Talondale

Personally I think it comes from a misorganized set of priorities. First off hunting should be fun. If you don't enjoy it, don't do it. Secondly your self worth should not be tied up in how well you do. Thirdly, it's not a competition sport, unless you consider it a competition between you and your prey.

Yes, jealousy can be a factor, and I can also see how some people would get tired of some hunters getting defacto credit because they have the racks to back it up. Although I don't think it's so much that they get credit but that others don't get as much credit if they don't have the antlers to back it up. The hero worship on here can get pretty bad. I don't know. I may be totally wrong.

Either way I'd love to have one or two of these guys come to my place as personal hunter/trainer and analyze my land and show me where and how I go wrong and compare notes. It would be enlightening, but would require them to sacrifice their own hunting time so I don't expect it to happen. But given all that I doubt I'd still be as successful as some because I lack that intensity of drive. I want a nice buck but I also want to enjoy myself. I seek a balance in my own hunting and try to hunt with others that share the same outlook. It's the same way with other hobbies I have; if I golf with someone who takes the game super serious neither one of us has a good time. So I rejoice with all successful hunters, however you define that, and am jealous of none, but I'd love to share their success.

peakrut

Buck Magnet

Well, I see jealousy as just a part of it. Another is the new QDM movement and everybody trying to live up to these expectations. Since the QDM movement really grew in the past few years everybody is now an armchair biologist and a whitetail expert. Everybody is more concerned about the size of the antlers, the genetics, the age, yadda yadda yadda... and the hunting community is loosing the major thing that brought people to it...... enjoyment. Antler size has become the standard for measuring a hunters success, instead of the knowledge that they have for consistently killing deer (note** any deer). Its sad to see this trend taking over. Hell, just a few years ago this board would have been littered with pictures of guys with the doe that they shot, but that has been tuned down because today a doe is not considered to be as big of an accomplishment as a buck.

People are turning hunting into work instead of just going out and enjoying it. I took my rifle out this season and forgot just how much fun it is to just go sit on the edge of a hillside, no scent killer, no camo, no playing the wind, just me sitting in the woods waiting to see a deer. I wasn't worried about it being rut, pre-rut, post rut, I wasn't concerned about herd size, deer density, buck to doe ratios, deer age, travel patterns, bedding areas, feeding areas, ect... I just wanted to relax and hope for the best. I wasn't working to try to achieve a goal, I was just enjoying my time in the woods. More people should learn to do this and put less importance on achieving a goal that magazines and television shows have created.

rybohunter

NAILED IT!!!!!

virginiashadow

Yes..yes I do.

MichaelP

People will allways be jeoulous ofothers hunting success.......You can take out hunting and replace it with any other hobby/job/pastime and the same holds true. Not all people but a certain group within each group. If you ever say great (deer/job/etc )BUT................then you are in some way jeoulous/belittling their accomplishment. If you hunt out west and lay slammers down, you are a good hunter period. Several hundred thousand hunters, a couple hundred P&Y's and we wanna call someone lucky because of their LOCATION...nah. You can be unlucky becasue of location, but if you kill a 140 every other year or so with a bow then you have skill. I live in Georgia so according to all these stats lately, my location sucks as bad as anyones. You will NEVER hear me complain, and as a few have seenI have a few P&Y's in my house. You will also NEVER hear me point out where someone hunts, I love to see the deer and hear the stories to much to get caught up in all that BS.

Cougar Mag

Without reading all of the replies I feel the need to say: this site and a couple of others are much less argumentative, shows less negative attitude, and contains less jealousy overall than many others. I just returned to this topic after reading a thread from another site which is well known using two letters. I've never in my life witnessed so much negativity and jealousy as I have there. Case in point from that site that I read when I happen in there:

A. jealousy over midwest bucks being larger in general
Come hunt here or keep your mouth shut when someone from a midwest state kills a nice one. Its not our fault most other states or regions do not contain as many nice bucks.

B. the disdain for Pope and Young club
its not for everyone but many hunters fail to understand or refuse to acknowledge that this organization did more for bowhunting than most hunting organizations put together!

C. midwest bucks are easier to kill
I've read this a hundred times. Yes its a farming region with broken up woodlots and cropfields. might make it easier to hunt than big woods, but you still have to put in the time.

D. heres one I always like........someone goes to a midwest state with the dream of killing a big buck and returns all pissed off because they didn't have the opportunity. I have news for you, big bucks aren't behind every tree or bush. Even residents here hunt hard and come up empty most years.

Yes I currently have an attitude. Got that with my cold thats keeping me out of the woods along with reading threads on that "other" site.

Schultzy

Great post Cougar!!!

I've been saying this for a long time on here and people mostly call BS on me saying the P&Y club doesn't do much. That pisses me off!!! Where would bow hunting be today with out the P&Y club and It's members? I can gaurantee It wouldn't be good. Where would gun hunting be without the NRA and It's members? That' right, It wouldn't be good. No difference at all In the organizations as they both protect and pull for our rights as hunters and donate a ton of money.

GMMAT

Let me ask this, Schultzy.....are they (P&Y) "open book"? What I mean is....the SCI ....if you're a member...you get a detailed accounting of where every dollar they take in goes. That's impressive.

Could you do this as a P&Y member? Anyone?

Schultzy

I have no Idea Jeff but I'm thinking no.