lou-lou

Any deer is a trophy with a bow, we get to caught up with antlers size. Remember it's about being out there and the expierence we take home with us, which most of the time is not a deer. It's not a contest of who can put a monster on the wall, it's dosen't mean your better than others, even though it's becoming more and more like this. It's almost like saying who is a better father, one who stays home more with the kids and has little money or the father who is never home but showers his family with expensive gifts. Society in general tells us who or what the perfect father is and our hunting brother and sisters tell us who the ultimate predators are. Is there really a answer to the question, it's up to the person your asking.

datamax

atlasman - I agree with your tirade. And for the exact reasons - each place people hunt is different, and for different reasons, and different challenges. I go to Kansas for big bucks, I like big racked whitetails and I'm spenidng a good chunk of money going, and its part of the agreement I have with the guys out there. Hunt for big bucks only, maximize the experience, have fun for 6 days and try to tag a buck of a lifetime.

But then I also hunt for any legal deer I can in Arkansas, different situations, different reasons for hunting.

1. What is it that makes you feel better about killing a big racked buck?

Well, its horn porn, the need for huge racked bucks on your wall. I have it, everyone has it, its how you deal with it thats the key. I drew a hard to get mule deer tag in Colorado this year. 180" of less and I aint going to be happy with that. i want the expierience of the hunt AND the huge buck. If I don't get the buck ? I got the experience, which is the main thing anyway. But I want the buck too - does that make sense ?

2. Whatis satisfying about shooting a deer that was"grown" into a big racked buck??

Horn porn. Its what makes game farms NOT hunting, and high fenced big ranches less challenging. Guided hunts can be added to that too .......... paying someone to literally do almost all the work so you can shoot the horns.

3. Why is it so hard for people to accept that not everyone isfixated on antlers and only antlersas the measuring stick of a successful season or hunt?

We all have a love of horns. I think thats a universal true with hunters. However, the guys you described are seriously missing almost every part and aspect of the Hunt and only desire the kill and the horns - horn porn. Its NOT a good thing to be like that.



Lets face it. Big bucks are rarely singled out and hunted and killed. I'd hazard to say95% or more of the time its sheer blind luck that a guy shoots a monster buck. 4% of the time its because the guy seriously hunts hard, % I'd say is the guys who KNOW big bucks and hunt them individually.

So building on what you said ............. how can guys feel so good about having complete blind luck fall on them ??

buckeye

Someone in NY or WI passing a young buck don't make a bit of difference for me or anyone else hunting here in Ohio or the rest of the country. Someone in SE Ohio passing the young bucks does not increase the number of big bucks on my farms that I hunteither. Others passing the bucks does not make it easier, you make it sound like if a few guys start passing young bucks that there will be a mature buck behind every tree.

I don't understand how you can say this in one breath and shoot 4-5 month old fawns in the next. Is it really that satisfying to kill 4-5 month old fawns? You see it really isn't fair for meto say that, asyour anglereally isn't fair to us either. Neither actually represents what we do.

Nothing you, I or anyone else says is going to sway the way we feel. I am passionate about the way I do things as are you. Good luck this fall.

silentassassin

Well said buckeye!

atlasman

atlasman

Seems like such a simple philosophy.........yet it escapes so many people.

atlasman

That is pretty weird........I think it is like a defense mechanism for those that are very insecure and afraid of what others will think or say........by throwing out the first insult they figure others will not feel the need to repeat it. Kinda like a fat guy saying he is fat.


I have killed a bunch of deer over the last 17 years.............and I am so thankful that my heart still pounds like a jackhammer when I see deer coming..........no matter what they are. I pray I never reach the point where only a huge racked buck stirs those feelings inside me.

atlasman

I see it every year with my own eyes.........the guy I spoke of earlier and his brother and dad already have bucks in mind for next year that they let go this year because they hadn't "grown" enough. I don't see how passing on a deer one season and then killing him the next makes it any more of an accomplishment. He was dumb enough to get killed for 4 years and is only alive because you let him pass...........yet when he gets whacked at 5 1/2 he is heralded as a crafty, elusive, almost mythical beast...........no.......he is the same deer you could have whacked 10 times over the last 4 years and just let him walk because his rack was too small.

rybohunter

Your problem atlas is that for as much complaining as you do about others "forcing" thier views, you cannot see any views other than your own as well. You'll argue just as much with guys who have realized its not a big deal to them to shoot a small buck anymore the same as you would with hardcore "everything must be 5 1/2 years before we think about shooting it" guys. YOU have no middle ground.
The vast majority of guys I see are middle of the road. They hold out for nicer bucks, wish others would too, but aren't going to lynch anyone for squeezing the trigger. If they so much as suggest it to others to follow suit, they are the devil incarnate forcing thier views on people.
Jimbohunter's comments are not weird at all. When I came to the relaization that I would shoot a buck every year, without much effort, and not be too proud of how big it was, I stopped doing so. If abuck doesn't make you proud, you shouldn't shoot it.

And just as you pray that your heart pounding excitement never stops when you see any deer coming, I am thankful that mine has......and neither one of us are right or wrong.

atlasman

Interesting take..........considering I have already said the following in this very thread.


and


I didn't view the way these guys were behaving as "suggesting" anything.

I didn't mean his comment was weird.........I menat it is weird that someone would shoot something and then stand there and degrade their own harvest.

Are you proud of the does you shoot??

Why are you "thankful" that you are no longer excited when you see deer?