I've killed yearlings and been happy as a clam with them. The size of the experience is what matters to me. The trophy is in the meathod of harvest to me.

But when the method is no longer an issue, say as in rifle hunting, with a well broke in gun, then the size of the deer takes on more than it would when I was bowhunting.

A big deer is an awsome thing. A legaly taken big deer is an awsome feat. I also have never taken a real big deer, but the ones I have I wouldn't trade for the world.

"Hey ya'll, watch this"

I hunt to put food in the freezer. If a big buck happens by, I'll take him, but I'm not going to pass up a doe or a smaller buck (which are better eating) in the hopes that some trophy is going to put in an appearance. First decent deer dies!!!!!!!



Edited by - White-Raven on 01/07/2003 06:39:44

I call myself a meat hunter, the more doe we kill in my area the healthier the herd is. In my younger days I used to hunt horns and in 74 I killed a monsterous 8 pointer for Va. Since then I have only seen a few bucks that would approach him, right now I have my eyes on the biggest 6 point I have ever seen, I know this buck is at least 6 maybe 7 years old, he has no browtines, but he must be 24 inches on the inside of his beam and has very tall tines and a lot of mass. In the mean time I take what is legal, I am gradually becoming more of a bowhunter than a gun hunter, so this coming year I should be able to fill the freezer with doe and possibly one nice 8 point I saw this year where I bow hunt, but what ever comes first as long as it is not a fawn or a button/spike is down.

The Tazman aka Martin Price
Founder and President of
Virginia Disabled Outdoorsmen Club

I also hunt for meat, isn't that why hunting was started? I only shoot mature deer I will let the younger ones go just because if I'm going to take that deer then I want the most meat possible. As some of the other people here have said if a deer with a big rack comes through then he's mine. For those guys that can pick and chose then do it, if thats what you want. Where I live there aren't that many big rack deer, not enough nutrients.
I think instead of worrying about rack size so much the country should worry about teaching safety and respect to other people. You can take Jimbob put him on a deer ranch and he can kill 10-12point deer all year long bring him up to my neck of the woods and I'll doubt he would even kill one deer. For those guys that have learned how to hunt and chose to hunt for big game I'm not putting you down. I'm putting these T.V. shows down that Glorify the sport and try to make themselfs look like bada$$ hunters, when half of there hunt is done by someone else or in a cage. When you live in a place were deer are plentifull and they have a wide range of foods and nutrients then your chances of getting a bigger deer are better then the guy that doesn't have a big herd or the land can't support the big herd. Just because a person shoots deer with bigger racks DOESN'T mean he is a better hunter or even more ethical.

I too hunt for the meat. And for the hunt itself. I will also NOT turn down the opportunity to harvest a trophy buck though. To me, taking a mature doe with my bow is still a monumental challenge. They are just as wary as a buck of the same age, possibly more so.

It's a personal choice thing really, everyone makes their decision and live with it. It's that simple.



Shoot often - Hunt always

I don't want to skirt the issue, because here in NH, if you let any legal deer walk in hopes of getting someting bigger, you just may go home without the venison. We just don't have the luxury of seeing deer every time we go out and some can hunt an entire season and see or shoot nothing. That being said, if I had the choice, give me the big guy. I'm talkin about that bruiser that when we finally see him, he simply takes your breathe away. The kind of deer, that just being able to get a look at him, makes it special. Sure, I'm proud of all the deer I have taken in both NH and Maine, but size and antlers do matter. I don't kid myself on that and although we may not have the big deer numbers, it is still possible to shoot the deer of a lifetime each and every time we go into the deer woods.

Alot of good points have been brought up here. It seems to get back to the area you hunt, number of deer you are allowed to kill, deer population, and quality of the deer herd.
I live in a state with a long season, liberal doe limits, and a 3 buck limit. To enhance the herd, I try to fill my freezer with does, but I hunt for the big antlers. I usually take that doe when I'm about to retire for the morning or afternoon and nothing else is around. I guess that has driven off a few large bucks that were sneaking in, but I'd rather take a doe than a young buck. We don't have monster bucks but we do have 120 to 160 class bucks and that's a trophy to me. I wouldn't shoot a 6 point with the exception of that one Taz saw, a 20+ inch 6 point would be fair game with good mass.
Everybody is different, when I first started deer hunting, I'd shoot any buck that came by but in my old age, I'm happy to let the young ones grow.

This last season was my 1st and I didn't jump into with the notion of taking a huge buck. I just wanted to put some meat in the cooler. But that doesnt mean I would shoot at anything that walked by. In fact, my 1st day out I saw at least 8-10 doe and did not take a shot. I could slap myself around a bit now...cause I didnt see that many for the rest of the season, but even as a newbie rack size is not whats important to me. I do think some people put too much emphasis on rack size.
Hector

But the whole point is: Isn't that our choice, and we shouldn't be chastised for our goals (as long as we don't chastise others).

I bowhunt for biguns and gun hunt for smaller racks. Does that make me wrong?<img src=icon_smile_wink.gif border=0 align=middle><img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>

&quot;Semper Fi&quot;

Well I would say I hunt for both a trophy and meat. Might or might not be the same animal. Here in Central Texas you are allowed 1 buck and two doe a year. I almost always get the two doe but hold out on using my buck tag for what for the area is a trophy(here about 130 or so is good). Why? I don't really have any interest in shooting one the multiple 1/5 or 2.5 year old 6 or 8pt that we see all the time. This means that there are a number of years that I will not shoot a buck or will take a cull buck to help the management of the herd. I think it is unique to each of our areas and interests. It is not unusual for me to see 6 - 10 of these young bucks in a single morning or afternoon hunt. So for my particular case there is not much challenge in taking one.

Later
Gone_Huntin