Originally Posted by
bawanajim
With luck the day will come that you realize that there is so much more to deer hunting.
You don't know me so I will forgive your aspersions.
I suspect I spend more time hunting and kill more deer than all but a few here. I can say this not because I an exceptional hunter. I am not one of the Benoits. I say this because apart from the regular hunting season I hunt as a part of a crop damage program. My season is extended and I have no limits on the number of tags I can fill. Whether or not I kill a specific deer does not depend of whether or not it has horns to impress my friends but rather whether or not I can do it safely and humanely, have a use for its meat (much of which is given away) or another specific reason to kill it. As often than not I choose not to shoot.
There is nothing mystical about hunting. I do it, we do it because we enjoy it. It is a chance to spend time in the woods and most of us enjoy the meat. As for communing with our inner predator or whatever, that is pure sentimentality, a form of tree hugging. As for the antler fetishists, let them live in their fantasy world. From a predator's perspective, there is no difference between a buck and a doe. In fact, I'd rather not eat the former if it is taken after the beginning of November.