IAhuntr

If you can find and harvest a 5 1/2 year old, truly mature buck at any stage of the rut, or any stage of the seaon for that matter, then you have indeed accomplished something imho.

kickin_buck

I just have to say that I find it funny that some on here think that a buck is at his weakest during the rut. Sure, they might be on their feet more during day light, but never at their weakest. In fact, I find it much harder to hunt mature bucks during the rut. I have been bow hunting for 25 years and can count on one hand the number of mature bucks I have taken during the rut. During the rut you have not a clue where he is going to be. He might be on your ground, or 5 miles away. If you have access to the ground (bedding, feeding, & travel routes) and have the time to scout a ton during the off-season, your chances are much higher of connecting when he is on a routine. In fact, I don't think one is eaiser or harder than the other, just very different and require different approaches.

HuntingBry

Will, I think I see what you are driving at and I guess it would be subjective to each person and how they are hunting. What I'm getting is you are asking if X tips the scales further in your favor and Y is the most challenging method of hunting as a trophy hunter are you willing to forego X and only hunt Y to maximize your challenge?

Short answer for me, no. I have enough trouble using X and avoiding Y and still making a kill.

jackflap

In a general sense such as how you phrased the question, the answer is yes and I do (as most folks on this sight) by using a compound bow during the general season in which all weapons (rifle,muzzle, archery) are allowed. There are other folks that go even further and use a recurve/longbow by choice when they could be carrying a rifle instead.

Your question and his are entirely different and not just two examples of the same thing.

IAhuntr

Good points^^ Plus factoring the option ofusing bait where legal, food plots, decoys, trail cams, calls, urines, release vs. fingers, scentlock vs. none, let off % of bow....the list of choices to aid in taking a mature deeris endless. Where to draw the line is a personal preference.
Even using all the tricks in the book, bagging a mature buck seems to take many man-hours of dedication, lots of money, a little bit of luck, or a combination of all.

BigJ71

Well, I believe they are both examples of the same thing. In one instance you are using a different weapon to challenge yourself more, the other your hunting a different time to challenge yourself more.

How are they different? both will put more of a challenge on you as a hunter no?

BTW I don't necessarily agree nor disagree with either situation being more difficult, I'm just trying to see where Will is coming from and I think I do.

BigJ71

I agree completely, there are a many many factors that make up a hunt as to it's difficulty level. I was just breaking it down for the sake of conversationwith an"all things being the same" type of scenario if you will....something to chew on.

BigJ71

You and me both brother....you and me both!

BigJ71

That's exactly what's he's asking (I think).....it sort of got muddied up with whether or not trophy bucks are easier to kill during the rut or not. That really wasn't entirely the point though it was the example he used. I like the exampleyou just spelled out and it goes back to my "all things being equal" scenario with the exception of X and Y of course.

Of course you know what bag of worms this will open don't you?? I can see it now. That gun hunter's trophies are not as much of a trophy as this bow hunters trophies due to the method used to kill it. Never mind the fact that the gun hunters trophies are every bit as large (antler wise) or even more than the bow hunters......Where does it end?

This is why I don't like that term "Trophy hunter" because the word "Trophy" is so subjective. As far as I'm concerned if you want to hunt only big antlered deer and nothing else then go for it, nothing wrong with that at all but to call it "Trophy Hunting" is taking it too far.

Now before anyone says: "Hey BigJ, their called "Trophies" due to their antler size being in the top (insert % here) of all their species, that's why their called trophies and THATS why I hunt them[:@]." I know....I understand that and the term "Trophy" has become associated and synonymouswith antler size due in no small part to associations such as P&Y and B&C. This is one of the reasons why I'm not a big fan of either and if it weren't for the conservation efforts from both of them they would both be extremelyuseless to me.

Like any sport or pastime there usually is a goal to reach or a pinnacle to crest in order to show the world you have "made it to the top" but hunting is not as cut and dryas some other activitiesand it means different things to different folks.

I think Will is simply getting folks to dissect and think about what trophy hunting really is and what constitutes a trophy as well as by what means you are willing to take to kill your "Trophy"......in his own little way.

iamyourhuckleberry

[quoteI think Will is simply getting folks to dissect and think about what trophy hunting really is and what constitutes a trophy as well as by what means you are willing to take to kill your "Trophy"......in his own little way.
][/quote]

Bingo.