I say: it used to be hunting. It used to be you in the woods having fun. It's suppose to be fun. I remember the times when deer numbers were down. You didn't have the luxury of doe tags. We didn't call them "Herds" then. Farmers used "herds" when talking about their cows. I remember when counties that are over run with deer now didn't have a deer season. I remember when you went hunting with friends as a group or you went alone to get out once in a while. I remember when we DIDN'T measure deer by their horns. We weighed them .... maybe.... but usually just estimated their weight. I remember when the guy that shot the 12 pointer was congratulated and declared a great shot and at the same time everyone though, "lucky guy". And they were right in most cases as it was deer drives etc. I remember when you could hunt anywhere you wanted and did.

And today, we have QDM, Big Bucks, Big leases costing Big Bucks. Who has the most money wins. We have people preaching that you're some low life for enjoying the hunt and shooting something that might not "MAke THE BOOK". We rarely hear of someone mentioning the weight of a deer. It's now the inches. It's not a BIG buck, it's a 150 class deer. It's not a deer I shot. It's a Management buck. It's not "I got lucky today"... it's I decided to cull her or him.

I remember this from times before many of you were born. You have no idea how things have changed. It doesn't take much skill to kill a deer today. Those who "Harvest" them would lead you to believe it does. The problem is, we shouldn't be caring if it takes skill or not. We shouldn't be worrying about Harvesting. We should be having fun. I do... but I'm not sure many understand that.