"I only hunt for the meat"?
How about another debate thread. I will start off by saying that I am not making any judgement on anyones personal preferences. This thread is meant for an intelligent discussion and is not for flaming. And last but not least, the purpose of my post is not to drive a stake that will ultimately end up banning hunting forever as some people ridiculously suggest.
I am curious about something? For all you guys that make comments like "you can't eat the antlers" or "I only hunt for the meat" what does that really mean? I don't buy it. Now by saying that I don't buy it does not mean that I think anyone is making it up, I just don't believe that is the sole bottom line reason for stepping into the woods with your bow. And that comment is always thrown out whenever anyone is discussing hunting mature deer or "trophy" hunting if you will.
Where I live they have grocery stores and restaurants where it is much easier and cheaper to obtain meat, if that is the primary concern. About the only person I can think of that may truly hunt for the meat is someone who is very poor and can not afford to buy food for his family. I know that is not the case here because those people would not be using the internet. Also, I know of a few of those types of people living on the backroads in the hills of Southern Ohio and let me tell you they do not use a bow and arrow! These people that truly need the meat for their family are not going to waste time with a bow, they use the most efficient method and if that is a high powered rifle at night then that is what they do.
I think of several valid reasons to hunt deer and I am sure there are others:
- Hunt for the challenge - for the excitement gained when successfully outwitting a wary whitetail, for the feeling of accomplishment.
- Hunt for the comrade - this is more likely during gun hunting and this is the bowhunting section. Less likely when bowhunting but does come into play when going on hunting trips or sharing your stories after a succesful hunt.
- Hunt to fulfill a primal instinct - there was a time when it WAS necessary for our ancestors to hunt to provide for their families. This is not the case today but I do think we may still have some of that primal instinct and maybe this is where the "hunt for meat" comment comes from?
- Hunt for the enjoyment of the outdoors - many people choose bow hunting because you get to experience the outdoors without a lot of intrusion.
I think we all have different reasons for deer hunting and it would be impossible to capture them all. I could look back at the other posts for examples, but I know the statement "I only hunt for the meat" normally comes up during a discussion about trophy hunting. Do the guys making those claims actually think that people who wait for a big buck do NOT eat the meat?
What does the statement "not a trophy hunter and proud of it" mean? A few people said that the memories are the important part and not the antlers. Of course the memories are the important part, just because someone is selective and does not shoot the first thing to walk by (for meat) does not mean they have any less value on the memories of the hunt. One could almost argue that they may have fonder memories. I have little bucks and does around me almost EVERY SINGLE DAY that I hunt. Shooting one of those for meat would hardly result in the same fondness and memories as shooting the mature buck that only comes around once or twice the entire year.
I can tell you that I personally hunt for the challenge and for the enjoyment of nature and the outdoors. I enjoy the sense of providing for my family but that is secondary to the challenge of harvesting a mature whitetail. My family will not starve without deer meat and I doubt many of yours would either……….