest I have killed in GA grossed about 127 which was last year in a club that went up to high on the dues and my highest scoring came from west TX scored about 134. I hunt in dodge county on a friends property about once a year in hopes to kill one 140+ but that is hard to hunting one short weekend a year. I am going to start buying some preference points for an Iowa hunt and hopefully kill about a 160+ and 250# + deer.

 

[Wild Turkey]

What Nico said to a T.

 

[bowandgun]

The old "to shoot or not to shoot", unless I am hunting where the rules are X and then I shoot only X. Otherwise I do not shoot young bucks ever, i passed a nine point on Wed before thanksgiving, he was under my tree for ten minutes. But I had shot a nice 8 pt three weeks earlier. I would never pass a 140 inch buck, only have seen a handful of ones that big. I think your buddies are pulling your leg when they say they let a 140 walk. that is unless they are hunting in Iowa or Wisconsin. Probably the only way I would pass a 140 is if I was on one of those texas ranches that double your price on trophy bucks......to expensive to kill one.

 

[2redheads]

My property in Troup county....120 or better. As long as it's a good shot, I'm dropping the hammer. For our property, that is a good deer.
In my back yard in Walton Co. ...whatever has 4 legs and eats in my garden!!! They destroy my vegetables!

 

[bulldawgborn]

I started passing on young bucks--especially young basket racks--when I killed my first 8 point. A beautiful 95" 1 1/2 year old. Do I regret shooting him? No. Would I shoot him again this afternoon? Emphatically NO!!! I've shot maybe 2-3 spikes or 4points since then, but I've let similar racked young bucks walk for years even though I do not hunt prime property, nor do I hunt large acreage with low pressure around me. I haven't shot a buck in 5 years since killing a 110" 2 to 3 yr old that was moving too quick for me to properly judge (Still have his head in my freezer and haven't looked at jawbone). The past 5 years I have let more 2 1/2 year old 100" to 110" bucks walk than I care to remember...several of them have left me wondering if I aged them on the hoof correctly and made the right decision. I just wish they would come back by me as faithfully a few years later.

Earlier this year I had a 115-120" 3 1/2 year old come in behind me. I swung around to shoot him only to be busted by a doe.
Thanksgiving morning I had a 130+" buck (confirmed by my cousin's trail cam pics) walk/jog by me at 30 yards broadside, but I couldn't find a hole bigger than a skoal can to try to shoot him through. He and a doe had been bedded nearby when the wind changed to be unfavorable for the area they were laying in.
There is no way in the world that I would have passed on the second buck if I had a clear shot opportunity, but I will say I was thankful I didn't shoot the first buck due to the fact I knew the 130 was in the area and because I'm not certain he was at least 3 1/2.

So to answer the OP's question, I don't think I will ever kill enough 140" deer to start letting 130" deer walk in Georgia. I hope I can get there one day, but I don't see it coming anytime soon.

 

[GTHunter007]

There are so few pieces of dirt in GA where a man can see a 150+ animal every year on camera. Even less where a man can see a 150 every year and even less be able to harvest one every year. For those guys who want to wait on that 150+, they have to be willing to eat buck tag soup for more than a couple of seasons.

Realistic expectations should not ever be to kill a 150" deer every season in GA, but for those who have great properties and can produce them more than just once every 10 or even 30 years, my hat is off to them to sit back and wait however many years it takes.

Fact, and this is established by personal tastes...you can't kill a "great" deer if you shoot him when he is just a "good" deer.

 

[GASeminole]

Realistic expectations should not ever be to kill a 150" deer every season in GA

Tell that to the people in Harris County and the Southwest GA counties. They have 180+ pine goats walking around every year with porno names. They have multiple years of photos of each deer. And they don't post up here or enter into Truck buck, or get it scored every time they kill one. They do it for their own satisfaction.

 

[GameMgr270]

I hunt to shoot a mature buck 4 1/2 years or older regardless of right size.

 

[kevincox]

I have bow killed 15-20 bucks that score from 102-126. I will shoot a 4-5 yr old regardless of rack size but mainly I'm looking for a 130 inch or better buck in Ga on properties I hunt.
In the Mid West I'm looking for a buck that scores 140 plus and I'm willing to go home empty handed if I don't

 

[308 WIN]

My question is " how many big bucks do you have to kill before you begin to wait for a bigger one?"

My answer is one. With the same weapon, in Georgia.
I don't shoot anything smaller than my personal best, with a bow, and same with a rifle.

I have not killed a buck with a rifle since 1993!

That said, I have not come close to 161"
Don't know what I'll do when I get to where you are, but I can guess I'll probably set the bar around 140" and up. Anything under that can be left for seed, and for others who haven't been so fortunate to enjoy.

 

[Mtn Hunter]

I enjoy hunting much more if I don't make all these rules and goals and crap for myself and overcomplicate it. It's hunting. I just go hunt and shoot whatever I feel like shooting that day, or don't shoot what I don't feel like shooting that day, and I always have enjoyed it thouroughly. What I want to shoot that day may not have a thing to do with how old it is or how many horns it has on its head. All deer are good, and worthy of being hunted. I have killed some decent bucks. I have let some pretty big bucks walk. I have let a lot of little deer walk, and I have also mowed down some little bitty ones. What I've killed in the past has absolutely nothing to do with what I want to kill tomorrow. It all depends on the place I'm hunting, the mood I'm in, what I'm hunting with, and the amount of meat in my freezer at the time. To me, it's about getting out there and participating in it, not about how many inches of calcium deposits a buck has on its head or how "mature" it is. I can appreciate a nice buck as much as anybody else, but antlers by far aren't the only thing I hunt for. I hunt just to find myself sometimes.

I am not in any way being comical when I say when you climb a mtn. with a question, Hillbilly answers. Best answer and I haven't even read the rest of the posts!

 

[work2play2]

I wanna see these "high 130s" they are passing. Their 130 may score 100

 

[The Longhunter]

I'd have to see a picture of a 140 + buck someone passed on waiting for a bigger one.

Bucks you don't shoot are the same relative size as bass that throw a lure --- really really big.

 

[GTHunter007]

Realistic expectations should not ever be to kill a 150" deer every season in GA

Tell that to the people in Harris County and the Southwest GA counties. They have 180+ pine goats walking around every year with porno names. They have multiple years of photos of each deer. And they don't post up here or enter into Truck buck, or get it scored every time they kill one. They do it for their own satisfaction.

Maybe 1 or 2 guys down there do...but if they don't shoot the other 99% of the mature bucks that don't hit 180"....they will have a pretty screwed up age structure.

As I said...you don't let the 140s walk unless you know of a 150+ in particular...you said yourself they have multiple years and porno names. Kinda my point exactly!

 

[headhunter 07]

ive beat this dead horse for years on this forum (since 2007). I reckon I just gave up. I just say wow you guys got it going on! when I hear all the 130-140-150 bucks all these folks pass every year. 5 1/2 yr old bucks die by the truck load every year that wont break 130inch. My absolute best GA trophy came last year 105" 7pnt that was 6+yrs old. He hangs proudly right in the middle of a wall slap full of 120s to 148. I personally enjoy killing mature white tails and could care less how they score or what anyone else thinks about it

 

[swamp hunter]

Man , no wonder ya'll hate Florida hunters.
I been hunting florida for over 40 years and have never seen a 100 in buck on the hoof...
I'fn I was to hunt Georgia I'd shoot the first 90 and strap him on the hood and go drivin round town honkin the horn.
Stop at the Newspaper office and ask if they wanted a picture..
I did let 2 4x4's and a small 6 walk this year

 

[DrWally]

I'm too old to pass on anything- never know how many hunts you have left but I'm certainly way past halftime.

 

[sea trout]

I'm 38 years old and been hunting "on my own" since I was 8. In that 30 years I've killed a pile of deer, some good ones but only one real big one, a gross 161, with nothing else even coming close.

My goal each year is to kill a mature buck with that being defined for me as anything 3-4 years old and older.

I am not hunting "prime land" with most of my spots being smaller tracts that I've been given permission to hunt, as well as being a member in one lease.

This question is coming from my experiences of the last few years while speaking with other hunters and listening to them talk about passing deer in the high 140's and 130's, while also admitting that they haven't killed but maybe one or two in that bracket.

My question is " how many big bucks do you have to kill before you begin to wait for a bigger one?"

I've always thought that if I could kill a mature deer in the 120's or better, especially given the land that I'm hunting, that I've had a great year.

I consider myself extremely blessed to have killed the big buck I killed(the 161) and I have only seen two bucks that would go that high in my 30 years of hunting.

Honestly, I just don't see myself ever passing on a 120-130 + mature buck in Georgia and my goal is to kill one like that every year.

So what's your stance? Do you hope to kill a "good mature" buck every year or do you wait 5 - 10 years hoping for a "giant"?

Hey man I'm 38 and been huntin all my life too.
In my 20's I racked up on many 2yr old 8 points.
Rangin from 85 to 105 inches. I've got a over a dozen in the basement after the first couple on my wall.
I spent the past 8 yrs in my 30's waiting for a mature buck.
Like you that's 3+ yrs old or me. I've had some missed oppertunities but haven't gotten one.
This year I shot a 2 yr old 8 point chasin a doe and fighten off other bucks and the whole hunt was just jam up so exciting!!! I killed one of the 2 big bucks that were in the frenzy. He turned out to be another 2 yr old 8 point but it was the best hunt I had by myself in a long long time!!!!!!!!!!! So I'm proud no matter what! Gotta have fun and shoot food.

 

[8pointduck]

Don't let the size of the antler rule you . I don't kill small deer like I did in the past. I don't have every mountable deer I killed on my walls. I can't hunt like I used to do to a disability and it caused me to look at what was really important to me about hunting. It isn't about shooting the biggest anymore. It is about killing the one I want.

 

[Grey Man]

This forum is a lot more fun when people aren't obsessing over whose rack is bigger. Jeez. Enough already.