Public Land Kill Opinion

[TonyB]

Let me begin by saying i have been hunting a piece of public for about 6 years now in the same general area. I have a couple cameras out and i have noticed that about every 2 to 3 years there is a new generation of bucks that stick around before they keave or are killed off.
Today i had an exciting hunt filled with two young bucks (1-2 years old) fighting, a 2 year old 7 point hanging out under my stand for over 3 minutes, and a spike run through. This afternoon another 2 year old 4 point and one doe that was barely bigger than a german shepard.
My dilemma is on killing young bucks. I can hear the people in the back already saying they kill for the meat and to kill it if i have the chance. For me i want to let the young ones walk so that next year they will be a decent size. Not to mention we only get 2 tags, i gun hunt a large lease with 150s and 160s all over it, and i have a 120-130 8 point on camera.

It feels right to let them walk in the moment but afterwards when i dont see a doe or a decent buck i question myself. Should i waste the tag on the young buck or am i over thunking it? Pictures of the 8 on camera and the young 7 today.

 

[TRIGGER]

Let them walk. Don't over think it. If your finger doesn't itch when you see them then let 'em go. Now if your finger itches on a spike then shoot it. Whatever makes you happy.

 

[Lost Lake]

My opinion, if you're holding off already, then you have your answer.

 

[killingtime 41]

I hunt all public and let them walk myself. Whatever I feel good about shooting I do. I usually know it right away shoot or not. when my inner self says sit and watch them I do that as well. It never says that on a mature buck though. Doe's are the same thing. That's how it's been for several years now.

 

[megalomaniac]

Man, id LOVE it if 99% of the hunters out there shot the first 2 bucks they saw and hung it up for the rest of the season instead of high grading the best in each age class.

But do what makes you happy. It doesn't feel.right to me killing a deer and regretting it.

 

[philsanchez76]

First of all no judgment on whatever you wanna shoot! Deer hunting should be fun! Ive spend the first 5 years of my hunting career shooting anything that I could. I believe that is necessary just to get good at reading deer behavior and when to shoot etc. This is the first year I have decided to let small ones walk. I had 7 deer in front of me last night for 90 minutes feeding and scraping, and doing their thing. I wanted to shoot one of them so badly but I didn't. Even if I shot nothing it was already one of the best hunts of my life, just being a fly on the wall and observing deer truly being deer. But... 10 minutes till closing time, the biggest public land buck ive ever had the opportunity on walked out. I never would have been able to harvest him if I'd shot one of the smaller bucks or even a doe. Just my very recent experience. GL out there man!

 

[Rackseeker]

I need info on that large lease with 150s-160s all over it. PM info if you don't mind.

 

[EastTNHunter]

If you have a lease with big deer on it then use your tags on those big ones.

Shoot what makes you happy, but remember that hunting is about more than the kill. It's about more than the antlers. For most, it's about more than the meat. I don't shoot anything to please or impress anyone else. And I don't have a lease, either… almost all that I have is public land

 

[MickThompson]

Shoot the deer that makes you happy. Keep it simple. I have the same standards on public as I do on private

 

[EastTNHunter]

A few bucks that I've killed, or hunting buddies have killed with me, off of heavily pressured public land over the years. As you can see, there is a mix of good and mediocre bucks (some would say that they are all mediocre, but I don't care about that). Memories with all of them, as well as others that I did not post here. All were enjoyable hunts that I cherish

 

[Tenntrapper]

Don't know if true or not, but I have heard..."never pass on the first day what you would love to have on the last day"... or something like that.
Being public land... someone is likely going to kill it anyway...if you want it and it makes you happy...shoot it. It's impossible to "manage" public land. People are going to do what they are going to do.

 

[TonyB]

I need info on that large lease with 150s-160s all over it. PM info if you don't mind.

Lol i know your joking but it's a 3300 acre farm that has been managed by my buddy for 20+ years. Huge dear out there but a lot of land which makes it hard nail them down

 

[Rackseeker]

Lol i know your joking but it's a 3300 acre farm that has been managed by my buddy for 20+ years. Huge dear out there but a lot of land which makes it hard nail them down

Not joking one bit... I'm always looking for a new place to hunt and don't mind paying.

 

[TonyB]

Not joking one bit... I'm always looking for a new place to hunt and don't mind paying.

Oh sorry lol. The lease is full but will let you know if a spot opens up!

 

[Ski]

Hunting older bucks can often leave you frustrated eating tag soup. Like any other gamble, the reward or loss is equal to the risk. Doing so means accepting that you may be years without filling a tag. That's more than a lot of hunters are willing to do. If you want to kill big bucks then you need your tags. Killing little bucks uses the tags you'd need for big ones that may or may not ever happen.

Where you're at in your hunting journey matters. If you've not killed enough deer or bucks to satisfy that urge, then keep hunting what excites you. I've always wanted to kill big bucks but it wasn't until I had killed enough smaller ones that it just didn't feel good anymore. Killing "a" buck wasn't exciting anymore, nor challenging. So the logical next step was only killing what excited me, which is big, old bucks. It's hard. I fail a lot. But even the failure is better than killing something that doesn't mean anything to me. And if I don't get a big buck I can always take the rifle out for a doe to get meat. But man when I connect on a big wily wise old buck it's a feeling like no other.

 

[Remi]

If it doesn't turn your crank then let them walk. Old mature deer are what I'm after, if they score 70 or 170. I'll eat tag soup before I kill one just to kill it.


With young bucks I figure if I let them go there is a chance they make it, if I kill them then that's it.


I hunt mainly private land but i do hunt some public. Private land may as well be public as deer roam from parcel to parcel. I can't control what the neighbors kill but I can control what I kill.

 

[Ski]

I hunt mainly private land but i do hunt some public. Private land may as well be public as deer roam from parcel to parcel. I can't control what the neighbors kill but I can control what I kill.

100% truth. Unless you're hunting a giant chunk of ground, the vast majority of private is not much different than public in that the deer roam. In many cases deer on a big piece of public have better chances of getting old than deer living amongst a bunch of 20-100 acre lots.

 

[Remi]

Also, for the guys the kill small bucks and are proud of them, great! A good friend of mine buys his license and hunts hard, he will kill a doe or two and the first two spikes he sees. He is legitimately proud of them and he should be. If that's what gets him going then good for him.


A 17yr kid showed me a pic the other day of his first deer, a button buck. This is his first year hunting, he bought a crossbow, setup a stand and shot the first deer that came through. I congratulated him and made sure he gave me all the details of his hunt. Then he said he felt kind of bad because it was a button buck. I told him under no circumstances should he feel bad, he should be proud of that deer and every deer he kills.



The guys that get me are the ones that shoot a small buck and then give an excuse. "Cull buck", wouldn't ever be much anyways, I thought he was bigger, etc etc. if you have to formulate an excuse don't shoot them.

 

[MickThompson]

100% truth. Unless you're hunting a giant chunk of ground, the vast majority of private is not much different than public in that the deer roam. In many cases deer on a big piece of public have better chances of getting old than deer living amongst a bunch of 20-100 acre lots.

And on many pieces of public, I can get in a better spot than what's available to me on a 20-40 acre piece

 

[deerhunter10]

What you're saying doesn't make sense to me.. you regret not shooting little bucks but you have 150 and 160s everywhere on your lease? I'm not sure of your dilemma? Kill what makes you happy, but if you want to kill big deer you can't kill small ones it truly is that simple. And with that mindset you may not fill all your tags or even a tag. That's the gamble you take trying to kill bigger deer. I'd be tagged out in 2 day 3 days max if I shot the first bucks I saw. I personally love to hunt to much for that to trip my trigger. But I am also ok only killing 1 buck a year or knock on wood it hasn't happened in many years no bucks. And sometimes I fill both tags.