Would you shoot this deer?

[Bob tillisch]

Would you shoot this deer or consider leaving it for seed for more like him in the future
? No right or wrong answer. I realize it could be a trophy of a lifetime. Just wondering what others might consider?

Yes

Would you shoot this deer or consider leaving it for seed for more like him in the future
? No right or wrong answer. I realize it could be a trophy of a lifetime. Just wondering what others might consider?

Would you shoot this deer or consider leaving it for seed for more like him in the future
? No right or wrong answer. I realize it could be a trophy of a lifetime. Just wondering what others might consider?

 

[jrock]

If I was hunting in an area where there were other hunters, I would take him. Wouldn't want someone else in my footsteps to find him before I circled back around. If I was in an area where there no hunters, I might pass on the first chance and look for better...assuming I'm seeing equal quality bucks in that area.

 

[INVICTUS]

Would you shoot this deer or consider leaving it for seed for more like him in the future
? No right or wrong answer. I realize it could be a trophy of a lifetime. Just wondering what others might consider?

That buck has plenty of offspring already. Leaving that buck a year might be ok but you risk him making a decline at some point . Take him and don't shoot another one until it looks like that one and you'll have plenty of big bucks .

 

[thwatson2]

If I was hunting to shoot a buck, that would be harvested. I personally don't care to shoot bucks as a doe is much better fare. I would reconsider that notion if I was where you are!

 

[JustMe2]

No. I'd wait until the right deer turns sideways.

 

[teckjoe]

Doesn't look very fat or delicious.

Shoot it!

 

[greengiant]

Would you shoot this deer or consider leaving it for seed for more like him in the future? No right or wrong answer. I realize it could be a trophy of a lifetime. Just wondering what others might consider?

Can't tell from the photograph. Antlers are not the only thing to determine a kill or no-kill decision. If the large antlered buck was older, past his prime, I would take him. If he was younger, in his prime, I would "reluctantly" pass on him, in hopes he would pass his genes on to future generations. Having run the largest whitetail deer club in our area for quite a few years, I can tell you, herd management works and getting most members to practice it, is the hardest job of all. It is a shame, but, Heavy Fines were the most effective means of obtaining compliance! It always amazed me at the vast number of hunters who, even after years of hunting, had absolutely no knowledge of how to determine a mature Buck from a young adult. They had never looked beyond the antler spread.

 

[seattleman1969]

I would pass.. I haven't shot a buck in 30 years? I hunt for the freezer and
I have learned that does are far better on the table. The last buck I shot
you could smell from 30 feet away and my hands and clothes reeked!
No more..

Amen, that's what happened to me last year. Nastiest deer I have ever taken.

 

[Alibiiv]

Whoa...........................a horny buck like that has to have enough years on him to
be a dominant buck and around long enough to spread those horny genes around. Shoot him in a heartbeat!!!!!!

 

[Core781]

I'm not much for the Texas "brain" shot either. I shot a whitetail on a quartering away shot once-hit him too far back with a .284. Bullet went in just forward of the right ham and exited the left chest just in front of the leg.
Lordy what a mess. Cut a while, puke a while.
Would not do that to another animal.

lol you should have let it cool first. I'm all about the meat, and I would definitely shoot a buck with a rack like that. I also have use for antlers. But I'm picky about the shot more so now, given the damage done to the meat. I hunt whitetail with larger diameter bullets so I have to be careful with my shot placement. Last year I was heading to get my vehicle inspected. A truck in front of me hit a nice young buck at a relatively slow speed and broke his leg while we were driving through a rural neighborhood. Fortunately there was a Sheriff parked by the college nearby and he saw the incident and quickly dispatched the animal. He shot the deer in the heart, sadly destroying it for consumption. I asked if the truck owner wanted it, he passed. I had the Sheriff tag it and I threw it in the back of my vehicle, I quickly drove to a power line boundary and dressed it and stuffed snow inside its body cavity. This was the first time I did this and within 30 minutes from the dispatched shot made by the Sheriff, the animal was cool. I had the car inspection and the mechanic was a little put off lol.. That tickled me, because so many of these guys no longer hunt and don't get to see this. The shop manager was a little concerned when I told him I had a deer in the back..he started to get dramatic and his father laughed and said its okay. I was home in another thirty minutes and took the animal out back and quartered it. The heart was destroyed from a gold saber 9mm and legs were broken but there was virtually no meat damage, no hemmoraging from the truck. I got a 40lbs of meat from it and a nice set of loin and backstrap. It took me 20 minutes to quarter it and probably 45min processing and cleaning. I cut inside out to prevent hair contamination. I still have a lot of meat in the freezer, but that poor fellas meat was so tender and tastes better than any I have harvested in the field. I did the math and due to the snow packed in the body cavity and rapid transport and no weigh station etc. The deer was processed at around two hours and chilled within 30min. It usually takes me two plus hours to get an animal to a weigh station and I don't always have snow and ice to pack inside. I think I'm going to buy an ice block and keep it in a cooler during the hunt and just insert it into the body cavity from now on. I have a rubber cargo tray in my SUV be warned as the ice and snow melts it will make a mess so have a tray to collect blood and fluids if you do this.

 

[seattleman1969]

Have you seen him from the front? All decent sized mulies look wide and good from the back. I suspect he is likely not as big as one might think, but he is far better than avg for CO. If you haven't taken a good mulie before and he is on public land, by all means should be camera down - trigger slow. Looks like he is in velvet which makes them hard to judge too. Regardless, a nice looking buck.

That left ear is along the antler and gives a pretty good indicator of the size... based on Boone and Crockett field judging guidelines that deer is probably close to 40 plus inches wide and that is being conservative.

https://www.boone-crockett.org/bgRecords/records_FieldJudging_muledeer.asp?area=bgRecords#targetText=On the average mature mule,to suffer "ground shrinkage."

 

[NorCalRiceGuy]

Hard for me to tell but looks like smaller buck is hard horned and larger is still in velvet . That's very odd if so. IT may be a stag ? Definitely shoot IT. I didn't read through all post so maybe somebody already brought this up.

Exactly what I was thinking, too. And I did read through the prior post and you are the first to mention it. I've shot one stag before and it ate very well indeed!

 

[kraig]

Being from Georgia that would be mighty hard to pass up (assuming clean shot & all). Rules for the farm we hunt are large does and monster bucks only but we also have to shoot pigs & yotes first if we see them. I usually get to see a nice buck about every other year and two years ago I did indeed see a monster buck but it paled in comparison to the one in the picture on the right. So I'm guessing I'd shoot.

However if it were my wife (yes I have to rat her out) she would see not only one monster buck "you know like the kind on the video" but two. Then she wouldn't shoot them even if they were only 30 yards away because she would wait for them to pose before the "BANG". Yes this really happened and boy was she mad when she realized the buck was maybe walking 4-5mph and her bullet travels at over 2000mph...she wouldn't have missed.

 

[Marc Gauthier]

Would you shoot this deer or consider leaving it for seed for more like him in the future
? No right or wrong answer. I realize it could be a trophy of a lifetime. Just wondering what others might consider?

back position, no.