atlasman

Well I went to my local gun club to shoot the breeze.........and some trap. There are a couple of guys there that were complaining to others about the deer on the property and how no one should be shooting anything but big bucks......One poor guy was just trying to say that he doesn't care what he gets anymore because he is getting a little long in the tooth and he just loves the fact that he can still get out in the woods..........they layed into him about how he was "ruining" it for everyone else and how he should hunt the way they do.......or not at all. F'THAT!!!! I had heard enough at that point and I lost my temper. The guy they were verbally beating down is one of the nicest older members of the club and I will be darned if I was gonna stand there and say nothing. During the course of my tirade these are the subjects I covered.........most of which, if not all of them were answered with "Wouldn't you rather kill a big buck?" ARGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!! That has to be the dumbest thing I have ever heard someone give as a reason to back up a push for QDM.

So here are the questions I posed and maybe the crowd in here has a better answer for me.

1. What is it that makes you feel better about killing a big racked buck? If it is the challenge of taking a uncommon, elusive animal that is harder to hunt and takes more time, skill, dedication, and luck to get........then why on earth would you want that task made easier by increasing the number of big bucks out there?? The reason they are so hard to kill in most areas is a simple numbers game. Theyare so hard to find/hunt because they are very few and far between. Ifit is the challenge you are after then you should want MORE young bucks killed so the big ones will be even more rare and special. If no one kills any small bucks and the woods becomeas full of 120"+ bucks as they are of4 and 6 ptrs then what kind ofchallenge does that pose?

2. Whatis satisfying about shooting a deer that was"grown" into a big racked buck?? I personally know people who own a bunch of property and every year they shoot MONSTERS.........all 3 of them. A guy and his 2 sons. They did not shoot does for 10 years and don't shoot any bucks under 120" To look at his wall of bucks is sure impressive no doubt but those deer have no "trophy"value at all IMO. He spent 2 days in the woods total last year and killed abuck that almost went 170".........wow what a challenge that was. His father and brother killed bucks that bothwere huge. Is it really satisfying to just let a deer grow in your land for 5 years and then one day just decide to whack him and put him on the wall?? I don't seethepoint.

3. Why is it so hard for people to accept that not everyone isfixated on antlers and only antlersas the measuring stick of a successful season or hunt? If you want to chase antlers to the end of the earth and spend every waking hour in search of a bigger racked buck then be my guest.......just don't get bent out of shape wheneveryone doesn't share your obssession. What has happened in the world of deer hunting that hunters are confronted with a guilt trip if they shoot a small buck? What is so hard to understand about just doing what you want and leave other people alone to do what they want. As long as no one is breaking the law and they are being safe it is no one's business to tell them how they should or should not hunt. Worry about yourself.

4. Every place is different........from state to state......county to county........field to field. We all hunt in different places and under different circumstances. Why do people insist on the belief that if they see it and experience it where they hunt that it must be like that everywhere in the world? If you have a private farm where their are bruisers behind every tree and no hunting pressure then just be happy with what you have and enjoy it...........don't talk down to the guy who is out there busting his buns just trying to finda place to hunt in peace and quiet because the deer he killed isn't up to your standards.........shoot what you want and are able to......and be happy for anyone else fortunate to harvest a deer.......even if you would not have.


What am I missing because I just don't see the logic.

Anyone??

huntnmuleys

some people, eh?

this is a topic that can be and is debated everywhere. i think in our world of bigger, faster, stronger, the allure of antlers is the driving force for a lot of hunters. the media doesnt help, in magazines and on tv ya always see the monsters, not the run of the mill animals. size sells. i personally "trophy hunt" quite a bit, but i also meat hunt, and certainly dont look down on those who do. to each his own. reading that made me think of something that happened at work a while back, a co worker was telling of the spike he shot on opening day of rifle season. his thing was he was only after the meat, and ya couldnt eat the antlers. i asked him why he didnt just shoot a doe, he would have got more meat plus helped our local herd, which is WAY out of whack bucks to does. maybe i was wrong in what i said? i wasnt rude about it, and he did at that point realize that he could have got more meat off a doe, but still, was i right or wrong? tough to tell.

i would never attack anybody because they shot something small however, i dont always get the big one myself.

helluva deal you had, and im sorry for that.

atlasman

I have absoluelty no problem with someone who "trophy" hunts. The part that gets irritating is when they start pushing their own personal agenda on everyone else.

I also don't consider their to be only 2 kinds of hunters........"trophy" or "meat". There is plenty of room on that spectrum in between. I like big bucks as much as the next guy.......it's just not the ONLY thing that appeals to me about hunting. I enjoy so many things about hunting I can't even count them and those feelings are not effected one bit by the size or lack of size of the antlers on the deer I take. I value the meat on a deer more then anything.........I had 600lbs of venison in my freezer this year and I will be out before next season..........but that surely isn't all I think about when I am hunting.........and I certainly would never try to force others to see things my way and/or try to make them feel guilty for being different.

Pretty sad.

rybohunter

I didn't even get thru 2 sentences on the original thread and I'm calling this one at 7 pages before it dies or locks.

Any takers?

nodog

There are a lot of reasons why people feel a sense of achievment in taking a whitetail and I could name many that others have claimed as theirs. However, I will name 3 of my own. 1, is to feed my family great food. 2, is to server my friends a taste meal that they don't often get else where when they visit me. And 3, I know an old woman who's husband no longer can hunt, because of her health her doctor has reccomended that she, when she does, eat lean meat, venison being a good example. It's a joy to be able to give her some.

These people who derided the old hunter may have been anti hunters, because of your description they meet one of the definitions of their kind. They know they cannot stop people from shooting all deer so they have taken belittling hunters that shoot young ones or who use guided hunts or hunt behind fences or any form of legal hunting. Anyone who derides and belittles a hunter who takes legal game, is an anti hunter. That is not just my .02 cents, it is the definition of a anti hunter.

BigJ71

This is a touchy subject for some. I for one don't care if you shoot a spike or a 180in + buck. Like I have said before, one mans (or womans) dink is anothers trophy. I say this with the exception that the herd should be healthy. And when I say healthy I mean with a good ratio of bucks to does. Not trophy bucks to does but healthy bucks to does.

If the situation isprime ie: good genetics, food and age, then you might find a brusier if not you may only see a small 6point walk by. Either way I don't think anyone has the right to tell someone else what their definition of a "trophy" should be.

Trapper_Hunter

im with u rybohunter... but I give it 6 pages lol

Xtec Shooter

Here we go again! I hope Datamax doesn't see this one.

driftrider

I can say that I fall somewhere in the middle of your spectrum between a pure trophy hunter, which by my recogning is one who hunts purelyto mounta body/rack anddoesn't care about consuming the animal, and a puremeat hunter, which cares only about consuming the usable portions of the animal and have no intention of mounting anything. I personally prefer the meat to the antlers, and will shoot at any mature animal that gets within range and presents a clean shot. However, if two deer, one a mature buck with a smallish rack or a doe, and another buck with a larger rack,both presenta good shot, I'll take the large buck. The only type ofhunter that really torques meare the pure trophy hunters who will shoot a buck, capeit out and leavethe rest for the coyotes. If they donatethe meat or give it to their friends/family, then I don't ahve a problem with it.

Mike

buckeye

I will try to answer some of your questions.

To start with...

The challenge is a very large part of it. If I were to shoot the first legal buck by I would be lucky to get 2 days of hunting ina year. It only makes sense to pass the buck and set my sights on a mature buck if I want time in the woods. I am not guaranteed to see a mature buck in any given year, although I will see a host of different young bucks. When I was younger I would shoot the yearling bucks. Even when I was a "greenhorn" I was lucky to get through the month of October so I could hunt the November rutwith my buck tag.

I can tell you the exact moment I decided to hunt exclusively for mature bucks. I was sitting in my treestand on a chilly morning the first week of November with onlya doe tag in my fannypack. [/align]It was my first experience with a mature buck in bow range. Watchingthat buck gave me a feeling I had never experienced before while hunting. The buck seemed to have an aura or presence about him that I could feel. I knew I was witnessing something special. That may sound dumb to you but I am being 100% serious. After that experience I became dedicated to become the best and smartest bowhunter that I could. Watching that buck walk awayI knewI would never harvest an immature buck again.[/align]