First Day...Last Day?

sageadvice · Dec 26, 2009

How many of you hunters here agree with the old saying;

DON'T PASS UP A NICE ANIMAL ON THE FIRST DAY THAT IS BIG ENOUGH THAT YOU WOULD SHOOT IT ON THE LAST DAY!

I'm just curious how this runs. Maybe include a few words as to why you roll this or that way. Thanks!!

Joey

Hardway · Dec 27, 2009

LAST EDITED ON Dec-27-09 AT 08:13AM (MST)[p]this year i hunted hard every weekend (almost 10 weekends) looking fot the pig i missed with my bow opening day. i passed 7-8 little 2x's and 3x's untill the last day when i could no longer hold myself back. It was a pure chance kind of deal, if that little forkie did'nt show himself on the last day i still would have felt good about the season. So no....I dont agree with the statement. I say dont shoot a dink on the first day.....hunt your azz off...be prepared for tag soup...pull the tigger only if its what your lookin for...if you find a nice meat buck on the last day ....what the hell, its a bonus.

"A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."

HiMtnHntr · Dec 27, 2009

I've thought about that saying myself and even used it a few times with friends. However, I like to put meat in the freezer. It really depends a great deal on where I am hunting. In the areas around my home that I hunt, you would probably regret passing up any mature buck, because there just aren't that many. In areas that take a few years to draw, a lot of luck, and often a lot of money in the case of out of state hunts, I find it hard to accept going home with nothing. So, my standards tend to go down as the hunt progresses in these cases. Since I've been rewarded occasionally by holding out, and I know that a great buck might be just over the next ridge, I will hold out until there is simply no more time left. Someone searching for antlers only would be happy to go home empty if he didn't find the type of buck he was after. The expense of the hunt is justified by the experience of looking for a great buck and sticking to his standards. To shoot something he would regret would be a disservice to the animal because it would not be appreciated. For me, since I like the meat and have possibly spent a great deal of time, money, and effort on the hunt, something is probably going to hit the dirt eventually and I will be glad for it. I suspect this is the way a lot of guys approach hunting. I like antlers a lot, but I like to eat deer meat, too.

tagsoup · Dec 27, 2009

It does not bother me to pass up "small" bucks looking for a huge buck, even if it means eating tagsoup. When I was younger all i could think about was killing. Now that I am older all I think about is huge horns.

"Go big or go home"

justr_86 · Dec 27, 2009

My dad has a habit going, if he doesn't kill a nice buck or bull by 8 opening morning he won't kill anything. He hunts hard all season but usually if its gonna happen its early opening day for him.

If I'm in Utah I don't have a problem with tag soup, that new paper they use takes a little getting used to but it grows on you. Out of state I get less picky by the day but still won't shoot anything smaller than a 3 point.

hornhunter247 · Dec 27, 2009

I don't know how many hunters I run into through out the year hunting that have a little buck hanging in camp and all they do is complain about how there's no big deer left or the piss poor management the f&g is doing. I hunt for mature animals, not a score, I'll shoot a huge 2 point opening morning if he's old enough. now guys that hunt for a monster 4 point and then shoot a dink 2 or 3 point on the last day just to fill their tags are a bigger problem than any f&g plan in effect! imo

4orMore · Dec 27, 2009

I agree with most of you. For me, like my MM name says, I've got a personal rule that at least one side must have 4 points, big or small. I have no problem with eating "tagsoup" so I'll hold out until the end. I've shot too many little bucks when I was younger. My dad would tell me, "just take what's given to you." It works for some but not me anymore. I'd rather not kill at all than shoot a small buck. And to be more specific to your post, I shot a great buck opening morning this year that wasn't a monster, but I wasn't going to pass either. For me, I feel I need to let the younger bucks grow up. I'll never shoot a mature buck if I'm always shooting the first little buck I see.

HiMtnHntr · Dec 27, 2009

There's a difference between the guy that shoots the 2 pt just to fill his tag and the guy that shoots the 2 pt to put meat in the freezer. In the case of the former, this guy would probably be doing all of us a favor if he just ate his tag if he is not happy with his decision to shoot the deer. On the other hand, I have no problem with the guy sitting in camp grinning ear to ear over the 2 pt he just killed for the meat.

sageadvice · Dec 27, 2009

I been hunting good bucks only since i was still a kid some 45+ years ago. Getting a deer was never a problem. Where i hunted there were plenty to choose from so it was getting a big deer, one that had muscles bulging and a nice rack that floated my boat. I found thru years of hard hunting most every day during the season that bigger bucks, that had been in hiding, would sometimes finally show themselves toward the end, the last few magic days of the season. So, lots of years i'd be happy to take friends and family, let them fill out, but be sure to hold off and wait myself.

I just don't subscribe to that old saying. Yes, i've taken a few smaller bucks that looked good running up the far hillside only to find ground shrinkage. I'm generally happy with whatever buck i do take. But i'm not one to shoot a buck, ever, whenever, just to fill my tag to say i got my buck. To each their own on this and i realize a lot depends on the quality of country that you are able to hunt. That said, a buck has to be pretty darn good to get me to squeeze off on him the first day, no matter where i'm hunting.

Joey

nv_hunter · Dec 27, 2009

If it makes your blood pump....pull the triger!

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p248/nv_hunter/nevadaanimatedhelmetwd2.gif[/IMG]

D13er · Dec 27, 2009

>If it makes your blood pump....pull
>the triger!
>

with them fun bags at home you must dang near have your trigger wore out !!

...

>http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p248/nv_hunter/nevadaanimatedhelmetwd2.gif[/IMG]

great post/pic, thanks for sharing

JB

a3dhunter · Dec 27, 2009

Depends on where your at. I am more willing to shoot a small buck the last day on an out of state hunt so I at least take home some meat as long as the hunt has shown me that it would be okay to do so.

If I was hunting an area where I was seeing only a few deer and saw a few small bucks, I would go home empty handed.

Two years ago I hunted hard for 12 days, saw over 100 bucks in the area I was hunting. 85+ of those 100+ bucks were forked horn or smaller.
I was set on taking a nice buck I had seen a couple times but it didn't work out, on the last evening I saw a small buck that when looking at me it looked like a spike (which was legal) so I shot it for the meat.
Turned out that buck was the smallest forkie I have seen and he had tiny little eye guards as well. I was blasted on several forums for shooting that buck but he sure tasted good.
A month later I was hunting a different state and passed a lot of decent bucks because I knew I had some meat in the freezer, I ended the hunt on the 2nd to last day with my best buck to date.
Some guys say to shoot does if you want meat, which is great if it is financially feasable, I am not paying an additional $300 for a doe tag though.

I don't hunt to please others, I hunt to please myself and feed my family.

If the area is loaded with younger bucks I have no problem shooting a smaller buck, but I won't be planning my hunt to shoot a small buck and I will hunt my butt off looking for that wall hanger!

mtmuley · Dec 27, 2009

Sage, Do your friends and family know you saved the big bucks for yourself? LOL I am at the point in my life where I tend to try to take a big, mature deer. In the area I hunt with an OTC tag, that can be difficult. I won't kill a small muley buck just to fill a tag. mtmuley

sageadvice · Dec 27, 2009

Yeah Muley, they did!...and had no problem with that. I got hooked up early on with a few buds older than me that loved to hunt, longed for the big boys. Even as a young kid, i hung around the guys that hunted outa state a lot and i loved to hear their stories and to be there when they returned and unloaded.

Family members and the few guys i'd take out to shoot bucks that i knew, had scouted out, were just into getting a legal buck, didn't care how big it was, and we were all good with that.

Looking back, we had the perfect opportunity to manage our ranches for trophy deer. We never did though. Most years i'd guess 20-25 bucks would come off our place. The country was rough enough, plenty of heavy brush, and only a few roads, so road hunters, like my Dad, had to go some to get any buck but guys that put in the miles on foot, like i did, saw legal bucks every day. Late in the season though, like clock work, those smarter bucks necks would swell and they'd make mistakes...

Joey

NMPaul · Dec 27, 2009

First Day...Last Day?

This only applies to cow elk hunting.

one_dryboot · Dec 27, 2009

If its not bigger then what I have killed then I let them go. Now, next year might be hard to do. I will hunt the whole season trying to kill the biggest buck of my life. I look over alot of deer and pick out a few of the bigger ones that didnt quite measure up for the last day. If I dont find what I am looking for by the end of the hunt,I will go back looking for the "backup" deer I passed. Usually they are 160 type. I feel a 160+ deer is a good deer but you cant kill a monster if you shoot the smaller ones.

So to answer your question, I will pass up bucks on the first day that I might shoot the last day. 180+ any day im shooting

oilcan · Dec 27, 2009

In theory i agree with that saying but the last 2 years i have elected not to apply it.Two years ago i regretted it and this year it worked out for the best.

polarbear · Dec 28, 2009

Nope, i pick a certain type of buck that I am after and won't settle for less even if it means eating a tag. With that said this looks like the first year in over 20 that I will voluntarily eat tag soup. I have had several slam dunk opportunities on decent bucks this season but you will never get what you want if you settle! I still have until the end of the year to get that particular buck that I am after but it aint looking good and I am fine with it.

Eric

Ultra liberal, wolf loving, illiterate, gay, hippie midgets on crack piss me off!!!!

Romulus · Dec 28, 2009

I will definitely pass up bucks on the first day that I would shoot on the last day. In colorado third season for example I will try to shoot a monster for the first 4 or 5 days of the 7 day season. With 1 or 2 days left I would then shoot a mature buck if I could find it. Usually most of the hunting pressure is gone by the 4th or 5th day and I can usually find a pretty good buck in the last 2 days. I am willing to eat my tag if I can't find something decent. Sometimes it works and sometimes the best buck I see is early in the hunt and I kill a lesser animal later. Usually still a respectable buck just not the best buck seen. I enjoy the hunt so I dont want to kill a buck unless it is a real no brainer until I have hunted for the majority of the season. The seasons are to short and the off season to long to shoot something just so I can say I got a buck. To each their own however.

Moosey69 · Dec 28, 2009

I agree with most, that I disagree with the original question. I have and will continue to pass up bucks early in the season that I would probably take the last couple days. I love to fill the freezer, but I also love to hunt for the big ones so much that I am not willing to end my hunt too early on a dink.

eelgrass · Dec 28, 2009

While out of state, I have a goal in mind. If it happens on the first day, great. I never settle for less than my goal while out of state. At least I haven't yet. That may change now that I'm older.

In California it's not an issue because we're allowed two blacktail tags. Pop the first milk buck you see for the freezer then trophy hunt with the second tag.

Eel

Know guns, know peace, know safety. No guns, no peace, no safety.