What is the mental dynamic involved

[Howboutthemdawgs]

When did i ever say not to shoot does? Shoot em, they taste good.
Do you have food plots?

Not trying to start anything, genuinely curious. I’m going to approach some of my neighbors about starting a co-op in the off-season. Currently we have me and two others with a loose co-op of about a thousand acres. Would love to get some more neighbors on board. Giving your stance, what would you do if one of your neighbors, or a group, approached you and asked if you would be interested in passing on 2 and 3 year olds in an effort to improve age class? No repercussions, it’s your land, but voluntarily entering into a neighborly agreement to try your best to make educated decisions on passing younger bucks.

 

[SwampCat]

Not trying to start anything, genuinely curious. I’m going to approach some of my neighbors about starting a co-op in the off-season. Currently we have me and two others with a loose co-op of about a thousand acres. Would love to get some more neighbors on board. Giving your stance, what would you do if one of your neighbors, or a group, approached you and asked if you would be interested in passing on 2 and 3 year olds in an effort to improve age class? No repercussions, it’s your land, but voluntarily entering into a neighborly agreement to try your best to make educated decisions on passing younger bucks.

I have tried that with little luck - but there are different circumstances driving that. One area lease is 1000 acres with 12 members. They feel if they were limited to 4 yr and older, they would have a hard time all killing a buck. They spend good money for a lease, take time off work, and think they deserve to kill a buck. I have a number of small ten to twenty acre landowners - and they feel they dont have enough land to make a difference.

In my local area - no one besides me spends a large part of their life and income toward habitat management and hunting. These guys have deer on the brain for maybe a month before season up through the first couple weeks of MG season - then it is back to real life - family and hard work. Deer hunting for the majority of people is a welcome break - not a life style. I know of no one besides me, in my area, who owns land strictly for hunting. I am not in a destination area for any kind of hunting. You dont take a special trip to come to my area to hunt. I promise, none of my neighbors are on habitat forum.

You can’t blame these folks for not being immersed in the sport.

 

[sandbur]

Not trying to start anything, genuinely curious. I’m going to approach some of my neighbors about starting a co-op in the off-season. Currently we have me and two others with a loose co-op of about a thousand acres. Would love to get some more neighbors on board. Giving your stance, what would you do if one of your neighbors, or a group, approached you and asked if you would be interested in passing on 2 and 3 year olds in an effort to improve age class? No repercussions, it’s your land, but voluntarily entering into a neighborly agreement to try your best to make educated decisions on passing younger bucks.

Years back, when I had stars in my eyes from QDMA, I asked my neighbor about that. He said that he couldn’t do it because he had a lot of nephews and nieces that wanted to hunt. Now things have somewhat reversed. He and his son are more into bow hunting mature bucks as well as many of his nephews. I like to shoot a mature buck but have also shot young ones at present.

Life is much better and we try not to be too critical of what each other shoots.


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[sandbur]

I quit using trail cams about 5-7 years ago.

Have the use of trail cams led people to calling specific deer ‘their’ deer, while before you only had large tracks and a once or twice a season spotting of a specific buck?

I kind of like not using trail cams. No names on bucks. No identification of a hit list or shooter list. You see him and decide if you shoot or not.


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[Howboutthemdawgs]

I quit using trail cams about 5-7 years ago.

Have the use of trail cams led people to calling specific deer ‘their’ deer, while before you only had large tracks and a once or twice a season spotting of a specific buck?

I kind of like not using trail cams. No names on bucks. No identification of a hit list or shooter list. You see him and decide if you shoot or not.


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Yeah I could definitely start a whole discussion about cams and even more specifically cell cams. I’m on both sides of the fence with it but if they were illegal I would cheer.

 

[PrairieShadow]

I have tried that with little luck - but there are different circumstances driving that. One area lease is 1000 acres with 12 members. They feel if they were limited to 4 yr and older, they would have a hard time all killing a buck. They spend good money for a lease, take time off work, and think they deserve to kill a buck. I have a number of small ten to twenty acre landowners - and they feel they dont have enough land to make a difference.

In my local area - no one besides me spends a large part of their life and income toward habitat management and hunting. These guys have deer on the brain for maybe a month before season up through the first couple weeks of MG season - then it is back to real life - family and hard work. Deer hunting for the majority of people is a welcome break - not a life style. I know of no one besides me, in my area, who owns land strictly for hunting. I am not in a destination area for any kind of hunting. You dont take a special trip to come to my area to hunt. I promise, none of my neighbors are on habitat forum.

You can’t blame these folks for not being immersed in the sport.

I’ve approached all my neighbors at some point about only shooting mature deer. I got lots of agreements but when it comes right down to it, it’s lots of excuses and very little follow through. Actually was a Real eye opener to me as to how terrible/naive people are at what a mature buck looks like on the hoof taking antlers out of the equation.

I do have one neighbor who really hopped on board. Honestly though, I think he was on board prior to our conversation, just no one else was so he wasn’t either type deal.

 

[Bill Loser]

Not trying to start anything, genuinely curious. I’m going to approach some of my neighbors about starting a co-op in the off-season. Currently we have me and two others with a loose co-op of about a thousand acres. Would love to get some more neighbors on board. Giving your stance, what would you do if one of your neighbors, or a group, approached you and asked if you would be interested in passing on 2 and 3 year olds in an effort to improve age class? No repercussions, it’s your land, but voluntarily entering into a neighborly agreement to try your best to make educated decisions on passing younger bucks.

Im not sure really, its a pretty good question.

I would probably first ask a few questions. First would be who is all in on it. IMO unless there were enough landowners with land amounting to 1000s of acres then whats the point? Deer will go where they want to go and unless you can hold them then its completely pointless . We are surrounded by public hunting grounds and family groups who are known for shooting everything that moves.
Second would be what are the parameters? Is it a reasonable proposition, or just dreams of every buck being at least 160" ? We have decent land but gotta keep it real!
Third would be who gets exemptions? I.E kids, first time hunters etc. How many exemptions?
Fourth would be how many non-landowners are going to be allowed to come in and hunt? I really don't like the idea of putting in the work and time only to have some guys brothers friends uncles best friend from grade school coming in and reaping the benefits every year.
Do you see where I'm going with this? Hunting should be fun, relaxing and enjoyable. To me spending the whole season worrying that someone might shoot the "wrong" deer, or "my" deer or worrying that I might make the wrong decision and shoot the "wrong" deer or someone else's deer just doesn't seem like fun or relaxing.

To be 100% honest about it, when I first read your post and started typing my reply, I was thinking I would probably say some version of yes, But as I type I am changing my mind. It seems like eventually an agreement like that would only end in hard feelings and lost friendships.

So full circle back i guess I really dont know what my true answer would be. If the circumstances were right, and I knew or got to know everyone I think maybe my answer would be I would try it and see how it went but no promises.
Is this all an answer to your question? I'm not really sure anymore....LOL

HAPPY THANKSGIVING ALL!

 

[Bill Loser]

Yeah I could definitely start a whole discussion about cams and even more specifically cell cams. I’m on both sides of the fence with it but if they were illegal I would cheer.

That we can totally agree on! I stopped using cameras a couple years ago, my deer sightings per sit have gone up drastically. I drove to central Illinois with a guy who had a bunch of cell cams on his land. He spent the entire time staring at his phone looking at pics of deer.... Which I wouldn't mind, but he was DRIVING!

 

[Bill Loser]

So as long as we are at it, my question to you would be since you started hunting only mature deer is your hunting experience better, worse, or the same as it was before ? Be 100% honest about it as I am genuinely interested.
The guys I know that are completely into it just seem like its become work to them. There is no real enjoyment to it anymore. Is it that way for any of you or do you ever worry about it becoming that way?

 

[sandbur]

So as long as we are at it, my question to you would be since you started hunting only mature deer is your hunting experience better, worse, or the same as it was before ? Be 100% honest about it as I am genuinely interested.
The guys I know that are completely into it just seem like its become work to them. There is no real enjoyment to it anymore. Is it that way for any of you or do you ever worry about it becoming that way?

I went through that period of only hunting mature deer and my wife sat me down and gave MEA ‘talkin to.’ She said that I complain if I don’t shoot a mature deer and I complain if my neighbors shoot a mature deer.

She told me that if I didn’t change my attitude, neither she or my daughters would hunt with me.

So now, we shoot what we want to shoot and try and make good choices based on the herd dynamics and crop damage. We might pass young bucks the first few days and maybe not later in the season.

One of our goals is prime venison and that means younger deer.

She was right. It much more fun to just hunt and enjoy it.


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[Mortenson]

So as long as we are at it, my question to you would be since you started hunting only mature deer is your hunting experience better, worse, or the same as it was before ? Be 100% honest about it as I am genuinely interested.
The guys I know that are completely into it just seem like its become work to them. There is no real enjoyment to it anymore. Is it that way for any of you or do you ever worry about it becoming that way?

It's better for me. I have no desire to shoot a young buck and I'm fine eating tag soup. I also really enjoy watching deer from the stand. Every so often when I drop a big one there's a nice sense of it was worth the wait. I don't think guys should make the mistake of thinking your average mature buck hunter on this forum resembles a youtube/industry/"smoked him!" big buck slayer. We're just regular dudes who let the little ones walk.

 

[Bill Loser]

I went through that period of only hunting mature deer and my wife sat me down and gave MEA ‘talkin to.’ She said that I complain if I don’t shoot a mature deer and I complain if my neighbors shoot a mature deer.

She told me that if I didn’t change my attitude, neither she or my daughters would hunt with me.

So now, we shoot what we want to shoot and try and make good choices based on the herd dynamics and crop damage. We might pass young bucks the first few days and maybe not later in the season.

One of our goals is prime venison and that means younger deer.

She was right. It much more fun to just hunt and enjoy it.


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Thats kind of where I am at. I shoot what I want when I want to and dont ever regret it.

 

[Bill Loser]

It's better for me. I have no desire to shoot a young buck and I'm fine eating tag soup. I also really enjoy watching deer from the stand. Every so often when I drop a big one there's a nice sense of it was worth the wait. I don't think guys should make the mistake of thinking your average mature buck hunter on this forum resembles a youtube/industry/"smoked him!" big buck slayer. We're just regular dudes who let the little ones walk.

I dont necessarily think that of all of you... some maybe! Lol

 

[Buckly]

I have tried that with little luck - but there are different circumstances driving that. One area lease is 1000 acres with 12 members. They feel if they were limited to 4 yr and older, they would have a hard time all killing a buck. They spend good money for a lease, take time off work, and think they deserve to kill a buck. I have a number of small ten to twenty acre landowners - and they feel they dont have enough land to make a difference.

In my local area - no one besides me spends a large part of their life and income toward habitat management and hunting. These guys have deer on the brain for maybe a month before season up through the first couple weeks of MG season - then it is back to real life - family and hard work. Deer hunting for the majority of people is a welcome break - not a life style. I know of no one besides me, in my area, who owns land strictly for hunting. I am not in a destination area for any kind of hunting. You dont take a special trip to come to my area to hunt. I promise, none of my neighbors are on habitat forum.

You can’t blame these folks for not being immersed in the sport.

I found that the neighbors had a different interpretation of a mature buck. After inspecting several of their monster old age deer I found that they were 1.5 years old. LOL. Anything with antlers to them was mature. So I found it impossible to do any kind of co-op type thing. Almost all agreed to do it. the reality is no one did it. I gave that up pretty quickly. I found the most success in believing the mature bucks could fend for themselves. Rarely if ever did the neighbors shoot a mature buck so I just conclude the bucks knew how to avoid them.

 

[PrairieShadow]

I found that the neighbors had a different interpretation of a mature buck. After inspecting several of their monster old age deer I found that they were 1.5 years old. LOL. Anything with antlers to them was mature. So I found it impossible to do any kind of co-op type thing. Almost all agreed to do it. the reality is no one did it. I gave that up pretty quickly. I found the most success in believing the mature bucks could fend for themselves. Rarely if ever did the neighbors shoot a mature buck so I just conclude the bucks knew how to avoid them.

I had a new neighbor a few years back. Same deal. They shoot inmature deer and think they’ve killed a great one. It drove me crazy for a year or two. Now i look at it as the sooner they shoot a little one and are done hunting, the better for me and MY mature deer.

 

[PrairieShadow]

So as long as we are at it, my question to you would be since you started hunting only mature deer is your hunting experience better, worse, or the same as it was before ? Be 100% honest about it as I am genuinely interested.
The guys I know that are completely into it just seem like its become work to them. There is no real enjoyment to it anymore. Is it that way for any of you or do you ever worry about it becoming that way?

Interesting question. I did the shoot any deer you see growing up. Made the best memories of my life with my grandpa doing that.

Now though, I put in the work all spring/summer/fall. My season would be over the first sit every year if I did that now. I want to be hunt, and generally hunt one specific deer. Good problem to have I guess

So for me the experience has gotten better by only shooting mature deer.

My son who is just to hunting age (5) does make me consider what strategy I will have in the years to come though.

 

[Bill Loser]

I had a new neighbor a few years back. Same deal. They shoot inmature deer and think they’ve killed a great one. It drove me crazy for a year or two. Now i look at it as the sooner they shoot a little one and are done hunting, the better for me and MY mature deer.

Thats what I mean. Spending all that time worrying about what others shoot is not fun to me. Right now i worry more about numbers shot than size of deer shot.

 

[Bill Loser]

Interesting question. I did the shoot any deer you see growing up. Made the best memories of my life with my grandpa doing that.

Now though, I put in the work all spring/summer/fall. My season would be over the first sit every year if I did that now. I want to be hunt, and generally hunt one specific deer. Good problem to have I guess

So for me the experience has gotten better for me by only shooting mature deer.

My son who is just to hunting age (5) does make me consider what strategy I will have in the years to come though.

Ever evolving, as it should be.
I dont shoot the first buck i see almost ever. Truth be told i havent shot a buck in 3 years. I passed up 3 or 4 this year then pulled the trigger on a ok 6 or 8 but shoulder bladed him and never recovered him. Was just sick about it and kind of stopped bow hunting for the most part after that.

 

[Howboutthemdawgs]

So as long as we are at it, my question to you would be since you started hunting only mature deer is your hunting experience better, worse, or the same as it was before ? Be 100% honest about it as I am genuinely interested.
The guys I know that are completely into it just seem like its become work to them. There is no real enjoyment to it anymore. Is it that way for any of you or do you ever worry about it becoming that way?

Valid question. Exponentially better. I haven’t shot a buck all 4 years I’ve owned property. Then again I purposely make life hard on myself. I bow hunt only, don’t hunt over bait in a bait state and am extremely picky on what I am willing to shoot. But my experiences are way more memorable. Watching a borderline shooter walk within 10 yards is pretty heart pumping. Additionally I’ve had to become a better hunter. I don’t enjoy easy victories, call it a flaw, but I like to know something I achieved took some suffering, skill and hard work. I had a 160” deer hitting a feeder every evening of opening 2 weeks of deer season and another target buck doing the same. I could have easily shot either of those deer but refuse to hunt that way. I bet 95% of deer in ky opening couple weeks are killed like that. But that means nothing to me. Took no skill other than observing a camera and keeping a feeder full.

 

[Booner21]

So as long as we are at it, my question to you would be since you started hunting only mature deer is your hunting experience better, worse, or the same as it was before ? Be 100% honest about it as I am genuinely interested.
The guys I know that are completely into it just seem like its become work to them. There is no real enjoyment to it anymore. Is it that way for any of you or do you ever worry about it becoming that way?

I would agree killing mature bucks is a lot more like work than shooting anything that walks by. Full disclosure I am in the Midwest and feel confident I can draw my bow on a mature buck every year. While it is more work up front the reward is much more fulfilling for me. I still get just as much enjoyment from watching deer. Mature deer are more about the challenge I could realistically kill a small buck or doe just about every hunt. for others in the same area where we have plenty of deer and plenty of mature deer I do struggle some with people shooting small bucks year after year. But at the end of the day they can shoot what makes them happy and I go on with my day.

That being said my boys are starting to hunt and sitting with them is just as fun as hunting mature deer and they get to blast anything they want including the very best 2 or 3 year old that walks by. Very different but just as fun!


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