Question On Your Hunting Goals/ Standards

[Dmanmastertracker]

 While having a discussion up in the "Polls" on if people need to exercise the "ignore" option, I remembered why I had ignored a couple people to begin with, so for the sake of not using my ignore list any more I ask this question;

-Do you hunt for the horns, or to take meat home? Does every buck/ doe have the same value to you? I am betting there will be some responses that will say "both", but if you dig deep enough, there is only one or the other that makes you decide to take that shot. For me, I get just as excited over a two point as my biggest buck and it seems disrespectful to me for people to look down there noses on "trophy" sites, or post's at other's harvest's, period. Have respect for the animal and for other hunter's who earned a meal the hard way . I go into the field with one objective each year, to fill my freezer with venison for my family, that is not to say I don't pass on deer, I've never shot a spike and I hunt spike legal areas every year, passed on dozen's, but I will not and have not ever been disrespectful about anyone else's kill, unless they made an unethical shot, hunted illegally, etc... 

[littlebuf]

if you can read this Dman  , i believe any animal worked for is a trophy. i hunt because i love to hunt i love the hard work and the pay off. my goal is to take the highest quality animal i can both for meat and trophy. so ya i guess both, ive never taken a spike but this is going to be my daughter's first year hunting and if she can get a spike it would be the best deer ive ever been a part of

[Dmanmastertracker]

 I would say also, that if your a person who holds out for a bigger buck and prefers to eat hamburger, etc.. instead in dry years, that is OK with me, I'm not against that kind of hunting methodology.

[Dmanmastertracker]

if you can read this Dman  , i believe any animal worked for is a trophy. i hunt because i love to hunt i love the hard work and the pay off. my goal is to take the highest quality animal i can both for meat and trophy. so ya i guess both, ive never taken a spike but this is going to be my daughter's first year hunting and if she can get a spike it would be the best deer ive ever been a part of

 That's cool, hope she can bag one. My wife's a newbie to hunting too, though she had an opportunity this year and just wasn't quite ready, maybe next year.

[7mag.]

I used to be a meat hunter for years, until I realized that I can't make my wife eat it. I don't let meat go to waste, but I am more selective on what I shoot. I am respectful of all animals, I don't ever kill just to kill(with the exception of possibly coyotes or wolves, but I have never killed either). The killing part is full of mixed emotions for me because no matter how many animals I take, it is still sad and exciting at the same time. For me a trophy is personal. I still get buck fever no matter the size or sex of an animal I am preparing to shoot.  My worst case of buck fever was on my first blacktail, a spike, and it was my fourth or fifth deer. It was the first time that I had missed a shot at an animal, luckily it was a dumb spike and he gave me a second chance. When the time comes that I no longer get that feeling, that is when I will stop hunting.

[Dmanmastertracker]

 Well said, I can 2nd that, though I've found that if I get all venison burger, I can "hide" it in chili and spaghetti and the wife is OK with it .

[billythekidrock]

I buy the full big game package every year.
 If I hunt elk I expect one every third year and I don't know if I will live long enough to see a cougar during season.
I also expect to kill two black bears and at least a 3pt blacktail every year.
Last year I lowered my standards to a good forkhorn buck, but it never happend.

I feel any animal could be a trophy depending on the hunt, but I also feel that shooting a spike vs a mature buck is like digging a limit of young razors vs a limit of mossbacks. There is no comparison...one meat pile is much larger.

[heavy hauler]

i am a trophy hunter.  that doesnt mean i am disrespectfull of a meat hunter.  i know people who shoot the first legal deer they see.when they shoot a tiny spike for meat  i think its great  , but imagine  what if they held out for a fat 2 point or even bigger.  i know a big 2 point can have twice as much meat as a yearling tic-tack spike.  whatever makes you happy

[huntnphool]

I hunt for the the love of the outdoors and everything associated with it, I am past the point of meat hunting and will only shoot if I feel its a "trophy" and I understand trophy is a matter of opinion. I get as much enjoyment out of shooting bucks and bulls with my Canon as with a weapon these days and get the most excited when I am with friends or family that tag their animal. I am looking forward to years of hunting with my kids and helping friends out as well, I don't care if I put a tag on an animal anymore, unless, of course, I draw that sheep tag

[jackelope]

i hunt to be outdoors with friends and family. if i kill a deer, fantastic. i have reached the point where i don't kill the first legal buck i see anymore. i also will choose what animal i will concentrate on every year. what i mean is, for example i drew multi deer this year. i will buy an elk tag so i can get the point in the draws, but i will put in for point only. i don't have enough people around me to eat multiple animals worth of venison every year.
i say a few words of thanks to the deer when i kill one out of respect to him and i will never flip anyone any *censored* for killing a little deer or doe or anything. if thats what floats their boat and they are happy, then so be it. to each his own as long as it is ethical and legal.

[hogsniper]

A trophy is in the eye of the beholder!!! My girlfriend shot a spike last year and jumped up and down and was absolutely ecstatic. It was a true trophy in her book. And still is..With that said its all in the experience and all this stuff about being 2 point or better only is crap to me. If you dont agree with shooting a spike then dont. Leave it for the next kid or person that would be proud to harvest that animal..My dad and I harvested 2 young 3 point muleys last year and hunting together and also both of us being successful was an absolute blast. It wasnt about shooting that wallhanger but spending time with my old man..Harvesting those bucks together will be remembered for the rest of my days..My     ....Have a good night all

[BLKBEARKLR]

Hunting for me for a long time was for the meat, opening day if it was legal it was down. I know am selective of what I shoot, I feel any animal you take it is your trophy, wether today it was a doe with a bow, or a grizz with a rifle, in your mind you decided to take that animal so at that time it was a trophy to you. Now that the wife is hunting with me, I no longer care if I put a tag on anything just being out there with her is worth never pulling the trigger again. And I do know that if I want to pull the trigger I better do it quick because with her 300WinMag at 300 yards and closer it's going down.....

[Michelle_Nelson]

I hunt to be in the outdoors.  I hunt to be with friends.  I am not really a trophy hunter.  Not since I started doing taxidermy.  Guess I see big animals all day and it doesn't excite me as much.  

It really depends on how much time I have to be out hunting.  I hunt for the meat.  I never know when the animals are going to start pouring in the shop and I am finnished for the rest or Deer, Elk, or Bear season.  So I usually take what I can get.

I kinda have it set up like this.  The first animal I kill (Deer or Bear) will be freezer meat the next one the same year will have to be better than average no question about it befor I shoot it.  If I kill an elk and want to keep hunting than I will be hunting for a Trophy Deer or Bear.

[Alan K]

I hunt for the experience. 

That said, I don't have a problem passing up deer until the last week or weekend.  Being a bow hunter for the last 5 years now, I pass countless does, and will eat my tag if it means not taking a doe.  I try to hold out for 2 pt.+, but going to school 350 miles from my blacktail turf I have a hard time passing up smaller bucks if I happen on them and they're within range.

Elk on the other hand. . . During rifle season the first legal bull is down.  Last year was my first year chasing them with my bow, and I was saying I was going to hold out for a bull in the early season and go ahead and take a cow if the opportunity presented itself in the late season.  The first evening of early archery I had two cows and two spikes feeding right towards me, wind perfect, and I got the shakes like I've never had them before. There was no way I was going to be able to pass on one of the cows. I was even worried that when the time came I might not be able to hold still enough for a shot! Unfortunately some moron in the reprod 100ish yards above 'em squeezed a hoochie mama (I hate those fking things) like 4 times in 4 seconds when they were about 125 yards away from me.  They threw their heads up, looked for about 2 seconds, turned and bolted.  I was  .  Good times though. . .

Late season I got my first shot at a cow and shot right in front of her . . .    I'm feelin' it for next year.  Was in them all day everyday, it's just 10x harder to close the deal with a bow.

[Redmist]

There are hunters and killers.  I think we have a little of both in us but most likely begin as killers.  Some men have taken alot of lives...hundreds...thousands.  The first time he let a small buck walk was a bigger step than today when he watches a big buck feed until out of sight.  He feels secure about himself as he walks out of the wilderness alone at night because he knows the difference between want, need, and capability.  He is watched sometimes from the darkness by much more capable killers than himself, but is left to walk through the darkness because he is not what the most skillfull killer was hunting.  Each resisted a desire, one a want, the other a need.  Both recognized their own capability.  

[Aneoakleaf]

I love to hunt because being outside makes me feel free. I can wonder around for days not talking to anyone. If I can fool an animal by getting close enough for an arrow to harvest them then I feel I have accomplished my goal. Learning a new ridge of a tract of timber is how I measure success. What ever I shoot will be considered a trophy and I will thank the animal for accepting my sharp arrow and thank God for the harvest. You can't put a price on the pure meat that I can trust to feed my family.I need to hunt or my spirit will die. I am an explorer, adventurous,hunter, The harvest is empowering to me. Fufilling the quest Hard earned.

[Little Dave]

I don't care for the sanitized, happy-ending, sit on the sofa society that is being sold to my kids.  Perhaps unlike many here, I did not begin hunting until last year.  This is for me, this is for my three sons.  It is a way to play an active and meaningful role in the real world.

Real proud of my son, this was his first 10 from 16 yards.

[ICEMAN]

My personal hunting goal is not really for me anymore. With two kids, and both of them hunting together this year, my goal is to provide them enough great opportunity for them to hopefully learn to love the sport as much as I have. I just want to be there to support them, to watch them learn from the experience. Standards?... I have been a meat hunter forever. We never really cared much about how an animal scored....even after visiting this site. I had a shed antler scored this year just to see how it scored, so I could mentally compare it against the racks in my attic.

My goal is to pass along a hunting heritage to my kids.

[Dmanmastertracker]

 Really good post's/ comment's, I guess my day's on MM have made me a little pessimistic some times. I recently read an article in "Hunting Illustrated", authored by a hunter of over 40 years who recalled the "good old days", when a big buck was measured by body size, not antler's, I guess I learned from my grandfather that was their standard for a good deer in the 40's and 50's, people rarely got excited about antler's because if they were attached to a small deer, their meat for the year was insufficient. I do agree with the comment as to there being "killers", as opposed to hunters, hunting is an instinct to put food on the table, period, to me someone who's goal is the highest body count of the year has lost sight of what it is about.

[ThePascoKid]

I am in it for the hunt, but I'd be lying if I said I don't like antlers, I'm obsessed with any size of horn, I can sit and watch a 2 pt all day.  I am not a trophy hunter and usually try and harvest the first legal buck I see, but the older I get and the more average 3 and 4 pointers I have hanging around my garage I am starting to pass on the dinks.  I take care of the meat and eat or give away all of it to make sure it gets used, but the meat is secondary for me to the hunt and the feeling you get when you finely get ready to take a shot.  Nothing like that adrenaline rush, if it ever goes away I'll probably start packing a camera, but I doubt it.  The 2 little boys hanging around my house are going to bring a whole new element to it also.

[superdown]

  I like most of you guy's and a gal's I am in it for the hunt and meat . I would still hunt deer if they did not have Antlers they don't matter very much to me altho i can't help but get excited when i see a big buck . I was taught growing up that if it did not endanger your person or your property and you did not plan on eating it then it was senseless killing.

[Pathfinder101]

My standards vary from year to year.  I do that because I scout as much as I can (which admitedly is not nearly enough), and I have a pretty good idea before the season starts what is available in the area I am going to hunt.  Like most of us, I would love to kill a buck with a huge rack, but I really do count on the meat quite a bit.  I buy very little beef, mostly because I prefer the taste of wild game, and it is healthier (fat-wise). 
If I have been scouting and know that it is going to be a lean year (like 2006 was down here), I will take the first legal buck I have a shot at.  If I am seeing lots of bucks, I will try to hold out for something more respectable.
Agree with Iceman though; last year my 9 year old passed hunter's safety and the whole game changed.  Now I will be content to eat tag soup if I can get him a buck.  The one he killed this year, we had already scoped out (along with a few others) well prior to opening day.

[rasbo]

Im a meat hunter.But Getting close is my rush,Thats why I like calling.I set in tight areas, so it is very tight when they come in.elk is different I like being at camp and telling stories I still hunt close but the fellowship with family and friends is awesome.I mostly hunt alone and away from people.I always know where my partners are and them me.to hear a bear breathing before ya can see him,then there it is feet away...its all about the rush

[huntnphool]

I posted this a while ago Little Dave and I'm with you 100%. Check this out, very interesting read.

http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,2870.0.html

[Stevo539]

I am a trophy hunter because I'm lucky enough to have an uncle with a ranch in the midwest, smack dab in the middle of prime whitetail country.  The anual trip back is as much to spend time with my uncle, aunt and cousins as it is to hunt (deer, birds, coyotes).  Hunting is and excuse to enjoy time with freinds and be outdoors.  If it was purely for the meat, and I figured the cost of all my shooting gear (I'm obsessed), licenses, trip costs etc, I would be better off, cost wise, to just go buy a side of beef.  Deer hunting near my uncle's place is a sure thing.  It's not if you'll get a buck, but how big a one can you hold out for.  It takes an awful lot of discipline to pass on a nice one to hold out for a really nice one.  There are usually bonus antlerless tags the Game and Parks Dept. give out with each buck tag.  That sometimes means a doe goes down later in the season so I'm guaranteed some meat while I can be selective for a trophy.  I eat a LOT of wild game.  Salmon from trips with Hawkenbob.  Bottom fish, trout, pheasant, quail, and lots of venison (plus cornfed beef from my uncles ranch).  My wife loves it, especially the seafood.  We probably average wild game at least three nights a week.  Nice to know your meat isn't full of steroids and hormones.  Last week we had venison polish sausages for lunch a couple days, roasted pheasant, then "pheasant pot pies" with leftover pheasant and salmon.  When I used to hunt in Washington, I'd shoot the first leagle buck I saw and be glad to get it.  Any leagl buck was a trophy.  I've shot mule deer but only small ones.  I'd love to have a butiful big 4x4 muley on the wall next to my whitetail trophies.  As long as it doesn't go to waste, I don't really mind what a person's motivations are.  To each his own, just respect the animal.
Good hunting!
Steve

[skipper]

i'm going to take my wife and daughter this year and try to get my wife to get a deer

[Intruder]

Horns & Meat are both legitimate goals.  While I have certainly passed on animals and eaten tag soup... I don't consider horns the only criteria.  For me it is more aboutthe how, the challenge, the ethics, and in some cases the legacy of the sport itself.  I want to hunt animals a certain way.  I want to shoot pheasants over my dog not out the ditch next the the road.  I want to call in a mature bull and shoot him at close range.  I want to call in mature toms not ambush em going from roost to feeding.  You get the point.  As I get older it's about helping others experience it too.... kids even adults.  Some of the most fun I've ever had turkey hunting is calling in birds for other people.    

[Sneaky]

To me, any deer that was taken while abiding by the rules is a trophy. People have bragged to me about bucks they took out the window or on private ground they didn't have permission on etc. Fact is, anyone can drive around in the twisp valley or up in curlew and bonk a nice one out of season or on someone elses property. Even if it's "just a doe", if you followed the rules everyone else has to, its a trophy to me.

[muzzleman]

For me I am a meat hunter, sure I want a big fatty.  I have a rule I live by, weather its business, personal, or hunting or where ever it may apply.  A BIRD IN THE HAND IS BETTER THAN 2 IN THE BUSH.  And this theory has served me very well in life.  It never allows me to get too greedy.  This rule has allowed me to get my share of bucks and does.  I enjoy eating a buck just as much as I enjoy eating a doe.  I still have never been fortunate enough to get an elk, but this rule will apply when that time is right for me.  I have enjoyed reading everyones thoughts on meat or trophy, and in everyones eyes they are right as long as they hunt ethically.   

[MAGhunter]

Everything about hunting is awesome.  If I shoot a trophy, that means that I have one hell of a story to talk about for a long time.  I love the meat, but I will probably never see the day where my wife or my daughter will eat it.  Hopefully one day when my son gets old enough to hunt, he will love it all like I do.  But what ever it is, I enjoy it all, whether I kill or don't

[Huntbear]

I hunt for the serenity it brings me.  For the relationships I have forged with family and friends.  I hunt because of the tradition handed down by my dad, before he passed away.  For the thrill of a buck busting me in the brush and I hear him run off, with only a quick glimpse of his horns, but no shot.

I have shot does, spikes and I have shot some nice racks as well.  Does it matter?  As I have grown older, yes.  I am more selective and will only shoot branch antlered.  Mainly due to my growth as a sportsman and a steward of the wildlife, so that the younger generation in my family can carry on that tradition that my dad passed down to me.

However, last weekend of the season, those little forkies better be careful, cause I also love to eat venison!!!!

[MAGhunter]

There is no better feeling than that opening day morning of the hunt, the expection, the rush and when you spot that first animal, or when you get to see someone in your family shoot there first buck.  Those are things that a person will never forget!!

[robb92]

When I go hunting it is for meat for my family. Every deer I have ever harvested has been a trophy in my eyes. I also enjoy having by daughter out with me hutning, she loves to listen to the birds and see the wildlife. She know and understands why hunting is an important part of our heritge and way of life. I know she will carry the hunting tradition on with her kids someday.

[mhadix]

as the old saying goes........i can't eat horns. now that i am older i understand what that means. but at the same time i will not take a spike, let the little guy grow up. the first mature buck i see i shoot. i hunt for the sport, when i don't take a deer i am just as happy to have been hunting as if i had got one.

[Bigshooter]

The first ten years of my big game hunting it was all about killing.  I was blood thirsty.  I didn't care how big or small it was, I just wanted to kill it.  Someone said that we or he was never a killer, and that he only hunted for meat.  I think most of us started out with bb guns killing every bird that we could find, I only ate one of those birds that I killed with a bb gun.  Hunting birds with my bb gun was all about killing for me.  Now I am more of a selective hunter.  I don't want to kill anything until the last day of the season, unless it is big.  The reason being is that I love to hunt, and I want to hunt the entire season.  The more time I spend in the woods the more I enjoy life.

[redjeepgirl]

I hunt mostly for the meat/bone. I don't get nearly enough time in the field to be overly fussy, but I won't kill small bucks. Part of it is an good excuse to get outdoors, hike around and enjoy the challenge, so really, there is so such thing as a bad hunt in my book.

[h2ofowlr]

Until I moved up to the NW corner of the state the Battle Ground unit of SW Washington offered either sex hunts.  I typically shot what ever deer I ran across when out duck hunting.  I mainly hunted for the table fare, so does, spikes and plenty of 2-points.  I try to not spend to much time in the field hunting deer as it takes away from my 90 day waterfowl season.   

[Pathfinder101]

Wow, that's some hardcore waterfowlin'

[DOUBLELUNG]

I hunt because it is what I am - a hunter.  it would be unnatural for me to not hunt, it would be denying a big part of myself.  I want meat, and I want "trophies", but both are less important than hunting itself.  I hunt to have hunted.  Some of you will understand.

I put trophies in quotes because horns, antlers, hides and mounts are more momentoes - visual cues to bring good hunts back to the front of my mind.  Telling stories and letting other people see them are fine, sometimes fun, but not the reason I have/keep them.

Non-hunters ask why I don't just photograph animals if I don't need the meat.  I don't tell them it is in order to have hunted; they can't understand.  Instead, I tell them birdwatching/photography is to hunting, what watching a ballgame is to playing in it.  In one you are an outsider observing, in the other a participant.  Both are good, but the one can't substitute for the other.

[Pathfinder101]

When I was a teenager I read an article in either Outdoor Life or Field and Stream entitled "Why We Hunt".  I can't remember who wrote it, but I will never forget a certain quote that has stuck in my mind all these years.  I think it sums it up.

"To hunt is not to kill, but to kill is to have hunted."

[buckhorn2]

I think I started out like a lot of other hunters do by shooting it when I saw it. Now the trip the friends the planning all seem to be almost more important than the shooting. Instead of the first one to the stump now I have the camera or spotting scope but I still love the hunt. I still get my deer and elk but it is different than before and the  watching family or friends shooting is the most fun. There will come a time for most that you have a shot but for some reason hesitate and don;t take it maybe it;s old age respect or something but it happens. For me it was a cougar. It was 30 feet up a tree dogs under the tree me with a permit and all of a sudden I did;nt want to. It was absolutley beautiful a 160 pound male it;s eyes were green it;s nose orange its teeth white it was something to remember for a lifetime. The elk and deer meat are special bt the memory;s for me are what it;s all about.

[Alan K]

I always laugh when I hear the ol' "You can't eat the horns!" line. . .

Bigger bucks have bigger bodies!  You get the best of both worlds by killing a bigger buck! Sure it's tougher etc. but you see my point.