chef#1

How does everyone feel about the saying " If its brown its down" . Personally i think that anyone who beleives in this saying, word for word, should be put down themselves. Theres a group who hunts near me that beleives in this as the gospel. At any time during season you will find spike bucks, yearling does, 4 pointers etc. Now doesn' t that make you proud!

What are your thoughts?

Hunt on Hunt hard Eat well!

c903

[ How do you judge the age of a running rabbit or a flying pheasant?

I once chastised someone here who talked about a family member having shot 2 spike bucks in one day. The more I thought about it, the more I realized I wrong. I was judging by what I, at this time and date of many years of hunting, would do and not do.

If someone simply wants to take home some venison, there is absolutely nothing unethical about shooting a spike buck, a four-point buck, or a yearling doe. Some of the antler hunters would be opposed to the shooting of young bucks.

In fact, there are studies that have shown that not all " spike" bucks are young deer, and that a " spike" buck is considered to be inferior and will never grow a large or heavy set of antlers and probably should be removed from the gene pool.

Shooting a yearling doe does not hurt anything. That yearling has less of a chance in becoming an adult doe before it is killed or dies from other causes. Best leave some of the older, smarter, and stronger does in the gene pool.

Rack-attack

No it wouldn' t make me proud, but for others any of those deer are true trophies. I have in the past used my quality standards as guidlines for others and have come to realize that I was wrong.

One of my best hunting buddies does go by the brown its down theory, and although it is not my own I have learned to respect how he hunts. Every deer he shoots makes him proud and happy, he eats it all and hunts with a respect for the animal.

And there was a time when I stayed up all night dreaming and praying for a chance at a forkie or spike - and I even took a few.

Poor decisions, poor shots, poor ethics gets under my skin much more than poor selection.

jag-mag

I usely take a young doe for the freezer right away if I dont see a buck
first. If its toward the end of season gun or bow Iwill take a smaller buck.

deerdragr

Sorry Chef#1, I think your dead wrong.[:' (] If the law permits hunters to take
these inferior animals, then why should hunters let them all walk by. Many
hunters can go for weeks without seeing a deer. If a doe or spike walks into
the crosshairs, and the hunter has the permits, and wants the meat, how can
you possibly say he is in the wrong for shooting this animal?? I' ve taken many
nice wall hangers and I' ve also taken many does and toy bucks for meat. I can
honestly say that I was extremely proud of every deer I put on the wall as well
as in the freezer. I know many hunters who vow " If it' s brown, it' s down" before
the hunt begins. It' s kind of like football players yelling " Let' s kill em!" I really
don' t think either of them should be " Put down themselves" .

liquidorange

i agree about the meat thing but the term garbage racks and inferior bucks has been proven wrong. bucks if given time as in years may still produce quality. many use those terms to simply shoot at anything.in my neck of the woods they say if the bush moves shoot it. it just shows the stupidity of those hunters that only hunt for the thrill of just killing.

davidmil

It really could be dependent on the condition of the deer herd and population. There are places where numbers are just SO high that, that kind of thinking is perfectly right to thin the critters. Once thinned you go about selective killing. In many areas deer are severely overpopulated. Some people just flat prefer younger tender meat. If they have a tag and want to shoot an 60 or 75 pound doe.... so be it. I don' t, but I know people who do. I hunt with someone who passes up all sorts of bucks waiting on some tasty morsel to walk by. I live in an area of limited land access, low hunter numbers and therefore we have UNLIMITED doe permits. I also belong to an organization that is called upon to go into residential areas and take out deer by a variety of means... depending on circumstances. If you hunt one of those properties the rules are.... " You better shoot... and it doesn' t matter what it is" .(unless there is a no buck restriction) They call on us to take them out, plain and simple. In those properties we' re called in for a reason. They really don' t care if Bill Jordan wants to shoot a Pope and Young deer. They want him dead before he eats all the daylillies.

When I go to other areas I make the rules... FOR ME. I don' t try to tell everyone else what they should do so I can enjoy hunting. I paid for tags in several states and let lots of bucks walk by that would have been dead here in Maryland. I also have a lot of those unfilled tags hanging around the basement. My last trip to Ohio I passed 4 bucks the last night that would have been dead here. If I' m hunting a crop damage permit... if it has no horns and is brown... IT' S Probably DOWN.

c903

Quality what?

dick cress

Our state game laws set my standards. I passed on two cow elk last year because they were not big enough for me and they had a calf with them. Although it was my only opportunity for an elk I have never regretted not taking a shot at the bigger of the two cows.

I too have taken several Whitetail and Blacktail wall hangers and would not hesitate to take another but my main objective is to put meat in the freezer and I' d much rather tale a doe or a cow . . . has anyone ever seen a recipe for cooking antlers.

I apply for bull permits every year and one of these times I' ll draw one. However, my objective is meat and I will take any mature bull or cow, and I will talke a spike bull. For deer [Mule] where in generally hunt we are allowed to take a 3-point or better buck or antlerless. Our seasons are set here with a specific goal of maintaining a certain Buck to Doe or Bull to Cow populations; to my way of thinking, I have an obligation to follow the game laws as established.

AND . . . I am just as proud of the doe I shot last year as I am of my 4X5 Blacktail a few years ago. More important thouhg I deepely respect and honor each and every animal I take and I will not allow one ounce of my game to be wasted . . . NOT ONE.

My favorite saying when it comes to game is: If it ain' t movin, it is overcooked.

PABowhntr

Well this thread is definitely aptly titled. Few comments other than the original one in this thread have the potential to create such a discussion.

My opinion, as always, to each his own.