Originally Posted by
Topgun 3006
Rockport---Man, this thread sure went to heck in a hand basket and I haven't even made a single post on it until now, LOL!!! IMHO the post by kylecullwell calling a person a liar for various reasons was way out of line and it also would appear to violate website rules. I love to see big deer and would certainly like to shoot a big one on his own terms like you did. However, I guess after so many decades of hunting I can certainly see the other aspect of not going bananas either. The biggest buck I've ever seen on property I could legally hunt was on a low fence ranch in south Texas. I watched him grow into a real shooter for two years and finally decided to take him at the next opportunity he presented. The rut got started the third week of December and I had him dead to rights one day while I was on the ground walking to one of our tower blinds for the evening hunt. I put the scope on him at well under 200 yards and then turned it up to 9x. You know what? I let him go he was so beautiful, went in to the cabin and got my videocam and went back to the tower. He was all over the pasture that night checking does and I had him dead to rights at under 100 yards a number of times and all he got shot with was my videocam. I never saw that deer again after that day, but he is in my memory for the rest of my life and will never be forgotten whether he's up on my wall or not!
I think the problem started right off the bat when the OP simply made a thread about letting a great young buck grow up and we have to hear about high fences and the ruination of hunting.
Anyway, Do you have the video? I'd love to watch him as well.
I mean that is what its all about. My trophy hunting leads to so much more. I really get to be part of nature as I sit hours and hours just watching wildlife rather than just killing the first thing that walks by. Its way more than just the antlers. Its a very long chess match with the smartest animal in my woods(including me)
I myself have also gotten caught up watching and had big boys dead to rights and get away. Admittedly I didn't let them go I just got caught up in the moment and they got away.
I was at our little hunting shack a couple weeks ago and the guys had a hunting show on and I watched for like 5 minutes and saw somebody "stalking" a "wild boar" at 30 yards in a wide open pasture......he just kept eating and didn't even look up..........that is what is ruining hunting and hogs don't have antlers. That is adventurous farming not hunting.
People doing that same thing with big mature deer conceived in a test tube and raised in a pin is not relevant to what I do or the OP in this thread.
There is not a thing wrong with "trophy hunting" unless your doing it wrong and doing it wrong is doing it wrong antlers or not.
As far as the meat that applies to every deer IMO antlers or not.....of course you should eat what you shoot.
I guess you see my point because whether you shot him or not you certainly got something special out of letting that buck realize his potential. By doing that its almost like adding another species of animal to hunt as once a bucks survives even 4-5 years he becomes a much different animal.