You dis on the GOOD OLD DAYS mentality but apparently never had the chance to experience a real deer camp that many of us old guys enjoyed.You just can't comprehend the fact that some guy would actually get enjoyment from shooting a spike not realizing that the size of the horns didn't really matter.Go ahead and watch your TV fantasy shows and dream on that some day you wont have to leave PA to kill that 180 class buck and sooner or later you'll have to snap back into reality and realize it will never happen in your lifetime.Look at the stats from you beloved PGC and realize that for the most part all your doing is prolonging the inevitable for a 1 1/2 year old forkhorn by a year or two and most will never make it any furhter.I worked my ass off this year and was fortunate to kill one of those 10 points,but am no prouder of that deer than any of the other buck I have been fortunate enough to kill along the way.
I never said Everyone needs to kill a 6 or 7 year old deer, I never mentioned 180" fantasy bucks.........you guys hear what you want to hear because you feel it's an insult to your old way of thinking.
I'm talking about growing up in your mindset on deer and deer hunting. That there's maybe more to it than popping the first baby buck that mindlessly wanders by your stand.....both for the health of the herd and the habitat and increasing the level of experience for the hunter. Lets just keep running that same huge deer herd out there into a mature forest and let them eat themselves out of house and home and whack every 1.5yr old buck we can get in our sights because that's MY tradition.
If you guys have never seen aREAL deer herd, chasing does, with a nice mix of mature and young deer.....deer being deer ,than you have no idea what you are talking about. My life experience hunting isn't limited to popping 5pts every year in a northern deer camp because that's the way ot's been done for 100yrs. LOL
You say you killed a 10pt this year but it holds exactly the same value to you and you are as proud of that deer as any of the small ones you've taken.
Let me ask you this..........and ANY of you guys who would just as soon shoot a spike as a 150" 10pt.
Do you have any deer mounted in your home? If you do, which one or ones is it?
Is it the biggest you've shot? Or is it the typical scrub buck that you whack every year to say you shot a buck?
If you value EVERY buck equally then I expect you all have EVERY buck mounted on your wall if you have at least one right?
People who are happy drilling spikes don't expect enough of themselves the deer herd or their fellow hunter. It's the best they can do so that's what they shoot. IF there were a good mix of young and old deer running around and the possibility of a good mature buck were actually realistic in this state some tunes would change pretty quickly after the first couple nice ones started dropping.
Which bucks are legendary in those camps? Not Uncle Charlies spike from 1973, it's Grandpa's big 11pt from 1964.
You are all lying to yourself if you think you wouldn't shoot a bigger more mature buck over a smaller one, and if you want to see bigger bucks you have to NOT shoot the smaller ones and your buddy, neighbor, brother, cousin, uncle have to do the same thing.
Ask yourself the question AGAIN. Spike, 4pt, 10pt all standing in a line. Which one do I shoot?
Then tell me you value them all equally after you shoot the 10pt.
I did exactly what you describe, I shot small bucks I enjoy deer camp (Clinton Co.) but our group has grown up mentally and guess what? We're seeing more and bigger bucks and passing the ltitle ones, so the next time you whack a 10pt on state ground maybe you can thank me and my group for letting that deer walk as a yr old 5pt, or a 2yr old 8pt.
I really do feel sorry for the guys who are incapable of expecting more or who don't care to from themselves or their hunting experience.
Hey Bluebird..........I see you dodged the question AGAIN yourself.
What one are you shooting. You turned around and they are all standing there in a row broadside.
Spike (if legal) , 4pt, and a big 150" 4yr old 10pt.
WHICH ONE ARE YOU SHOOTING?
Those of you fighting me on this argument of I'm just as happy shooting that spike better not shoot the 10pt.........that deer is only for the antler crazy, trophy hunter.
