Post by: DaNewb on December 17, 2025, 08:02:44 AM
You have a 4-point buck in your sights. A forgone conclusion that deer is coming home with you if you fire.
Except you do not care about the rack, you know you won't get it mounted, you don't even have the wall space back home to hang it...in fact, you don't even want to pack the head and antlers out of the woods.
It's a big deer with a lot more meat on its bones than any of the does you've seen, and that is all that matters.
Do you let it pass so that someone who does care about a nice mount such as this can take it and hang it on their wall, or do you fire and fill the freezer, leaving the rack to the shed hunters?
:dunno:
Post by: Pathfinder101 on December 17, 2025, 08:51:33 AM
Lots more meat off a mature buck than a younger one. Rack won't do shed hunters any good in WA, that would be a "deadhead" and in WA you can't pick those up. Killing a mature buck (4-5 years old) means that you are taking an old deer out of the habitat and making room in the carrying capacity for younger deer to survive. That 4-5 year old buck probably only has another year or two that he's going to live anyway.
Donate the antlers to a Hunter Education program for wildlife ID classes if I don't have room for them at home.
The fact is that "Trophy Hunting" aligns best with the North American Model of Wildlife Management because you are taking an older animal out of the population that has already done most of what it was going to do on the planet anyway. :twocents:
Post by: Ghost Hunter on December 17, 2025, 09:00:13 AM
Post by: hunter399 on December 17, 2025, 09:04:03 AM
I'd say invest in a game cart,or a support system of family and friends to help pack.
Or hunt a lot closer to the road.
With CWD,your cutting out lymphs ,or taking the head to check station.
Even a spike I'd bring home for dog chews.
They have compact meat saw or hacksaw you can carry to cut the skull plate and still have a mount. Without carrying the whole head.
Post by: boneaddict on December 17, 2025, 09:41:04 AM
Post by: Kingofthemountain83 on December 17, 2025, 12:09:49 PM
Post by: Pathfinder101 on December 17, 2025, 01:37:15 PM
I'd shoot it and do a european mount... I like those... I'd get it home and cut it up to mostly roast, burger, steak up the backstraps.... My dad would throw the rack on a shelf in the garage with the rest of them... He's never cared about antlers... Was raised a meat hunter and never changed... If it's legal, he's going to take it if he can... The only time I seen him be selective he had a quality muzzy any bull tag and a quality modern any buck tag... And I don't recommend leaving any animal head behind just in case you run into a warden... You can always give the head away later or go toss it back into the woods for a dead head... I heard about a guy a few years ago that used a salvage tag on a dead head he found while hunting... After seeing it I understood... :chuckle: Genius move imo!
Holy cow. That IS genius. :yike: I never thought of that...
Good trick to have in your back pocket...