..sometimes they l00k BIGGER in pictures..

Infidel 762

Infidel 762

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I passed up this guy and had since been questioning my decision in doing so. He came by a second time and I choose otherwise;



He seemed bigger in trail-cam pictures, borderline at best. He is a good buck, just had ground shrinkage when I walked up on him. Should have stayed with my first instinct.

This early in the season and with only one buck tag left, I decide to go after coyote in today's late afternoon. I have never second guessed any decision to kill a coyote, even the small ones;



A few months ago I set up on the edge of this same field, same wind direction, same tactics, with a different mindset. I suspect this was the replacement to the last territorial male I killed here;



The end to my weekend;

 
"sometimes they look BIGGER in pictures.." and until they're on the ground! We've all second guessed our decisions, whether we passed or shot but nothing wrong with that buck, Jeremy.

Hard to age him at angle of pics, he shows a bit of a paunch; what was he 4-5?? What are your limits/season? Although it doesn't look like you let deer hunting get in the way of coyote hunting, the good news is you're one step closer to getting down to real serious coyote hunting!
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Sure was a long time between hunting seasons before I took up predator hunting, but I'd lot rather hunt coyotes, myself.
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Regards,
Clarence
 
Originally Posted By: MatlockGreat looking buck! No second guessing in my book.

amen! i wouldnt have been able to let him walk the first time!

congratz !
 
Originally Posted By: whyI would not second guess myself on that one. Looks like a nice one to me. Good going. Agree totally here. There would have been no 1st guessing. I would have shot him as soon as I could. Nice deer. Must be some dang good ones to let him walk.
 
Ain't no second guessing no more... what's done is done..

Clarence, I have pictures of that deer last year and I guessed him 3and a half then.. that's what has me second guessing him is not just his antler size but his age. If he was 6+ I would be happy but he still had potential being young..

We can shoot 2 bucks per season and a bunch of does, I don't like killing that many deer though.. I enjoy watching them..

The worse thing is to shoot them and not be able to recover their body...
 
Know what you mean about age, Jeremy. You've seen pictures of that almost 170" that I have hangin' in the living room. That one bothers me for the same reason you mention. (He measured .1 or .2 under 170 green...first deer I ever measured but the rancher wanted to know as, at the time it was the biggest they had harvested on that property). He had a few years to go too, and I'm afraid I let those "horns" influence the shot. He is, of course, the nicest buck I ever shot and I think the fact that he is almost surely the biggest I'd ever shoot is what influenced my decision to quit hunting whitetails and focus on predators. I shot a couple more bucks after the big one, but they just don't shine like they used to, the exotics are a bit better table fare, and I really enjoy hunting predators....a lot!
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They are a lot of fun to watch, as you say. Amazing how you can get "aquainted" with the locals and each different deer's peculiar habits when you watch them a lot.

Regards,
Clarence
 
He's got enough character with those kickers to tip the scale for me.

Kinda like women - 10s are great to show off, but sometimes the wild 6s are more fun
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That is what I like about coyotes. There isn't a question if you should shoot it, just sometimes a question of should I shoot it now, or try and get it in closer for a better shot?

Deer it seems there are usually all kinds of extenuating circumstances. Is it old enough, is it big enough, does it have both of those together, does it meet landowner expectations, does it meet your expectations, does it meet management goals? That is one of the things I don't like about it. Back in the day I used to love deer hunting. It was just me and the deer, the way it should be. Now I am pretty ambivalent about it most times. Every now and then I have a buck I get fired up about, but not too often. Deer hunting has gotten too commercialized for me I guess. Too much of a competition.

I do like deer hunting with my daughter. She is young enough those things haven't become part of her way of thinking yet. My wife wants her to shoot a "good" deer for her first buck (she has shot several does already). But heck, she has the rest of her life for "good" bucks. As long as it is decent and she has to work for it a little bit so she can appreciate it, I am happy.

As for your buck, I like it. It may not be "old", but it is old enough. Would it have got better with a few more years? Sure. But really what does that matter? It was a nice deer with some stickers for character, and you still have another tag in your pocket. Don't regret it. God is growing more deer every day. Eat it, enjoy the memory, and be happy.
 
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