With the obr.....a quick decision can cost you a buck tag and put you on the bench for hunting a buck! It happened to me last year with a 8 point that was not what I was looking for! Just looking for some pointers to exercise some patience and help judging a deer quickly from various angles! I would like to hold out for a +-130! Thanks in advance guys!

Don't dwell on the ones you let walk. It will drive you nuts. I tend to dwell, so I tend to shoot 120s. I have learned to be happy with them. Being a 2 1/2 year old 120 inch will get you shot near me. I really should up my minimum though.

With age you learn patience.. just enjoy your hunt.. I've passed on many..second guessed my self a hundred times.. here's the secret.. make it fun.! Do your homework if the big boy comes in smoke him.. if doesn't come in go to Kroger and get a nice steak and toss it on the grill. Passing on deer use to just tear me up. Being a selective hunter takes patience.. one trait I have to work on daily.I agree with what has been said above.. if you have to think about it don't shoot it. You will know when you see him!

Become okay with the possibility of having "tag soup". Once you set in your mind the kind of buck you want and not have the "gotta kill a buck, gotta kill a buck, gotta kill a buck" mentality then you can let those 120's walk. I will not shoot a buck at the end of the season that I would have passed ayt the beginning of the season. 2 of the past 4 years I have not filled my buck tag and passed several 115-120's. It was hard at first but I am good with it now. I can get plenty of doe's for the freezer.

As has been stated....if you've set a goal of a certain class of deer, be prepared to eat you're buck tag.

I do it more years than not.

THIS IS SPOT ON..Don't worry about or let anyone else tell you what you have to kill!! I've went years without shooting a buck because I didn't like my choices. Remember..you can't shoot a big one if you shoot a small one!! Who cares if you don't shoot a buck every year..Just have fun!!

I've eaten my buck tag the last two years, because I have yet to get a buck in range that I felt was worth shooting. I've had a few fork horns present a shot, but I want my first buck to be one worth putting on the wall. It isn't easy and I've had a lot of second guessing, but I'm sticking to what I've told myself. I'm hoping to get that opportunity this year, but if I don't I have no problem with a little tag soup.

I suppose the fact that I am strictly using a bow now will make it much more difficult. If I had a 120" buck in range I think I'd be shaking so much that I wouldn't be able to take a shot.

Here's what I do.....

1) Trail cam....trail cam.....trail cam. The more you can know what that buck looks like BEFORE you see him for the first time....and have seconds to judge him......the better off you will be. Having made up your mind about a buck before your hunt will help tremendously.

2). Play "good judging odds"......a) don't judge in dim light.....b) tine length rules first in scoring....mass second....wiidth last. Width and mass will make a great impression.....but number of tines and length of tines rule when it comes to final score.

3). If you are sitting there and talking yourself into shooting that buck....he's gonna be too small usually in the end. If you "can't grab your bow/gun quick enough"!when you first see him....those bucks are the ones you want to shoot.

4) Never judge a buck while looking through binocs....

5). NEVER settle for something smaller late in the year. They are your shooters for next year....and late in the game, they likely have made it.

6). Don't give a crap what others say about what size buck you want to shoot.

Dew It's really ironic that you put #6 on there.

I like tag soup....a heck of a lot easier to drag out....plus you don't have that gut pile, and messy hands when you're done!!!!

Like Dew said......Use the heck out of trail cameras, and KNOW which deer you want to take before the season starts, and ignore the rest.

Yep....it's ironic you don't get flack if you like to shoot dinks, buttons or does on this site ....but you get "chewed" if you like to shoot something big.

You make a good point......depends what "filter" you run it through when you read that.

Great posts guys!

What he said!!!!...

DP
Give yourself credit for the bucks you pass. Get your weapon up on that 125. If you could have easily taken it but passed, take credit for it.
I have great envy and admiration for the guys that I believe pass on 150's.

Passed on a 130" 9 pt Nov. 3rd last year, had him broadside and 1/4ing away many times in the 15 minutes he was near me at 12-15 yards(had him on cam twice too).... I have deer like him on the wall so I passed....never had another chance at a decent buck the rest of the season.... so it goes .....Ive done that before and held the tag till the end....I am in a urban zone(Porter Co.)but dont buy into the urban kill all you see crap any longer, so I'll wait on a nice one or pass 'em....

If you go out with the mindset of harvesting food and not antlers, it will make it easier to pass on bucks

All good advice above especially "If you have to think twice about shooting, you probably should pass the shot." If you feel, for even a brief moment, that you'll later dismiss the deer by saying "it wasn't what I was hoping for" then you need to suck it up, swallow hard, and let him walk. Definitely much easier said than done!

Scarlett Dew had a good point about trail cams (or scouting in general). You have to know the deer you want are in your hunting area. If not you need to move your stand to where the big guy is. This could be on another spot of your property where you tend not to look.

Tough decision choosing between empty freezer or smaller buck. You have to commit to your priority.

...and don't worry, tag soup is balanced by good experiences in the woods.

Good luck.

I posted a similar thread last October after passing on a 150 class buck on my second hunt in the first week of bow season only to end up shooting a different 150 during muzzy season. Priority's change after going 6 weeks of seeing nothing better than the first deer I passed on.

I haven't been hunting very many years and I need to learn to have more patience like some of you seasoned hunters.

I was still happy with the outcome. I got to hunt most of the season and still got a 150. I was lucky. If I had hunted clear through till January and not seen a good buck I would have second guessed myself the whole off season, but If I had taken that first buck I would have missed a beautiful fall in the woods and ultimately that is what I really want, just to be out there.

This years goal...160 or eat my tag. You people are my support group to get me through it.

Dawn Patron, I didn't really address your question. Trail cams are great, but during rutting season I see so many new deer that I have never seen before. Going through magazines with pictures of bucks that have been scored helps me. True most magazines show mostly booners, but some will have sections of pics with "normal" sized bucks. I agree with the other posts that if you aren't sure you should probably pass.

I totally agree with the trail cam line of thinking. I very rarely see a buck that I do not have pics of. So, there really aren't any surprises when I'm hunting. It's nice when an unknown big mature buck shows up and it does happen from time to time. But, for the most part I know all the bucks in my area before the season and I don't shoot anything that I haven't already determined as a target buck.

I also go on my initial instinct when I see a buck. Last year I killed a buck in Iowa where I did not have any trail cam knowledge going in. When you just instinctively grab your bow when you see a buck that's usually a good sign. I just "know" a shooter when I see one.

Don't ever settle for anything less than what you are hoping for. If you are NOT shaking and excited to get down and look at your buck, you've shot the wrong deer.

I agree with Dew, the scouting camera has been the downfall of many big bucks IMO it is thesingle most important piece of hunting gear invented in my lifetime!

That said, hunt the does! Pre rut, rut and post rut the bucks are searching out a receptive doe. They know all the bedding areas and food sources a doe group uses and check them regularly. Feeding times I want to be in the feeding area, mid day I want the down wind side of a bedding area.

I don't give up, my largest typical(176") was taken on the next to last day of muzzleloader season(Dec22) at mid day. You can't kill them if you are not hunting them!

It gets easier to let them walk as you mature into a buck hunter not just a meat hunter.Does are plentiful and fill the freezer just fine. Good luck on your journey.