Sylvan, I have asked this many times and not one person has ever given me an answer. Since you made a statement about selective hunting being "unhealthy for hunting" I will ask you as well.
Blodg, Please re-read my posts. I have never said that selective hunting is unhealthy for hunting. If fact I have said that if that is what is important to you then selective hunting will indeed increase your chances of killing a bigger mature deer and if that is what makes you happy then go for it. I also said, however, that placing too much emphasis on killing a big rack teaches our young hunters that that's all that matters and that is indeed not healthy for the sport. There are a lot of other important values to be learned from the hunting experience and focusing on just one aspect can potentially rob these same young hunters of a lot of satisfying experiences.
What is wrong with sitting and enjoying nature while waiting for a mature buck??????? Why is this so bad for hunting? If the guy next door wants to teach his kid to shoot the first thing to walk by for meat that is fine with me but I want to know what is wrong with my method and why it's so bad for the sport?
Not a thing wrong with it. Again, if you go back and read what I've said you will see that my problem is that there are a lot of hunters that seem to think that killing the mature buck is all that is important and if you don't agree and you won't adopt their methods you are simply wrong. Looks to me like you are teaching your sons that there is indeed a lot more and I applaud you for it. I also applaud you for being tolerant of what is important to other hunters. Looks to me like you are keeping your values in proper perspective. Of course most every hunter wants to kill a big rack, I know I do, but I think its also important to keep the value of a big rack in perspective with all the other important hunting values and traditions.
I really liked what NY hunter said...
I was raised on you go hunting,you kill something and you bring it home and eat it. It's all fun.
Simple. To me it says to keep the fun in hunting. All this stuff about QDM and AR and all that can make it feel more like high tech farming or trying to manage the production of a product. Not anything like what Fred Bear calls
"a classical exercise in freedom" or
"a return to fundamentals that I instinctively feel are basic and right."
BTW, I envy your opportunity to raise 3 boys in the hunting tradition. I was not fortuante enough in life to be blessed with such a gift. You should cherish every moment!