As the saying goes...if you shoot does and fawns, that's all you're ever going to shoot! In the last 6 years white-tail hunting in Saskatchewan I have passed on probably 150 deer but that's part of what it takes to be a good steward of the resource. It all pays off when you let the 150 incher go to 6 years old and he turns into a booner.
Few hunters realize how detrimental it is to deer management when they take does and fawns or immature bucks. You did the right thing by harvesting an old buck that surely would be past his prime by next year. I only hope that more hunters will practice the sustainable management principle that you have exemplified in your thread: "let them go, let them grow" and you will have this boy spreading his genetics in the population.
Let's hope that other hunters will adhere to principle number two: "avoid shooting does, we need them to breed". I can't imagine how many does carrying this bucks babies will have been shot before they could put his fawn on the ground next season.
For that sir, I commend you!
