KoBear

this is my first buck with my bow that i shot like 2 or 3 years ago.

finally got the pics on the computer and into photobucket. still working on getting all the other pics onto photobucket from years past and this year.

i refuse to shoot anything smaller than this, while everyone else on the property and surrounding areas live and die by the "if its brown its down" philosophy.

i have personal goals and i would rather shoot nothing than shoot a little one. i get beat up on since i havent shot anything but does since i shot this buck. do u people find that the people u hunt with support and respect your decisions to shoot deer of a certain caliber or do they continue to shoot spikes and does, etc and then give you a hard time?

have u ever converted any of them from the dark side, to shooting for higher goals?

and do u find that its worth it, the tradeoff of shooting a nicer buck vs. shooting a buck every year?

just drop in your $.02

not lookin to start any fights, just wondering. this can be a touchy subject i know.

Hiawatha

BigJ71

Shoot what you want. Plain and simple, just shoot what you want.

If you want to shoot nothing but big bucks, great......more power to ya. If you want to shoot the first deer you see......again great. This is hunting and different people hunt for different reasons. For some, the size of the antlers does not matter enough to pass on a smaller buck, for others it does.

I have always said that as long as you do your part to try to keep the herds in your area as healthy as you can, then go on and shoot whatever you like. If the herds are not as healthy as they should be (for whatever reason) try to find out what you can do. This mayintale taking more does, it may mean passing on small bucks, or a combination of both. Again, you don't have to do this but it just makes sense to try to do what we can for something that we all like to do, so we can continue to hunt as well as the generations to come.

You can also say "To hell with that I will shoot what I want, herds be damned" Again fine with me as long of course you are not breaking any laws. Nobody can force another to shoot or not shoot a certian specific deer if it's legal to do so, nor should they.

Some states have implemented restrictions, be it the number of bucks you can shoot, to the size of their antlers,to earn a buckprograms. This is intended to try and create a healthy herd with a good buck to doe ratio. Most states where something like this has been implemented are starting to see a healthier overall herd and that is nothing but good for hunters. Overall, Whitetail herds across the countryhave good numbers if not over populated in someareas, so something is working.Things overall are going in the right direction as far as Whitetail deer are concerned so we should just keep it up, and for Gods sake let people shoot what they want. There is no "dark side" and there is no "trade off" just hunting.

Personally, I shoot what strikes my fancy at the time and what I feel I want to shoot. Sometimes I pass on smaller bucks, sometimes I shoot them.

uncle matt

You don't make sense.

First you say "i refuse to shoot anything smaller than this..."

Then you say, "i have personal goals and would rather shoot nothing than shoot a little one."

And THEN you say, "I haven't shot anything but does since i shot this buck."

Are you talking body size or antlers?

Personally I wouldn't waste a bit of time in some sort of competition with my buddies or anyone else (self) as to who can shoot what.

PreacherTony

Matt, I am not sure how this isn't clear? He won't shoot anything but does and bucks from that pic and bigger.

KoBear, like BigJ said, hunting is a personal thing. You hunt the way you want to hunt. I love to eat venison. My family and I will eat 4 adult deer in about 6 months. I get picky during bow season, so depending on how many are in the freezer from just after the start of the season to just before the end, will determine what I take and what I don't..... It's all personal.

Hunting is a personal thing ..... that is why you see the butter flying off the popcorn when these topics come up ..... do what you want .... within the law of course.

KoBear

listen guys, i know that its a personal thing, i know that different hunters have different goals. i know all this.

the question was have u ever have u ever converted any of them from the dark side, to shooting for higher goals?

and do u find that its worth it, the tradeoff of shooting a nicer buck vs. shooting a buck every year?

i'm tryin to convince some of my friends to let some smaller ones go since they're the ones always complaining that they're not seeing big bucks.

i am looking for some other angles to help me convert them.

gutshot

Why don't you just enjoy hunting with each other instead of trying to make them conform to your ideas of what real hunting is?

BigJ71

This is a completely different situation.....

If someone is complaining about not seeing big antlered deer simply ask them how much do they want to killa big antlered deer? If they are lucky enough to live in an area where there are plenty of big antlered deer then the hunter needs to show more patience and pass on thesmaller onesor brush up an their hunting skills.

However, if they live in an area where big antlered deer are few and far between it becomes a different matter. In this situationthey may have to wait many many years before they geta shot on a brute. In this case they can simply shoot does if they just want to kill a deer and wait it out. There is always the option of hunting in a state that does have big antlered buck however this is not alwaysa viable option for some.

The above is what I recommened for those who complain about not shooting big deer.

If everyone else on your propertyis happy with their "if it's brown it's down" way of thinking then good for them and you should be happy for them too.

Somehow your story does not add up. How are you getting "beat up on"?

Are your buddies giving you a hard timeand razzing you for not killing anybuck? If so......SO WHAT? Who cares, you hunt for you. Tell them you are happy with what you kill and that is all that should matter. Tell them that you don't give them grief for shooting what they shoot.

I somehow can't see the "if it's brown it's down" group that'shunting on the same property giving you the hard time because I'm sure they are shooting does as well.

So are you talking about two different groups of people........or is this just your way of pushing your views of QDM on us?

KoBear

yea, thats EXACTLY what i am doing... trying to push QDM on you.

honestly, forget it. these boards used to be a good place to get info and wasnt full of people attacking eachother and general off-topic nonsense.

i was just looking for someone to give me some information that could help me try to pull everyone together in my area to help us all see more and bigger bucks, cause there isnt one person who hunts that wouldnt want to see bigger bucks more often.

also, i am a firm believer that the amount of shooting that happens forces the deer out of our area and they hide all day up near the developments.

so i was trying to convince them to try hunting a different way and it would benefit both us, as hunters, and the deer population.

dukemichaels

KoBear.. about the best thing you can do is continue to do what you yourself preach.

The next thing would be to contact the QDM people and they will send you information that you can hand out to your friends. But honestly, if they want to shoot any deer they see.. their is not much else you could do.

Unless you had a good supply of smoke bombs!