Would you still shoot him?
- Thread starter MattS
- Start date
He doesn't look that big or that old to me. I might let him walk. This is the same buck I posted a little while back. also look what else I got on my camera
I mean, what are your goals? No one can really tell you what’s going to make you happy. I can tell you that that is a pretty good buck for D16 and I think he’s probably 4, he’s starting to get a little belly. No he’s not a super old buck but he’s mature. How many deer have you killed? How many have you killed in D16 or an equivalent socal zone? Most people would be tickled to shoot a deer like that in Southern California. You need to remember that many of our deer, even when very old, never become anything more than a big fork.
Taking photos is one thing.
Actual seeing him while hunting is an other.
Unless you are after a trophy buck.
This is good as it gets some times.
Old saying : bird in the hand is worth more than two in bush
Some guys don't even see bucks.
Actual seeing him while hunting is an other.
Unless you are after a trophy buck.
This is good as it gets some times.
Old saying : bird in the hand is worth more than two in bush
Some guys don't even see bucks.
I have killed about 20 d-16 bucks. I am well aware of what we have here. My plan is, If I see a bigger one in this spot then I wont shoot this fork. If not I might wait until later in the season to take him. Also I actually saw him with my eyes today when I went in to check my cameras. I was just curious as to what other guys might shoot or pass on.
MattS,
A couple of things here...
First off your probably right that he’s not that old of a deer. (Primary judging by his lack of mass and the fact that his face isn’t very grey). Unfortunately very few of our local deer on public get very old because our public land to Hunter ratio isn’t very good.
Secondly, if you have killed that many deer in d-16 you’re probably as good of a judge regarding deer maturity as most on the forum.
If it were me I’d take him with a bow but probably pass with a rifle. But it’s all about what you’re after.
Good luck out there!
Josh
A couple of things here...
First off your probably right that he’s not that old of a deer. (Primary judging by his lack of mass and the fact that his face isn’t very grey). Unfortunately very few of our local deer on public get very old because our public land to Hunter ratio isn’t very good.
Secondly, if you have killed that many deer in d-16 you’re probably as good of a judge regarding deer maturity as most on the forum.
If it were me I’d take him with a bow but probably pass with a rifle. But it’s all about what you’re after.
Good luck out there!
Josh
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Just wondering, not trying to derail this thread or anything.... what do you base a statement like that on? Is it your personal experience based on time in the field, or discussions with biologists or something you read?
I think he's just saying that most legal deer here get taken young because guys wanna kill something.
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First if I edited my original post cause there was a don’t in there by accident. Both speaking with biologists and experience. Point I’m getting at is that we don’t have the massive public lands like other parts of the west where deer can ecscape into the high country and grow very old. Most of our local bucks get killed pretty young. Most of our old bucks live on private. There is no doubt that there are some older age class bucks on public land in so cal but there aren’t very many.
The first you know about other big buck on the area ? you see any bigger buck ? if not take that one is a decent buck , I remember last year a friend than works in Performance archery he told me If you see a buck shoot it maybe you dont see it again on the season, and last year I have 2 soup tags,
this year from the opening to 31 dec with A22 I going to shoot all that I have on my range, I see many big bucks in the summer on my blinds and treestands and now they disapear like ghost, I just have forks and does, but this year I want some meet in the freezer.
this year from the opening to 31 dec with A22 I going to shoot all that I have on my range, I see many big bucks in the summer on my blinds and treestands and now they disapear like ghost, I just have forks and does, but this year I want some meet in the freezer.