Question On Your Hunting Goals/ Standards

[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