DEFINITIONS

[firstcoueswas80]

i thinkn it defientaly has to do with experience. this was the first year i have shot at a spike and i will never do it again( unless it is a ATLEAS 18 total score spike!) now that i have 3 bucks under my belt, it is going to be easier and easier for me to let the forkies and little 3x3's go. however, i do not know if i will be able to let a 80-85" buck walk unless it is opening day of my december hunt next year

 

90" is always going down unless i have a bigger buck spotted and am stalking him.

100" always going down no matter what! and of course same applies to anything bigger.

[ajohunter]

One thing to remember when you are trophy hunting is: If its big enough to shoot on the last day it was big enough to shoot on the first day!

[fatfootdoc]

yeah, I am with Casey as well. ag

[SunDevil]

That is a good one Redbeard. Made me laugh out loud.

 

I would totally agree that it is based on experience. 5 years ago, any 3 point would have gone down. Then I had a Dec tag and passed on so many 90"+ bucks before taking a 93" buck on the 10th day. Now I pretty much hold out for what I estimate to be 100 inches until the very end. That Dec tag totally changed my mind set. I am a strong believer that you can't shoot big bucks if you keep shooting little ones.

 

I just talked to a friend of mine who passed on a buck he estimated to be right at 100" Friday morning because he was holding out for something bigger. Of course he has taken 5 bucks over 100" so little ones don't mean much to him.

 

Most of the guys I scout, hunt and talk to about Coues deer would call any buck under 90" a little buck. Personally, on an Oct or Nov hunt, any 3X3 over 80" is a pretty darn good deer. Now I probably wouldn't shoot an 80" deer opening morning but if I took him on the last day in Oct or Nov I would still say he is a pretty darn good deer. I did that 3 years ago, passed on an 80" deer opening day and ended up shooting that same deer 5 days later. He doesn't have much mass and only 13" main beams but he is still a pretty darn good looking buck.

 

I still would have to say anything less than 80" is a little buck.

 

Lets get some more opinions. Maybe we can get Amanda to put some official nickname definitions on the web site. CB

[recurveman]

There are 4 stages to hunting and everyone is at a different stage.

 

Stage 1 - Your only goal is to kill something. Except time. You want a gut pile period.

 

Stage 2 - You want to kill ALOT of something. Killing is the only goal.

 

Stage 3 - You want to kill a BIG something. The trophy is the only result you will settle for.

 

Stage 4 - You just want to enjoy the scenery. Sometimes it isn't the hunt or kill that you are actually after.

 

What stage are you at? Personally I'm at all stages depending on what hunt I'm on and what species I'm hunting.

 

This could be applied to other parts of your life. Kind of reminds me of my teenage years.

 

Later,

 

Recurveman

[Chief]

Several years ago and after all the kids were out on their own and we didn't need the meat I made myself a promise never to shoot a buck smaller than the last one. Consequently I have gone several years without killing any Coues. However since that time I have two that would qualify and one that is close. I may never kill another Coues and that is ok with me as long as I live on the mountain and get to see them on a daily basis is all I need - at my age and stage. No score needed.

[bchoitz]

I'll agree with Recurveman, you could be at any stage at any given time.

 

Last year I applied for my usual hunts. After 9 years of applying for an elk tag in Arizona I finally got the tag! A November bull hunt.

And shock of all shocks, my son actually got drawn for the 6A jr cow hunt as well.

2 trips for elk in the same year!

In September my son finally shot his first big game animal after several trips into the field. He had a clean shot on a cow at 140 yards and made a good one shot kill. This was the highlight of my life for the last few years.

He and I were both at stage one for that hunt. We needed that gut pile!

Now it's my turn. November was finally here and a friend had agreed to come up and help me on my hunt. Only he could not leave until Friday morning, so I was on my own for opening day.

So, opening morning and I?m sitting in a small herd of elk that just happened to walk up to me and were feeding as close as 30 yards away. I counted 20 some, but I could only find one with antlers. He was a 5x2 and was about 40 yards away at the closest pint. I didn?t feel that I wanted that hunt to end so quickly and settle for that bull after waiting so long for a license. Besides the freezer already had a nice tender cow in it, and my buddy would miss all the fun.

I passed him up, just to hear him get shot 10 minutes later and ? mile away from where I sat.

I talked to the lucky hunter who had just shot his first elk, and when I told him I had seen it earlier he called me a trophy hunter. I?m hardly a trophy hunter, and if my son had not gotten an elk a month earlier I would have shot him without hesitation, but I didn?t need that at that point. Besides, my buddy would have missed all the fun.

So at that point I guess I was at stage 4.

By the end of the hunt, I was back to stage one, and would have shot a spike if I?d seen one then.

 

Now I can?t wait for my December hunt in area 35B. I?ll probably be in stage three at the start of the hunt. I hope I don?t reach stage one.

 

Bret

[firstcoueswas80]

at my young age i am mostly 1 and 2. i will start holding out now moving on to step 3 until later in the hunt, then i am step 1!!! for the most part i am step 1 and 2 as i will shoot anything legal on the last day!