I'm a whitetail deer fanatic. It's mid-January and I'm thinking about which bucks made it through hunting season and which ones didn't. I'm thinking shed hunting, new food plots, stand and trail camera placement. You know what? A lot of other hunters are thinking the same thing. As I travel the country guiding or doing trade shows, the talk almost always turns to whitetails. I may be selling an elk hunt, but I'd bet the farm that before the conversation is over, I'm going to be looking at pics of said hunters' whitetail kills from last season. Often times, these are pictures of immature bucks. Then, as if on-cue I hear, “Man, I wish I could kill a buck like that,” as the hunter stares at a mount hanging on the wall behind me. Well…
Let 'em GROW
I say, it’s simple. If you want to kill that, (pointing to the wall behind me), you can't shoot’em when they look like that (pointing toward their smart phone). I don't do this to be disrespectful or negative toward anyone. I say it because it's the truth. If you want to kill a 140” buck, you can't shoot him when he's 120”. It's just that simple.
I grew up and live in an area where a 120” deer may be your buck of a lifetime. Heck, many guys get excited over a 90” 8 point! I get it and understand, I live here. But, we can't shoot them at that size and expect to kill anything bigger. The easiest part of growing big bucks is not shooting the little ones! Just don't pull the trigger. The first time you let a decent buck walk is the hardest, after that it becomes second nature.
This past July, I found a three year old buck on one of our farms. I wasn't sure if he was gonna be a shooter or not, as my brother and I have a minimum of 130” or older than three. Fast forward to opening day of late muzzleloader here in Maryland. The ground was covered in sleet and the wind blew from the southwest. My brother was perched on the west side of the farm and I on the east. 45 minutes before dark, I text him saying I smelled a buck. Not 30 seconds later, a one horn spike walked out of the thick ditch I was watching. When he turned and looked back, my heart rate quickened as I knew something else was coming, sure enough out walked the buck from July. Throwing my Zeiss binos up, I saw that he grew into a solid 9 point scoring near 130”. I text Brian that he was still alive and where to look so he could see him. We watched him feed off as the sun gave way to the dark of night. Over the next 5 days we saw him 4 more times. Brian had him at 100 yards one evening when a buddy texted, saying a friend of his saw a “giant 8 point” standing in the field where Brian's truck was parked. Before the night was over, 4 more people contacted our buddy talking about this buck. Brian called me and asked, “Do you think I should kill him? A lot of people know where he's at.” I said, “If we shoot him, we’ll know for sure he won't make it.” He didn't pull the trigger and we haven't seen him since. Hopefully, we find his sheds or he shows back up in July. That's the chance we take for being hardcore whitetail fanatics.
Right vs Wrong
To be a total diehard whitetail nut, you have to sacrifice. What's that mean? For starters, you shouldn't use your whitetail property for anything but hunting deer. No goose, squirrel or rabbit hunting. No going out at night trying to call in coyotes or foxes. No Sunday walks with the dog and family through the heart of your hunting area. I know it sounds like a lot but that's what it takes. Sure you can do all of that other stuff and occasionally kill a mature deer but we are talking about making your spot a whitetail mecca. A place where they all run to when everyone else is out walking the dog. A place where a big mature whitetail feels safe to feed before the sun goes down. It's really not hard to do, you just do nothing but hunt deer. You hunt it when the conditions are right. If the winds wrong, you don't hunt. If it feels like one of those days when deer just won't move, like a low pressure system just moved in, you don't hunt. Will you possibly miss opportunities on killing deer? Yep, sure will. Does it matter? Nope. You are creating a sanctuary of sorts, where deer will feel safe day in and day out, year after year. It will pay huge dividends in the long run. It has been said often that 20% of the hunters kill 80% of the deer and I believe that to be true. I don't want to be one of the 20%, I want to be in the top 5% of the size of bucks taken, even if that means going a year or two without killing a buck. Yes, it may be a couple years between buck kills, unless you have some managed “honey hole” of several hundred acres but at least then the bucks you do shoot will be worth it.
Put Up Or Shut Up
It's funny to me that just about everyone I talk to wants to kill bigger bucks. What's even funnier is that 95 percent of these same people will shoot the first racked buck that walks by them! Ok, it's not funny at all. It's just a matter of fact, that most hunters can't stand the thought of going a year without killing a buck. Another thing I hear all the time is, “You can't eat the horns!” No kidding. Then why did you shoot a buck when you could have shot a doe? “Well, umm, there's not enough deer in my area to shoot does.” Then why are you killing any deer there at all? I'm really not trying to be a jerk here. But, come on, really? You don't have to shoot a buck just to prove you're a hunter. These same people that wanna continually talk about killing big bucks, continue to kill immature ones. If you're gonna talk the talk, you better be able to let the little ones walk!
What It Takes
Growing big bucks takes genetics, food and age. Genetics is one thing we can't do a whole lot about. It's either there or it's not. You would be surprised though. Some areas that were never thought capable of having big deer, end up producing some giants because they had the proper nutrition and age. In reality, a majority of the places a whitetail calls home would produce trophy caliber bucks if they were just given enough time to grow up. I feel this is the number one factor across most of the country. Weather definitely plays a role, influencing the amount of inches on the top of a buck's head any given year; especially in the drier western states. If it’s a dry year, antler growth won’t be as significant as it will with a year with plenty of moisture. When the western states have wet springs and adequate rain throughout the summer, look out! We will see some great animals hit the ground come fall.
What can we do to grow bigger bucks? Obviously, let them reach maturity. Food plots in areas with minimal agriculture will definitely help. In areas with lots of ag related crops, I don't think food plots do a whole lot in terms of health of your deer herd. They will help you kill deer but not so much grow them bigger. They can only eat so much. Minerals I believe help, as long as they are high in magnesium, phosphorus and protein. A big part of the minerals sold today are just salt. Deer need a diet that includes salt during the green up months of April, May and June, but it doesn't do a whole lot for antler growth. Either way, you should do your part to ensure they have a full plate when they need it.
Conclusion
Writing this piece wasn't about pissing people off. It isn't meant to belittle the guy that goes out to shoot a deer so he can feed his family. After all, that's why the good Lord put them here. This article was to make people think before they pull the trigger. If we all set the goal of shooting mature bucks for the wall and does for the freezer, the conversation that was explained at the beginning of this article would happen less frequently. I wouldn't push the issue as much as I do but I hear it time and time again. Everybody wants to shoot a big buck, myself included. All it takes is a little restraint and the promise that next year will always be better.
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