[BBW]

so guys with the restrictions on white tails this fall i want to try to hold out for a big deer what do you guys class as a shooter? i know every hunter has his own expectations but it would be interesting to know what some of you guys with more experience with mb white tails call a 'BIG DEER"

AGE ?
SCORE?
SIZE?

 

[brasso]

The way I judged them, one quick look at the rack and if it's big there is never hesitation whether to shoot or not, no second guessing you just know it's big.

 

[Riggs]

I'm with you. Some famous outdoor writer once wrote, "the big ones just look big."

 

[offshoreonly]

I think you guys in regards to you just know but I know Ive also had ground shrinkage lol. The bane of every deer hunter.

 

[highlandglen guide]

Damn shrinkage! :lmao:

 

[clawj]

Brett you didn't answer your own question, what's your minimum? For me a velvet buck is my preference, once that small opportunity of time passes then it's just whatever looks good and gives me a shot. Based on size alone I'd say around 125 but it could also be a smaller but unique rack, a few years ago I kept seeing a deer that had one nice looking antler and the other had one straight antler with a ball at the tip. It looked like a lightbulb, we nicknamed him Edison. I saw him close many times and would have happily shot him for the unique rack even though he wouldn't have scored much at all, only reason I didn't was he didn't have that big of a body and I want meat more than a set of antlers. Hopefully I can get a big body and a big rack as a bonus this year, it drives my buddies crazy because I refer to deer as big based on its body size and not antler size.

 

[BBW]

i really don't know Jamie but I am going to hold out for an older deer i think not a big rack just an old boy but if a big rack finds his way in to my site then that will be just fine too. One thing i am going to do this year is scout scout scout i wan't to know every deer on my properties personally before the ML opener. The past 2 years i have not done nearly enough scouting

 

[canadian-ice]

Bucks with good looking racks on the hoof, will get the comments of "That's a nice rack" when on the ground. But big bucks look HUGE on the hoof. Period. They get the "Holy #$%@, is that ever a big buck",comments when on the ground.

Rack score isnt everything, especially net. Gross B&C is a better judge of a bucks overall quality.

Weight is another factor. For a lot of hunters, a buck that dresses out at 200+lbs is a true trophy regarless of rack size.

Regardless, a trophy is in the eye of the beholder. I know of one hunter who has hunted boreal forest for the past 30+ years. Until 3 years ago, his biggest buck was a 4x4 with no brow tines that might have scored 80 inches B&C. In the 2009 season he scored on a 5x5 that would gross around 140 inches B&C and if you would have asked him, he would say he killed the next world record whitetail.To this day his grin is huge when retelling the story of his monster buck.

There is nothing wrong with setting goals and holding out for that trophy buck, but you are the only judge that matters. If you think he's a trophy, then he is.

All that being said, I'd say a Manitoba buck scoring 150+B&C inches would be a trophy in anyone's books.

 

[snomad]

Bucks with good looking racks on the hoof, will get the comments of "That's a nice rack" when on the ground. But big bucks look HUGE on the hoof. Period. They get the "Holy #$%@, is that ever a big buck",comments when on the ground.

Rack score isnt everything, especially net. Gross B&C is a better judge of a bucks overall quality.

Weight is another factor. For a lot of hunters, a buck that dresses out at 200+lbs is a true trophy regarless of rack size.

Regardless, a trophy is in the eye of the beholder. I know of one hunter who has hunted boreal forest for the past 30+ years. Until 3 years ago, his biggest buck was a 4x4 with no brow tines that might have scored 80 inches B&C. In the 2009 season he scored on a 5x5 that would gross around 140 inches B&C and if you would have asked him, he would say he killed the next world record whitetail.To this day his grin is huge when retelling the story of his monster buck.

There is nothing wrong with setting goals and holding out for that trophy buck, but you are the only judge that matters. If you think he's a trophy, then he is.

All that being said, I'd say a Manitoba buck scoring 150+B&C inches would be a trophy in anyone's books.

Been there, done that. I hope I can experience that again where I hunt. Well said.