If you knew me you wouldn't call me a poacher for tagging two of my sons doe. It cost me over $1,000 a year, between taxes, lost rental income, food plots, equipment plus all my time put into habitat work. I have a farmer plant my field without collecting rental, he is only allowed to plant and harvest soybeans and corn for the deer.

I buy two antlerless tags each year, but would only use one since we started shooting doe as I believe one deer is enough per hunter. I give my best stand to guest when they come, guests have harvested more deer than me, my brother-in-law who is four years older than me (I'm 66) shot a buck out of that stand which is the biggest buck heever shot and it was bigger than anybuck I have ever seen. I've had nephews and other junior hunters come to hunt and were allowed to harvest a doe, which they did. I spent about 20 hours this year hunting out of my stands, some of the evening I was over 200 yards away from where the deer normally show. My limit on my ability to make a killing shot is 100 yards, I was only out to see deer, not to kill one.

Before the season and after, I spend ten times more in the stands not hunting than I do hunting, get more enjoyment from seeing deer and how they react than trying to kill one.

The only reason I shot a doe at 4:50 on the last day, my oldest son only shot that button buck with the broken front leg and the doe that was shot the first day, wasn't found until the following morning and the butcher said it was spoiled. It takes two deer to supply three sons families with deer meat, but if my son wouldn't shoot a dear, which has happened, I won't shoot a second one no matter what.

We have a decent amount of deer around here, but it doesn't bother me that I spend money feeding deer for other hunters to harvest, deer numbers here in the farm country don't increase in one area, they move out for other hunters to hunt. I'm not a greedy hunter and I'm a good steward of my land. If I wanted to just kill deer, I go to my wifes uncle two farms, which are now in 5C, or to the SGL that is now 5C and only two miles to the South of my home.

As I said before my son has 90 acres in N.Y., it borders State land up there. Last year I spent over $14,000 to buy equipment alone, plus travelling up ther to prepare his field, lime, fertilizer, fuel and seeds. All this time and money to feed the deer on State land and I don't know if I'll ever hunt up there.

I give a lot more back to nature than the guy that buys a license and only wants to fill all his tags and thinks he is a great sportman.