It is a situation where you are perfectly legal to take the shot (end of your porch, gate of your lease, etc. However, it's a deer you haven't scouted and you didn't even know existed and the situation in which you harvest this animal isn't actually hunting.
First day of rifle season and you encounter a 170”+ deer.
- Thread starter Bushape
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1 good shot
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First of all, to see 170 inch deer around here would be a real surprise
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Right- it would take 2 bucks combined to add up to 170" and you can only shoot 1 per day.
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I hunt my small farm, where I walk out the door and walk to my stands. The very best bucks we have ever gotten pics of or seen may have made it to 150 gross. So yes, I would kill it.
Tweeter
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I'd shoot it, I do enjoy the drama playing out and the buck fever, but rifle opener is usually my last weekend in the woods since duck season opens the following weekend.
Pretty often you hunt your butt off and never see a deer. Sometimes you catch a break. Most hunters never catch a 170" break in their entire life. So yes kill it and be thankful for the gift.
philsanchez76
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I need a third option for shooting and missing it. But yes I'd try to kill that sucker!
I'd shoot it and put the meat in the freezer just like all of the other deer I've killed.
quackaholic
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My biggest deer, personally, I never had any pics of. At least that I was aware of. I pulled the card after I killed him and he was there bedded in front of my camera 3 days before. Most people kill deer they had zero history with. Mainly due to them showing up during the rut. I chose not to even run a camera this season, so I will have zero history with any of the deer I see except for 1 buck I may or may not have past pics of. And that to me is hunting. The very essence of woodsmanship and setting up according to the terrain and sign. That's exactly what I used to do on my hunts out of state. Boot leather is hunting. Planting food plots and setting up cameras and waiting for those deer to return is deer farming. Not that I don't believe that it doesn't take lots of effort, it does. And I respect people who choose that. So shooting a deer from the gate on my hunting land. Absolutely.
My hunting cabin is about 75 yards from one of my stands. And honestly it's the best or one of the best stands to see deer out of. So yes, I'm shooting if I look out and I can see it.
Sure it's hunting! That buck could have been 3 miles from there 10 hours earlier and be 3 miles away in another 5 hours. They roam.
fairchaser
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Without any other facts, of course you kill it if you are a deer hunter. That's a one in a million buck!
Boll Weevil
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Is this a trick question?
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Definitely and it sure doesnt have to be a 170 lol
Savage
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So I deer hunt to kill deer- so yes, I would kill it. And be thankful. Basically did that on a 164" gross deer.
I'd probably swerve in my truck to kill it
deerhunter10
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Kill a booner in tennessee? Or not shoot one because you didn't know it existed? Or because you aren't in a stand? I hunt to the stand. The 270 would sing. I'd be as proud as can be and tell all my buddies about how lucky I am.
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BSK
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Would I shoot it from my porch? No, that's not hunting. Would I kill it while hunting near my house/cabin? Absolutely. Two of the best bucks I've ever killed from my place were killed from a stand so close to our cabin I can almost see in the windows.
swampbadger
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Not only would I shoot it, I'd empty the rifle into it and would keep pulling the trigger until it went click on empty…just to make sure it was DRT.
No sir not a trick question. I guess the question is "do you shoot it if it technically isn't hunting?" Is there a line there for you? Of course it would be an awesome trophy but if you really didn't do anything to earn that trophy should that play into your decision to kill it?
tpgarrett21
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opportunity is opportunity in my eyes. sometimes they just present themselves. doesn't make you any less a hunter. one of the biggest turkeys i ever killed was in my yard. I had hunted early 3 mornings in a row and planned on sleeping in. neighbor had called to tell me it was in my yard. eased out too my truck, got my shotgun and made my way to the other end of my house... looked like Elmer Fudd creeping to the corner with my barrel up. turned and blasted him at 50. my camo that morning was a pair of old white ball shorts and a bright yellow cut off sleeve t-shirt. hey, it just happens sometimes
useyourbow
Well-Known Member
First day, second day, last day 170s don't get a pass.
If I shot one from my porch I'd be arrested . I don't live on my property but if I was getting out of my truck and seen the buck of course I'd shoot it . But the buck would have to stand there long enough for me to get my rifle out of my case and load it ...so unlikely I'd get off a shot . We was heading to our hunting property in Lewis Co one year and a big buck was on our side of the of the property . The guys I was with was trying to get their guns when I said go in there and hunt him right it's the rut and there's a good chance one of you might get a shot. They didn't and of course they blamed me . It would have been poaching to shoot from the road although no houses where around for miles but still...I didn't want to be part of that .
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DoubleRidge
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If my gun is loaded and in my hand during deer season and I'm standing on my property then I'm deer hunting....I"d shoot.
Buzzard Breath
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Now that I understand the full question, I let the buck walk. I want to be able to look at the trophies on my wall have be able to recall the memories of the hunt. Shooting one from just off the right-of-way, porch, gate (etc....) has no appeal to me.
Would I shoot it? What kind of question is that? That's like asking me if I got home today and Jennifer Anniston was in my bed waiting on me would I do the deed. Some folks go out of their way to make life complicated!
And for everyone that says they let him walk, 
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Sitting on my porch and it just wanders by then no I wouldn't kill it because I wasn't hunting it. If it was a hunting situation then absolutely I'd shoot him day 1.
No offense, but this question is like asking a football player, "so you start a game,and a ball is tipped and comes toward you. It's not a play you practiced - it's a tipped ball, it's not a planned play you've sweated and worked on over and over again. Do you catch it or let it drop?"
The answer is always - catch it! Any sport/hunting/fishing contains some measure of "luck" (or whatever you want to call it - undeserved results) - period. And that's part of what makes it enjoyable. If it was always do the same, with the same result - that would be work. And it wouldn't be much fun.
The answer is always - catch it! Any sport/hunting/fishing contains some measure of "luck" (or whatever you want to call it - undeserved results) - period. And that's part of what makes it enjoyable. If it was always do the same, with the same result - that would be work. And it wouldn't be much fun.
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