Hit list?
Contributors to this thread:General Topic
From: PECO
14-Dec-21
Who actually has a "hit list?" You may define what your hit list is, I think it may be different to different people.
I will start, I don't. Well,maybe, my hit list is the first legal, healthy deer that presents me with a shot I'm confident in.
From: Catscratch
14-Dec-21
Never had a hit list; but I do own land that I live on, run trail cameras, and know the deer on the place pretty well. I've had deer that I wouldn't shoot due to idea that they may become special with some age on them, but never have I had a list or order of deer that I was wanting to kill. I just like to hunt and shoot at stuff that makes me heart speed up.
From: Whatthefoc
14-Dec-21
I have a hit list of one. But I am always open to new opportunities ??
From: deerhunter72
14-Dec-21
Never had one, but I do run cameras and have deer that I would like to get a shot at.
From: Missouribreaks
14-Dec-21
No hit list here.
From: Ollie
14-Dec-21
I am not an assassin. Therefore I do not have “hit lists.”
From: bentstick54
14-Dec-21
No hit list and don’t name them either.
From: ahunter76
14-Dec-21
If you can make a hit list & name a wild deer you don't hunt places like I do. Food Plots, Game cameras, manage Deer ratios, private & or limited hunting is not what most of us are privvy too.. The purists talk "fair chase".. It's two words used very loosly these days...
From: Bou'bound
14-Dec-21
I name my deer hitlist so I guess that’s really screwed up.
From: LINK
14-Dec-21
1. Swamp Donkie
2. Double Duece
3. King Kong
4. Buckzilla
5. Who’s Your Daddy
All other bucks I name Donnie. ;)
From: LINK
14-Dec-21
In reality I know the local bucks on the properties I hunt. The only person I discuss them with is my daughter. Our conversation is something like, “you know the tall, narrow eight” or “you know the ten you backstrap shot last year”. Those are my names.
From: Grey Ghost
14-Dec-21
I scout and see (with my own eyes, no cameras) animals that I'd prefer to shoot, and often give them names, then I usually kill the first respectable animal that gives me a shot.
Matt
From: Ambush
14-Dec-21
I name deer for the purpose of a "Live Hunt" to keep them straight and for expediency in story telling. Other than that, my small group uses antler description when discussing animals we know.
I don't have a Hit List, but there are animals I'd rather shoot and will pass on others to that end. Probably more accurately called a "I'd Like to Shoot that One." list.
From: sticksender
14-Dec-21
This is in the general section, but I assume we're talking whitetail deer? If so then, YES, because I want to hunt....A LOT. And in my state we can only shoot ONE antlered buck per year regardless of the weapon used or the season in which we take it. Without knowing the specific animals that live where I hunt, how else would I know whether to pass a decent-looking buck that comes in? I don't tell my neighbors or friends what to do, I only worry about my own hunting. But having already shot all the teenager bucks I need to for a lifetime, I lack interest in shooting another immature buck that's 2 or 3 years old. I'm also in no hurry to "get done" so I can move on to other stuff, say like duck hunting, or just vegging out on the couch. I don't do that stuff, specifically so I can keep hunting deer my way. With a goal of killing the best buck that lives on the area I hunt, why wouldn't I want to get extremely familiar with what lives there, know what the best ones look like, and then make a plan to kill one? And if I fail to shoot that kind of buck, I pass on filling a tag for the year....doesn't bother me at all. At least I got to hunt that year, A LOT ;-)
From: Bob Hildenbrand
14-Dec-21
Absolutely. But it changes with every legal animal that walks by me.
From: Mark S
14-Dec-21
No hit list. This term and naming deer was something I used to see on tv when I still watched. It didn't resonate with me and still does not.
From: Corax_latrans
14-Dec-21
I’m always after Comet…. ‘cuz he’s the Meatier.
From: Longshot
14-Dec-21
Most everybody that runs cams has a hitlist, whether it’s just in their own head or openly discussed in camp, you have one.
From: milnrick
14-Dec-21
We nicknamed bucks at our old lease in South TX based on their antlers. Left fork, Double forks, Squid head, Ancho and several others.
Now we name them for their intended use... there's Sausage Patti, Burger Bob, Donated Donna and Give-away George.
From: PushCoArcher
14-Dec-21
2019 target
2019 target
2020
2020
2021
2021
I can't say I have a hit list but I definitely pick out one each year I try and target. And then never kill.
From: JL
14-Dec-21
Like others....no hit lists, no cute names and especially no "smack-downs", "boo-yahs" or "schlockings".
If anything, a "won't shoot list" based on the cams and what I see from the stand. Otherwise....whatever ma nature brings by is what my choices are.
From: Mike Ukrainetz
14-Dec-21
Heck yeah, we have a hit list with names! How else would we keep track of the different bucks we are trying to kill and which animal is priority to focus on? No exclusive private land access, lots of public land. Even if I wasn’t an outfitter I would have it. Any dedicated hunter who loves the challenge of killing the biggest, oldest deer he can find has a hit list and names. It simply maximizes your time in the woods and allows you to talk about which deer you are after with your close buddies. Call it a “wish list” with descriptive phrases if you prefer.
From: bigswivle
15-Dec-21
One of my hitlisters
One of my hitlisters
From: bigswivle
15-Dec-21
#2 hitlister my neighbor killed. LOL
#2 hitlister my neighbor killed. LOL
From: Rut Nut
15-Dec-21
I cringe a little every time I hear the term "HIT LIST!" ;-)
But to answer your question: No. I have a couple bucks I would like to take, but no list.
From: LINK
15-Dec-21
Nothing I had pics of but I picked this deer up off the highway this October
Nothing I had pics of but I picked this deer up off the highway this October
Bigswivie my property borders a highway and most of my other hunting properties border the same highway. That’s a scene I’m used to. This is my biggest deer a couple years ago. A cop hit him hauling kids to the county jail at midnight.
From: goyt
15-Dec-21
I send my pictures of better or unique bucks to a neighboring landowner. He compiles a list and names them which is great. The bucks are not in any specific order and I do not consider it a hit list. However, I do study the pictures and try to guess age and size. I try to decide which of the bucks I would like to shoot. When I see one of the bucks it helps to be able to recognize the buck and further evaluate the age and size. Everyone who has the list, which is active, probably has a different list of which they would shoot. It is great when sharing stories to be able to use names like I had Stienbenner at 30 yards but did not get a shot or I have never seen Frank and have not gotten a picture of him in a month how about you? I like the list!
From: deerhunter72
15-Dec-21
"Most everybody that runs cams has a hitlist, whether it’s just in their own head or openly discussed in camp, you have one."
Maybe, maybe not. Using that logic, it's no different seeing a buck in the field and making him #1 on your "hit list" than seeing the same buck on a camera.
From: Longshot
15-Dec-21
Deerhunter72, I completely agree. I just think it’s easier to have a list when you’re seeing about everything in the area on cams vs only knowing what’s around by what you’re seeing from stand, which usually is not anywhere close to everything that is in the area. Cams, for the most part, show all the deer in an area.
From: deerhunter72
15-Dec-21
Longshot, 100% agree. I used to not be a fan of cameras because I didn't want to know what bucks might be around, but I have found that I really enjoy the pictures and videos that I get on my place. Still, I don't have a definite hit list because I shoot any buck that I have an interest in if the shot presents itself.
From: Longshot
15-Dec-21
I can see how people enjoy it both ways. Not running cams would be neat bc of the excitement of having no clue what could walk by. Most people would say more bucks get killed bc of cams but you could argue that less bucks are shot, especially younger ones, bc of people holding out for a bigger or older buck that they have seen on cam.
From: Copperhead
15-Dec-21
I use cameras for entertainment and rarely get a shot at the biggest antlered deer on them. When I'm hunting I look at the body size more than the antler size, if the deer has enough meat and appears to be very healthy plus gives me an opportunity then that's the one I try to shoot at that moment. This is not to say that I wouldn't shoot the biggest antlered one, I just don't try to focus on particular deer as that takes a lot of the joy away from what I experience just being out in nature and hunting.
From: BigEight
15-Dec-21
No definite list but it doesn't bother me when people have them. I enjoy the names as long as they are funny. I killed a buck last year I called Cassandra because when I saw him I said "he will be mine. Oh yes, he will be mine". That's a quote from Wayne's World for those that don't know. I don't take myself to seriously.
From: timex
15-Dec-21
I wish I had a tract of land big enough to manage the deer herd but I don't. There's a buck one place I hunt that 3 different people have seen & described exactly the same way so I believe its the same deer. I haven't seen him but am after him. So I guess it could be my hit list buck but not really. Also I don't use cameras. I have nothing against em just never got into them
From: skookumjt
15-Dec-21
I hunt both public and private land but it's all the same block of timber so the same deer on both. I also run cameras on both. I keep track of the deer that are getting mature enough to get my interest. I am to the point of only wanting to shoot mature bucks-the nicer head gear that tends to come with them is obviously a bonus. I will typically name them something to keep track of them in my head and to facilitate discussing them with others (wife, son, neighbors), and keep track of where I am seeing them. This year I had stickers, the 11, front 12, straight 10, and big eight on cameral regularly as well as some that I oy got pictures of once or twice that I would have shot and dozens of other small bucks. I got opportunities on the straight 10, the eleven, and stickers (all on public) and was able to harvest Stickers with my bow. I don't call them my "hit list" but in reality what we call them is a mute point. Everyone keeps track of deer they have history with whether seeing them in person from a stand, observing them in a field or somewhere else, or have trail cameral pics of whether that's in their head, amongst their family and neighbors, or logging them on paper or in files on a computer. In general I am against the media stars who monetize hunting and so when they talk about a hit list it maybe irritates me some but we all do it. Just on a different level and for different reasons.
From: PECO
15-Dec-21
Let's see a picture of stickers!
From: Longshot
15-Dec-21
Skookumjt, 1000% agree
From: Bowfinatic
15-Dec-21
Definitely have a hitlist every year. Definately have a name for the deer as well. Makes it easy when talking about deer between family and neighbors Happy Hunting!
From: Corax_latrans
15-Dec-21
@Pushco - I think I would call that first one Great Googly Moogly!!
From: Michael
15-Dec-21
I have never had a hit list. Now I have names a few deer over the years. Some that I can think of are Short G2 10, crab claw 10, Big 10, Wide 8 and big boy.
From: Corax_latrans
15-Dec-21
Come to think of it, I have one on the wall in my garage I call The Stud… Because he’s a 2 x 4…
From: SaddleReaper
16-Dec-21
I also don't care for the term "hit list", but as others have pointed out, many of us have a "list" in our heads of bucks we'd like to get a shot at, provided we pursue the best (be it maturity or racked) bucks we can on any given property. Whether it's years of history with a handful of bucks on private, or it's sightings of a single or multiple desirable bucks on public... chances are you've got the best one on the forefront of your mind. As Mike said "wish list" might be a more accurate term.
I suppose none of this applies to those of you that hunt purely on an opportunistic basis where any legal buck to present a shot first gets an arrow.
From: Jaquomo
16-Dec-21
I hunt open country and get to see most of the bucks. So yes, I do have certain ones I would shoot and others I pass up. People who have followed my live plains muley hunts on here see the pics while I'm hunting. This year is terrible hunting out there for some reason, and the only two bucks on my "hit list" are open country whitetails. I don't name them, though.
From: Corax_latrans
16-Dec-21
“ I suppose none of this applies to those of you that hunt purely on an opportunistic basis where any legal buck to present a shot first gets an arrow.”
Who says it has to be a buck?
“Opportunistic” - assuming we are talking about someone who has put sounds knowledge, skill and forethought into the way they approach the whole proposition - is just good, honest Hunting, and nothing for which anyone need apologize.
As Pat said just the other day, bucks don’t live to these ripe, old ages unless they spend the vast majority of their time in unhuntable refuge areas.
And FWIW, there are only 2 kinds of deer that live through encounters with Hunters: those that leave the scene having learned that humans are MORE dangerous than they had perceived us to be, and those which leave having learned that we are LESS dangerous than previously expected.
This former SURVIVE the encounter; the latter simply walk away. And we “Opportunistic“ hunters generally only come across the Survivors.
