Why is killing a buck so important?
This runs BOTH ends of the spectrum too. Those who readily fire away year in and year out at a 1.5 old forkies, to those ultra-managed places where a 140” buck is a “cull”.
Why do people elevate an animal SO MUCH just because of the amount of bone on its head, or just the fact that it HAS 3” of bone on its head? Sometimes people act as if their life would spiral into a pit of emptiness if they didn’t kill a buck that year. I know a lot of folks on here like to tout the “horn porn” that everyone is trying to outdo each other on the “big” buck end of the spectrum, but I think it is just as much of an issue with the ‘I have to shoot ANY buck’ mindset as well.
Don’t get me wrong, for a long time I was in a mindset of shooting any buck, just because it was a buck and that was what I was ‘supposed to do’. Now looking back, I don’t even know why I felt the way I did.
Do you think regional traditions play into this to a great deal? Is it the evil commercialization of hunting? Is it greed that lies deep within human nature?
One of the things that cracks me up when I hear people talk about the dilemma of hunting during Doe only seasons….”what if a buck walks by?” I can’t shoot it. OMG the world will end!