Big buck contests?
 

Has anyone ever been in a big buck contest?

Those so called "contests" are the opposite of what a real hunter seeks. I deplore the practice. It demeans all who call themselves hunters.

If you want a prize join a bowling league.

Iv went to a few big buck nights,its always intreasting to see what the locals all harvested and hear the stories.

Ditto that pardner. I see you're in the great little town of Buffalo, the gateway to the BigHorns. I'm through there every year to hunt the west slope and absolutely love it there. Big buck nights are cool if no contest was involved and it's like Skinnnner said to just see them and hear the stories behind them is cool. Contests and "the Book" IMHO ruin hunting.

Yep.
As I'm sure you know, Buffalo during hunting season is like a nationwide hunters convention with people from all over the country in town for a few weeks. Plenty of game hanging outside motels and great stories flying around in the bars at night. I've met many great people. That's what it's about. Not some prize for being lucky enough to take a big bull or buck.

Yup!

Taxidermists would all go out of business if they had to depend on me.

Me too Muley! I've only had one whitetail, one muley, and an antelope mounted in all my years of hunting. Hey Muley, how's the old body coming along?

I don't even take the antlers from the kill spot.

I'm all healed. Thanks for asking.

I read once, "If Democrats don't like guns, they try to ban them. If Conservatives don't like the channel, they simply change it for another." It was something like that anyway...

There's a lesson in there, somewhere...

A remote is handy?

A remote is handy indeed.

There's a lesson in there somewhere but I'm still searching for what it is. Bet my dog knows. I'll ask her when she wakes up.

I thought about this thread for a bit and have to ask... what's the difference if someone joins a competition or not?

Everyone has a tag. Everyone is trying to harvest mature whitetail bucks. They compare their harvest afterwards and someone gets a dumb prize or recognition... I wouldn't sign up, but really don't see the harm in it.

If everything is done legal legal, then what's the difference if a group of hunters wants to get together and compare their bucks? It's done on here all the time.

Thats kinda what i was thinking to.this site even has its own big buck contest.i dont think most trophy hunters set out to win a trophy,harvesting a large buck that you have put alot of time and effort is the real trophy.But i can only speak about the contests iv witnessed myself.I admit im selective myself when it comes to deer.

The ones who brag about their kills, and show pictures probably will enter a contest.

Some us hunt for the love of the hunt, and have no interest in it.

Exactly.

When I was a kid being taught to hunt by my dad and grand dad I learned to have a solemn reverence for an animal I killed.

Had I ever taken a big buck or bull then used it to "win" a rifle or maybe a set of truck tires my grandpa would have had a talk with me. Out of respect for him I'll never claim a prize.......assuming I kill anything prize worthy in the future......:)

My dad taught me the same way. I try to not push my ways on others. It's just the way I feel.

Others are free to do as they please.

I actually run one where I work. It is fun with people you know but as far as the big ones at gun shops and such I am not a big fan. With mine, it just gives the group something to shoot the breeze about and see what everyone is getting and mabey win the pot at the end of the season.

Never been to one of those,i think the top prize at the ones i did attend was a free dinner.

You've never shared a picture of a buck (or any animal for that matter) that you've harvested?

I do it for the love of the hunt... I love it so much that I know other people want to share in the hunt and, being that this is "huntingnet.com," live vicariously through some of these posts.

Really, I don't see how that makes one a braggart.

But, YMMV.

A local tire store runs a contest here every year and I admit I do stop in and see the pics of who has taken what so far. But then it's a small town and I know most of the people.

I've never even taken a picture of a kill. I fly fish 200 days a year, and you won't see a picture of a fish either. Hunting and fishing are a personal experience for me.

Interesting, well... to each their own, of course.

I have a large extended family and friends that can't wait to see pictures of my hunts or share pictures with me of their hunts. It's something that bonds us and we really enjoy admiring what we've harvested.

Shoot, I'd still take pictures even if no one ever saw them. Pictures and written words preserve memories in a way that nothing else can.

I totaly agree,its the same as with my family and friends.and to everyone on hni that has shared their pictures,thank you iv enjoyed them.

That's what makes people interesting. We're all a little different.

My pictures are all in my memory.

I bet you do have some great stories.

Personally, I'm not a fan or participant in "contests" such as these. Although I don't malign anyone who takes a photo of something they've bagged, I'm usually somewhat amused when someone does it with the intent of impressing anyone they show it to.

Same thing goes for the "my kid's the captain of the football team" parents who try to show me the video on their iPhone. I don't feel it's necessary, so I simply don't participate or promote.

But, when I was young, my perspective was different. I hunted for horns too. Today, it's a day in the fresh air, reading sign, listening, and if I'm lucky - helping a youngster fill their first tag. I'm just older now and motivated differently.

Funny you should say that. Today I had lunch with a friend, and he brought a friend of his along. He was about my age, and has been hunting all his life too. We started to tell stories about our hunts, and it turned out we were very alike in our thinking. We went back and forth with our stories, and we both know exactly what the other was describing. We had a great time talking about the hunts, and never once had to show any pictures.

I can think back to my first hunt with my dad when I was 8 years old. That was 1950, and I can still see it like it was yesterday. Some memories never fade.

I hear what your saying,my father is very much the same.but i wish he had taken more pictures,i would have loved to have seen them.

In lots of cases pictures arent taken for ones self,they are for the people you leave behind.

I out lived everybody.

Is sharing the stories with pictures or sharing them without still bragging? Maybe we should only tell the stories of the ones that got away...

"I almost shot this________once. I was using a large telescopic sight and it was only 100 yards away when I missed." Can you see the visual (and the hypocrisy)?

I'll quote myself, because you seemed to have missed it.

"Others are free to do as they please."

Sorry, I didn't miss anything Pete. I was merely quoting a possible way for us to begin our hunting stories. Seems to me, if you even mention a successful encounter while hunting, you are bragging. Why not leave the story exactly where you shot it, if there is so much reverence? Or, how about we just recount the adventures of the creatures which got away? You know, actually highlighting our lack of skill or aptitude? This would certainly fly in the face of survival of the fittest, but at least you would be more politically correct, right? Those neanderthals who depicted men killing animals, perhaps themselves, on cave walls must have been real animals. :confused0024:

You sure get upset when someone doesn't agree with your way eh?

Tell all the stories you want with pictures. I don't give a rats rump?


The question was, are you going to enter the Big Buck contest. My answer was no, and I explained why. Ok?

I'm sure you'd rag on me for the way I fly fish too. Bamboo, and dry flies. Horrors!!

Who got upset big guy? I was merely pointing out a heap of hypocrisy. Carry on.....

Since when did someone doing something that someone else doesn't do mean that they are being hypocritical? IMHO that is a bunch of BS and if Pete does his thing his way then you nor I have any friggin business saying he's right, wrong, or anything in between!!! As he stated very sincerely and I agree 100%, we are all different and calling a person a hypocrit because of that is both disrespectful and incorrect.

Hmmm...

Seriously Top, you don't see the hypocrisy? You are a braggart if you participate in contests or take pictures from a kill site, but you're not if you only share the stories. This is elitist bull pucky! I am curious why you didn't reply, " If anyone does his thing his way then you nor I have any friggin business saying he's right, wrong, or anything in between!!!!" It only makes sense, right? Why defend only Pete? Actually, I so look forward to the day I can call myself a "real hunter" and join the ranks and the likes of Pete and Bullcamp!

If one is so tolerant of others, then why reply to this thread...even in the slightest negative manner as it pertains to the OP's question?

Sharing a story with a new friend in private, is hardly the same thing as entering a contest, or showing pictures of the kill.

This new friend thought just like me, and that was the only reason I opened up to him about some of my hunts. I rarely ever do that. The key word is hunt. We both talked about the joy of the hunt itself. Neither of us ever talked about a kill. No mention of size of animal, or antler size was ever mentioned. It wasn't important to either of us.

Can you see the difference huck? Probably not. If it makes you feel better to call me a hypocrite? Go ahead, but I think i'm pretty consistent in how I feel, and what I say.

It bothers me way less than you being called a braggart.

I'm pretty comfortable in my skin Pete, you can call me whatever you like. I doubt I'd change any of my past or how I conduct my hunting endeavors. In a way, the two of us are more alike than we are different. I just didn't say "yup".

I said "Yup" to those who just trophy hunt. Probably most meat hunters agrees with me.

Have you ever had a great hunt, and never killed anything? You had such a good time that it didn't matter? Sometimes the game needs to win too. It has to be that way for me. If it was so easy that I got a kill everytime I put my boots on. I would have quit hunting decades ago.

I'm thinking of writing a book in my old age. My way to leave something for those who would be interested. I already have the title.

The Joy Of The Hunt