trophy hunters or not
 

just a question, when I started to hunt I don't every remember anyone being just a trophy hunter. Now it seems that alot of people that is all they talk about, trophy this or qdm that. What happened to the hunting being for the food part of it, or family and friends being together. Not coming down on anyone for being a trophy hunter, I have takin some nice deer in my years, but it seems no one wants to kill does anymore, and the last time I checked antlers don't taste very good. The dnr is even trying to do this buy points restrictions, I don't think that is right to have a group of people tell you because it is a 6 point that you can not shoot the deer, especially when you don't get a antlers less permit, some people depend on the food. I just think that one day it will ruin the fine sport that we have and enjoy. But I think that we need to control the population and not over harvest at the same time. what do you men and women think of this?

It's a matter of philosophy and different needs/desires of hunters. I know a lot of people who are going out for the meat first, and once they have their first deer or two go trophy only.

Others don't need a lot of meat, and want the trophy animals instead.

I'm like a lot of the hunters I know in that I want to get my doe early on so I can only worry about getting a buck after that. I only need to get one deer to give myself enough venison to eat for the year. A second deer means I'm swimming in venison which isn't a real problem when you think about it. I just really want to get my eating deer down early on.

I'm not a trophy hunter. I can't see the point of killing something to hang on the wall. If I can eat the meat, then hang the head, that's ok.

But to keep the head, and waste the meat is wrong IMO.

Matter of perception,
I don't think what people are harvesting has changed, but communication has.
In the past you basically just heard what you family/friends people around town harvested.
Now you hoP online and get reports from around the country.
And people may not bother to report the does, as its just another doe,
But when they get that buck we all hear about it.

I'm just very intrested in everyones view on this.

Any deer I get is a trophy to me. I will take any doe I can all season long. The younger, the better. The meat of a buck, any size, has that musky odor so I prefer does for putting in the freezer. The only buck I will take is one that is worth putting $500 into mounting it. What I mean by that is the rack has to be wider then the ears and have some mass to it. Here in MD, we have to take a second doe before taking a second buck for each season of firearm, ML, and bow. I think this has helped control the deer population by cutting down on just trophy hunting for anything that has horns. Ofcourse, this is just for us honest hunters. If a crooked trophy hunter wanted to, they could check in two phantom does so they could go right back out after the horns. But I say.....to each, his own.

I want the meat. I enjoy the hunt. I appreciate the beauty of a mature buck. But I hunt for the kill. A good deer is a good deer. A big wide impressive rack is fantastic but that isn't my only goal when I go out hunting. Virginia is starting to impliment antler restrictions in the western part of the state. It definitely made sense to impose bag limits when the deer herd was diminished. But now the state is doing it to produce trophy deer because that brings in money.

I heard VA has no tags, and you can take 5 per day ??
and it's the honor system ???

It really is just a matter of preference. I used to hunt WMAs and any buck you got was a good one. In the past few years I've been hunting on a friend's farm and he told me I could kill anything I want but they hold off on young bucks and so do I. The place is over run with does and this year I passed up 2 small bucks and took 2 mature does. Had I been hunting on a state owned WMA, I might have pulled the trigger on one of them.

I'm a trophy hunter. I let small bucks pass. Shooting mature does is a huge part of trophy hunting. By only shooting big bucks, you're setting yourself up for failure in the future.

VA