Respecting Deer
 

When does one cross the line into the “creepy” realm? Some of the posts on here seem to put a deer so high up on a pedestal, I don’t know HOW the person who feels that way could bring themselves to actually killing it.

It’s one thing to strive to make a clean kill and put forth the effort to find a wounded animal…but this whole “honoring” and “respect” thing can get carried too far at times. It’s a dang deer people. It’s not a person, it’s not some magical creature. It’s a deer. All it knows is to eat, drink, breed & survive.

The deer doesn’t care which weapon killed it, its still dead either way. The deer doesn’t care if its head goes on a wall or the rack is pitched in a pile with 47 others. It doesn’t care if the person who shot it feels bad for doing so, or if they jump up and down like they scored the game winning touchdown in the super bowl.

WE seem to assign worth and value of what should happen after killing a deer. Why?

So in the spirit of long debatable threads…what say you?

RE: Respecting Deer
 

I agree... I respect the animal, but I don't act like it's a God or a super-natural creature..

RE: Respecting Deer
 

The only thing I "respect" about a deer is that is when I shoot it, It dies quickly and humanly as possible. End of story

RE: Respecting Deer
 

I feel deer should be respected and honored just as I feel all of God's creation should be. Call me "creepy" I guess.

RE: Respecting Deer
 

What!?!? You mean deer aren't mystical, magical creatures that we should worship at a shrine built from P&Y racks? Dang, burst my bubble why don't you.

RE: Respecting Deer
 

Well said.

RE: Respecting Deer
 

This will be a 12 pager soon, gmmat is on the way ;)


I agree rybo...a deer is a deer. Yes, I respect them for what they are...but thats it.

RE: Respecting Deer
 

I stick its tounge back in its mouth and take a decent picture. And also make sure that none of the meat goes to waste.

RE: Respecting Deer
 

This is respect:

RE: Respecting Deer
 

I like the way you think.:D:D:D

RE: Respecting Deer
 

Wow that's a breath of fresh air Rybo. All of the extended talk of feeling and respect and honor for a dead animal got me wondering if I was on a hunting site......;)

I respect the deer by trying to kill it quickly. Period.

After that I make sure the meat it used because I would not want go through all of the process and have noting left from it to eat. It tasts good ya know.

I don't think I have ever put a deers tounge back in its mouth for a picture.....it's dead and I have the weapon I used to kill it proped up by it's dead body for the picture..........does it really matter?

Hell, I like to piss my brother off by stabbing his deer in the ribs when he has ithung or acting like Rocky and using it as a heavy bag as I sing the Rocky them song of course. ............[:-]

It's a dead animal and it's supposed to be fun.........:D

RE: Respecting Deer
 

Damn that looks good!Esp that roast PM the recipe!

RE: Respecting Deer
 

I respect his ability to stay alive and the measures he will take to do so. I believe he (thinks) more than most realize, and finally the amount of enjoyment I get each fall from persuing him makes it easy for me to give him his due.

RE: Respecting Deer
 

Yea, I kinda find it disturbing to see some try to act like Tonto worshiping deer or any other animal killed. Its a freaky world

God put them here to eat. Bottom line for me. After a kill, I say a prayer, to thankGod for this opportunity, and drag him home and cut em up. Put the renderings in a garbage bag and take to the dump and call it a day. There is no ceremony, no hoopla, I am just glad to be able to enjoy the meat that God has given me. I do respect an old buck that has been able to outwit, outsmart, hunters for 6 seasons or more. I find that amazing. But this whole spirit world of animals is out there.

You want to see some disrespect, watch how alot of Amish or Mennonites work their horses and mules. They treat their animals as tools, and they use em until they die.

We have reached a time where people worships the beasts of the world but has little care for their fellow man. There is a philosopher, and apologist Ravi Zacharias that gave a great lecture about this on Christian radio the other day. He was traveling around Cambridge university in England and saw all these peta signs, and save the whales, and don't wear fur, and was just amazed how man has started worshiping the beasts.

RE: Respecting Deer
 

Ryan, are you talking about pictures where it looks like the hunter is about to breakout the Marvin Gaye CD?;)

Nothing wrong with respecting a deer. When it comes to hunting, most of my respect is reserved for other people- like not throwing deer on the roof of the SUV.

RE: Respecting Deer
 

After I put their tongues back in their mouth, put what antlers arent being mounted in a glass case in a room for all to admire, eat the intrials, and all of the other meat, make a buckskin coat, make a gun rack with it's feet/legs, and make abow stringwith the sinew, I dance around a fire and chant wonderful things to gods that dont exist and pray to the God that does exist and then offer my first born on a firey alter.

What is the so called stopping point of 'respect'. Is it clean kill? Making all efforts for arecovery? (obviously that much)

Is it making sure all of the meat is used?

Is it making sure all of the meat and some of the organs are used?

Is it making sure all of the meat and all of the organs are used as well as mounting the rack or not harvesting a buck at all if you are not?

I could go on with many combinations of meat usage, organ usage, skin useage, ect.... but you get the idea.



For me it is quick, clean kill, using the meat, POSSIBLY liver and maybe heart if I can get them without being messed up. Ive gotten to where I try not to take the smaller bucks, but sometimes it happens. Not for the purposes of thinking taking smaller bucksis unethical, but just in the hopes that they'll stay around and maybe one day be bigger thanmy biggest buck.

EDIT: and as un-Godly as I can be sometimes, I feel ashamed I forgot this part as I read over some previous posts that were made while I was typing....I say a small prayer and thank the Lord for the opportunity that he has given me. For some reason, that's when I feel closest to God...even when I go make it to church. lol

RE: Respecting Deer
 

I agree with Rybo on all points.

I also agree with these....."personally".

That demeands respect (his will to survive).

Something I've started doing, too.....because I never take them for granted, anymore (the successful recovery of each one). After that.....it's meat for my freezer that I'm also thankful for.

You'll get no argument from me.

RE: Respecting Deer
 

Ryan ... I think I love you :D

This wins for the best post of 2008 IMO!!!!!

RE: Respecting Deer
 

For me, I respect the animal enough to be as well prepared as I can be...tuning my equipment, practicing, and making quick/clean kills. Once the deer is down, I thank the Lord, take some quality photos ;), and then the real work starts.

RE: Respecting Deer
 

That's gospel!

I feel sorry for the people that get nothing more thana couple of meals and reduce a deer to nothing more than a piece of meat.

Of course the deer is not a person or a creature with mystical powers. But, as far as animals go, it is certainly a worthy adversary. I prefer if people "respect" the deer, even if it is over the top a bit. To me it is bettter than if they down play the animal as just another dumb deer. What's the fun in hunting one of those?

Killing a deer, for me is actually one of the low points of the hunt. I always feel a bit sad after I've killed one. The hunt and the thrill it gave me are the high points of my hunt, and that is the main reason I give the deer respect. The kill is the necessary evil that I continue to do because I too love venison (another reason for respect).

I feel that the person that shows respect for the animals that they hunt, has a greater appreciation of their hunting experience.

RE: Respecting Deer
 

I guess all Americans and other folks alike were disrespectful to animals until the machines came along then, eh? ;)

RE: Respecting Deer
 

As hunters I think we earn respect with the way we treat the animals we hunt,the way we treat those whom we hunt with and most of all the very land we hunt.
I have no desire to hunt with anyone that lacksremorse over a poor placed shot orthose who turn a blind eye to bag limits or seasons.The man I despise most is the hunter who takes the very land that makes hunting possible for granted.The trespassers,litters and general P.O.S. that get acres upon acres posted every year.[:o]

RE: Respecting Deer
 

I hunt where a lot of Amish live and have noticed that they are very expert horsemen. I never got the feeling that they didn't respect their animals. Although, I don't know what goes on with them at all times.

RE: Respecting Deer
 

pleas expound, Jim .... are you talking ONLY an alive deer, as far as the respect thing?

RE: Respecting Deer
 

I tell you what, I have seem some amish, treat thier mules pretty bad. Disciple thier horses in harsh ways. Made me really uncomfortable. Like hogtie thier horses in a middle of a field on a hot day without water to teach them a lesson or break thier spirit. Or littlerly kill a mule plowing.

I know these methods of discipline and training have been around for ages, but today, as you know, they don't fly too well.

I was told in Western MD by some Amish, that if a mule is too old to work, he sure won't pay for the feed to keep him thru the winter.

Even I was thinking, that mule has worked his heart out for you for years, and now, its time to send him to the glue factory???? I thought this was a isolated incident, but then started seeing on some TV news reports that its pretty common among them.

RE: Respecting Deer
 

I respect any deer or animal that I've shot big or small and give It It's due. The pictures show It. It's how I am.

RE: Respecting Deer
 

Well there out there big time[:-]

i'm sure they could care less about the game laws also;)

RE: Respecting Deer
 

Tony I have the horns from every deer I have ever shot. I can tell you where I was,what I was hunting with (Bow-rifle-shot gun) the state I was hunting and whom I was hunting with. Its all important to me,its who I am.
Hunting is not a new found hobby with me,I have hunted my whole life. A deer is so much more than meat in the freezer to me. Its more than a few months of enjoyment out of the year.
I am in the woods over 300 days per year,I don't go to 3d shoots and I don't golf, I spend my life in the woods.As soon as this season ends I will be cutting brush, trimming apple trees,then shed hunting will teach me what bucksmade it through the season and where they are staying safe. Spring will find me planting six acres of food plots that will keep the deer from roads and flower gardens where they are not as welcome.
Yes ..........I love deer,the live ones and the ones I've had a hand in killing.

RE: Respecting Deer
 

Yummy!!!

RE: Respecting Deer
 

From what I understand BC this Is the way It was years ago no matter your heritage. Money meant everything, why feed something that can't make crops. Think the Indians kept horses that were no good to them?

RE: Respecting Deer
 

I agree ... just trying to see where you were coming from .... I keep all the horns and memories from all my deer as well ..... I appreciate the fact the God put the deer here and has given me the ability to pursue them ..... I takes photos of every deer I kill and look at them, remembering the hunt .....

I guess I was trying to read between the lines of your post to see what you thought of Ryans original post ....... I still haven't figured it out :DI am guessin you are somewhere in the middle?

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[Deleted by Admins]

RE: Respecting Deer
 

I don't have all the horns of the deer I've killed or a picture of even half of them. Except for the three I've mounted (and I am currently only displaying one of them), the ones Ihave kept are scattered around in various places or in a big pile in a barn.

Even though I am an avid amateur photographer, I just never consdiered taking a picture of every deer until I started participating on this site. Even with that I have only taken pics of 3 of the 4 I killed this year.

Can't even tell you exactly how many deer I've killed with my bow much less prior to that when I gun hunted.

Disrespect? Maybe to some, but I don't have that attachment.

On the other hand, I am adamant about making every effort in a timely recovery and utilizing all the parts of the animal that are considered for human consumption by U.S. standards. If I don't recover the animal in time for this to occur, I failed as a hunter. Not for life, but in this particular instance. It has happened and will likely happen again. But that doesn't change the standard in which should be the foundation in what makes a successful hunt.

That is respect.....if your gonna kill it, eat it or make sure someone else does and it does not go to waste. That IMO, is the respect these animals deserve if we choose to fling an arrow or lead at them.

A late recovery (while it happens to all of us eventually) is no recovery at all and there is no reason for congrats or accolades, etc. Keep the horns to "honor" the animal? What about the late recovered doe you find 2 weeks later. What do you keep to "honor" her?

RE: Respecting Deer
 

Respect the animal by killing it quickly and not letting it waste. Pictures and mounts are simply things forself gratification..............nothing wrong with that, but it's doneso you can look back at it and remember, brag, or laugh............not to "honor" the Animal.....sheesh!

It's asilly dog and pony show if you ask me. Honor is a word that should be held asid forGod, men & womenand our Country.............not a dead deer.

RE: Respecting Deer
 

I don't think I cross the "creepy" line, but I respect the hell out of the animal. At the point of harvest it's more of the completion to a long journy with the deer. All the work and hours suddenly paid off and there is some emotion after killing a deer for me. He picked the wrong place on the wrong day. Better yet I picked the right place on the right day [8D]. Either way when it's said and done after killing a deer I feel great respect for him/her for their ability to survive up until that point. I'm not going to shed any tears or have some sort of ceremony, but I will respect them.

RE: Respecting Deer
 

I like all the creepy talk, it's funny.:D

Me, I love deer. I love to watch them, study them, learn about them, and hunt them. There is just something about whitetails that gets to me more than any other animal. The amount of time, effort, research, and care I have put into deer is pretty inordiante to other things in my life. I have sacrificed time with my family, opportunities for better paying jobs, and countless dollars for whitetails. I have literally sweated and bled following them, just as many here have.

At the end of the day though they are animals. Animals that I respect and admire, but I lay them down and cook them up all the same. I'm grateful to do so, but still keep things in perspective that I'm not doing God's work or anything.

RE: Respecting Deer
 

I would rather see someone er to showing to much respect than to little.Hard not to respect an animal that is such a worthy adversary! My preference is quiet appreciation and to show the animal dignity,especially so when it's dead.
I don't have a lot of tolerance for throwing a dead deer around,or mutilating it or throwing it among filth,whether the bed of a pickup with a ton of crap in it or on the floor of a shed or gargage that isn't clean.
No you don't have to get all teary and sovereign but show the animal some dignity.That's my opinion.

RE: Respecting Deer
 

Do you make a casket for it and all? :D

RE: Respecting Deer
 

I respect every animal I hun. By obeying game laws. Being ethical and taking only good shots and doing everything I can to recover the deer,duck,ect. I also do what ever I can on the conservation end of things. These are the ways I respect animal. You would understand the whole attachement thing if you were a trophy hunter and have spent hundreds of hours scouting and days in the stand if you dont trophy hunt you will never understand the magical part of deer hunting

RE: Respecting Deer
 

Deer are just wild animals that I want to kill for food. They make it hard on me sometimes. That's the extent I go.