passing bucks
02-13-2006 | 07:18 AM
#161
Nontypical Buck
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 2,435
Likes: 0
From: Upstate New York
RE: passing bucks
I'm just glad to see with all of the developement around my place the quality of deer is getting much better.
Just curious, how do you determine the "quality" of a deer? What criteria do you use to determine that the "quality of deer is getting much better"?
...sorry, I meant this for Fieldmouse...
02-13-2006 | 07:22 AM
#162
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 913
Likes: 0
From: North Carolina
RE: passing bucks
ORIGINAL: nctaxi
When did QDM become an issue of rack? I was always under the assumption that it was about a healthier deer herd. When did it become warped to this? I has hunted some real heavily pressured public land. In Michigan, I was walking through PL and it was like walking onto a dancefloor, there were lights flashing everywhere. I went back to the truck and slept for a few hours, woke up, got out and stretched and watched a nice 8ptr walking down the road. When I was growing up in PA, if it had horns I shot it. Being older now, I have a very good bowhunting area, where I have pictures of 13 different bucks on a SMALL piece of property plus saw 4 other monsters this year.A few fears ago I startedtaking does and let smaller deer walk to see if I could get bigger bucks. Well I have pictures of a small 3 ptr thatis now large 9 ptr, a small 6 that is now about 140" 8 ptr. But to me QDM, was about making the herd healthier. I went to Massanutten, VA and saw a huge problem, there was literally no vegetation from 6' to the ground. This year I shot a doe, but I took 5 friends to my properties and they killed 5 deer. One real nice 10 pts, one nice 8 ptr, a guys first buck/bowkill 7 ptr, a decent 5 ptr. None of these guys had property to hunt, so for me to help these guys, was a treat. It seems to me that you guys have lost what is important, it's the time in the woods. I have had birds so close, I could see them blink, squirrels run over my legs, I once had a deer kick my foot! I've sat on both sides of the fence and there is no right or wrong, it's all personal decisions. Every deer taken LEGALLY is a trophy and should be treated as such. I mounted my doe and now have 3 hunters that are going to have their does mounted next year and I will be mounting a deer for a guys daughter next week.
When did QDM become an issue of rack? I was always under the assumption that it was about a healthier deer herd. When did it become warped to this? I has hunted some real heavily pressured public land. In Michigan, I was walking through PL and it was like walking onto a dancefloor, there were lights flashing everywhere. I went back to the truck and slept for a few hours, woke up, got out and stretched and watched a nice 8ptr walking down the road. When I was growing up in PA, if it had horns I shot it. Being older now, I have a very good bowhunting area, where I have pictures of 13 different bucks on a SMALL piece of property plus saw 4 other monsters this year.A few fears ago I startedtaking does and let smaller deer walk to see if I could get bigger bucks. Well I have pictures of a small 3 ptr thatis now large 9 ptr, a small 6 that is now about 140" 8 ptr. But to me QDM, was about making the herd healthier. I went to Massanutten, VA and saw a huge problem, there was literally no vegetation from 6' to the ground. This year I shot a doe, but I took 5 friends to my properties and they killed 5 deer. One real nice 10 pts, one nice 8 ptr, a guys first buck/bowkill 7 ptr, a decent 5 ptr. None of these guys had property to hunt, so for me to help these guys, was a treat. It seems to me that you guys have lost what is important, it's the time in the woods. I have had birds so close, I could see them blink, squirrels run over my legs, I once had a deer kick my foot! I've sat on both sides of the fence and there is no right or wrong, it's all personal decisions. Every deer taken LEGALLY is a trophy and should be treated as such. I mounted my doe and now have 3 hunters that are going to have their does mounted next year and I will be mounting a deer for a guys daughter next week.
02-13-2006 | 07:33 AM
#163
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 4,668
Likes: 0
From: NY
RE: passing bucks
ORIGINAL: turtleshell
All I will say on this issue is in nature never do the healthiest most mature animals get killed first. Almost always it is the young, sick, wounded
All I will say on this issue is in nature never do the healthiest most mature animals get killed first. Almost always it is the young, sick, wounded
Anyone.......or any organization that TRUELY cared about the health of the herd would not even dream of killing the strongest, dominant males every chance they got. Just another example of the flawed logic QDM spews.
02-13-2006 | 07:36 AM
#164
Nontypical Buck
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 2,435
Likes: 0
From: Upstate New York
RE: passing bucks
All I will say on this issue is in nature never do the healthiest most mature animals get killed first. Almost always it is the young, sick, wounded...
I love it, lets push for a nation wide law that protects any buck that is 4 or more on a side. Or maybe if someone posts a pic of a nice 8 point we can express our disatisfaction and ask why you didn't shoot him last year? Or why not shoot a doe or a fork horn instead of that nice mature buck that should be allowed to spread his superior genes as nature would have it.
02-13-2006 | 08:32 AM
#165
Giant Nontypical
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 7,208
Likes: 0
From: Pittsburgh, PA
RE: passing bucks
Any of you guys fish? One of the biggestdevelopments to improve fisheries was the C&R movement. It was a long drawn out grassroots deal to get people to....heaven forbid, not kill every legal fish they caught. I view QDM and passing on bucks to be very similar. Someone has to spread the word to people to get a way of thinking to take hold.
02-13-2006 | 08:40 AM
#166
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 842
Likes: 0
From: Massachusetts
RE: passing bucks
ORIGINAL: Sylvan
... Or why not shoot a doe or a fork horn instead of that nice mature buck that should be allowed to spread his superior genes as nature would have it.
... Or why not shoot a doe or a fork horn instead of that nice mature buck that should be allowed to spread his superior genes as nature would have it.
"If they have mass, let them pass!"
02-13-2006 | 09:24 AM
#168
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 842
Likes: 0
From: Massachusetts
RE: passing bucks
ORIGINAL: rybohunter
Any of you guys fish? One of the biggestdevelopments to improve fisheries was the C&R movement. It was a long drawn out grassroots deal to get people to....heaven forbid, not kill every legal fish they caught. I view QDM and passing on bucks to be very similar. Someone has to spread the word to people to get a way of thinking to take hold.
Any of you guys fish? One of the biggestdevelopments to improve fisheries was the C&R movement. It was a long drawn out grassroots deal to get people to....heaven forbid, not kill every legal fish they caught. I view QDM and passing on bucks to be very similar. Someone has to spread the word to people to get a way of thinking to take hold.
02-13-2006 | 11:46 AM
#169
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 4,668
Likes: 0
From: NY
RE: passing bucks
ORIGINAL: rybohunter
Any of you guys fish? One of the biggestdevelopments to improve fisheries was the C&R movement. It was a long drawn out grassroots deal to get people to....heaven forbid, not kill every legal fish they caught. I view QDM and passing on bucks to be very similar. Someone has to spread the word to people to get a way of thinking to take hold.
Any of you guys fish? One of the biggestdevelopments to improve fisheries was the C&R movement. It was a long drawn out grassroots deal to get people to....heaven forbid, not kill every legal fish they caught. I view QDM and passing on bucks to be very similar. Someone has to spread the word to people to get a way of thinking to take hold.
Couple problems that I see with this analogy are that you can't toss a deer back..........also the C+R program was structured around keeping numbers of fish sustainable to generate interest in fishing.........in other words they just wanted there to be fish to catch.......It had nothing to do with satisfying the ego of guys who just wanted more bigger trophy fish to catch. Since slaughtering does goes hand in hand with QDM/AR......the two programs are working towards different goals.
02-13-2006 | 12:54 PM
#170
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 129
Likes: 0
From: River Falls, Wisconsin
RE: passing bucks
Here's a good question for everybody here to think about before they start bashing eachothers viewpoints:
--What would I do if I were in their situation?
For people like atlasman and sylvan, yeah...I can see where their coming from. Where I hunt (which is private land) there is so much pressure that it almost becomes a private land "gauntlet" situation (during rifle season anyways) I'm one of a very few that bow hunts the area, so I do pass on most does and all fawns that I see (didn't see a buck this year...so couldn't tell you what I would have done).
wolfen & buckeyebuckhntr probably have ideal (or close to ideal) situations for managing their deer herds. That's great, really it is! One day I hope to be in a situation like that.
I hunt on a private 80 acre plot of woods that isn't all that ideal. We have neighbors to the west that poach relentlessly, neighbors to the east that tresspass every year (and play stupid every year), and we have neighbors to our north that shoot close to 60-70 deer (mostly fawns and 1 1/2 yr. bucks)a year (only 10-12 people). Either way, I still let deer walk in hopes of them making it to next year--in a way, I'm trying to assure myself a chance at a deer the next year. Does it always work? Obviously not, but, in my opinion, its worth a chance at a bigger deer.
No matter which side of this debate your on--your right. The guys that let the bucks pass--good for you! I wish you owned some land around us! For the guys that shoot the first legal deer that walks by--I know how you feel--kinda! I don't get my satisfaction from shooting a deer every year...or one every 2 or 3 years! I enjoy seeing deer and watching them in their natural habitat without any idea that I'm there. Truly an awesome feeling. If I see a deer that I'll be proud of...I'll shoot it. A couple years ago, I shot a spike buck (my first buck) and I couldn't have been happier. Now that I have a buck under my belt, I have "raised my standards" you could say, and wouldn't consider shooting something under a 6-pt.
Note: This is all my opinion--not intended to offend, criticize, or berate any persons.
--What would I do if I were in their situation?
For people like atlasman and sylvan, yeah...I can see where their coming from. Where I hunt (which is private land) there is so much pressure that it almost becomes a private land "gauntlet" situation (during rifle season anyways) I'm one of a very few that bow hunts the area, so I do pass on most does and all fawns that I see (didn't see a buck this year...so couldn't tell you what I would have done).
wolfen & buckeyebuckhntr probably have ideal (or close to ideal) situations for managing their deer herds. That's great, really it is! One day I hope to be in a situation like that.
I hunt on a private 80 acre plot of woods that isn't all that ideal. We have neighbors to the west that poach relentlessly, neighbors to the east that tresspass every year (and play stupid every year), and we have neighbors to our north that shoot close to 60-70 deer (mostly fawns and 1 1/2 yr. bucks)a year (only 10-12 people). Either way, I still let deer walk in hopes of them making it to next year--in a way, I'm trying to assure myself a chance at a deer the next year. Does it always work? Obviously not, but, in my opinion, its worth a chance at a bigger deer.
No matter which side of this debate your on--your right. The guys that let the bucks pass--good for you! I wish you owned some land around us! For the guys that shoot the first legal deer that walks by--I know how you feel--kinda! I don't get my satisfaction from shooting a deer every year...or one every 2 or 3 years! I enjoy seeing deer and watching them in their natural habitat without any idea that I'm there. Truly an awesome feeling. If I see a deer that I'll be proud of...I'll shoot it. A couple years ago, I shot a spike buck (my first buck) and I couldn't have been happier. Now that I have a buck under my belt, I have "raised my standards" you could say, and wouldn't consider shooting something under a 6-pt.
Note: This is all my opinion--not intended to offend, criticize, or berate any persons.