First and foremost, I think the decision to shoot a small buck, or any deer for that matter, should be left up to the individual hunter as long as the deer is legal (* with an exception as stated below). Whether you agree with the game laws or not. But if a spike buck with 3 1/2 inches of hard antler above the hairline is legal in your state and you want to put a tag on him and take him home, you should have that right if you purchased a deer tag or hunting license.

*And since I mentioned the law, I think having laws restricting hunters to harvesting deer with a minimum antler count is plain wrong. Arkansas comes to mind with its 3 point rule (or is it 4 points per side?). Whatever it is, I believe it's wrong. A hunter should be able to put their tag on any buck they can see the antler on. These types of laws also rob our young and elderly hunters of chances of enjoying the harvest of a buck deer. Which may be the greatest tragedy of all.

The State and other Hunters should not be the ones making the rules telling me whether or not I can shoot a buck with hard antler above the hairline. There have been years where I went home empty handed and happy because I was chasing a few select Trophy bucks. There have been other years when I killed 4 or 5 deer and everyone was a 6 point or less. I was a happy camper both times.

It's the individual hunters enjoyment that spells success. If that means taking a Spike buck, so be it. If that means putting 20 hours a week in going after a Trophy buck only to go home at the end of the season empty handed, so bit it. It's the Hunters choice and that's the way it should be.

I once knew a fairly famous bowhunter in our State who also owned an Archer shop. They guy was always nice to me even when I was a wet behind the ears teenager in his store only spending a few bucks. He was what I considered your average archery owner. Pics of his trophy's all over the place. Which I'm totally fine with.

But one year he'd went most of the year without killing a deer. Even went through the rut and rifle season without killing a buck. Then toward Christmas he shot a small buck with 2 points on one side and 3 points on the other. Nothing real special as far as the head gear went. But this guy's story was he shot the deer because the side with 3 points was rare and he'd never killed a buck like this.

Personally, I thought a little less of him after that. I didn't get the feeling he was being totally honest with anyone. I did get the feeling he killed it because it was getting near the end of the deer hunting season and he wanted to shoot a buck. Which I've done the same thing and I believe it's certainly within the rights of a deer hunter to do so. But be honest about the reason you put a tag on a deer! Heck, there should be no shame saying the season is coming to an end and you wanted to put a tag on a deer!

Okay, another rant here. You guys who go around saying "you can't eat horns" are correct. But don't spout that crap off then when you get a wall hanger in front of you blast the crap out of him. Then proceed to tell everyone what a trophy he is. There's no shame in saying you're a meat hunter or that you wanted to shoot the first thing that comes by. I know a lot of hunters who wished they could kill a buck, any buck, each and every year like some of you do. Be proud of the fact that you're good enough to kill any deer consistently!

I'd also like to call out the guys who hunt high dollar leases or go on nothing but guided hunts and then look down your nose at people who kill small to average bucks. I've often said, and still stand behind this statement, that anyone who can kill a legal buck on Public Land consistently is a far better deer hunter than someone who only hunts exclusive leases or pays to hire a guide. Just because you have the money to hire a guide our lease up half a county in Illinois does not make you a better hunter!

Finally, no one should have the right to tell me, or you, which buck I can shoot. Study after Study have shown that taking spike bucks does not affect the quality of the deer heard. No one should have to ask if it's wrong to shoot a small buck!

In my opinion, post season scouting is some of the best scouting you can do. In the post season, you can find out if your Buck is still alive and more important, where he's hanging out. Many places either have snow on the ground or will have snow. This can be the best time to follow a Buck and see where he's holing up. In most cases, he'll still be in his hiding/evading mode due to Small Game hunters in his area.

The places he likes to hide, his travel routes and his escape routes will be much easier to find this time of year than when your scouting in the Pre-season. It's also a great time to snoop around your public hunting land and see where he likes to hide or where other hunters are setting up.

I've found more Big Buck escape routes and Sanctuary's by scouting when there was snow on the ground than any other time of the year. Snow almost makes it too easy...almost! And you don't have to worry about things like Mosquitoes, Snakes and Chiggers like you do when you're scouting for deer in the Summertime.

While snow on the ground is my favorite time to scout for Bucks, I've also found good areas for the upcoming Deer season when I was scouting and hunting for Turkeys. Many of the movement habits of Deer are the same ones Turkeys use in their day to day life.

Bottlenecks, feeding areas and loafing areas that Turkeys use can be the same areas Deer use. I've also located new Deer hunting areas when out Turkey hunting. It's amazing to me how much Deer sign you can find in the Spring. The Deer will normally be in their Fall and Winter patterns before greenup and it's just an excellent time to find new areas and to tweak your existing hunting areas and treestand sites.

Post season is also an excellent time to find sheds. With the exception of actually sighting a Big Buck after Deer Season has ended, nothing says that the Big Boy is still alive like finding fresh sheds. You'll typically find sheds in bedding areas and travel corridors.

So take a few days off from fishing or just get out in the snowy woods for a romp of your deer hunting area. I'm betting you'll be surprised at what you find.