Any of you guys like this?

[TheLegend]

Are any of you like me when it comes to shooting a buck? I have only been hunting for two years, never shot a buck and I WON'T I repeat WON'T shoot a buck unless its a booner! I have passed several bucks in 130-140 range already in the 2 short years I hunted.. I'll shoot does to get meat but I can't bring myself to shoot something smaller than 170. Any cures for this problem?

[DiabeticKripple]

the cure is, go shoot one. just let that arrow fly, or squeeze that trigger

[TheLegend]

Yeah that may just be the cure. My friends say I am detached from reality (coming from guys who are content to shoot spikers)

[DiabeticKripple]

i would shoot an average sized buck and get it mounted.

[Ryry4]

You may never shoot a buck. I'm a trophy hunter and I know what I'm looking for every year I head out. I've got a couple deer that score in the 150's that I think are great trophies.

[buzzard]

Nope no cure for you. I Iwill add with that attitude you will probably never shoot a buck. But that's good I would certainly take a 165 buck that you pass on. Good luck.

[elkhunter11]

I found that after killing several deer, I became more and more fussy as to which deer I will shoot, but starting out with such high standards, you may never shoot a buck. More likely , you will shoot a few bucks and find out what ground shrinkage is.

[TheLegend]

all the replies are what my buddies say.....sigh....well see what happens this november!

[Lefty-Canuck]

You have a bad case of "Mag-Coveritus".....stop reading about booners, looking at magazines about booners....go shoot a deer and see that the easy part is the pull of the trigger

LC

[Dadirk]

It is so very hard to judge the difference between a 150 and 170 class wt buck.take a 5x5 wt buck lets call it 155 B&C now add 1 1/2 inch to each tine and 2 inch to main beam and 2 inch of inside spread now add 1/2 inch to each circumference. You now have a Booner and if you can call that difference at even 100 yds after 2 years you are better than I and after 35 years of hunting
and having 15 wt over 150 I still cant tell. One thing to consider is yes Alberta and Saskatchewan have the Borealis species of Whitetail that inhabit Alberta number approximately 150,000 head. The herd never reaches the carrying capacity of the habitat due to the long hard winters. Nature is constantly ensuring that only the strongest survive. The result is a superior herd that normally produces one Boone & Crockett book head for every 300 deer harvested. Compared to the North American average of one in a million the odds are not that bad. So your chances are better than in the USA but still 1 in 300 bucks you look at are Booners. Lower your standards and start taking good quality mature deer 5 or 6 years of age genetics and habitat may never produce a booner in your area. I have a couple of areas that genetically produce 5x4 5 year old deer that score around the 150 class. And my cousin has a place up near Consort that produces 3 year old 170 class wt.

[Albertadiver]

Originally Posted by Lefty-Canuck

You have a bad case of "Mag-Coveritus".....stop reading about booners, looking at magazines about booners....go shoot a deer and see that the easy part is the pull of the trigger

LC

X2

When you took your hunting course, it speaks about the different stages of hunting. You just happen to be in the trophy phase.

[steve]

Not even that much of a difference. Your math equals 180''. Goes to show how close a 150'' and 170'' are. Have to tip some over and tape them to know what your looking at.

[TheLegend]

Thanks for the sound advice guys! I will take it into consideration

[albertabighorn]

Go 6 years with out one lol

[Drewski Canuck]

If the main beams are wider than the ears, and stretch out to the nose, that is about 24 inches a side, with a 24 inch inside spread. Next, you need 4 points to a side minimum, with some of the points being taller than the distance from base of head to top of head, or about 10 inches looking at you straight on. All the rest depends on mass and circumference. They are out there, just not many right now as we just came out of two hard winters that killed off alot of older deer. In a couple of years the number of big deer will be better.

Drewski

[Blanka]

IMO not shooting bucks because you are waiting for a big buck makes no sense. you are taking does for meat but that is just taking out more potential bucks. it makes more sense to shoot a buck for meat, especially one past his prime.

every doe you shoot is like shooting potentially 2-3 bucks, who could be booners in 4 years. This is just my opinion but I am not a huge fan of shooting does unless there is a serious need to cull the population.

Each to their own though.

[catnthehat]

I've killed a pile of deer in my day, both white tail and mule deer.
Bucks, does, big ones, small ones.
The size of the antlers is the last thing on my mind when I'm getting set to kill one.
As long as they are legal I'm okay with it.

Cat

[duffy4]

Every time you shoot a deer you learn something from the experience. By never shooting buck you are passing up some valuable learning situations.

Granted if you want to shoot a giant buck (anything over 150 is a pretty great buck) you have to pass on some smaller bucks.

I have spent a season or two looking for a great buck and not killing one at all.

But I have also shot a few lesser buck toward the end of the season and been quite happy I did.

[TRAPPER92]

I've been hunting and trapping for around 18 seasons, I've only shot one buck that scored over 170 and had a chance at another but buck fever kicked in! I've seen my share of bucks that would easily score 170 + but they were before the season started! Every year I settle for the 140-150ish bucks sometimes I dont shoot any. I just enjoy having deer sausage and jerky for the year!

[New Hunter Okotoks]

Any WT Buck with 8 or more points is a trophy in my book.

170 is setting that bar REALLY high. If you have a lot of time and the resources to do the scouting and prep work pre-season and the discipline to turn down 160 class bucks, it would be do-able. I would think that even then, you would have many years that you would not fill that tag.

Many hunters who just start their season on opening day and get out 3 or 4 weekends a year will not shoot a 170 WT in their lifetime.

[surface2feather]

I have hunted deer for probably about 14 of the last 17 years and never shot what would be a trophy by the book standards, but each buck I shoot has been bigger than the previous. Hopefully I carry that tradition, that will be good enough for me.

[CaberTosser]

On a related note, George Costanza had some pretty high standards for women. I'm just sayin...

[TheLegend]

Ha lol

[catnthehat]

Originally Posted by New Hunter Okotoks

Any WT Buck with 8 or more points is a trophy in my book.

.

This one would just make the 4X4 cut then according to some - with a MASSIVE 11" spread!!

Cat

[FishHunterPro]

I find it fun to try and pattern out a buck with your game cams. If you can take down a nice buck on your hit list it's sure to be a memory you'll have forever. I think of myself as a trophy hunter but if a 140"+ walks in front of me in the sticks chances are he's going down if he's mature. Last year me and 2 other guys at are camp never shot a buck holding out for a monster that never came by . My problem for not getting one was simply that I didn't a chance at anything bigger than 135" and few years from maturity, it was just a bad year I guess. Biggest one shot out of camp was around 159" in camp. Ask yourself if you could pass him up? I don't think I could lol

[TreeGuy]

God help me but......

I agree with the Duffman.



Each and every animal I've taken was a distinct learning experience and great memory. Do not rob yourself of that as it is the foundation needed to be a consistent filler of tags.

I've taken a couple of of good bucks and a load of little ones. Hands down my favourite two were a one antlered spiker that was my first archery WT ('Net Zero Buck'), and a button mulie arrowed with my 8 year old son with me.

It doesn't get better than that!

[gman1978]

Why not chase mature deer, the ones that are up in age. Great challenge and yes some may support the big head gear but some might be 140 class brutes too.

[Alberta Bigbore]

I hunt for the pure fun of it. I dont care if the head gear is small, as long as the freezer is getting full . I am far from a trophy hunter. My biggest buck was in 2005, and thats just because he showed up first.

[muleyhunter7]

I grew up hunting and the way i learned to hunt was chasing deer 160 and up thats how we are and we are very successful i dont see the challenge in shooting a deer under 140" there everywhere the hunt to me is to find the biggest deer to harvest not the easiest

[catnthehat]

Originally Posted by muleyhunter7

I grew up hunting and the way i learned to hunt was chasing deer 160 and up thats how we are and we are very successful i dont see the challenge in shooting a deer under 140" there everywhere the hunt to me is to find the biggest deer to harvest not the easiest

To each his own.
I don't get much more time to hunt white tails these days, and never was a trophy hunter anyway.
I'm a hunter period,and a dammed good one BTW.
I've killed them with flat bows, traditional muzzle loaders, shotguns, and single shot rifles as well as repeaters.
The only thing I see when I look at a set of antlers is belt buckles, knife handles, screw driver handles , and anything else i can make with them.
I've killed some fairly large deer as far as racks go, but that is not the reason I hunt.
For some it is, and that's fine by me.....
Cat