Letting A "big boy" walk.

I never knew letting a deer walk because he was to young would be so hard. I currently have trail cam photos of a 17 point with double droptines that will score in the low 160's, and he's only 3. Its a small ranch with alot of oilfield traffic. I cant get myself to shoot it because he could end up making book in 2 or 3 years, but im afraid someone else wouldnt pass him up. Oh the sacrifices we make for the better good.

I wouldn't have made myself suffer in such a way....
Who's better good is it for? The deer is going to get shot someday anyway....the good for bragging rights?

I know your thoughts but if you are on small tract, what is the chance it will live another two years

i feel your pain it's so hard watching that deer walk through your area and then worrying all through out the season someone dropped him but then if you get the chance to take him in a few years then you can see the reason you passed him

You made the right call regardless of if you get another chance or not. However most would not have passed on the chance.

What makes it the right call? Please explain?

when you or someone else shoots him in two years and he scored 180 youll be glad you passed him up.

Low 160's and you pass..... Hmmmm I smell

on my brothers lease been passin up a couple low 160's and a few 150's and it's low fence it's all about wanting to wait and hope it pays off when you nail that 180 or 170

Saw this on someone's tag line but I think it's appropriate here.

IF you shoot a deer because you're afraid the neighbor might, then you are that neighbor.

I'm all for let'em grow up, but if that deer does it for you let the wind out of him. I get the feeling you would not enjoy it near as much as some might because you already have that doubt in your mind.

After reading the info on here about South Texas bucks and their mortality rate, there is very little guarantee that he will live 2 more years even if hunting was removed as one of the elimination factors. Being hit by a truck, drought, predators, and poachers are all factors that could remove him from the property, plus others that I failed to mention. If you are good with your decision, then so be it. But he may be gone even before you can get back to your lease.

Know a man that leases 7000 or so acres. One of his hands that work for him ran over a buck that scored over 175 a couple of weeks ago. Leasor had been watching the buck for a while. Hand that ran over the deer claimed he was going less than 20 MPH down the dirt road when he hit him. Trucks are equipped with GPS that tells all of the particulars. They looked at the data and the hand was correct. He was going 15 MPH and the deer more or less ran into the truck rather than the truck running over the deer or so says the hand. No real reason to doubt him.

Weird stuff happens. Wish I had the chance to be put in such a spot.

Your a good man for letting him go, but if he made my heart jump into my throat as I was looking at him....

id have taking him... im not into making hunting some kind of science project....

I am all for letting them grow and shooting mature deer, but if a three year old does it for me, I will take him without hesitation. The ranch I hunt is around 7500 acres. I have let many deer go that we never see again. Always a tough decision.

The real question is up to you, Do you or can you pull the trigger on this deer? For me, I have seen several nice deer over the last 10 years or so. I generally live by this rule, when I am hunting, if a deer walks in and I have to think about pulling the trigger, then I let that deer walk. If he comes in and I automatically say to myself "shooter", then that deer gets shot and I am happy. If you second guess yourself that deer is meant to walk.

Hell i dont care what you do, i personaly would shoot him being that are place isnt big enough to expect him to stay.

I just want to see the pictures you have.

matt

On our place.....he would be dead!! We hunt a small tract with quite a bit of hunting pressure around us. When one shows up like that...he is DRT!! Would love to see some pics!!

What county do you hunt, and do you protein feed, that would help me determine my answer. If its West Texas alot of it depends on rain, who is to say if we have a real dry spring that he will still be this big? Good luck on making your decision, I think if you can wait you should.

Happens to us all the time.

if I was your neighbor, I would be "that" neighbor. I fully support letting them grow up, but my rule is that if it's nicer than what I have on the wall, I add it to the wall. A 160 double drop would go on the wall, and following my own rule, I might never get to shoot another buck again.

Seriously, I've never seen a deer with a drop tine. A double drop is a once in a lifetime deer.

Usually the deer you have been fortunate to kill in the past will let you know if you want to kill this buck now.

I would shot him the first chance I got and never look back.

I still want to see pictures

Well said.

To me breeder bucks and breeding pens are science projects, trying to let the deer atain age isnt.

I had a beautiful ten point a few years back that would have been my biggest buck ever but I thought too "One more year". Anyways the last weekend of season the neighbors son kills it, 21 inches wide and they had it mounted. I don't have regrets BUT if it had double drops and scored 160 it would have been removed, can't have those bad drop tine genetics running around our place.

You could always try and shoot off the antlers.

He may get bigger.
But he may not ever be another doubledrop for the rest of his life.

Who's to say if you'll live another year?

Ever think of it that way?

If you have a shot, shoot, if it feels like you should wait, then wait, the last thing you want is a reminder on the wall asking yourself everyday why didn't you wait one more year.

d

Im shooting it. Too much chance of someone else getting it.

Hope.

Hope he gets bigger.
Hope no one else shoots him.
Hope he comes back.
Hope I see him again.


Obama had hope too.

How'd that work for you?

I hope everyone passes on big ones around me.

Me to Vernon, more the merrier.

Your decision and you have to live with which ever one of the scenarios you choose. You laid out the negatives and only one postive it seems to me.

I would have taken him

I can understand you want to see him grow, but if you have a small piece of land what are the chances he won't by shot by someone else, run over, killed by natural causes, etc.

I respect you for taking a chance, but I'm not sure I could have done the same.

Ol double drop comes from an awesome hunting background and has quite a resume deer and deer hunting. He's trained by the only guide school in the nation (COAGS) and is no stranger to letting a biggun get big. He let this deer walk Friday morning after thanksgiving (still can't believe you didn't take your camera that day).

even better said!!

I agree with - If he walks out and I immediately think "shooter" he is done! Period. Letting them walk to get age and antler size is a very bad gamble...the odds are stacked against you by a long shot, even on large ranches. Now, if he is an average buck, let him go and "grow"...if he is exceptional and gets your heart racing - then shoot him! It's called hunting, and the reason we(well most of us) do it because we enjoy the outdoors, the fresh meat, commraderie, the excitement and quick heart beat we feel when a big'un walks out, etc --- but, if you are only in it for the size of bone on a deer's head I think you are totally missing the point!

Should have shot

Your next post will be about a headless deer you found or a neighbor next door shooting him

You could've spooked the deer if you were going to let him walk. That way he goes on alert (or hopefully nocturnal) for sometime, thus helping to ensure the neighbors dont see him.

If any of your neigboring ranches come up for lease please let me know. i would love to hunt next to someone who doesn't know when to pull the trigger! just plain greed right there.....if you'll pass up a 160 in hopes that he might get to 170 and then worry about it enough to put a post on here......greedy.

Im still waiting on pictures. I passes a 170 yesterday too... I want to see pics!!!!!

I dont know you or where you hunt, but score on trail cam pics is in the eye of the beholder, lets see some pictures!

Again

matt

I let the 163 inch 8 that I shot last year walk for two years...sometimes the wait makes it all the sweeter. Is it a risk? Sure...but sometimes it's worth it to see just what will happen.

I hope he passes in front of my stand!!!!
theres my hope!

good deal.... if you want to pass him, he didn't do it for you. I have passed several deer in the 140's and 150's, and one in the 160's this year. chances are if you shoot the first 140 or 150 that you see, you will never get a 170 or 180.

Deer are gettin bigger in Texas, at least in my area, and it's because of people like you. (and ARs) Some folks set age restrictions, not score restrictions, on themselves and stick to them. Sounds like your in that group. Thanks for the effort! I hope it pays off.

I think it basically comes down to...EACH HIS OWN! If I saw a 160+ buck and had a shot the only reason it would not be at the Taxi the next morning would be because I got buck fever a missed. Now that being said I had never harvested a 10 before this season and told anyone who would listen that the first ten I saw I was going to drop...and then I saw a ten and let him walk...thankfully! Two days later I was rewarded with the best buck I have ever harvested.

That's tough especially out in west Texas, where antler size depends a lot on rain between now and next season. I had a buddy pass on a deer one year because he was 3.5 and the next year he was actually smaller because they didn't get much rain. They hunted out south of Stanton just north of Garden City hwy.

I've had that happen...was a good excuse to risk one more year.

I am not going to say one way or the other what I woulda done because I don't honestly know what I would do in that situation. However, if you are second guessing yourself then you may have made the wrong decision.

When will people learn you can't manage deer on a small LF property?

Good intentions will only make nice memories, and you will have a very excited and happy neighbor who will shoot that nice buck.

I guess it boils down to what trips your trigger on any given day

Your a better man than me for sure. I'd drop a 160 double drop if he was a yearling......sorry there is just no way that he would live in my area. Oh yeah........

he's still showing up on camera. don't know if he's gonna post the pics tho. i have some of him in velvet but i'll need his permission to post.

There are different degrees of low fence.

I made a statement you can't manage LF property, but that's not totally true, because it depends on several factors, and one being that of the size of the property, and if it's a small property whether or not the adjoining ranches have hunters that are on the same page as you are regarding management.

If those factors aren't in place then passing up a potential book deer hoping he gets bigger is probably going to be about the same as buying a scratch off ticket and hoping to be a winner.

Hey Doubledrop14!! Any updates/luck on this deer??

I'm doubledrop14's best friend. As said before, he's still showing up at the feeders and is on camera.

Here's an early velvet teaser. He was putting on up to 10 inches a week in velvet.

and if your wondering about this guy's obsession with the double drops and his screen name on here...

You horn hunters crack me up. No matter how big them horns are, they still taste awful!

If you boil the head to get all the flesh off of it for a Euro mount, add some veggies and it makes a great soup for those cold evenings after a long day of hunting.

When it comes to bucks, I'm a trophy hunter. I will take one or two does during bow season for the freezer and then it's on. Maybe one day I'll get to a point where a 160" deer, droptine/s or not, gets a free pass but not yet. I would let a 120"-130" 2 or 3 year old walk but if he was sportin' 150"+ at the same age, he wouldn't have another cold winter to worry about. When people ask me if a deer is big enough or not, I've always said "you'll just know".

Hard to kill a monster if you always kill the biggest one no matter how old.

you meat hunters crack me up.... no matter how much meat you get, it still looks like crap on the wall.

But it looks good next to the mashed taters and gravy!!! LOL

yes..... yes it does.

but those horns look good 20 years after you shot the deer. try that with fried backstrap!

Beauty is in the eye or the belly of the beholder. Either was is good.

thanks for all the advice and i will try to upload some pics as soon as i can. Yes they say a double drop is once in a lifetime but ive already killed two on low fence properties. One in Mexico and one at one of my favorite west texas hunting areas. we fed protien for the first time this year and will year round from here on out. A deer can grow up to 25 inches a year with enough protien. No possible way I can shoot a 160 3 year old that has potential to make the record books.

You do know that droptines sometimes appear one year and never again? Deer can grow a lot on a great rainfall year and protien and much more than 25" also. Hope he makes it for you and he has his drops also.

Easy to let em walk when they are in a high fence and you'll see em next year. I got nothing bad to say about a high fence but thats not the way that most of us hunt. Heck let a 150 walk if you have 170s and up on a high fence. For that matter if you breed deer and have folks come out and pay 1000s to shoot em let em all walk and walk to the bank.

Or if you hunt 1000s of acres and no pressure from the guy next door, yup let em walk. But if you hunt 350 and the guys next door shoot em up, 130-140 is a rare giant. It's a whole diffrent way of hunting from a pen to a low fence small place.

yep.

Well said!

We went from too many hunters and having to shoot the first buck we saw, to three hunters and seven years of letting almost all the 8s and 9s walk on a LF property. We now have some 10 points for the first time and some of these are the same bucks that were 8s and 9s. A few 10s got shot by the neighbors and we don't know what happened to the others. One 10 pt. last year is a 9 pt. this year, which is probably due to the dry spring and summer we had.

The 5.5 yr. old 10 point that I shot this year was much, much bigger in antler size than two years ago. Neighbors shot at him and missed during bow season, so I am fortunate to have been able to get him during gun season. I would have liked to let him go another year, but didn't take the chance like I did for the past two seasons.

I am still looking for that monster - -one of those 7.5 to 9.5 yr.old deer - one of those we let go by for many years and is still out there somewhere in the thicket. We are going to have to hunt the woods, so some new deer stands will be going up in 2011.

Spot on.

I've done it once and only once. About 7 or 8 years ago on my land I looked at a huge buck with a really, really, nice rack. No idea how old he was but I put the scope on him. Then I thought how much of a shame it would be to eat and mount the best of the breed. I let him walk and have never regretted it. I never saw him again and have no idea whether anyone else shot him.

More than likely he stayed nocturnal until Mother Nature took care of him.

Gotta disagree a bit on this one with you...hunting is hunting whether HF or LF if you let deer walk there are no guarantees that they will be there next year on either place. I will agree the odds are in your favor if it is HF though, but rut and post rut mortalities are higher inside the HF than on a LF. The big difference in the HF and LF place is the hunter....you can manage the hunter better behind a HF. If the management of the hunter were the same on HF or LF the issue of letting bucks walk would not even exist. Agree?

Ok....I noticed someone has beat me to it but I thought it important to say again....


You say you have trail cam pics but you dont post one...I say

Jasb,

This is the best response I have seen on this. I read many of these posts and it is obvious everyone always responds based on their situation. If I saw a double drop he hits the ground as soon as I can get the crosshairs on him and squeeze the trigger.

I wish everyone that hunted was willing to let'em walk until they were 4 1/2+ but that simply does not happen so if I see one that justifies the wall he goes down...funny because I have found I get more selective as the size of the Antlers on the wall increase those 2 1/2 and 3 1/2 year old bucks get a pass. Unfortunately athough I pass on them others on my lease are still at the place where they will take'em and the heard does not reach its potential...but who am I to judge them when 5 years ago I would have taken the same bucks....

To each his own as long as it is legal.

good luck on your deer, regardless of whether or not you shoot it this year.


as for deer walking and living in a HF< and you don't have to worry about it.... I've found way more dead deer on HF places that I've hunted than LF places, and I've only been on two HF leases, and probably 6 or 7 LF leases.

Uhhh... It gets easier to let big deer walk the more big deer you see..

It's all about situation... If it's a co op, HF or large acreage...

Here you go then guys. I hunted this ranch for management purposes this past weekend and took some pics of some trail cam pics of him. Actually saw him on Sunday morning and evening. Absolutely amazing deer. Unfortunately tho, he has broken his left drop/

And this ranch is not "small" by some standards, just DoubleDrop14's. It's 3k acres low fence and surrounded by farmland one all but on side.

ive let plenty of deer walk on our place, to never be seen again.

even in a high fence, its not a guaranteed thing like ya'll are making it sound

I had one this year that I was considering shooting. But he broke one of his brow tines. I'll get him next year.

High Fence is still a pen, dont care if its 45,000 acres, it is still a 45,000 acre pen.

M16 you shoulda nailed that sucker, browtine or not!

and I'll hunt the hell outta a 45k acre pen

Taxidermist can fix broke horns, may not be original but will do the job. 3.5 yr old deer is a pretty old deer in West Texas. I say shoot what you want no regrets.

Me too

Great, me not. Im kinda like Boone and Crockett............. I frown on pen hunting.

thats fine, me, dustin, amos and M16 will all be sitting around a fire drinking a cold one whilst admiring what good managment and selectiveness can do in the form of nice mature bucks hanging from the gamepole while ya'll are out fighting the masses trying to keep a fork horn from getting whacked.

There wont be any masses on my place.

I will be sitting around a fire drinking a sweet tea looking at what free range and fair chase look like.

Lets see. He could get hit by some of that oil field traffic and die.

He could get a leg caught in a fence and die.

He could get in a fight with another buck and die or just get hurt and get eaten by coyotes. Still dead.

He could just lay down and die.

Whatever floats your boat, but me, I'm busting him.

That is an awesome deer thanks for posting up photos of him because a lot of times that doesn't happen.

I agree with Bobby B as well, you just never know he could never look like that again or just die. As far as having the will to not shoot him just to see what he will be is, well, beyond me. I hope to see a post of him laying at your feet next year, if that is when you plan on shooting him.

Dont pass up the one on the first day that you would shoot on the last day....that chance may not arrive....I do agree with letting them walk but, each is his own....