Careful on those late season hunts. Those does you're seeing just might not be a does after all. :)

Son in law sent me this pic from his trail cam last night.

A good reminder this time of the year.

I'm close enough with my recurve to get a good look and If I'm hunting with my flintlock I will take a look through my binoculars before dropping the hammer.

Yep. most of the bucks around my place have dropped already. several by Christmas.

Had one just like that behind the house. It was a 6pt a few weeks ago.

I looked out my cabin window just as this one was passing through a couple days ago. By body size and shape and the light spot on the head on closeup view it is a bald buck.

I had a nice 8 point walk under the motion detector spotlight on Monday night...still intact.

Saw one hit along the road on the way home from work yesterday. It still had both sides.

One of my pet peeves, late season doe hunts.

That makes it a legal antlerless deer.

Whatever happened to “if it’s Legal, then do what you want?”

;)

But really, a “mature” buck is no easier to kill without his antlers on board, so apart from bragging rights, what difference does it make?? Heck, it’s testosterone that makes bucks do stupid things, and it’s declining testosterone levels that make antlers fall off, so from a Challenge standpoint, a mature buck which has already shed should really be considered the absolute greatest challenge in deer hunting, shouldn’t it??

So it’s all just how you look at it….

I like antlers on the wall almost as much as meat in the freezer, but not quite, that said it would suck to kill a P and Y buck that wasn't in all his glory. That goes for velvet bucks as well for me, have no desire to kill one unless he's hard horned.

Some places it’s legal to marry your first cousin. Doesn’t mean a guy ought to do it.

R

I agree with what you guys are saying but think about it. If it’s really about matching wits with a smart old buck I’d say he is just as smart with a half of rack. No matter what anyone says it’s all about the antlers. But on my property I’d let him walk too.

No, you've got him at his vulnerable time, needing food for warmth and survival. Sure, he has passed on his genes already,but think of what he might be next year. Obviously, meat hunters will choose the bigger snack size. Its your tag, go ahead, marry your cousin, JK.

Like I said. It’s all about the antlers

Like I said. It’s all about the antlers

For most !

“Some places it’s legal to marry your first cousin. Doesn’t mean a guy ought to do it.”

Yep, and some places it’s Legal to shoot them over a bait pile.

I really don’t want to believe that there are people who would cheerfully shoot a “book” buck standing ankle-deep in corn, but whose standards of “sportsmanship” would prevent them from killing the same animal a day later if it had shed its antlers, but clearly they are in no way unusual… and probably not even a minority. It’s enough to make a lot of Anti-Hunting rhetoric sound awfully accurate…

I'm old enough to remember when it used to be almost sacrilegious to shoot any does.

Now it's almost sacrilegious if you don't.

Funny how opinions change over time.

I remember that era too. My dad would not shoot a doe.

This website runs a truly oppressive number of ads, but it’s a good article…..

https://www.fieldandstream.com/hunting/five-stages-hunting

Don't matter. Just hunt and shoot what you like if legal.

I’ve been thinking about this one…. JMO, the worst thing about a shed buck being taken in a late “antlerless” season is that the management objective — reducing the doe population to curb herd growth — goes un-met.

But it IS pretty hilarious to argue that it’s “unfair” to take advantage of their hunger for food in the late season but not in any way less than Sporting to take advantage of their non-dietary Appetites in November….

If it’s Legal, do what pleases you for the reasons which speak to you, but JMO, a rutted-out buck may be “desperate”, but a rutting buck with a near-toxic testosterone level is made both desperate and STOOOOOOPID!

Maybe some of you guys have forgotten what it was like to be 19…..

Where is it legal to shoot your first cousin over a bait pile?

I’m not sure, but for a lot of guys I think it comes down to the size of the rack….

Our regs. call them 'antlerless'. So I shoot...predators don't discriminate and I am one. Moat animals are safe when I'm in the woods with my bow anyqay...lol!

Yup. Only the SMART ones are safe when I’m afield…. ;)

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