2.5 or 3.5.... you make the call

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megalomaniac

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I'm having a tough time with this one... leaning more towards 3.5 as I think he'll fill out a little more in the next 3 weeks. Still hitting salt with regularity!?!

What do you guys think?
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depends on the jeans of the deer alot of people judge by rack. ijudge by swayback and belly. i say let him go if u can till next year then shot him but if they r alot oif hunters shoot him cuz they will
 
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Again, for me this is a tough call...

We set buck restrictions at 3.5 on my farms, and I'd be thrilled to take him if he is indeed 3.5. That being said, I'd be greatly disappointed if I did kill him and he's only 2.5.

It'll probably come down to this... if he's the first older buck I have an opportunity to take, I'll bring him home. But if I've already taken a much nicer deer before I see him, I'll give him a pass.

Thanks for the replies
 
Hillbilly Hunter said:
3.5 year old deer, and a nice one, he needs some tine length.
Click to expand...

Funny how that works... off the same salt lick, I've got a 2.5 yr old mainframe 7 with 9-10" g2's. I sure hope he makes it till next year! He'll score higher than the buck in the above pics.
 
Look at it this way, if you let him pass this year, he will definately be atleast 3.5 next year! I'd say let him walk.

The deer are still hitting the salt pretty frequently on our property as well.
 
tndrbstr said:
Suppose you laid that deer on the ground and two differant biologists of equall qualifications came up with two differant answers. One said 2.5 and the other said3.5, Since it has beens said on here many times that it is not an exact science. What would YOU feel about having just harvested this animal? The me that is the only thing that matters.
Ahh, but to answer your question to me at this point it could go either way!
Click to expand...

I don't pay attention to the antlers, just age... I honestly could care less what's on top of his head as long as he's 3.5. (although I would probably pass a 3.5 yr old with a broken main beam for the next year).

That being said, if I kill him and pull the jawbone and he's 2.5, I would be disappointed. If the jawbone indicates he's 3.5, I'd be thrilled. It has nothing to do with what's on top of his head.

IMO, that's the best way for me to be proud of what I kill each year. I set my personal standards based on age rather than B&C score. It just happens that at 3.5-4.5 yrs of age, bucks on my farms have reached 90% of their antler potential.
 

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