scribbler444

I totally agree with this post. I dont no how many posts iv visited that peoplpe make fun of the kid for shooting a spike or someithng. Its not your deer its his he shoots what he wants not what you want. That spike probably put a smile from ear to ear on his face after he harvested it, and pepole come in his forum while hes celebrating his kill and passing comments like why would you shoot that, and so on.

Father Forkhorn

My post isn't any kind of commentary on the wisdom of shooting buttons bucks and shouldn't be construed that way. FWIW, I tend to to agree with your basic position. Please don't jump to hasty conclusions.

I only suggest raising the bar as a way of developing the youth's skills. A deer with visible antlers, even a spike, is likely a little older and warier and being able to distinguish a buttons buck from a doe is a hunting skill. going those routes makes them better hunters. "Press" is a very inaccurate word to describe my meaning. "Gently encourage" and "suggest" are much closer.

fastetti

Great post Fatherforkhorn, I agree 100%. I feel that some of the post who critisize the youngsters on this board are fellow youngsters. I hope that no adult would ever yell at a kid for taking a young buck. Ive hunted with grown men that have taken a button as their first buck. At any age your first deer is your first deer and you should be proud. There is usually a rule for all the properties that I hunt that no buttons are taken, but if it is your first deer, you get to take any deer you want. Again, Great post, something that needed to be addressed on here.

07superglide

ditto! theres too many areas in a kids life that are trying!!!hunting and outdoor sports shouldnt be one of them!

turkey guide

I agree also, first hunting has to be interesting enough to try and then hopefully it will be fun, to keep that interest going. I can't think of anything less fun than peers and older folks that you may consider role models criticising your freedom to hunt within the law, however you wish.
Also, new hunters whatever age, will make mistakes, cut corners and sometimes break laws and camp rules, not realizing their importance. Taking the hardline on this, saying you are a poacher and you don't deserve to hunt with me is wrong. Zero tolerance rules don't do anything to teach people right and wrong, it's just a lesson in intolerance.
If we don't give folks a chance and teach them why and how we do things they will never learn. In my experience young folks especially need to learn how to play for the team, and that may take some time and training before they get to be good or even acceptable at it. I didn't start out as a good hunter, or everyones idea of an ethical hunter and had to learn how to become one. Obviously, everyone does things differently and each hunter must adopt their own set of ethics from their own experience and training, and what is acceptable where they live.
When talking to someone who has just broken a rule or even a law, whether intentional, or in ignorance of the law, or maybe you just don't agree with their methods, you shouldn't make them feel bad about the experience. They may have just had the best time they ever had hunting and you should praise everything they did right, before even mentioning where they might improve. With time they will become the type of hunters we all teach them to be.
Don't make them resent asking your opinion, and possibly ignore you because you made them feel bad by being an ass, or because you called the game warden and tried to cause trouble when you could have just as easily taught them to stay out of trouble. You may be creating a monster.

srwshooter

teach a kid or a adult that has never hunted the basic hunting skills,tell him what is legal to kill and let them decide what size animal they want to shoot. i find about 75% will choose to only take nice bucks and let the small ones walk after they hunt a few years. but if they don't ,thats fine . let them be meat hunters. to start with they need to learn on there own that they can go out and kill a animal ,gut it ,skin it ,cut and wrap, and eat it. i think teaching the whole proccess is important.

i know plenty of guys that have hunted for 20yrs or more that could care less about horns.

Lanse couche couche

Keep in mind that in plenty of cases, a spike or doe off of heavily hunted ground or in areas with low population is probably much more of a tropy that a big rack taken with an outfitter or killed on a "managed' site where there are alls sorts of big bucks wandering around all over the place. If i had to criticize, i would be more likely to go after the circumstances under which some of the big bucks pictured on here were taken rather than going after a kid for filling his tag.

Father Forkhorn

My thoughts exactly. A trophy rack is relative to where you're hunting.

I like watching Dave Morris because he's done some incredible things with his ranch. Those are fabulous deer. I still think (as does Dave Morris because I first learned this in one of his books) that if you call a trophy a deer one that has a rack significantly bigger than the local average, then there's just as many trophy deer in the woods out back of my home as there are on his ranch.

FlDeerman

Great post Forkhorn.Me I love the ladies,the best eating.A trophy is a trophy if YOU think it is.Isn't that what it's all about?

heavenlykid

i agree and kinda disagree with this. i seen a video on you tube the other day a guy shot a buck while it was fighting with another one i think that was very inhumane. also i would never kill a deer while it was breeding once again would you like to be shot when you getting ur love on i think not. but all in all killing young bucks if you kill all the young ones how you every gonna kill bigger ones. in my opion i would kill a 6-8-10-12-14-16 and so one but if i see a button or a spike or even a little 4 pointer i will let them go deer gain. alot on there antlers every year so why not wait till next year to kill the little ones it doesnt hurt anything. besides raising the bar makes you become a better and better hunter. and tv has ruined hunting. and America is the only country where they take your rights and then you can have them back for a price example... hunting, driving, etc etc all in all i would never discourage a young hunter you want to encourage them explain to them what they did wrong and help them become better God knows we all did the same things they do.