Something someone posted on here got me to thinking about how difficult it was to pass my first buck. I started hunting in the 80's on the cumberland plateau - deer numbers were pretty low, especially buck numbers, since you could legally kill like 127 a year (I'm exaggerating...slightly). In those days, just starting out, if you saw spikes - KaBoom! You didn't pass a buck. As a matter of fact, our measure of success wasn't so much if you killed a "big" buck, but how many bucks did you kill. I remember when the page started turning, and I wanted to kill bigger bucks, and I didn't feel so much like I had to kill several bucks to prove my deer hunting "chops". It was so foreign, so against everything in me to let a buck walk. At first, I always had this nagging feeling: "you're going to regret that". I remember some of my hunting buddies would just shake their head at me, saying "you're crazy for passing a legal buck".
There's no right way or wrong way necessarily - it all depends on a person's situation, goals, and desires - but, times sure have changed. We all pass small bucks regularly and think nothing about it - but, there was a day when - no way would a legal buck walk. LOL.
There's no right way or wrong way necessarily - it all depends on a person's situation, goals, and desires - but, times sure have changed. We all pass small bucks regularly and think nothing about it - but, there was a day when - no way would a legal buck walk. LOL.