Not to me. Why do you always associate killing a deer with bragging? Look, not that anybody cares, but here's how I hunt. I own 100 acres of woodland land in Steuben county NY. My passion is bowhunting although I enjoy the shotgun season as well. My family truly enjoys the meat so it's important to me to take 2 adult size deer each season. Now you need to understand the rules. I usually have 2 doe permits that can be used for either gun or bow. I also hold 1 bow buck/doe tag and 1 gun buck only tag. So in bow season I could legally take 3 deer; 1 buck and 2 doe or 3 doe. A few years ago there were alot more deer than there are now so in bow season I would begin by taking the 1st doe that came along but I would pass the small buck. Toward the end of the bow season I would take any adult deer. If it turned out to be a 4 point that was fine but I certainly wasn't taking it to brag about numbers. Now in gun seaon although I had my 2 deer in the freezer I would basically trophy hunt. I have passed quite a few 110/120 class 8 points simply because I didn't need any more meat. I would take a buck if I thought it was bigger than anything I have taken to date. You see I do value taking a trophy size whitetail but because it is something special, not for bragging. If there were none in the woods I'd still be out there enjoying the sport.

Now we have a lot less deer so I won't be shooting any doe for now. It's likely that this year I will get only 1 doe permit and 1 bow buck/doe tag and 1 buck only gun tag. I still want 2 deer for the freezer So in bow season I'll wait on a wall hanger until late in the season and then take the 1st buck that comes to me. In gun season I'll wait till late and then take the 1st buck that comes to me. So I could wind up taking 2 small buck.

Now, I hope I haven't bored everybody with all this but the point is this. I love the sport, I do it legally, I respect the animals I take and I hunt almost exlcusively on my own land that I alone pay the taxes on. How does anybody have the nerve to suggest that I am "part of the problem". I think there are probably a lot of other guys out there that have a very similar philosophy too, but there not the ones "crying about" not enough big bucks in the woods so you don't hear too much about them.