wolfen68

I know many of you already love me but I'm probably going to add more to the list after this post. Nonetheless, I feel it my duty to post my views. Mine are views hell bent on maintaining the integrity of all "trophy" bucks harvsested in the world. My question is, when a guy pays hundreds if not thousands of dollars to travel to another state where a guide/outfitter puts him in a stand and within an hour he arrows a monster buck...does he feel the same satisfaction if he would have found a tract of land in his own state, scouted it to determine the bedding areas, the feeding areas, the transition areas, the scrape lines, the scrape scenting lines, the escape routes, the bucks in the area and where the dominate one might skulk all other times of the dawn, day, and dusk, and finally arrows that elusive buck that has survived for the last 3-6 years and is sporting a rack indicative of his worth??? A guy who does the latter, I put on a pedestal. The other, I wonder what goes through his mind. I know hunters who go to other states to hunt big bucks and that is exactly what they do...they "hunt". They don't behave like sissies and request the bequest of the landowner's nicest buck to shoot so they can go home and brag about their mighty accomplishment. I understand times are tough for those without great herds from which to hunt and I honestly feel your pain but do you feel that same satisfaction you imagined when you shoot a nice buck without having put any work into it other than pulling back your bow and making a good shot? Mind you, that is honorable, but is it worth all you paid for it? Let me have it boys!!

scottsman

Wolen68.. at first reading of this, I thought you were just trying to stir up something. And I belive I'm right. Think about this, I just sent my money for a guided Elk hunt in Colorado next year. Now seeing as I don't have Elk in my state, and have never hunted elk before, does that make what ever I kill (if anything) that much less of a trophy? Now I do have whitetail and would I ever pay some one to set me up on a buck? No but that's just me. I think we all need to hunt to whatever ability we have.
Some folks get more time in the woods than other folks. So think about it we all have to start some where.I think most guys will get to wanting to do it all their selfs.

MThunter

Wolfen I agree that puttin in the work yourself adds to the experience. I have a chance to go to another state next year which I am doing to prolong my hunting season. We will not be able to scout it as heavily as my home state and it is unclear If I will even make a trip to scout at all. Now I am not going to pass up the opportunity to extend my hunting season for a few days just because I did not scout heavily. We do what we have to do to be in a stand somewhere I guess. As for Scottsman I am glad that you are getting to hunt one of the finest animals in the world next year. I do have to say that even if you do get one I can not imagine it will feel half as good as one I might get next year just because I am surrounded by elk all year round. For me hunting elk is something very special and not just a novelty I have never tried before. For me to take an elk means that I will take an animal for which I feel almost a special bond because I live with them and have hunted them. For me it would be like if I went to say Alaska and shot a Caribou. It would still be great but not something I truly understand. Somebody who grew up and hunted them their whole life would appreciate a big one more than I would if I went up their on a ten day hunt with an outfitter.

billygoat

For me personally, No, I would not get a sense of satisfaction if a guide placed me in a stand and told me "The monster comes into feed at 7:OO, He's never later than 7:15." Where's the challenge? Maybe feel good about my shot, that's about it. But I can feel good about a shot just shooting at a target. Anyhow I would never pay for guided whitetail hunt -- I can find deer in my backyard (even if they aren't monsters). Scottsman does have a point though. An elk hunt, I'd do.

kshunter

IMO I think that harvesting a trophy without a guide and circumstances you mentioned, would be more of a trophy, because of all the extra time and effort put into hunting. But I still would consider both circumstances a trophy, as long as it wasn't behind a fence. Just depends a lot on the situation, on the value of the trophy, to me.
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cardeer

Ive only hunted 2 times with a oufitter and he had me so tired I had to take a vacation when I got home.Hunted 5 days ,shot a 12 pt the last day.Was not a gimme hunt for sure.Was I proud of the deer? You bet. Was I less proud then the deer I shot by myself after only 2 hours on my local stand.Nope.Go spend 3000 on a hunt your packed in to ,live in a tent for 7 days never get a shot after miles of spot and stalk.and tell me that was not hunting

5 shot

It realy depends on the hunt. How hard I have to work, etc. The biggest factor to killing big deer is you first need to hunt where they are. If you spend your life hunting an area with lots and lots of small bucks, chances are your not going to kill a big one no matter how good a hunter you are. On the othe hand, a novice hunter would stand a good chance of killing a nice buck if he hunted an area where their are plenty of big bucks. Every hunt is differnt as well as every outfitter and guide. I can't realy make a blanket statement becuase of all the differnt variables. I will say this I would get the most satisfaction from hunting public land in an area not realy known for huge bucks, and doing my own scouting, hanging of stands etc. That doesn't mean I would not be proud of a large deer I shot on a guided hunt, provide the situation was correct.

TAKE YOUR KIDS HUNTING AND YOU WON'T BE HUNTING FOR YOUR KIDS

TWANG

Well now,....considering you must be at least 1/2 way thru that 12 pack of Coor's light when you posted this topic last night, I would have to say that beer has a rather tranquil affect on you buddy!! <img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>

Some good responses by you guys!

Its really funny that you bring this up, because I have thought about it quite allot recently, since seriously considering booking a hunt in Illinois,...which I have now done. I KNEW BEFORE I booked the hunt that I will not feel as good about what I take in Illinois as I do about the 139 class that I took in 97 around here. That fact will not change if I take a 200 class buck in Illinois! I know my feeling pretty well on these issues. Just like how my feeling are about bow vs gun. &quot;I would rather take a doe with my bow,...than a trophy with a gun&quot;. Its just how I feel personally.

SO,....what am I going to Illinois for? OH sure,.... I want a 150 class animal and I'd be darn proud of it. But not with the same intensity as the one from 97. If I mounted it and showed it I would ALWAYS point out that it was taken in Illinois also! It WON'T be shown to impress someone,...and leave them thinking that I have a magic secret for hunting whitetail bucks around home here. I'll let the one that I harvested here do that!

What I hope to enjoy in Illinois is the excitement of JUST &quot;seeing some&quot; NICE BUCKS!! I'm so tired of hunting my arse off and only seeing 1 or 2 forkhorns or baskets in a season. <img src=icon_smile_sad.gif border=0 align=middle>

I want to share that excitement that you my friend,... and others in the the midwest are fortunate enought to enjoy,... and see what it must feel like to beable to be &quot;PICKY&quot;!!! <img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle> LOL The ONLY deer that would give me the personal satisfaction equal to my 139 class would be a larger one in my own backyard!!

buckhunter3

A perfect situation going to another state looking for a trophy buck would be,having enough time to check out the place, scout on your own,learn where the deer feed and travel.And then set up and ambush the deer.But unfortunatly
most people don't have the time,including the guide who has other clients to take care of.Also some states require a guide to hunt.If I paid about $3000 to hunt for a buck I would want to take every available source I could, including the help of the guide to achieve that.Not all hunts are 100% guaranteed.Some of the fenced in areas maybe depending on what you will settle for.My own opinion is, some hunts I have seen on video or TV I would not consider my way of hunting.That does not mean it is not a form of hunting.The guide does have to go out and scout, but up stands,keep an eye on where the deer are traveling,so I guess you could argue that there is still a form of hunting involved,which
some may not agree with.

Buck Magnet

Hmmmm, Wolfen

I guess it depends on the guides. I have seen elk hunts where the guides would call for the hunter, but thats about all they would do. That seemed alot like real hunting situations.

BUT, I have seen shows from Texas Guides that I don't think I would get any pleasure from. One, the hunter sat on top of a &quot;top drive Chevy Suburban&quot; and parked it by a food plot. In the evening, the guide told him where to watch exactly and exactly when the deer would come out. All the guy did was drive to the spot, get on top of the truck, sit there until the time the guie gave him, then he just shot the deer. I don't think that I would get much satisfaction out of the type of hunt.

Good Luck This Season: Buck Magnet
P.S. Only Chuck Adams can sit at home and see deer so get into the woods. =;^)