RE: big racks big hype
 

I use to hunt in Jersey when the season was 1 week with 1 buck tag only. Most hunters went years without a buck so you shot any buck. Now I hunt with lots of tags and can afford to do some pass ups. A few years ago I passed several times the first week of my 60 day rifle season and than it dried up, finally got a spike with a few days to go. My wife and I are venision eaters so now we take them as they come. After 3 or 4 in the freezer I will wait on the last Buck tag for a big rack. Odly enough my 120 and 136 racks were on opening days. Go Figure I seldom see the big ones at any distance the laast half of the season!!! One shot one kill Striper Phil

RE: big racks big hype
 

I know when I began hunting....I was excited to even see a deer....much less get one. It took me a few years to even kill one. And I couldn't have been more excited. Being a self taught hunter, I mad alot of mistakes, and it took me a while to get the hang of it. As I continued to hunt....gradually my outlook changed, a little at a time. To start, I was more interested in just getting a deer...didn't make any difference to me what or how small/big it was. Then, I started really wanting to get a buck...finally I did. Next, it was about how many bucks I could get in one season (I guess so I could bragg to my buddies...(LOL)..even though they were usually all immature small racked bucks). Now over the last 6 or seven years...I could care less if I kill a buck...I shoot about 5 does per year (avg), and hunt for a big buck. I've passed up so many bucks in these last years...that I can't count them(well this year I actually did...I saw 33 different bucks, and could have probably killed 25 of them...I took 1).
I enjoy the hunt now more than anything....not so much the kill. Just being out there has always excited me, but over these last years, that's what it's really all about for me, and it's only gotten better. Also, I see myself getting ready for another change before long. I have a 5 year old son, that I've taken out some the last 2 years, and he's really developing an interest in hunting....so soon I will be devoting alot of time there.

I personally practice QDM. Because I choose to let the small bucks walk....and hunt for does and a big buck...does that make it wrong? I don't think so...and I also don't think it's wrong to hunt for only meat...or just any deer that comes along. It's all personal preference. Do what you want....and what makes you happy. I do think though....deep down what drives alot of us to hunt, is the chance that a big rack will someday walk into range. I know it was always in the back of my mind. The other thing I think has steered me towards where I am now, is the fact that I've been a serious bowhunter over the last 10+ years. I still have not killed a big buck with a bow, but that is my goal each season. The other plus of bowhunting is that I believe it makes you a better hunter all around.

The bottom line is, whatever the reasons are that you hunt...it should make you happy, and you should not feel bad or be put down for it. Personally, I like the challenge of trying to kill a mature buck, and I kill does for meat.

RE: big racks big hype
 

I agree a lot is dependant on your area and then personal choice. I have been a trophy hunter for 10 years now, i started out with the same goal as most of you did to learn, experience and maybe get any deer, then evolved through experience and time to my current goal. I am fortunate to live and hunt an area that is graced by excellent trophy animals and herd numbers. I still very much enjoy the meat, hunt, experience, friendship and animals i chose to hunt. I am with the others who stated we just wanted to add more challenge to the sport we love. Really, no different than any sport as you become more experienced and better you change your objectives to maximize the experience. This change or goal will obviously be different due to area, experience, etc, but is all evolution in the sport.

We are allowed 1 deer a year, that is doe or buck. I prefer to hold out and wait for an opportunity on a mature buck, this extends my season and allows me more time to learn and be in the field. My personal choice of letting the immature animals go and giving them time to mature and develop has resulted in a better herd and more trophy animals in my hunting areas. I now get almost as much of thrill out of seeing and letting animals walk, as i due in pulling the trigger. Don't get me wrong I still want to harvest my trophy, but I also don't have any problems of burning my tag.

It is all a personal choice. Like most things "It is what you make of it" that really matters.

RE: big racks big hype
 

I'm from Colo. and we are allowed only one buck deer per year. I am a trophy hunter and I hunt for the rack. I do agree that if you like the buck or doe shoot it a true trophy is in the eye of the beholder. I don't care for the meat and i dontate my meat to someone that needs it. This year I gave my elk meat to the Salvation Army to feed their crew of workers. I would rather go skunked than take a 2x2 knowing that I was able to hold out for the ever bigger deer, or elk. I hunt all over and have taken 3 trophy bears back to back to back now I hunt them because I love to hunt them. I took a small brown phase last year because he was pretty and I wanted him for a rug.

RE: big racks big hype
 

In the group I gun hunt with, I was the only person that was looking for a good buck when the openner started. I tell them I am only shooting an 8 or better before the 4th day. Everyone else is shooting meat by choice. I do believe this will change a little after this past year. They all filled theyre tags by noon on the openner!

When everyone was looking to party hunt on my tag(legal). I said sure but it better be the b&c buck thats running around or they wouldnt be back. They all kinda of looked stunned at me! It really openned theyre eyes to sit back and actually see what was running around the property for a couple days!

When someone invites you to deer camp 500+ miles from home and theyve spent 3 weeks scouting and placing stands in the summer, then they say that they wont shoot anything smaller than an 8 before the 4th day, let the forks walk for atleast 1 day!
:)

RE: big racks big hype
 

Well first of i am 29 years old, i am in the US Air Force. and have been hunting for 17 years. don't get me wrong i love deer meat.. but in all of those 17 years, i have only shot 2 buck.. the first one i shot i was 15 years old, all though i have shot a doe every other year i went out hunting... but 1 when i was in Korea. here is where the story gets better, for me anyway... after a year of not hunting last year due to the Korea thing... I went out this year and the first day i shot a nice 9 point 155lb. 15 3/4 inch spred.. all i have to say is that it was the best hunt in 17 years... although if a doe would have came out instead of the Buck i would have killed her.. so i guess that Rack really don't matter... but it looks good on my wall.

RE: big racks big hype
 

Ok, I don't hunt soley for meat. If I did, I would probably hunt rabbits or something that I could get much easier than a deer. I take some kind of "trophy" from every deer I get. Be it antlers or just it's hide. I'm not hard to please. The hides are more useful to me, and doe are easier to tan. I think it is every hunter's responsability to decide for himself what a trophy is. I don't think it is a state's or counties job to decied for us, like antler restictions.

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