What would you do?

[ManOfTheFall]

I was out hunting with my buddy on my family farm. We have been practicing QDM on this property for a number of years now and have several nice shooter. I only made a couple of my shooters off limits to my buddy. At 6:45 this evening he sends me a text and says he shot a little 1 12 yr old 4 point. Needless to say I was upset. He knows we DO NOT shoot ant buck under at least 3 1/2 yrs old and preferably 4 1/2 yrs old and above. I let him know I was unhappy but we are like best friends so I will allow him to continue to hunt. He knew the rules and broke them anyways. Matter of fact he told me he will not shoot any bucks under 150". I feel our friendship is more important than the deer but I think next year I may tell him my Uncle said no more hunting on the farm except family.

[BowGuy2]

If he is ur best friend u should be Abel to tell him look man if u shoot another small buck ur not Gunba be alloud to hunt here any more u knew the rules and u broke them. If u break them again than ur gone. Tell him straight up and make it very clear to him. He should understand. If u have a few deer over 150 he should feel privileged to be Abel to hunt there and if he has that high of standards of a 150 inch deer and can't watch a Forky walk he's not a very good trophy hunter and he may not no what a 150 inch deer looks like. With that being said I would make it very clear to him now that if it happends again he's gone

[bigcountry]

If he is ur best friend u should be Abel to tell him look man if u shoot another small buck ur not Gunba be alloud to hunt here any more u knew the rules and u broke them. If u break them again than ur gone. Tell him straight up and make it very clear to him. He should understand. If u have a few deer over 150 he should feel privileged to be Abel to hunt there and if he has that high of standards of a 150 inch deer and can't watch a Forky walk he's not a very good trophy hunter and he may not no what a 150 inch deer looks like. With that being said I would make it very clear to him now that if it happends again he's gone


exactly...well put bowguy

[mrbb]

I understand this WAY too well, I have a like firend that every year says will not shoot any buck under my 120" QDM goal, on my farm
first time he shot an under 120, I said it happens, he wasn't very good at scoring a deer, so I cut him some slack, second time,
I wasn';t so forgiving.but he was still a long time good friend , so??

so instead of saying NO more hunting, or coming up with an excuse to stop him from hunting here ,
I told him from this point out, if you shoot a buck under the goal, its a $500.00 kill fee,
money goes into the property,
and if you don't agree to this, well then , you can hunt else where, letting him decide!
to date he hasn't killed a buck under 120 here
he stil sucks at guessing there size, but he holds off on deer now, that in the past I know he would have shot without a care, now the wallet is on the line, he thinks a little more
I do still believe he will shoot one one day under 120 on me to be honest!

BUT!!
the $500 bucks won't replace a undersized deer or do your QDM plan any good at that moment,
but way I see it , I will use that 500 bucks to improve the land, so in the long run it will help other deer on the farm

having friends can be a pain in the ass at times LOl

But me, I say be straight with him, and not make an excuse to use your uncle as the bad guy if you want to draw a line in the sand with him
if he's a real friend, he will understand, if not, then, you now know what your dealing with,
and won't feel as bad not letting him hunt there!
My 2 cents

[radicalxl]

That might work in the ideal world, but in the real world you most likely wouldn't see him again or the $500.00. I agree with leaving your uncle out of it. If you are really serious about QDM, give him another chance because he is your friend. If he does it again, give him the ole hunting boot.

[gonehunting 45]

If he is ur best friend u should be Abel to tell him look man if u shoot another small buck ur not Gunba be alloud to hunt here any more u knew the rules and u broke them. If u break them again than ur gone. Tell him straight up and make it very clear to him. He should understand. If u have a few deer over 150 he should feel privileged to be Abel to hunt there and if he has that high of standards of a 150 inch deer and can't watch a Forky walk he's not a very good trophy hunter and he may not no what a 150 inch deer looks like. With that being said I would make it very clear to him now that if it happends again he's gone


I agree...I would get some pics of 150+ bucks and hold class.

[Big_Holla]

Educate him and he needs to know the repercussions of his actions. Also, you do need to inform your uncle about the whole situation. It should be up to you as a family what happens and friendship or not he needed to follow directions. Perhaps a year off would be in order, either way he just looked at your friendship and said that small buck was worth more.

[hortontoter]

Thats a tuff call. True friends are hard to come by, so I'd keep that in mind. But, if you have stipulations on your property he should adhere to them to the letter.

I know at my property I practice letting the smaller bucks walk. But, I don't make my dad or stepson that hunt there with me do the same. If they want to take a small buck I don't have a problem with that. I only own 10 acres so deer management is not a reality. A deer can walk 300 feet and be on a property on either side of mine. Once he or she is on another property I have no control anyways. If I owned 100 acres I'm sure I would think differently. My only stipulation is that only one doe per hunter per season.

[mneal]

Trophy deer get hit on the road every day where I live. I would not risk a friendship over shooting the wrong deer. Would this guy help you move? Help your kids with a 4H project? I cannot see choosing a forky buck over a solid friend. Of course, a good friend would realize that you are serious about the issue and would not take advantage of your generosity.

[ManOfTheFall]

Here is a picture of the buck.

[Bigcity]

I don't know, but that guy looks really happy with his deer and if he eats all of it, I would not break up a friendship over this. Sure, from a strict QDM aspect, killing a deer of this size doesn't make sense. But if your friend has a wonderful memory of spending time with you and being the woods, then I think that outweighs any arguement or loosing a friend. Take some time to teach him what a shooter buck looks like. Get him one of those Glendell 3D targets that has the 150" rack so that he has better visual cues. Tell him to use the deers ears as a guide, anything inside his ears most likley gets a pass. And a little cheerful jab about shooting the small ones. I think if he is a good friend , he'll get the message.

[Big_Holla]

Make it a learning lesson that's for sure. Some great friendships have been lost over much less I am sure. The one thing that bothers me is there is no way that deer could have been mistaken for anything even remotely close to what you are managing for. So either you guys did a terrible job teaching him or he said to himself your rules don't matter. While looking at the flip side of the coin, many have said they would not ruin a friendship over this.....well, your buddy could have though the same thing before he shot. Not sure why it is only up to you to be the true friend and turn your cheek, he owns something in this as well. Either way I am sure the deer will be used and enjoyed and at this point that is most important.

Hopefully we all learn a lesson here as well.

[hortontoter]

After seeing the photo, I gotta agree with Chuck. To even think this was a 50 inch deer would be pushing it. My first thought is how many deer has this guy taken prior to this one. Maybe he loses control at the sight of antlers, some guys do. I'd sit down and have a long talk with him and make sure he understands that you are dedicated to the management of your herd. If I had an antler minimum I'd make sure he understood it. If it was 135-145 inch deer I'd not think much of the situation. I've hunted deer for quite a while and would still not be able to tell a 135 over a 150 many times in hunting situations.

[taylor6400]

Hortontoter i think hit it. Some people get so excited at the sight of antlers they cant help themselves. I know a guy just like this. He will shoot any buck that approaches 115-120. Not that this buck in question does. But, we strive to hit 130 for our buck kills. But, you know what? This guy is truley excited and couldnt be happier about the bucks he kills. He is proud and shows them off just like they were that 150. Isnt that what its all about anyway? My neighbor isnt on board with any management and the bucks i let walk could step across the fence and get whacked. I might as well let my friend be the one to enjoy it as opposed to my neighbor is the way i look at it. Im not in this deal to make a living...i dont want to get too serious about my one hobby that should be care-free. Yeah, i put in a lot of work in the off-season to improve my habitat and chances, but its all still for fun.