hunting becoming a competition
06-22-2006 | 02:45 PM
#21
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 633
Likes: 0
From: Northeast PA
RE: hunting becoming a competition
I don't care what others think, and will tell them so.
I hunt for a lot of reasons, but I kill for the meat. period.I don't care what kind of rack it is as long as it's legal. I can't eat a rack. If it's a big buck, I'm only excited because I'm getting more meat. Heck, maybe if I do see a monster buck I'd be excited to a degree but that's only because not many come from where I get to hunt even these years after the change in the min. point regulations. (frankly, from what's heard around the back rooms, most of the one's with a large rack "dissapear" well before the rifle season)
I hunt for a lot of reasons, but I kill for the meat. period.I don't care what kind of rack it is as long as it's legal. I can't eat a rack. If it's a big buck, I'm only excited because I'm getting more meat. Heck, maybe if I do see a monster buck I'd be excited to a degree but that's only because not many come from where I get to hunt even these years after the change in the min. point regulations. (frankly, from what's heard around the back rooms, most of the one's with a large rack "dissapear" well before the rifle season)
06-23-2006 | 12:33 AM
#23
Giant Nontypical
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 6,921
Likes: 0
From: Saskatchewan Canada
RE: hunting becoming a competition
It is a competition within oneself...that's it!!! I have always said as long as your happy then I am just as happy for you. If you ask my opinion I may give you a response that is different from your mentality or situation but it is just that an opinion!
To your question, Yes. I have a few buddies, one which was my (former) main hunting partner who thinks that a certain level must be obtained to reap the benefits of hunting. Long before we split our hunting ways I took more out of the experience than the actual harvest, however hunting to me was/is scared so I wouldn't/won't let anybody dictate how should feel while doing it. Point is hunting is so much more than what you hang your tag on each fall, live and love it how you choose never letting anybody tell you how it should be or feel!
To your question, Yes. I have a few buddies, one which was my (former) main hunting partner who thinks that a certain level must be obtained to reap the benefits of hunting. Long before we split our hunting ways I took more out of the experience than the actual harvest, however hunting to me was/is scared so I wouldn't/won't let anybody dictate how should feel while doing it. Point is hunting is so much more than what you hang your tag on each fall, live and love it how you choose never letting anybody tell you how it should be or feel!
06-23-2006 | 07:23 AM
#25
Typical Buck
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 754
Likes: 0
From: McDonough, GA
RE: hunting becoming a competition
Take a couple of does for the freezer and go after a buck better than the last one you got. That's what I do!!
BTW, a better buck is not necessarily a larger rack, but rather one that you get when it is the most memorable and exciting experience and the result of good old-fashioned preparation and hard work!
None of the 4 bucks I have mounted are giants, but all are great memories I'll keep forever!
BTW, a better buck is not necessarily a larger rack, but rather one that you get when it is the most memorable and exciting experience and the result of good old-fashioned preparation and hard work!
None of the 4 bucks I have mounted are giants, but all are great memories I'll keep forever!
06-23-2006 | 08:51 AM
#26
Nontypical Buck
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 1,094
Likes: 0
From: Winnipeg MB Canada
RE: hunting becoming a competition
Depends on the season for me. With archery gear anything is a trophy, I still try to fill my doe tag first and then try to get a buck. Archery season is long here so I can wait a while for a buck. Muzzleloader season I always take a full week to hunt, I hold out until the last day of that week and then shoot a doe if I have to...... basket bucks aren't an option for me anymore...... I've taken several from the public land I hunt and would just like to see one of them when they are older. Now that I pass on them I have missed oportunities on some bigger bucks...... wait too long to get a good look at head-gear and they take off. Its thick bush and things happen fast.
My hunting mentor (everybody should have one) is 25yrs older than me...... he would never think to ridicule me for taking a small buck. I met him at a butcher shop where he worked and I got a job..... he has tought me everything I know about cutting meat and almost everything I know about hunting too. "Fill the freezer first and then go for the wall hanger" or "shoot them in the neck..... so you waste as little meat as possible". I used to follow guidelines and shoot for heart/lungs even at the closest shots, that was for a few yrs when I told him I just need to do it this way until I get confidence......... last yr 4/6 of my deer taken were shot in the neck.
If you don't like the way your hunting buddies talk then tell them, they sound like my brother-in-law. Now I just ask him how many deer he has taken and how many arehanging from the wall...... big fat goose egg on both... and he knows to shut his yapper or he doesn't get any steaks from my fine eating specimens.
My hunting mentor (everybody should have one) is 25yrs older than me...... he would never think to ridicule me for taking a small buck. I met him at a butcher shop where he worked and I got a job..... he has tought me everything I know about cutting meat and almost everything I know about hunting too. "Fill the freezer first and then go for the wall hanger" or "shoot them in the neck..... so you waste as little meat as possible". I used to follow guidelines and shoot for heart/lungs even at the closest shots, that was for a few yrs when I told him I just need to do it this way until I get confidence......... last yr 4/6 of my deer taken were shot in the neck.
If you don't like the way your hunting buddies talk then tell them, they sound like my brother-in-law. Now I just ask him how many deer he has taken and how many arehanging from the wall...... big fat goose egg on both... and he knows to shut his yapper or he doesn't get any steaks from my fine eating specimens.
06-23-2006 | 09:14 AM
#27
Dominant Buck
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 26,323
Likes: 0
From: WC FL
RE: hunting becoming a competition
ORIGINAL: kevin1
Do you mean aside from here ?
The only one I compete with is the deer , anybody else ain't doing my hunting for me so what they think is their own opinion .
ORIGINAL: buttonbuckmaster
Anybody else have a hunting buddy that tells you what you need to shoot?
Anybody else have a hunting buddy that tells you what you need to shoot?
Do you mean aside from here ?
The only one I compete with is the deer , anybody else ain't doing my hunting for me so what they think is their own opinion .
07-03-2006 | 10:14 PM
#29
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 653
Likes: 0
From: Central Wisc.
RE: hunting becoming a competition
OK guys, im considering a big buck 115 inches rack which is my biggest so far. I killed it with a gun.2 years agoi hit a 120 class 8 point with a bow but unfortunately couldnt recover it after 13 hours of tracking. I got a pic of it a few months later and saw the scar from the arrow and it was healed. Anyway, 2 weeks later, I killed a 5 pointer and was just as excited as my other kills. So i dont have 37 buck kills, but i do consider my biggest buck a big one.
My dad even says kids should be allowed to kill small bucks or whatever they want but where we hunt, he wont let me. I dont get it.
Sure, ive let small bucks walk before, but i dont hunt to shoot monster bucks. I hunt to get away from everything and being able to be in the outdoors and get close to the game im hunting. Besides, venison is tasty! And there are so many small bucks killed, i figure i might as well kill one or the neighbor probably will! I hunt about 70 days of wisconsins deer season and have a heck of alot of fun.
I sold my compound this year and am going to be hunting with a recurve, no sights or nothing. Just instinctive shooting. So after countless hours of shooting with a style of shooting that i tought myself, not relying on a sight to show where my arrow will go,I think a young buck would be just as rewarding as any deer. I will need to kill a doe first since we have earn a buck this year. And for all you QDM guys, dont worry, if i have the opportunity, i will kill a big, i mean, mature, buck or a doe And im sure i will someday.
My dad even says kids should be allowed to kill small bucks or whatever they want but where we hunt, he wont let me. I dont get it.
Sure, ive let small bucks walk before, but i dont hunt to shoot monster bucks. I hunt to get away from everything and being able to be in the outdoors and get close to the game im hunting. Besides, venison is tasty! And there are so many small bucks killed, i figure i might as well kill one or the neighbor probably will! I hunt about 70 days of wisconsins deer season and have a heck of alot of fun.
I sold my compound this year and am going to be hunting with a recurve, no sights or nothing. Just instinctive shooting. So after countless hours of shooting with a style of shooting that i tought myself, not relying on a sight to show where my arrow will go,I think a young buck would be just as rewarding as any deer. I will need to kill a doe first since we have earn a buck this year. And for all you QDM guys, dont worry, if i have the opportunity, i will kill a big, i mean, mature, buck or a doe And im sure i will someday.
