woodenb14

First and foremost I eat everything I kill. I usually shoot the first mature doe I see in October, then it's strictly mature bucks up until the first shotgun season. During shotgun season it's does or mature bucks, after shotgun season i'll shoot as many does as I need. Hypothetically, if I havent shot anything, and a big doe was 10 yards from me, and a mature buck was well out of range, but in the vicinity, I will pass on that doe 10 out of 10 times. Big bucks taste just good as a doe in my opinion, and nothing gets the heart going like big antlers.

Sheridan

You can't eat horns or hides, but You can't display tenderloins on a wall either !!!

Valentine

Live in a large, sparcely populated state, your attitude about antlers can be different.
I was born and lived in a crowded eastern state. To me a trophy was nice, but every deer was a trophy deer. It made great stews in dumplings on a cold winter night. That was taught me by my mother, the chef.
There can be a difference when you can hunt and cook too.

Uncle Nicky

Some on this site may honestly not care about shooting a big buck, but I'd be willing to bet 85-90% of those in the woods would shoot a B & C buck before shooting a doe. I know I would, and I literally don't have room in my house for another mounted head. My biggest dread of killing a deer like that is dragging his carcass back to the truck.

alleyyooper

I have a self imposed size limit on the first buck of fire arm season and Muzzle loader season. I set that at 8 PT. or better. That does not mean I have not shot smaller bucks first. Last year I shot a 7 PT. I thought was an 8 but the view at 93 yards was not that clear.

I myself just do not shoot does any more. Leave them for the city boys and youngsters. I can buy 5 doe tags a day over the counter every day the season is in we have so many does in the area.

As far as hunting for humanity they can go and whine some place. I will not shoot a deer and pay for it to be butchered by a certified butcher then give it away.
I butcher my own game and if it is good enough for me then it should be for those starving people.



Al

gjersy

Well i hunt for meat 1st and foremost. I don't worry about dragging,packing or butchering out any deer from a White-tail to a moose? It's all part of the hunt for me, The bigger, or the tastier the better. I gotta go bow hunt, opening day here!!!

gjersy

By the way i love trophies and meat, but meat is better

Mr. Slim

I hunt on the other side of Pa. from oldtimer. western Pa. we have two weeks of rifle season to hunt deer. the first week is bucks only and we have antler restriction here. the second week is both buck and does. usually by the first week most of the bigger bucks are shot. the rest start moving at night. as for me ill take a buck if given the chance, but will not pass up a doe during the second week. as for eating vension, ill take a doe anytime.

MZS

If you are a meat hunter then of course you will shoot a big buck if you can. An 8 pt buck around here can be 180 pounds. Compare that to a 110 pound doe or spike, or even two or three fawn does. That is not being hypocritical, it just makes sense. Big buck, more meat. If a guys following the laws, trophy hunter or meat & trophy hunter, or strictly a meat hunter, then it is his or her business. To me, the whole hunting thing is part of my heritage - a carryover from days where people hunted for meat, because they had to if they wanted to eat. So it has a special significance that way to me, even though I do not need to hunt so the family could eat like my father did many years ago when I was a small child.

tatonka

Been fishing for a couple days.....just now reading some of the posts here. Didn't mean to cause any hard feelings and I certainly did not call anyone a liar. The written word will always leave a lot to be desired... Just thought I'd throw out a topic for some debate.

Obviously, I can only speak for the people I know and what I've personally seen. If people around here shot the first legal animal they saw, their hunting season would be over in less than an hour...we're very fortunate to have the quality of hunting that we do. For me, it's not so much the size of the headgear but the challenge of matching wits with a wise old buck. When antlerless tags are available, I'll take as many as I can use. This year there are no antleress tags available because of EHD hitting here so hard, a couple of tough winters, etc. Except for predators, I will not kill something I can't eat and I only shoot those (talking coyotes here) is because the landowners ask me to shoot any I see.... We have a real problem with them out this way.

Hunting means different things to different people. For some it is for the meat, for some it's getting together with old friends, spending time in the field with their kids, etc. For others It's about the headgear. I agree 100% that the whole hunting for headgear thing has really gotten out of hand. Too much emphasis on headgear and not enough on enjoying the outdoors in my opinion. My son and I are going back to Vermont this fall to go to deer camp with the family.. I've not hunted Vermont since I moved to Montana in 1977. Anyone who lives or hunts in Vermont knows you don't go there to kill a buck with a big rack!!! For me it's all about hunting with the relatives, showing my son where my Dad and I hunted when I was a kid, etc...

The one thing I will say is whether you hunt primarily for the meat or some other reason, get out there and do it.....drag your kids away from their video games and phones and get them outdoors!!!

And good luck to all this fall.....