I let the little guy go.......

[Rat]

Was out skulking the local state land looking for Elk with my 1861. Either sex deer is open too, but I really wasn't looking to shoot a deer.

Then I saw what looked like a doe coming my way, and decided that since the wife was bugging me to shoot a deer that I probably should...and a nice doe seemed like the most tasty option. Still got some buck in the freezer.

Got the '61 on full cock and then the deer just happened to turn his head so that I could see these tiny spikes. Or kind of a cross between spikes and nubs. Then he kept coming towards me until he was ten feet away, stopped and stared at me wondering what kind of strange two legged bush I was.

Well the little guy had made it through all the seasons and was probably only a little over a year old so I sent him on his way to grow up and become a real buck.

Enjoyed that deer walking right up to me as much as shooting one. And no I didn't see any elk.

Rat

 

[Huntinfool]

That's a good move Rat. :redthumb: I try to shoot does and let little bucks walk also.

YMH&OS,
Chuck

 

[tg]

Yeah!...yeah!...that's what I did..I let 8 deer go last Thursday all were 100plus yds away and I just let them go..kind of a catch and release program without the catch part....

 

[tna]

i took a doe last year that turned out to be a button buck. still feel bad about that.

 

[Slowpoke]

Not to many sportsman out there today named "Rat". You did well.

SP

 

[whummell]

Carry a camera with you next time. That way you have your experience and a souvenir also. Good sportsmanship

 

[Stumpkiller]

You done good.

But not me, boy. After losing my primary hunting spot to a lease and having six days with only two glimpses, I had an hour of daylight after a dentist's visit and went up the hill behind my house Tuesday. I jumped a spike and he ran 20 yards, turned, and offerred me a 50 yard shot.

Most years I'd have passed, but I ain't too proud to take what's offerred. Spikes eat just fine.

 

[KyFlintlock]

We used to shoot the first buck we saw and never saw any big ones :hmm:. But, then we started passing the little un's and started taking a much better class buck. Of course, this is on private ground too.

congrats on the close encounter and I hope you get another crack at him in a few years.

 

[Rat]

Oh I hear ya Stump, spikes are tasty critters and probably most of the time you couldn't tell one from a doe just by tasting. I wasn't too proud, just proud of the little guy that he had made it through all the seasons.

Although, I am kind of assuming that he doesn't usually walk right up to people!! That was funny.

::

Rat

 

[musketman]

I wasn't too proud, just proud of the little guy that he had made it through all the seasons.

That was a survival tactic, it really was a full grown, 5 year old anaemic miniature buck who had his horns gnawed down by a beaver that owed him a favor... :crackup: :what:

Really though, there is more to hunting than killing, and this little buck will remember you and come back to your spot when it's a sassy 14 pointer to repay you for your kindness...

 

[Bob J]

My dad taught us boys the same line of thinking; don't shoot a sow with piglets, be sure there's not a deer standing behind the deer you are aiming at, don't be a game hog, etc. When he bought 160 acres of hardwoods in N. Fla. (and leased 280 around it), the dog hunters and poachers had been running all over it. Slowly things improved and we started seeing small-antlered bucks. At first we shot several, then decided to implement a 6 point minimum; couple of years and we started seeing a few six to eight pointers. Last season I finally saw a BIG buck (but I has taken the shotgun that particular AM thinking I'd get Grandma a turkey :curse. Its better to hunt some does also and work on a better buck-to-doe ratio. Oh yeah, we don't hunt the feeders! ::

 

[RussB]

Rat...You Da Man!

Good story. I would have done the very same thing.
I know what they say about the buck / doe ratio...I've read their books, and heard their stories. I've also hunted with people who are dead set against taking a doe, and feel it borders on sinful behavior.

I assure you, Doe sandwiches eat just fine.

I am certainly not against taking a nice buck, but a real young buck deserves a chance, unless you can see his antlers are deformed, or something else is obivously wrong in the gene pool. (Sometimes you just don't want him mateing and spreading whatever it is that he may have).

I think you did good by letting the little fellow go. :redthumb:

Russ