Whitetail Deer HuntingGain a better understanding of the World's most popular big game animal and the techniques that will help you become a better deer hunter.
HORSE POOP!!!
Quite a few poeple I know (i believe you referred to them as Knuckleheads) live in apartment complexes that have no facility for them to hang the deer and process it themselves.
And yes they are hunters. They don't live up to standards as published by the great Vabyrd but are by any other starndard very good hunters and great guys.
Yes, there are some who don't have a place to butcher them, but I can bet you that there are way MORE that do have a place yet won't do it anyway. They like to brag and think of themselves as manly when they are showing off the rack, but will turn sissy when it's time to get their hands dirty with some meat processing.
Steve,
Vabyrd is lumping EVERYONE as knuckleheads and non-hunters who do not butcher their own deer No excuses i believe he said. To this i say Donkey Nuggets!!!
Take it to another extreme. So if you don't handload your own bullets are you not a hunter? Just go and buy it off the shelf and you call yourself a hunter? Pssshht
How about those who drive the truck to the spot the deer was killed. Shouldn't everyone have the experience of dragging the deer for a mile. If you don't you are not a hunter right?
C'mon just because someone doesn't participate in a particular part of the hunting experience they are knuckleheads and non-hunters?
Danny, Vabyrd might be a bit blunt for those who are overly sensitive but I think he is right on with the points he was trying to make. I myself know quite a few hunters who wouldn't have a clue on how to skin and process a deer by themselves. They never even bothered to watch and learn this part of the hunting experience. I think any hunter worthy of the name needs to know how it's done. It's easy just to shoot at and kill something and then have someone else process and package it for you. If I wanted someone else to do this part for me I wouldn't bother hunting at all, I would simply buy prepackaged meat in the grocery store like everyone else and be done with it. Your example of those who don't handload their own bullets not being hunters is not even closely related to what we are trying to say here. A deer can be killed if you hit it over it's head with a stone also so bullets actually could be taken out of the picture completely. You still won't make food out of that deer if you don't have anyone to process it for you and don't know how to do it yourself, thus you are NOT a complete hunter.
But Steve,
I consider handloading bullets and dragging the deer out as all part of the hunting experience.
However, i would never label someone who buys Bullets off the shelf or pulls their truck up to the kill as a non-hunter. That would be absurd
I butcher my own deer as do you but again, i am not going to judge someone who does not butcher their own deer as a non hunter. I would only say they are someone who does not do it my way
I am not calling them non hunters just incomplete hunters. Out of all the occupations and pursuits out there for man throughout history, hunters and farmers have been the ones who have been known as providers of food to mankind. A farmer that raises animals or crops knows how to bring what he grows to the table. I can't say that the same for many hunters who like the killing part, but the rest they don't seem to have any interest in.
The farmer grows it, cuts it down and prepares it so people can make food out of it or that others might utilize it in making other edible or non-edible product. They surely don't need to cook it just like the hunter may not need to cook it themselves if they give the meat away to someone. The farmer surely has a good inkling of what happens to his crops once they are cut down to when they reach the table. So should the hunter. Once the deer is put down, the story isn't over. Too many hunters like the cutting down part, but could care less in learning the next step. That is all I am trying to say here. I surely won't convince anyone to start processing their own deer if they have no desire to do so. I can only tell them that they are not participating in the complete process of what hunting is and always was.
I hear ya Steve.
I'm gonna agree that a hunter may not participate in the whole process thereby not completing the entire, possible hunting experience.
I am going to disagree with Vabyrd, classifying them as knuckleheads.
BTW. Once i began butchering my own deer the hunting experience was certainly taken to another level.
Additionally, once i began handloading, the experience was once again elevated.
I can say I dont really hunt for meat. I shoot probably 3 deer a year. Take 1 for myself. Get it cut up either by a family freind, once again he does it for the money and his family that isnt financially well off, or to other local butchers. The other 2 I give to family friends who aren't as financially well off as we are and they appreciate the hell out of it and demolish my deer when i give it to them! I hunt for the sport, the challenge, the game of trying to shoot a 4.5 yr old weary buck who has a phd in survival. That is why i hunt!
__________________
Mathews Switchback XT 67 lbs. 27.5"
Gold Tip 5575 Pro Hunter Arrows
G5 Expert II drop away
X-Coil-STS Bar-Ultra Quads-String Leeches
Truball release
Bohning Quiver
Call me the knucklhead too. Ive been hunting over 20 years and never once attempted to butcher it myself. Public land hunter, going a mile deep before dark thirty and out dark thirty. Add in dragging the deer out its practically midnight. Ice it up,take to the butcher Sunday, and back to work Monday. Many of us do not have the time, nor resources to butcher the deer in our garages. Might I also add that many of us might not even have a garage to work with. Hell I consider the use of an ATV POACHING!!!!!!
