retrieverman

It is this mindset that has made high fencing property so popular. My brother, son and I have been shooting does and letting young bucks walk for 13 years, and when they cross off our property, the young bucks become fair game. I was very proud that Texas finally legislated antler restrictions and believe that it should help with antler quality overall.

I don't condemn guys with the "if it's brown, it's down" attitude to deer hunting, but I sure hope they don't hunt close to me.

retrieverman

I agree that backstrap is good eating, but the last time I checked, does have backstraps too.

For the "meat" hunter, if you are truly only interested in the meat, why would you not shoot a fat doe instead of wasting the trophy potential of a spike or four point?

Lanse couche couche

Test

kevin1

Why should I shoot a doe when a buck yields more? If a trophy animal means that much to you then why force silly, useless restrictions on me when you could just hunt harder for what you want? The "big boys" are out there if you just look hard enough for them. You see, it cuts both ways.

A buck to us usually means a heavier meat yield for the effort and ammo expended than most does afford, and in a state like mine that only allows one buck because of another trophy hunting related restriction the infringement on our choice of what to shoot gets to be a bit much. If given the choice of an 80 lb doe or a 120 lb spike I'll shoot the spike every time.

retrieverman

I don't quite understand the "you see, it cuts both ways" comment, but if you are insinuating that I don't hunt hard enough to kill "big deer", here are some pictures of my son and I with some of our bucks from the last few years. As far as hunting for meat only, if figure what you actually spend on hunting or have invested in hunting equipment, you can buy a heck of alot of prime cut beef.

DannyD

You bet!!!

WVCritter

I agree with this also. Deer hunting means different things to different people. Some hunt only with bows and shoot big bucks only, some will shoot the first deer that comes by and others gun hunt and they have their likes and dislikes as well. One thing I fail to understand is how antler management betters the deer herd. If big antlers mean healthy deer then why do so many of them end up dead....lol. By the way, has anyone ever wondered if deer hunting would be as popular if bucks didn't grow antlers and would we even be talking about buck to doe ratios? I don't hear squirrel and rabbit hunters discussing which sex to kill... There's something MAGICAL about big antlers and it seems that to some, that's what deer hunting is all about.

retrieverman

What I like most here is the averaging the cost of "effort" and ammo to justify this arguement. How many times are you shooting this spike?
Ammo and "effort" are the least expensive part of my hunting equation.

I shoot does every year but for herd management and not meat, and they weigh anywhere from 95-150 lbs depending whether I am hunting east Texas or NW Oklahoma. The bucks that I am shooting in Texas at 4.5-6.5 years old weigh in at 150-175 lbs, where as an 18 month old spike will weigh about 95-110 lbs. The mature bucks that I am shooting in Oklahoma are weighing in from 200-275 lbs. My cost per shot or pound, how ever you want to figure it, is still better than yours.

I already stated that I don't look down on "meat" hunters, but there are several holes in your logic. You hunt your way (hopefully along way from me), and I'll hunt mine.

kevin1

I wasn't insinuating anything Retrieverman, I just get really tired of would be "great white hunters" trying to tell me to hunt their way when most of them don't go more than 100 yards from their truck. Nearly all of the guys I know who have heads on the wall got them more by luck than actual effort, and all of them would love to see our state impose ever more restrictive game laws to make it easier to get that trophy rather than more challenging, if you're the exception to that then kudos to you for actually practicing what you preach.

nodog

Been wanting to hunt WV.

As far as your question goes, two words. Media blitz.Get the media to scream it 24/7 and it's as good as law.