Depression sets in

[HUNTER2]

Well I had 2 nice bucks on the property. 1 got shot with a bow 20 yards from my property line by the neighbors friend a week before slug season. Then I called my neighbor last week to see if he had seen the other big one lately. He said that one was shot the first weekend of the slug season about 1 1/2 miles away. Maybe it doesn't pay to let them go for a few years to get bigger. They just wonder off and get shot by someone else. Well I passed on some 6 and 8 pointers this year. Maybe they will stick around.

[whiteoakbuck]

how much land do you own? i know what you mean it's really hard to grow big bucks and hope no other hunters get them

[HUNTER2]

157 acres

[Swany]

Bummer Hunter2, I feel your pain/frustration 100%. Letting good, 2.5 and 3.5  year old bucks with potential walk is really tough unless you own 1000 acres. But if you aren't happy taking them, it's the right thing to do.

[beeker]

if those ones are gone more will move in. I wouldn't give up on the QDM ideology just yet.

[stevejedlenski]

eventually those guys next door will start thinking like you. maybe they did pass on the smaller ones and got lucky with the big ones. its better they shoot the ones you want than the ones your passing on! next season those 8's might be shooters.

[Go Big Red!]

if those ones are gone more will move in. I wouldn't give up on the QDM ideology just yet.

Meaning more bucks or bigger, dominant ones?     I know bucks are territorial in some regard. 

[beeker]

words of comfort. more bucks will come

[Stensethfan]

Hunter2, have you been able to shoot some better bucks in the past letting the littler ones go?  I am just curious because I have often wondered about passing the smaller ones and then someone else gets them across the property line.  I do not own any land, but will hopefully someday, and this type of question I always ponder when I am sitting and dreaming of what my ideal property would be to buy and manage.  Just curious what your experience has been with your 157 acres and if you think passing the smaller ones has helped you harvest more and better bucks??  Or maybe even just see better bucks.  I know for me in my situation now I am getting bored with seeing small 6, 4 and spike bucks all the time.

[deadeye]

Red,
From what we saw this fall, the big ones like to bunch up.  On three occasions, hunters in my party saw multiple big bucks at the same time.  Twice, two big ones and once three.  Seems like they gathered together to make sure they weren't missing something. 

[Go Big Red!]

Red,
From what we saw this fall, the big ones like to bunch up.  On three occasions, hunters in my party saw multiple big bucks at the same time.  Twice, two big ones and once three.  Seems like they gathered together to make sure they weren't missing something. 

I have witnessed this "gathering" at bars and taverns.  A group of bucks out searching for food and nourishment and chasing tail.....   

[bonecollecter82]

Red,
From what we saw this fall, the big ones like to bunch up.  On three occasions, hunters in my party saw multiple big bucks at the same time.  Twice, two big ones and once three.  Seems like they gathered together to make sure they weren't missing something. 

I have witnessed this "gathering" at bars and taverns.  A group of bucks out searching for food and nourishment and chasing tail.....   

Yes one of the few times a Bucks and cougars can coexsist

[Go Big Red!]

   I agree with you on that one, yet I won't disclose any further information.