Free: Contests & Raffles.
I'm not telling anyone what to do. Me personally would choose the meat. If I was after horns I would cull out an old buck past his breeding prime. I've pasted on big bucks in breeding prime with their harem of doe's,just couldn't pull the trigger.
I am not a trophy hunter. But you won't hear me bash on someone for doing it.I am against shooting an animal just for fun or just to put a rack over the fireplace and brag, this is not good for the face of hunting. You kill it you eat it or give to someone that will.I do agree with the money aspect of trophy hunting, I agree the money in principal is important to wildlife management.I hate what the trophy hunter mentality has done to many of our younger hunters. You can read their posts on this web site and they sound utterly ridiculous. No conscience, no appreciation, no heart. Its pretty sickening in fact to listen to ones brag about their conquests and then rail on other hunters for tagging immature 2 or 3 points or does. I can't say I have ever met a meat hunter that was a true jerk. But trophy hunters....well its a different story.
Quote from: singleshot12 on May 15, 2014, 02:23:20 PMI'm not telling anyone what to do. Me personally would choose the meat. If I was after horns I would cull out an old buck past his breeding prime. I've pasted on big bucks in breeding prime with their harem of doe's,just couldn't pull the trigger.Strange logic. I appreciate your point of view but I don't understand it. Genetics are genetics, whether the deer is 2 years old or 6 years old. Genetics don't improve over time. You're basically just out to shoot young, small bucks? That'd officially be a 1st for me.
Had a interesting conversation with a retired game warden (over 30 years in another state) which started based upon the post having to do with APR's. He had some interesting thoughts concerning deer hunting (since the APR post was on deer, that was the emphasis of the conversation). He is very saddened by the new emphasis on trophy hunting and thinks that in the future it will become a real problem for hunters. Not saying I agree with him, but here are some of his thoughts:1) It has created a snob mentality that belittles anyone who would shoot a small buck or, God forbid, an antlerless deer. This has discouraged many young hunters who don't have the skill or a mentor to teach them skills from getting involved involved in the sport. Sure that mentality exist but that sort of elitist mentality isn't exclusive to "trophy" hunters.. it exist amongst bowhunters vs rifle, ML vs rifle, trad vs compound, baiters vs non-baiters, spot and stalk vs stand hunters... sometimes the "attitude" doesn't even come from the side you would expect... for instance a lot of time the problem isn't the "trophy" hunter but it may be the insecurities of a person who hasn't killed a mature animal. I think that is actually the case more often than not... I say this because all "trophy" hunters probably started out killing younger animals... for this reason I don't see most mature individuals actually looking down upon someone for killing a smaller animal.2) The demand for quality (trophy) hunts has led to much property either being set aside by states for limited draw hunts or outright leased by private individuals to increase their odds of getting a trophy grade animal. Many traditional family hunting areas have become off limits and many have given up hunting when they lost their traditional areas. I'm not a fan of limited trophy hunts on public land... but I see no problem with individual private landowners leasing their property..... I can't say the same for large corporations that receive generous corporate welfare from the american taxpayer... in those cases I think there should be fairly open and/or low cost access to the large tracts of lands. 3) Herd management has become very difficult when hunters want the herds managed for trophy animals. With many hunters now only targeting the biggest and best animals many herds are made up of much weaker stock and are subject to higher disease and winter kill rates. This guys logic on this one is like an oxymoron... think about it... if a "trophy hunter" lets a superior specimen pass year after year until he reaches maturity then it will have a lot more opportunity to breed and pass on those genes.... this is good..... if a hunter decides to shoot that deer the first year then he may not get to pass on his genes (despite the fact that he could have been a world record had he lived to maturity) 4) Enforcement in some states has become a nightmare with a checker board of ARP units, special draw units, antlerless permit units, general permit units, and plain closed units. Checking stations have to take the hunters word that an animal was in fact killed in the proper unit and funding for actual field checks has declined during a period when it's needed most. I agree... the rules should be fairly simple...that being said.. I don't see a problem with them "taking" their word for it... most hunters are honest people.5) Trophy hunting has provided anti hunters with more propaganda as they claim hunters are not hunting for meat or proper game management, all we want to do is shoot the animal to take its head and hang it on the wall. It only provides propaganda because there are some who don't support it within our own ranks... The fact is....trophy hunting is great for wildlife conservation and healthy herds.... I also believe that hanging the animal on the wall and cherishing it for a lifetime is a huge bonus (and sign of respect) in addition to putting more meat in the freezer (because their bodies are usually larger too)... If anything "trophy hunting" (assuming meat is utilized) should be considered a highly respected form of hunting.6) Trophy hunting has driven the cost up. States and private individuals have taken note that many hunters are willing to pay much more for the opportunity to take a trophy and have taken prices up to meet the demand. Additionally with hunter numbers dropping yearly, states have increased license costs to offset the volume loss. Again, I'm not saying that I agree with these points, but it is food for thought.More money going towards conservation and wildlife management is good.... I don't know that we need to build our ranks drastically as much as we need to maintain... the most important thing is that we need to ensure the non-hunting public continues to support hunting. I don't have all the facts but I don't think "trophy hunting" is the primary thing leading to hunter decline... I think it's the fact that our culture is changing.. an ever increasing percentage of our population (particularly the younger crowd) is moving to urban areas to find employment. This leads to less people exposed to hunting and the great outdoors.
I have Ryan Hatfield's quote as my sig line for a reason." In today's instant gratification society, more and more pressure revolves around success and the measurement of one's prowess as a hunter by inches on a score chart or field photos produced on social media. Don't fall into the trap. Hunting is-and always will be- about the hunt, the adventure, the views, and time spent with close friends and family. " Ryan Hatfield
I'm a young hunter, meaning that I have only been out hunting for deer for two seasons. I have never killed a buck, or a doe, so my opinion might not pull much weight here. I love being out in the woods, or sage or field. I love getting up early being colder than crap and finding deer in my binoculars that are way out of range and watch them feed towards me, even if they are all does its exciting to trick em, or sneak up on them. Even seeing a spike white tail my heart gets going about 180 bpm and my stomach is doing backflips, my first buck is getting mounted one way or another, and I'm going to eat or share every last bit of him like it was kobe beef! I cant wait for my first deer! I hope this year to get one, if not, then I will have fun camping and being out in the woods like I have the past two years.
To each their own. But I have seen first hand when big money locks up land it takes away hunting for the ave. joe out there who doesn't have the money. I live in 121 and sure would be pissed off if wdfw turned it into a permit only unit. When Washington merged the fish w/wildlife Dept.'s and became WDFW that big money went to the fish side of the Dept. ie: salmon and steelhead.
