BigJoe79

"Trophy hunting is not ethical hunting" Really?!?!

I am a meat/trophy hunter but first and foremost I am a conservationist and a sportsman. I care about filling my freezer and I like big antlers on my wall, but also care about the health of the deer herd overall. Something that you obviously do not! I'm speaking to "night crawler" here lol.

I am one of those hunters who sits in the stand and waits for a mature buck, giving younger bucks a chance to grow. I studied wildlife biology, (have a bachelor's in it) I could school you all day long on how those who chose to wait for a mature buck and/or chose to harvest doe for meat are better/more ethical hunters than you, but I won't cause I'm a nice guy. Do people continuously shooting small inmature bucks bother me? Yes, but I WILL NOT ride a high horse and tell other hunters, whose choices, as long as they are ethical and legal, I respect; what they should and should not shoot when it comes to deer or any other type of animal. As a hunter I am kind of appalled that someone would disrespect fellow hunters by stating that waiting for a mature buck is something that you cannot stand. I for one CANNOT STAND people like you who try to make out fellow hunters as the enemy and ridicule them due to their choices of what type of animal they sit and spend their own hard earned time on harvesting.

Have a nice day ya'll!

redgreen

Whatever floats your boat is fine with me. I have horns all over the place. Can't eat em. A younger one is much more tender than an old warrior. Horns are fine, and if that is what you want go for it. If you are eating tag soup, I will feel your pain, as I am eating my backstrap smothered in onions.

Mojotex

Hunting "Ethics" in my opinion are related to how you respect the game that you hunt, use the game tha you kill, follow the game laws or "hunting club rules" applicable to your hunting area, prepare yourself for the kill (developing shooting skills , etc.), pass on your skills to others, etc. And are not in any way connected to "herd management". That is whole 'nother issue.

As far as ethics as related to what "class" of buck that you kill .... legal is legal and meat is meat. You make the decision to "pass", then pass. You make the decision to shoot, then shoot. But to tell another that you are somehow a more ethical hunter because you shoot at only 8 pointers or above .... no. That is way beyond the pall.

Night Crawler

You speaking to me hmm.

Well you don't comprehend very well. A trophy hunter that I described
Is one that hunts for racks only. I don't care who you are a man that sits in the woods only looking for a rack is un ethical.

turkey harvester

If you buy the tag kill what ever you want. If it pisses someone off so be it. No one should be telling someone else they cant harvest what they want to. If you want to trophy hunt so be it, but dont criticize the people who dont practice the way you hunt. Myself I whack out everything I have a tag for. Cant eat the horns.

BigJoe79

Yes Night Crawler I was speaking to you.

An ethical hunter knows both the limits of his or her equipment and their shooting ability and always tries for a clean quick kill. In addition, the ethical hunter obeys all laws when hunting. The hunter acts as a goodwill ambassador for the sport and for all other hunters.

I'd like you to explain why you would call someone who chooses to sit in their stand and spend their hard earned time off hunting and harvesting a big buck unethical. Can you do that, logically? I doubt it but lets see... You have no grounds to call another hunter unethical due to choices that they make when harvesting an animal based on rack size so long as it is taken legally, and within the realm of the law, through fair chase, and as long as they know their equipment and make a clean shot. You may not like it or agree with the fact that they decided to wait or hold off for a big buck, but I repeat you have no grounds to call that unethical! If you chose to harvest a small buck, I'd respect that decision and congratulate you without criticizing you. Can you show others who choose to ethically harvest an animal based on rack size that same respect?

monoped

Depends on the herd in area hunted. Yes shooting young stops growth of that animal.
Too when breeding horses killing your best stallions not really progress either.
I won,t argue long about any of it but i feel fortunate to have options of what to kill.
Be it young or old either sex(don,t mind a nice rack now and then) they are all a life and i appreciate each for what they were.
Having raised baby animals to butcher,they learning to trust my hand and depend on me for their needs,while its easier to kill deer its still respectful and brief as possible.
Come midwinter i think of the remaining deer when its bitter out. And when i kill an old one how many nites on the ground. H.H all.

Alsatian

I suppose it depends on the circumstances. I am not a trophy hunter. I do not measure the success or quality of my hunt by points or dimensions of antlers. If I see a healthy doe, I take the healthy doe. If I have a combination tag and I want to take two deer, if I see a buck I'll take that, I don't particularly care how big his rack is, so long as he is legal. Now, if my hunting area has an abundance of deer and by waiting I have good reason to expect a bigger buck to come along, I might wait, or I might not wait -- shoot, get the hunt over.

I don't disparage people who hunt for or measure the success of their hunt by the rack of the deer they take. By the same token, I don't see why I should be disparaged when I do not take consideration of that physical parameter of the deer, other than to assure I'm legal.

Night Crawler

You dance around what I said and manipulate it into something you conjured up. Again you can't comprehend English. But whatever I don't really give a carp one way or the other.

snapper1982

it only bothers me to the point of thinking what that deer could have become but it was that particular hunters choice to kill that deer which leaves that hunter unable to kill another buck (by law).

now i got a question for you. why do you think any buck below an 8 point should walk? what does number of points have to do with the maturity of a buck? do you not think there are many mature 7,6,5,4,3,and spikes?