Mule Deer over Money

[tpick21]

First and foremost, this is not a thread to discuss Resident v. Non-Resident opinion, we all could be better stewards of the sport.

If you are hunting out of state, are you holding out for a mature mule deer and eating the tag.
Or, any opportunity that presents itself you will be pulling the trigger?
Just gauging harvest mindset.

 

[CMF]

If I travel out west I'm usually trying to get a decent bull/buck. But I still want meat. Since elk is a lot more meat and different, I'm less picky and usually looking for just a legal bull. My mule deer tag is usually just an opportunity, but last year I wanted to focus more on muley and got a decent one. The year before that I knew where some small bucks were hanging and killed a basket racket on the last day I had to hunt to go home with some meat.

 

[tpick21]

Thanks CMF! Like I said, no judgment from me. I’m just curious. I would add, I am mainly concerned over South Dakota mule deer quality/quantity of deer.

 

[bigbassfish]

I think for me it would depend alot on the tag. Having harvested a bear already, I will be picky when i head up to Montana this spring. Elk is some good eating so I would be much less picky, especially having never killed one myself. Mulies I would likely hold out for a good representative animal and eat the tag if I have to, I can shoot a spike whitetail at home lol.

 

[PathFinder]

At this point, I won't shoot a deer under 4. For a while it was tempting, now it isn't. The challenge of finding and hunting mature deer is what keeps me going. Just killing any buck isn't much more interesting than shooting a squirrel or a rabbit.
Elk on the other hand...

 

[huntnful]

At this point, I won't shoot a deer under 4. For a while it was tempting, now it isn't. The challenge of finding and hunting mature deer is what keeps me going. Just killing any buck isn't much more interesting than shooting a squirrel or a rabbit.
Elk on the other hand...

I feel this exact same way as well. Already ate my 2 CA deer tags and an OR deer tag

 

[Grundy53]

It depends

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[180ls1]

Sliding scale depending on meat in the freezer, time and tags left left to fill that fall.

I've never been a fan of "never pass on the first what you'd shoot on the last" because I will hammer a dink on the last day if my freezer is low.

 

[stevevan]

Sliding scale depending on meat in the freezer, time and tags left left to fill that fall.

I've never been a fan of "never pass on the first what you'd shoot on the last" because I will hammer a dink on the last day if my freezer is low.

I'll set my standards and hold to them even if it means eating the tag. Done it before and I'm sure it will happen again.

 

[rookieforever33]

If it is an either sex tag I would shoot a doe before a dink. If it was dink or nothing a lot of factors involved, how easy to draw again? Is the packout worth a donk? I'd like to say pass but I would need to be in the moment to decide

 

[IdahoBeav]

Beef tastes better than venison, and it's already cut and wrapped. I'll absolutely eat a tag to let a dink walk.

 

[WCOPP]

If I travel for a hunt it isn't a meat hunt.

 

[Calbuck]

At this point, I won't shoot a deer under 4. For a while it was tempting, now it isn't. The challenge of finding and hunting mature deer is what keeps me going. Just killing any buck isn't much more interesting than shooting a squirrel or a rabbit.
Elk on the other hand...

I’m kind of in this boat too..although like others have said if the freezer is empty it becomes a slightly different game. I try to find mature bucks.

 

[OKHunter84]

Depends on the year and the hunt. Harvesting whitetail at home isn't usually an issue so when I go out west I'm generally hunting for something mature. I have busted a dink mule deer before just to get out of a slump on the last day. I passed dinks last year and ate tag soup in New Mexico.

We still have beef in the freezer this year, my wife has a good elk tag for Oklahoma, so I'm definitely going to be picky on my third season deer tag here soon in Colorado.

 

[voltage]

There’s no shame in eating a tag…unless you quit early.

 

[Hnthrdr]

Killed a few little bucks when I first started. That doesn’t interest me much anymore. I want something special, unique, funky and big/ old mature. I say shoot what tips your trigger. I also really enjoy the general pace of a rifle hunt as a change from archery. I love sitting in the cold and glassing and finding and watching deer. I get to watch some animals and if I don’t find one to get the blood pumping that’s fine too. I will practice stocking sometimes though if it’s slow. It’s all great. Love the chance you get with a deer tag in mid Nov. never know what might show up tomorrow

 

[Ross]

Will eat the tag,if not seeing what I want. Even the last day like the last 2 yrs. You have walked uphill 15k for the season, you are old and had tkr 6 months prior and multiple 3 and 4 pts come by all rutted and dazed and confused, you smile in the wind and blowing snow saying that was worth the$350 only You can decide what makes You happy on notching or not

 

[TaperPin]

I used to hold out for a big buck until the last day and then take a small buck or doe, but I wanted a big old buck antelope, deer or bull deep down inside. Then one year in the last legal hour of shooting I pulled the trigger on a respectable antelope, only to have the largest buck I’ve ever seen during a season step up out of a draw and look at me. Since that day it’s easy to hold out hope and hunt until the last minute. Hope can be the hardest thing to teach others - when I’m excited and optimistic until the very end it’s contagious.

 

[waspocrew]

At this point, I’m fine holding out for a mature buck or bull. I hunt Wyoming often and a nonresident bull tag is like $800 and deer is $380. If I don’t find the buck or bull I’m looking for, I’m not pulling the trigger. I enjoy the hunt and experience, but I don’t feel obligated to fill the tag just because I spent some money.

 

[Pistolpete28]

My last few years of deer hunting I’ve been killing a lot of mule deer between the ages of 3 to 9. On most hunts I end up with a 3 year old type buck. Lately I find myself in the mature bucks only camp. I’ll probably never be a score guy, but if a buck has a good frame, and he’s old that’s enough for me to take him and be happy.