Well 2009 hunting season started with only one buck on my mine. I have had a large buck and good picture's of this buck. But I had some other big bucks around. My first night in the stand I past this buck and I passed him at least 5 time's that season. Now here's how it went for me. The buck that I had my mind on never came into my stand. But I did see him in November and to my sadness watch him get shoot by another hunter. The buck I passed up I found four day ago dead and he would have scored 123" with 5 5/8" in deductions. So in 2009 I did not take a white tail and after finding the buck I passed dead I'm not happy with my choice now.

I now the felling about passing up bucks and watching them get taken by outher hunters.I live in texas and if you pass it up and it jumps to the neighber it will most likely be shot.But for my exp. you will be rewarded.I have hunted from mexico to kansas and I have never taking bucks in the 140" class but passing them up was hard but lady luck finaly came my way. with three deer in the upper 140's and one in the 150's. Hang in there and keep-em sharp.

I too live in Texas and can attest to passing up a buck and seeing it cross the fence only to be blasted a few minutes later. One man's trophy is often another man's management buck. We even tried to speak with property owners on either side of us to get them to cooperate on not shooting marginal bucks. Did not go so well. I feel your pain. If I am with a young boy or girl on their first hunt I find I am much more prone to let them get their feet wet as I know the young bucks and management bucks mean much more to them as a trophy. I try to look for the classic saggy bellied, flop eared, big brisket, saggy back , bony butt buck for myself and my son now that he has a good one under his belt. I believe if meat is what someone is after they would be better off killing an old doe instead of a buck, but some are hung up on the idea that a buck is always better. Very strange and always will be. I think it would be good for states to allow doe harvest during buck season. I always thought states like Pennsylvania would benefit from allowing doe to be harvested during their "buck season". That way a hunter would have the option to take a deer for meat and not feel cubby holed into having to shoot a buck regardless.

As you can see in my pic just this last Saturday I had a clear 20yrd on a small 6 blocking us from getting to our stand! The rest of the night we saw nothing... and the following night as well! I know what's in that field though and trust me it'll worth the wait in the end!

I struggled for a long time on passing up bucks. It is hard to watch them get taken by other hunters when you had hopes of getting something bigger and better while you let the other walk to get bigger and better. I have been lucky enough to take several great bucks because I decided to wait. I usually dont hunt a particular buck but I do hunt a certain class of buck. Trust me I have seen some great bucks jump the fence and get taken. BUT, I do realize that for every couple of bucks that are taken over the fence there is a good chance that another is lurking in the shadows to grow another year. Trust me I have kicked myself plenty over passed opportunities. Last year I passed 2 that were marginal. One was taken by another hunter and one was never seen again. On the other hand, I walked away empty handed last year in the buck category. In Indiana we can only take one buck per year. But I still carry a smile on the thought that the one that got away may very well be there this year and even bigger and better.

were i hunt if you let walk 20min later the way it went you here a shoot so it hard to let them go sometimes

Everyone has their own goals when it comes to hunting. Some of those goals are dictated by variables like pressure, available time to hunt and location. A great season does not have to end with a 200" buck. A good hunt has great memories. When my son begins hunting with me my goals will change. A spike buck will make me happy at that point. For me, for the time being, I dont mind filling the freezer with a few does and holding out for the big one. Like I said before it has left me with a big goose egg in the end of the season from time to time.

I call this the growth of a deer hunter as at one time I had the motto. If it is brown it is down... spike or forker... it was a horned deer and the law said I could kill it so i did...... Not just on the property I hunted but on other folks property that did not say it must be outside the ears and have at least 4 on one side "type rules". One day I realised that the hunt alone was what made it all worth while and to get a trophy... Sounds like mighty big words from a guy that did not kill a deer that was big enough, (By general standards) to put one the wall until I was almost 25.... Well that was an extra... I guess I realised that the 2 year old eight points were nothing more than meat to me and a rack that may or may not be cut off and thrown in the pile with others. I guess my thoughts turned to that deer may make it and be a monster next season for SOMEONE or hey, that 8 point might not be a trophy to me, but may for someone else. So, I guess by thinking that way, I am glad to see a deer I passed on either make it another year or end up as another hunters trophy that he is proud of to a point that he might even mount it. For me if it is meat, I would rather have the young doe. After all, what do we do with the horns we cut off from the bucks we killed over the years that we do not mount?
I am seriously thinking of making a few lamp stands. Hey, other than the memories of when and where I killed them, they will work as light fixtures in my trophy room.
I can understand that passing them up can be hard and I have ate tag soup out of respect of the QDM program people are trying to run... I tell ya, i would have just as well had a doe tag in Indiana at least two years as although I had a few solid 140's in my sights, they were 2 and a half and would or will be whoppers in the next few seasons. If not for me, someone else that hunts the area. Long way from brow is down to let them go, and hope they grow....