I realize there may be a wide variety of answers on this one but I’m interested in knowing what other deer hunters consider to be a “quality” buck. Boone & Crockett won’t accept anything under 140 and I’ve never even SEEN a buck that big in 26 years of hunting here in Minnesota. I think an 8 point typical that scores 120 is a quality buck.
Small frosty is a pretty good buck if you’re asking me
We do not practice a hard core Qdm on our farm. We simply hold off for bucks that have a rack wider than their ears. I have enough neighbors onboard for that, so we get a lot of 4-1/2 to 5-1/2 year old deer. I don’t trophy hunt whitetail. But I hate butchering 75# deer. Most st of our deer go about 160 to 220# dressed out. Large differences in amount of meat from 2 to 4 years
This is a typical deer for us
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Anything the hunter is happy shooting. As hunters, we all have different goals, different amounts of time available to hunt, different properties we hunt on, and in different parts of the country. Quality truly is in the eye of the beholder.
Get the joy from the hunting, not from some tape measure accounting of the kill. Size should not be relevant to your achievement, it is as difficult (or more!) to shoot a 140 buck in some parts of MN, as it is to shoot a 180 in some of the central states.
I tell customers all the time, manage your property for YOUR enjoyment and the hunting YOU want to do and forget everyone else. I have more customers than you’d ever guess who manage exclusively for their kids and grandkids to be able to take ANY deer and therefore make a great memory. If you tell them they have “too many does” or don’t do this/that to “hold big bucks” they will very rightly look at you like you just don’t get it. And that would be because you don’t.
Grouse
I believe B&C minimum is 160 fyi.
I like heavy, dark horns, tall, wide, long tines, kickers/extras, oddities…
Any combination of these may get me to press the trigger. Cant really put it into a number of inches. Just looking for a quality, mature animal.
For my area (lots of pressure), I feel that any 3-1/2 yr old buck is a decent quality animal, since most do not make it that far. For our group, we do not always encounter one of that age every season. It seems like the majority of the bucks around here get whacked at 1-1/2 yrs, and most of the small handful that make it another yr get whacked then. Any 3-1/2 YO buck or older is one that did something different and is a relatively scarce critter.
Anything the hunter is happy shooting. As hunters, we all have different goals, different amounts of time available to hunt, different properties we hunt on, and in different parts of the country. Quality truly is in the eye of the beholder.
Get the joy from the hunting, not from some tape measure accounting of the kill. Size should not be relevant to your achievement, it is as difficult (or more!) to shoot a 140 buck in some parts of MN, as it is to shoot a 180 in some of the central states.
I tell customers all the time, manage your property for YOUR enjoyment and the hunting YOU want to do and forget everyone else. I have more customers than you’d ever guess who manage exclusively for their kids and grandkids to be able to take ANY deer and therefore make a great memory. If you tell them they have “too many does” or don’t do this/that to “hold big bucks” they will very rightly look at you like you just don’t get it. And that would be because you don’t.
Grouse
X2 – Could not have said it any better.
There’s no antler size requirements to be considered a quality buck imo, as it is too dependent on the circumstances. I shot a basket 6 my first hour hunting ever, and still am damn proud of that one and could tell you every detail of the hunt. Same goes to the fork horn that was my first bow buck, I shot with my Dad’s 1970’s Jennings bow when I was about as broke as I’ve ever been. Both of those are among my top hunting memories and I consider them quality bucks. Certainly more so than the 140-150ish inch 10 point that ran up to 30 yards broadside on some private land in SE MN….but that one is a little more impressive on the wall 
.
So I really try and look at the circumstances, but they are all good imo. That said, I still give my buddies that are die hards crap when they shoot immature bucks, especially when they complain about not seeing big ones! If you are an experienced hunter, I follow (and recommend following) the outside the ears rule like Randy mentioned unless you truly are a meat hunter and there’s no shame in that either.
Did you put a tape to your buck from this year Gim? That was a nice one, even if it didn’t fill up the score sheet!
I believe B&C minimum is 160 fyi.
Ya you’re right. I just looked again to confirm. For some reason I thought it was 140. I thought 140 was ridiculous. 160 is preposterous.
Did you put a tape to your buck from this year Gim? That was a nice one, even if it didn’t fill up the score sheet!
I did in fact do some measuring on the buck I shot this season. I didn’t do the actual estimated scoring total. Here is what I came up with: 8 scorable points, a 21.5 inch inside spread, and the diameter at the bases were 4 inches. Maybe you can estimate the score for me Werm.
I have one from 2012 that is a full shoulder mount and I know how much that one scored because the taxidermist did it for me so the best I can do is essentially put it up next to that one and estimate it.
Did you put a tape to your buck from this year Gim? That was a nice one, even if it didn’t fill up the score sheet!
I did in fact do some measuring on the buck I shot this season. I didn’t do the actual estimated scoring total. Here is what I came up with: 8 scorable points, a 21.5 inch inside spread, and the diameter at the bases were 4 inches. Maybe you can estimate the score for me Werm.
I’m far from a scoring expert (only done it once or twice off of some google explanations), but your buck was super wide, so if you measured the length of each side I’d toss out a guess.
I have one from 2012 that is a full shoulder mount and I know how much that one scored because the taxidermist did it for me so the best I can do is essentially put it up next to that one and estimate it
Oh and post a pic of that one, with it’s official score just for reference.
Dead. Skinned. Aged several days. Cut and wrapped.
I hunt for the freezer – you can’t eat the antlers
you can’t eat the antlers
That’s why I prefer to harvest a young, corn fed doe for the freezer. And then hunt for Mr Big’s antlers when the opportunity arrives.
Oh and post a pic of that one, with it’s official score just for reference.
Here’s the one from 2012. Its also a typcial 8 pointer. Not as wide, but every point is longer. It has a 19.5 inch inside spread. The taxidermist told me he scored it as a 125 class 8 point typical.
The one I shot this year doesn’t have points that are as long, but its wider and the antlers themselves are thicker. It has a 21.5 inch inside spread. Just from guessing I would say that it wouldn’t score quite as well…but maybe you can offer a second opinion Werm.
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If it is 8 point minimum and outside the ears I usually pull the trigger.
My dad has always been fairly selective, so that is how I learned to hunt as well. I’ve eaten a fair number of tags waiting on Mr. Big to show, and in the end I’m ok with it…because if you’re always killing the first deer you see then you don’t give yourself a good chance of having a valid tag when the big boy walks out. That being said, some of my uncles who rifle hunt on our farm hunt for meat, so there are usually a few spikes/forks that get shot on our place each season, and if I let a 110-120 buck walk, odds are he won’t make it very far before getting shot by someone else in our party or on a neighboring property. If I had my druthers I would pass on all of those bucks, but I DO like eating venison, so my standards have been lowered a little bit over the last 5 or so years, especially now that my 2.5 year old is a venison demon.
The unfortunate part about social media being so prevalent in today’s age is SO many people are afraid of being shamed because they killed a basket or a fork or even a really respectable buck that wasn’t a 180-incher that they feel the need to make excuses like “it isn’t the one I wanted” or “I didn’t have time to judge it” or whatever it may be and it drives me INSANE! If that particular deer got your blood pumping enough to want to pull the trigger, don’t do the critter an injustice and apologize for harvesting it.
The one I shot this year doesn’t have points that are as long, but its wider and the antlers themselves are thicker. It has a 21.5 inch inside spread. Just from guessing I would say that it wouldn’t score quite as well…but maybe you can offer a second opinion Werm.
Just spit balling here, and probably way off, but assuming the spread and main beam girth and length on this years buck can make up a decent amount of lost inches on tines…I’d say this year is around 110″ +/- 5″. Pretty cool buck regardless, don’t see them that wide all too often!
I hunt with my son, who is now 14. We are stepping up from does, to any buck, to forked horns and this year we focused on ears wide and a real rack. Next year we won’t shoot anything that isn’t outside the ears. I let him pick the bucks… pictures are his first buck and this year’s.
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I’ve eaten a fair number of tags waiting on Mr. Big to show, and in the end I’m ok with it…because if you’re always killing the first deer you see then you don’t give yourself a good chance of having a valid tag when the big boy walks out.
This is how I roll too. Every spike, fork, and other small buck simply isn’t going to grow into a trophy because you let it walk but it will 100% not get there if you shoot it too. I’m not crazy about venison but the does tend to generally taste better than the hormone filled rutting bucks IMO.
I personally wish that they would prohibit party hunting. It would produce more quality bucks in a short period of time because people would think twice about shooting a small buck early in the season if they knew they legally had no route of harvesting a big one later on.
We do not practice a hard core Qdm on our farm. We simply hold off for bucks that have a rack wider than their ears. I have enough neighbors onboard for that, so we get a lot of 4-1/2 to 5-1/2 year old deer. I don’t trophy hunt whitetail. But I hate butchering 75# deer. Most st of our deer go about 160 to 220# dressed out. Large differences in amount of meat from 2 to 4 years
Randy, if you have enough neighbors on board, then why all the wounded deer?
This is a typical deer for us
I hunt deer for the meat. We love it. A fork horn tells me it’s exact age. it’s good sized and tender. I can’t always tell that from a baldie. I grew up in hard times for deer and bucks only on public land so any male above a spike is quality to me. I’m sure I would feel differently if I had good private land to hunt.
I always figured shoot what ever makes you happy, But don’t use the excuses, “If I didn’t shoot it somebody else would” because you are that somebody else. I have found many with the mentality of “If it’s brown it’s down” mentality seem to be the one’s that send of wounded deer off to die and not recovered. The ones I really hate are road hunters, in my opinion they shouldn’t be allowed to hunt ever again if they are caught. there is no way in hell that they no where other hunters or there stands may be.
For me (and in no way am I saying everyone should be this way) I prefer to hold out for a buck 3+ years old, but if a nice 2 year old hits me in the right mood I may shoot it also. I would say I’d go shoot a doe if I was really wanting some venison but every time I have wanted to (or required to with earn a buck) shoot a doe I cannot get one to offer me a shot to save my life. We have plenty of neighboring hunters near our family place that shoot does and fawns that me not shooting any isn’t throwing the herd ratio off anyway. The meat and antlers are really secondary anymore anyway as I enjoy the ‘game’ of trying to outwit those older bucks on their turf. By the number of tags I’ve eaten the last 20 years I’d say they definitely win way more often.
It’s all a personal preference. I haven’t shot a buck in years. I bow hunt and I usually have an opportunity to shoot a doe at some point. I always buy a bonus tag too. Last year nothing and it wasn’t that big of deal that I didn’t shoot one. This year I got a nice doe a week ago so now it’s on to finding a nice buck or another doe. I am looking for a buck to put on the wall.
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Randy Wieland wrote:</div>
Randy, if you have enough neighbors on board, then why all the wounded deer?
This is a typical deer for us
One of the neighbors put their land into a public access program. I hate like heck to slam public land hunters, because it comes down to just a few a holes that are greedy bassturds. They act like they are in competition and need to recklessly shoot at every dam brown thing that moves. Freaking disgusting what a few has done. Ya, I’m still passed off
I hunt for the freezer – you can’t eat the antlers
In the time of trail cams, I hope for one of the nicer deer in the woods.
If I don’t see any bucks that are more than a few years, I go for a nice fat doe.
I hunt for the freezer – you can’t eat the antlers
Thats exactly what bad hunters say to make themselves feel better about filling the freezer on a 1.5 year old doe 6 days into the season… myself included
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>duluth1an wrote:</div>
I hunt for the freezer – you can’t eat the antlersThats exactly what bad hunters say to make themselves feel better about filling the freezer on a 1.5 year old doe 6 days into the season… myself included
Not everyone enjoys spending that much time on one task. Doesn’t mean they are bad hunters. Myself, I would rather get it over with so I can butcher then continue pheasant hunting. I enjoy bird hunting more than deer hunting. To each their own.
A quality buck for me is a hunt that is memorable. I’ve let some nice bucks go only to have shot a smaller buck (don’t get me wrong, I’m always hoping for a monster). My largest deer to date was actually a very unmemorable hunt. In retrospect, I almost wish I didn’t shot it.
I love “hunting” deer. I’d rather work at shooting a small buck then blind luck on shooting a big buck but that’s just me. It’s kind of like setting up duck decoys and calling in a flock of folding teal vs puddle jumping a flock of mallards…I just get more thrill in a good hunt.
Also, and I’ll get some heat for this, I’d rather hunt and shot a small buck vs taking a doe. I hope when people say “I’ll take a doe to fill the freezer and pass on small bucks,” they know the local deer herd numbers. The area we hunt is down significantly this year and I’m all for saving the does…but that’s a different story.
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