I've just spent the greater part of two hours reading the individual chest thumping that went on in the, "little ones make big ones", thread. I do not want to reopen the question of QDM. My main issueis thatthe content of the threadimpliesoverwhelmingly, the notion that taking of deer that are older, (put your own reqs in here) have racks of (n) points or better or score (n) PY/BC points or more, makes you the taker amore accomplished hunter. The intent of this thread is to compare the hunting prowessimplied by certain indivduals in that thread based on deermaturity versus a few alternatives.

The first situation I'd like opinion on is based on an occurence in the Moose River drainage in the Adirondack Park of NYS. (Davidmil has mentioned the park in several notes but for clarity, one can travel for 60 miles on a single compass heading without hitting another road.) No crops, food plots, etc.. It was 1953 and a friend and I spent 10 days 14 miles from Eagle Bay hunting, without pulling the trigger. On our hike back to civilization we ran into a gentleman that, in our discourse, said he was 71. He had on his back a crotch horn. The a$$ was in an adirondack basket, (look it up) the hind legs wrapped around his waist, the forelegs over his shoulders and tied off to the hindlegs. The deers head was on top of his head and tied down with a piece of cloth. He walked out the last 7 miles without stopping. Question: Was he less of a hunter with his fork than others in this forum with their 140+ heads? Should he have held out for that, "mature", deer.

Now my turn. I have always been primarily a still hunter. Ground level, belly to belly with my quarry. I have tracked and stalked 5 bucks to their beds. Killed three, (2 with a recurve)missed one and had one walk off after a long wait because I couldn't get an arrow through. I have also passed opportunities on a large number of bedded does. The largest deer I have ever killed was a 10 point, maybe 3 1/2 but probably 2 1/2.Again with a recurve.

I'm trying hard to avoid the classic, "I walked 5 miles though the snow to school......", but it's hard to avoid. Most of my deer hunting life, I was allowed one (1) deer of either sex with a bow. I did not get an extra buck only tag during gun season. As a result, in order to make my season last as long as possible, I passed on does and small, (not immature) bucks. Nothing altruistic in terms of the herd, purely selfish. I wanted the seasonas long as possible for me. Besides, I'm not fond of venison..Question: Is my ability in question because I haven't killed a, MATURE buck. The thread in certainly seems to question my abilities, as well as the thousands of others who do not have the, "patience", to kill a deer of certain qualities.

So, to the heart of the matter....What makes a bowhunter a "great" or "notable" hunter. Is it the taking/killing of an animal of certain qualities, is it the methodology of the taking/kill or is it the quality of the hunt itself or tha intangible feelingof satisfaction that onehas at the end of the day, whether or not an animal was involved. For me, one ofmy most memorable days was that one in Moose Riverand I wasn't even hunting and making one a great bowhunter is recognizing those moments.

laxdad