bigscott

this will be year 2 that i eat my archery tag - not for lack of trying -- i passed on many small bucks - thats my choice! i do wish we had a limit on horn size or some areas set aside for archery only -

for meat i take does - i just find letting the little guys walk more gradifying then shooting them -i have 2 py bucks and 3 just underon the wall and can tell you every detail about the day i took them ! i dont get that feeling with the little guys am i a trophy hunter i say no but do get more satisfaction when i score on the bigger guys and let the smaller ones walk

BigJ71

Again, there is nothing wrong with trophy hunting.....but if it comes at the expense of having fun then thats where I take issue with it. If the disappointment of not being able to connect on a trophy deer year after year (or ANY deer your after for that matter) starts to weigh on you or if you start to second guess yourkills then I suspect folks need to take a step back and re-evaluate why they started hunting in the first place. Hunting for me has never been a pissing contest and while I enjoy being involved in the hunting contest here on HNI it will never weigh on the type or sizeof deer I decide to kill. Sure I set goals each year as to what I'd like to kill but more often than not I end up killing what strikes my fancy at the moment of truth, when a deer presents itself. Sometimes it's a P&Y and sometimes it's not but make no mistake about it, both bring me happiness, joy and a sense of accomplishment and I've enjoyed myself to the utmost extreme......no matter what's laying in the bed of my truck.

This also applies to any type of animal I'm hunting with any type of weapon. I'll never consider myself as a "bow hunter" I would never want to be constricted to such a narrow moniker. I'm a hunter period. I hunt pretty much every game animal my state offers and then some out of state (time permitting). I have just as much (if not more) fun upland bird hunting or calling in Drakes or outsmarting Coyotes as I do bow hunting deer.

I hunt because I enjoy it and the challenges each different game animal and weaponpresents. The day it starts to no longer be fun due to the self imposed restrictions as to what I should kill is the day I stop hunting. As I've said before, I'm sure there a many here who enjoy trophy hunting immensely but I suspect there are far more thatbecome miserable and disenchanted with hunting because of it.

GR8atta2d

Thanks guys for all the positive and moral support. Let me clarify a few things and then answer some of the questions directed at me.

First..I've previously made a commitment that any futurebucks I shoot would be mounted. This one is no exception he is at the taxidermists now. He is a special buck, and his mount will serve me well into the future. I've come to terms with my actions. I did some good things and made a clean effective kill from the ground.

My next point is that I know, I can't hold out for a 150" Buckevery year, thats unrealistic in my area. But in some aspect, be it hunt, companions, rack, method etc etc..the next bucks will be special. (like Diesel said, we once spent a week hunting a buck we called crazy horns, he wasn't huge, oreven big, but his tines shot straight out from his head and y'd like they had to block his vision.) Every ones area is different and each one's definition of a "trophy" differs. My next buck will be a trophy to the only one that counts..ME!

My 3rd point and one that several members have also stated in PM's, is I think I'm done with the "contest". I FULLY understand the fun aspect and getting to know others. I've made some great friends through Team-Mates. I know it's not a real competitive thing. But add the words "Contest" and "winners" and "losers" and those of us who are competitive beyond, casually, desire to win. I don't wish to hunt this way in the future. My wins and losses are too individual and personal to put into a "contest".

The act of killing is no different be it World Record or Yearling Doe, but you know that. So no the killing isn't harder. The finding, the set-up, the patience, and the intestinal fortitude is different...and luck plays a decent part.

Quote:

Thats wasn't fair to me

Schultzy I put that line in and deleted it and then put it back again. It wasn't fair to me because I compromised. I doubted my own past successes and sold myself short. Thats was the point I was trying to get to.

Daviddid you ever watch Seinfeld..There was an episode where George thought if every inclination he had was wrong, he should do the exact opposite...Perhaps you should try it!

Jeff I've passed on many bucks this year, the biggest probably was a 7 point that would have gone about the same as this one 90"-100". I know your theory of building a bridge between passing and putting one on the ground. I understand the premise behind it, but at certain ranges I disagree.

I do understand this and will strive in the future to do better. It's part of this years lesson. You have had great success, perhaps unequaled success on this board! However if you truly believed it was no ones business..we wouldn't know that about you. I'm not busting your chops, just trying to show that the competitive nature is in all of us.

Way to go congrats on sticking with your goals..many congrats!

Trophy is a strong word and relative to many things..Pride I understand, I will be proud of every deer I shoot in the future, be it Trophy Horns or Trophy Memories. The one thing that remains constant is, I enjoy every moment of being in the woods..perhaps this is the biggest point of all. I LOVE hunting, the kill is only needed when describing success or failure, to others, who don't understand this lifestyle.

GMMAT

Bob...I had some time on stand the other day to reflect on this, too. There's a chance I might NOT shoot a buck I otherwise would.....because of the contest. Imagine THAT twist. I think it's usually the other way around. But....I have two tags, here....and I have seen some bucks I'd really like to take ...if given the opportunity. They won't score well (in a lot of people's eyes)....but that's not entering into my thought process. I admit to thinking about the bucks not helping my team that much.....so I've wondered what I'd do if the opportunity presents itself.

I'm gonna think about not entering, myself.

BigJ71

Gr8atta2d,

I'm glad you will keep this (hunting) in perspective of what it really is...a pastime, a recreation, an activity we choose to do, not need to do.With all of the options out there for us to do with our spare time andso little time to do it in, it behooves us to enjoy what we do. I hope you will continue to enjoy hunting. I alsosee absolutely no reason why you can't keep to your objective and still enter in the contest. You don't need to change a single thing about your hunting goals to be in the contest, perhaps you will re-think that decision. Good luck withthe rest of your season and your hunting decisions down the road.