im sure that majority will agree with me while others may not...but anyways...was at the meat locker picking up my cape from my kansas buck...and in comes a truck with a deer in back...worker ask.."got a doe"...the bozo replies "no..thought it was, but its got nubs on its head"...this mistake is understandable maybe if your kiddo is in his or hers first couple of year of hunting by thereself...but a grown man...got to be kidding me...this thing maybe weighed 50lbs...maybe this just gets under my skin because of my hunting nature...but there are way too many deer in texas to be killing one that is 6 months old...especially a nubbin buck...for people who want to shoot the smaller ones...be certain that it isnt a buck...this is why i hate going to processors sometimes...just isnt right!!!!

yeah., I saw the same thing today too dropping a deer off. The doe he shot was tiny... maybe 65 lbs field dressed, and the nubbin buck was about 45 lbs dressed. I told him, "sometimes it's hard when they come out by themselves"

then he replies "no, they were both together, I just thought it was a big doe with a smaller doe"

but, don't start insinuating that people should be responsible for what they kill.... it's a god given right to shoot whatever you feel like. (apparently)

I think it has more to do with an itchy trigger finger. They're bent on killing something and bambi happened to be the first to the party.

With today's optics (scopes and binocs) there's really no excuse for not knowing.

The bigger question is, how did they tag it? Buck or Antlerless?

if it doesn't have a hardened antler protruding, then they can tag it as a doe.

they sure are tender though.

I understand your frustration. My opinion is that if it's a legal deer and properly tagged it's not worth getting worked up over. Mistakes do happen, but I do have to admit that it bothers me when I see a deer that is smaller than my 65 lb lab that was shot by "mistake" as opposed to saying they intentionally wanted a young deer.

It happens. I did it on a yearling spike last year on a foggy morning. He was alone and I mistook him for an older spike I'd seen the day before. He was small enough I could curl him with one arm. Probably shouldn't have taken a shot of that distance, but it was the last weekend of the season and I got trigger happy.

What is unfortunate is that others would shoot that yearling and think they were helping the herd, but that's a different discussion all together.

If it is tagged legally and within the rules of their hunting area,I guess it's their business. But, most of the time it is out of ignorance. My neighbor stated "we shoot all button bucks, since they will never be good deer". I asked if he was kidding, he was serious (I enlightened him and I think he took it well).

Maybe he wanted some tender meat and dont care about antlers.Its not the end of the world.Dont let it bother you what others do if it dont hurt you.Thats the way i feel about it.

at least they tagged it instead of letting it lay!!!

I let all the young deer I see walk.... Others on the other hand do not... Personal choice or just good Ethics? Whatever it is I know I have watched at least 5 young deer walk so far at my stand and will continue to do so. If they are a yearling they walk and I will not shoot a doe with a fawn with her either.

thats the thing...it could have been my neighbor and he just shot what might have been superior genetics...we all would be lying if we said we dont care about the size of the horns...shooting them before the horns even break skin is rediculous...never know what he could have been

it does suck when that happens, but he must have tagged it properly. so..... what s the big deal? he either made a mistake or he didnt. the good thing is , he has backstrap in the freezer! just let it go and lets all have fun huntin!!!!!!

Sux but it happens and they taste GREAT

I have seen that happen a number of times. Like you it gets under my skin a little bit.

As long as it is tagged legally there isn't much you can do. The one semi positive from the matter is since it was at the processor the gentleman is not going to let the deer go to waste

the big deal is stupidity...and this is just my opinion i know...but that is why growing big free ranging deer is a problem for most of texas...average life is only 2.5 years which is far before a deers prime...mistake..BS...the 50lbs should have givin it away that it was too small to shoot.. buck or even a doe..imo!!!

I hunt for meat as long as its legal, you want horns go high fence, not your place to manage my lease, your business should stop at your fence line

U have not hunted with kwr

We should not in any way condemn someone who is taking a legal deer. Berating people will only drive more hunters away from our sport. As the number of hunters plummet (which they are nationwide)we are in danger of losing our hunting rights.

A long as the kill is legal, we should celebrate with the hunter.

X2

As long as its not happenin on my lease...can't see how its my business. Now if one of my lease partners shoots a nubbin on purpose...then we got problems!

I feel the same as you Accutrigger33. A person ought to have to be as sure that it is a mature deer as he is that it is a legal buck if it is in an AR county. Excuses don't fly with me. If you're a meat hunter only, then why take a little yearling or fawn? If you're out for antlers, then by taking the yearling doe or fawn you may be taking the one that could have carried your next monster buck. If he's a button buck, what could he have been? I don't take does that are with fawns either as there are more than enough does out there without. By taking does without you improve the chance that that deer may be barren and removing it allows more food for the rest of the herd. Beyond all of this, it's about ethics to me....and I realize this is a personal choice and thought...but that is how I feel..some folks have ethics, others don't...take time to make sure before you pull the trigger...it greatly reduces "mistakes".

That's bad, but you know what's even worse?

Having your neighbor shoot a yearling buck that already had a nice 8 points but only weighed 105 and then having him insist that it's spread was "right at 13 inches if his ruler ain't broke" when anyone with 2 eyes could see it wasn't even 10 inches.

Could have shot any number of the spikes or screwed up mature bucks running around, but nope, had to go ahead and nail the first deer that walked out which just so happened to be a very promising yearling.

I've literally lost sleep from being so pissed off.

On my place I have no "large" deer. Last year I took a beautiful eight point that was way larger and older than the does and 4 points it was running with. It was the largest deer I have ever seen on my place. Well - when retreived him I had to chuckle, he wasn't so big and barely made 13".

Needles to say, my does are smaller so this year we took a "larger" one. Man O' man, I've owned dogs larger than the doe we took.

Are ya'll saying this is unethical?

Who care's what other people do if it is legal.

I took a spike last year with 1 inch sticks. I thought it was a doe. I was spot and stalking on a foggy morning and saw something looking at me. I glassed it at maybe 50 or 60 yards for several minutes. I did not see the little sticks in the profile. He was looking straight at me. We were having a stare down. Only thing I can think of is they weren't sticking above his head profile and the sun was incredibly bright behind him in the fog. Still got a lot of meat from it but I'll probably not shoot a lone deer again in those conditions. Best part was dragging it for 45 minutes having a heart attack and throwing it in the back of the suv and getting home and gutting it in the backyard with my kid. Best tasting deer ever.

I have seen an experienced hunter take a 7 month old doe. A jackrabbit is bigger. lol.