RE: Trophy Hunting?
<font color=red>"I am still looking for good reasons why experienced hunters need to take small, inferior bucks. Several questions that I have posed in response, have yet to be answered by anyone in favor of taking small bucks."</font id=red>
How about the best reason of all...choice? It's one of the same reasons that we use to fight anti-hunters when they ask us all why we need to shoot any animal.
All sportsmen, be they hunters, fishermen, or gun owners in general, should be very careful about introducing need as a justification for doing anything. After all...who needs that semi-auto rifle or handgun?
Substituting choice for need is one of the animal rights and gun control lobby's favorite cards to play. As sportsmen, we should be more cautious when we start sliding down their slippery slope.
<font color=red>"I am sure. I just know, that when an experienced hunter harvests a small basket rack 6 pointer, the following year he will say "I hope I shoot a smaller one this year!"</font id=red>
Maybe he says, "I hope I shoot another one this year, and I don't much care if it's bigger or smaller". Have you never shot a buck that was smaller than "last year's trophy"? If so, did you set out to shoot a "smaller one", or did you just excercise your personal choice to do so?
JRW