It is funny you guys are talking about this because yesterday evening I saw the buck I spent the year hunting. History with this deer is he showed up last year after Christmas. Massive body and good rack. Anyways I haven't had him on camera this year, so wasn't sure where he was. I saw him with a doe last evening, only to find one side had been broken at the base. It was either broken or didn't grow this year for some reason. Strange because all the broken horned deer I've seen are broken up there main beam a certain length. He is bigger this year but decided to let him live because it is worth the risk of him growing his other side back next year. Also him spreading his genetics is good as well. He is the largest deer that I have multiple years of history and hunting a certain buck is a fairly new venture for me. I will always wonder if I made the right decision but we will see if the chapter with this buck continues...
Let this one walk this morning
- Thread starter cbhunter
- Start date
I admire your patience but I might have gave in . No seriously I've let mature bucks walk when I had my lease if their racks were messed up . That's the only way though . Let a real nice what would have been a 135 " to 140" ten walk once because the other half was busted almost completely off . I wouldn't have mounted him that way so no use shooting him is the way I looked at it . Never saw him again following years though.
That's a win win! Could've killed him is win #1 and not having to gut and drag is win #2! 
killingtime 41
Well-Known Member
A buck that big i would have zero restraint on killing. But then again I don't see bucks that big often in the places I hunt. But you must so good luck on your shooter.
Haven't seen a fully mature buck from the stand in possibly 10 years or more. At least not one I could identify as such I don't hunt a lot like I did when I was younger though and lost all my good farms. So I don't have much opportunity
That's how I decide what to shoot, except at the farm I hunt in MS. My cousin has 200 acres in the river bottoms that nobody hunts except him, me and occasionally one of his coworkers, so we just do whatever we want. Sometimes we hunt together in a shooting house and we'll decide we are going to kill the first buck we see with 4 on one side or whatever the case may be. I have more fun hunting there than anywhere I've ever hunted.
DoubleRidge
Well-Known Member
Whole side completely gone....that stinks....but I think that you made the right choice....no way would I kill him with entire side busted off.
