#1998064 - 07/18/10 07:00 AM
Re: Honest choice?
[Re: Double-D-Team]
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Bottom Hunter
16 Point
Registered: 12/29/06
Posts: 15490
Loc: Hatchie Bottoms
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size DOES matter....lol
165, of course.
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Walk away; the battle they are fighting is not with you, but with themselves.
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#1998067 - 07/18/10 07:08 AM
Re: Honest choice?
[Re: ghosthunter]
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EastTNHunter
8 Point
Registered: 03/08/10
Posts: 1198
Loc: Rhea Co., TN
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Depends on which one gives me the first, best shot.
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#1998068 - 07/18/10 07:10 AM
Re: Honest choice?
[Re: EastTNHunter]
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LUNGBLOOD
4 Point
Registered: 03/11/09
Posts: 410
Loc: Soddy Daisy
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Could care less about the age. Biggest gets the bullet.
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#1998094 - 07/18/10 07:49 AM
Re: Honest choice?
[Re: RKenney]
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Wes Parrish
16 Point
Registered: 06/12/02
Posts: 16990
Loc: Knoxville-Dover-Union City, TN
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If you had a choice of killing a 6.5 year old 110" buck in Tennessee or killing a let's say, a 165" 3.5 year old buck, which one would you pick. Be honest now! Being totally honest. My choice would TOTALLY depend on the circumstances, including whether pre-rut or post-rut in many of those.
If I were hunting on either public land or private land where I believed that 165" 3.5 had a fair chance of surviving until the next season, I would ENJOY passing him, (although I admit this decision would also be based on whether I'd be able to come back next year.) Just imagine how you would farther enjoy looking forward to even the possibility of seeing that buck again at 4 1/2. And, honestly, any mature buck should be considered a greater hunting challenge than a 3.5 immature one, no matter what the differences in antlers.
Now if I saw both those bucks on President's Island, my luck is both would be 8-pointers, and I'd be passing on both. But in a limited hunting opportunity such as PI, I'd probably be taking whichever one gave me the first and best shooting opportunity. Totality of circumstances dictates my choice, which is generally to pass on all bucks I believe to be 3 1/2 or younger.
Otherwise, the choice for me would be more a question of the circumstances, and given many of the places I hunt, I'd be more likely to pass on that 165" 3 1/2 LATE in the season (post-rut, greater chance for him to survive until next year), than EARLY in the season (pre-rut, less chance for him to survive).
But the choice given as stated, that would be a tough choice for me in most real "field" circumstances, as it's often hard to distinguish a 3 1/2 (one I personally want to pass) from a 4 1/2 (one I generally would consider a "shooter").
A more common choice I've actually made many times has been in passing up a larger-antlered younger buck in favor of a smaller antlered older buck. As more hunters see the advantages of doing this, we may all have yet more to look forward, along with, a lot more larger antlers.
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#1998097 - 07/18/10 07:52 AM
Re: Honest choice?
[Re: Wes Parrish]
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mr.big
Non-Typical
Registered: 01/03/01
Posts: 27931
Loc: Copper Head Road
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a lot of people would shoot both
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#1998100 - 07/18/10 07:55 AM
Re: Honest choice?
[Re: ghosthunter]
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LA man
16 Point
Registered: 05/31/03
Posts: 18562
Loc: spencer, tn/houma, la.
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165 no doubt
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#1998107 - 07/18/10 08:02 AM
Re: Honest choice?
[Re: RKenney]
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Wes Parrish
16 Point
Registered: 06/12/02
Posts: 16990
Loc: Knoxville-Dover-Union City, TN
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A 160"+ buck at 3.5 in Tennessee, might not be as far fetched as you might think. And no, it doesn't have to be on selected land. I totally agree, as I regularly see them, and many are in fact seen on public hunting areas. The problem is, I'm seeing most of them dead, when they're a 120-plus-class 2 1/2, that was killed a year or two before they became a relatively HUGE antlered buck.
When a buck sports a 140-plus rack as a 3 1/2, just what do you think he had as a 2 1/2 ???
IMO, the biggest reason we're not seeing a lot more 140-class bucks in TN has little to do with soil, and nearly everything to do with us collectively as hunters mainly being so focused on antler scores that we rarely allow a top-end 2 1/2 to survive (at least in most areas being hunted).
When we shift more of our focus to AGE over antlers, there will be an amazing increase in larger antlered older bucks. In the meantime, it is mostly the smaller-than-average-antlered younger bucks that are surviving to 3 1/2 or older in Tennessee.
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#1998111 - 07/18/10 08:10 AM
Re: Honest choice?
[Re: Wes Parrish]
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TheAirMan
16 Point
Registered: 06/18/01
Posts: 10331
Loc: Moss, Tennessee
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165
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#1998137 - 07/18/10 08:38 AM
Re: Honest choice?
[Re: TheAirMan]
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BSK
Jerkasourous of the non-typical kind
Non-Typical
Registered: 03/11/99
Posts: 59548
Loc: Nashville, TN
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The 165 3 1/2 year-old buck.
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"There is no reasoning someone out of a position he has not reasoned himself into." --Clive James
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