Buck Or Doe ?

[freedomrules3]

For years when i lived in West Virginia they had a bucks only season and a 3 day doe season. I would spend days in the woods just looking for ANY buck to kill during the bucks only season. ussually by the time doe season came around they also became more difficult due to hunting pressure during the bucks only season.
After moving to maryland i soon found out that WV was way off base in their deer management plan, yet still i would shoot any buck simply just to kill a buck.
The last few years i have completely changed my point of view on killing bucks. its not just because i haven't seen any good or decent bucks. i feel i have just grown as a hunter into a completely different mode. i finally realised that a buck isnt ussually the best eating of the two and i no longer have to try and impress anyone by shooting a buck simply to say "yea i got a 7 pointer this year".

I used to shoot bucks for that very reason and i now know why i shouldn't. i've shot bucks bigger than my mounts on the wall but still failed to get them mounted due to the extra cash needed. i simply cut the horns off and off to the shed or made things from them. i would eat the meat after the does i took were gone.

I now only feel the need to shoot a buck if only it is a true book buck or something that i feel needs to be taken from the herd. some would call this 'antler awe" but i tend to think it is just the opposite. i believe antler awe was when i just shot bucks simply to say i got a buck. i tend to call this more of "smarter hunting" . i really enjoy eating does much more than bucks.

I actually dont mind tag soup on a buck anymore and feel i have matured as a hunter in the process. i don't mind other hunters shooting anything they want , so dont take this as a degrading of someone who still feels they should shoot a buck every year. its simply a matter of choice and i no longer feel the urge or need to tag a buck yearly.
anyone else seem to be heading in this same direction that i have seemed to taken on?

[Twanger]

I'm the same. My buck standards are a little lower than yours, but basically I won't think about shooting a buck unless he's over 100-inches. "Eat a doe, bucks are for show." I'm over shooting small bucks that just aren't mature. I alway wonder what they would have looked like when they grow up. Like you said, that's just me, and I'm not going to bust on somebody for shooting a young 6-pointer.

[ARO]

rick, theres nothing wrong that. i enjoy being in the woods and seeing deer, and i also like to shoot a couple deer too. i was raised as a meat hunter, shoot what ever i saw, no matter what it was. about 6 years ago, i started to get a little more into hunting, and passing up does. now i am to the point in my hunting career were i try to shoot 2 1/2 year olds or older.
i just enjoy being in nature, hanging out with my huntin buddies, and shooting some deer. i dont have to shoot the biggest deer in the woods to have a good time hunting, i am just as happy to shoot rack buck. maybe some day i will raise my standard to p&y or better, but right now i am just having to much fun, and when it stops being fun, its time to find a new hobby!!