Do you let them walk...

[Humptulips]

For me it changes every hunt based on a lot of factors.

1)Do I still have meat from last year in the freezer?
2)Do I have meat in the freezer from this year?
3)What hunts do I still have left in the season and what is the likelihood of filling those tags?
4)What am I seeing and how many days do I have to hunt?
5)In state, out of state, otc, quality tag.

All these go into my decision on whether to pull the trigger or release an arrow or at least I try to use them as my decision. More times than I can count have I told myself I was holding out, only to whack the first buck I saw. No regrets on any of them either because they all provided meat for the freezer which is the ultimate goal

This

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xxx4

Yea, at different times I could have marked any of those categories. A couple of times when hunting high buck way back in a wilderness area I would have been called a trophy hunter albeit I agree about confusion on the term. At the time there was a lot of season left and I was looking for something special.
Other times when there were more deer, I was young and had a lot of time I have let smaller bucks go but that does seem to change as the season gets late because ultimately, I value the hunt, the meat in the freezer and the size of the horns in that order. I do want to be successful, but I would draw the line at shooting a doe even if legal. Just to be clear though, that is a personal decision. I wouldn't think less of someone who did.
Right now, it would be the first legal buck or bull.

[Birdguy]

For us (I am always hunting with one of my kids) we shoot first legal animal and by we, I mean them. If the kid misses I will shoot (only happened one time and it was beyond freezing cold) but otherwise we usually take one deer off the property and for many years it has been a kids hunt which I enjoy the heck out of!!

[TeacherMan]

My drive for a mature animal goes up more every year. With that said I let mature animals walk too in the early season. I just love being in the woods. Early season they have to be 170”+ for me to end my season early. On average I’m out 3-5 days a week Sept through end of November. The last day of the season 12/1 I’ll still hold out for a 135/140” buck. I’m really out there for the experiences more now than anything else. Could be why I’m looking at buying 1/2 a beef too 😂

[huntnnw]

I hunt mature bucks and thats it. I am not starving or going to starve cause I didnt kill a deer. The whole point of hunting in my eyes is to enjoy the process, being outdoors and taking it all in. If a buck doesnt excite me I am not shooting, sorry but seeing some tiny little 2x3 etc just dont do it for me. If I ever lose that excitement of seeing a big buck ill quit hunting.

what cracks me up is the people saying " you cant eat horns" well that 1.5 yr old buck you blasted has mere fraction of meat when it comes to yield of a mature buck its about 3-1

[BLH69]

i get tired of hearing i took a meat buck. bigger and older bucks have more meat.