One antler...

[dan]

Your hunting public property and what you believe is a 4 year old buck you never saw before walks past. Its November 4th. One of his antlers is busted off right above the brow tine. Based on the other beam he would of been around 160 class if he did not break the left antler off...
What would you do?

[Mountain Man]

I would shoot the buck and leave the antler the way it is on the mount.

[PredatorTC]

Because its November, i would pry shoot it and leave it the way it is. I would do a shoulder mount most likely. If it was early season i would let it go..

[magicman54494]

I'd let him walk.

[Liberty-Hunt]

I'd let him walk.

So do I...

[dreaming bucks]

I let him walk also..... I don't understand the concept of letting him go early in the year and shoot if it's late in the year.. My goals are the same for the whole hunting season, if he's not nice enough to shoot at the start of the year, why is he nice enough to shoot at the end ?

[NatureBoy]

If I knew for sure he was a 4 year old and I hadn't seen anything better in the area I would definitely take him. Most deer don't make it to 4 in my area and he would be a trophy regardless of the missing beam. And at this point in my hunting, I'm more interested in mature deer than antler size.

[PredatorTC]

I let him walk also..... I don't understand the concept of letting him go early in the year and shoot if it's late in the year.. My goals are the same for the whole hunting season, if he's not nice enough to shoot at the start of the year, why is he nice enough to shoot at the end ?

This is something that branches off the idea that Andrea talked about in the marsh bucks Dvd. He said that way too many people jump into the "Big league" type of hunting when they don't have the ground work. As a hunter i am still after a 130" buck and up. All season, this is what i will go after. In my eyes a 120 is still an awesome buck that i would be glad to shoot. But if i go ahead and shoot the 120 right away, there is no time for me to improve my skills as a hunter and go after the 130. But as the season gets latter and i have less time to shoot my trophy, i well lower my standards and take the 120 because i have less time. This way i will have still learned something and became a better hunter even though i did not reach my goal. This 160 with the broken horn is still a trophy in my eyes just like the 120.

I know a guy that is in his 50s. He has done a lot of hunting but in his life he has only killed 2 bucks that he has mounted on the wall. His mistake is obvious he is always going after that 160 incher that does not exist. He never had the ground work to build up to it.

[Casper]

He would get a freebie...

[adrenalin]

I'd Hwack'em!

[tim]

good question, i think id shoot him.

[tim]

oh , and i WOULD NOT fix the antler or any antler for that matter , unless it broke and i had the real antler. im keeping them the way i shoot em.

[Spysar]

I voted let him walk. Truth be told, that's what I'd like to do, unless a mood struck me, and I just couldn't pass....which could happen, I usually decide on the spot in a few seconds. If I did shoot, I would definatly not fix the antler.

If you did fix it what would you do? Match the good side? Most of my bucks are different from side to side.

[Black Squirrel]

I'd let him go. I've been in that situation, not quite as big. Probably would have been a 145" ten point. I let him go. He had no left antler at all, though, broke off right at the base.

[WiBowhuntress]

I'm letting him walk also.