What happened to deer hunting?

[diamond10x]

People that have big hunting social media accounts are obviously the problem.

Yep, that’s exactly it You might know a few haha

Absolutely ridiculous how so many people are too worried about what others do. It’s hunting last time I checked there’s no handbook on how it has to be done or you ruin it for everyone else.

[SwampBuck]

I had a client bring his two sons to the ranch this year for a cull hunt. Both had never harvested a buck. I sat with one and the first morning we saw a little 7 point. I would have loved to kill it as my first deer. No he let it walk. We killed a bigger one that evening. Bother and dad pass a
Nice 8 point 15 inch inside spread because dad had seen a bigger one on the pictures. Kid was mad at his dad and did not get another opportunity. The dad had a chance to share a memory but through it away because he wanted a bigger deer.


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Wow. I would have loved a 15” 8 point as my first buck.

Speaking of kids and hunting, there are some very lucky young hunters these days. Shooting deer that many guys would only dream of even seeing at a very young age, sometimes as a first deer. A lot of times you hear or see people commenting that the kid is “ruined” after such a deer, not sure if there’s any truth to that or not, not my place to say.

[billfromtx]

Lease prices have priced normal working fellas out of the game. Sad deal.

[MisterB]

One of my best hunts was when I shot an old grey faced sentinel doe that always came in down wind and snorted and ran all the other deer off. I drew on her four times before she gave me a good shot. I’ll swear I think she heard me swallow, Hardest hunting challenge I ever ever had.

[MBV77]

I’m a part of both sides of this topic. I prefer to shoot deer that are older than most. I pass on lots of deer even with my low fences but I’m also not butt hurt about the possibility of someone else shooting one of them.

On the flip side, I took three hunters out last week and had them have the time of their lives chasing some of my younger management bucks, does and culls. I had an absolute blast right along with them. One of the guys sent a picture to his best friend who is an avid hunter and the first thing that dude responded with was “nice but he’s only 4”.

I was sort of peeved about it since this was a brand new hunter and his buddy’s comment clearly made him feel like maybe he shouldn’t have killed that buck. I just told him not to worry about comments like that and that his buck was perfect. Still, his buddy came back and asked what he would have to pay to shoot a 130-140” buck with me. SMH.


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Yeah, it’s not your average hunter worrying about what the guys that are after inches are doing, it’s the guys after inches worrying about what the average hunter is doing. I’ve heard so many comments from people like the guy you mentioned that just demoralize a guy that shot a buck that he was proud of. I don’t give a **** if you kill a 115” 3 year old or a 220” 7 year old. You do you and just be happy for the guy that shoots something he’s happy with.


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[Texas Grown]

Back when we had signatures, my signature used to have:


"The true trophies are not the size of the critter killed, but the memories created in acquiring it." - Texas Grown


Those memories will be with you for as long as you can remember. But what if you got to the point in life, you didn't know where that critter on the wall came from. We'd all like to think that will never happen. But it happens to folk every day. But those same folk still have memories of fun times they had with family and others early in life. Just like your first deer. That was a trophy, wasn't it? Buck or doe, I bet you remember almost every bit of it.

[sotx]

My thing is, if it turns your crank do it, but don't judge another man's crank. We all hunting, we all do it different. Don't judge a man for legally hunting the way he wants. To each his own.


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[Burntorange Bowhunter]

I tried to catch up on the thread but failed.

So are we allowed to let deer age before killing them or no?

Kill all the babies because you "can't eat the antlers" ahuyk ahuyk.

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[MadHatter]

I’ll never degrade or berate another hunter/fisherman/outdoorsman. There are enough “anti’s” to do that. This is a brotherhood and you **** sure better have your brothers back cause there’s a chit load of morons out there trying to stop what we love.

100%, but there are a chit load of morons out there, doing what we love, giving us a bad reputation, ie..not helping the cause.
Trophy hunting has been turned into glorified slaughter, and money is only the requirement in order to put *** amount of inches on the wall.
Everyone who hunts is not a net positive unfortunately.

Yep, that’s exactly it You might know a few haha

Absolutely ridiculous how so many people are too worried about what others do. It’s hunting last time I checked there’s no handbook on how it has to be done or you ruin it for everyone else.

How would you define hunting and what is or isn't a hunter?
Should hunting require any skill other than being able to shoot straight?
The perception of society is changing as a whole imo, and we aren't at least partly to blame.
Nobody's perfect for sure, but I think it's getting pretty silly.

Yeah, it’s not your average hunter worrying about what the guys that are after inches are doing, it’s the guys after inches worrying about what the average hunter is doing. I’ve heard so many comments from people like the guy you mentioned that just demoralize a guy that shot a buck that he was proud of. I don’t give a **** if you kill a 115” 3 year old or a 220” 7 year old. You do you and just be happy for the guy that shoots something he’s happy with.


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Nothing wrong with being happy, don't portray it as something it's not.
It burns holes in my eardrums listening to it, and it's just about every other person you run into nowadays it seems like.
When you discuss hunting nowadays it's about feeders, camera, best cell service plan, corn prices, ad nauseum.
The focus isn't driven towards understanding the animals, the outdoors, the environment, etc..the majority of the focus is on the cheats & shortcuts.
I don't know, maybe I'm just sentimental and don't adjust well

[doghouse]

I think raising big antlers has gone way over board. My Grandkids kill older mature bucks regardless of the antlers. That's just us.

[RUNNING BEAR]

I tried to catch up on the thread but failed.

So are we allowed to let deer age before killing them or no?

Kill all the babies because you "can't eat the antlers" ahuyk ahuyk.

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All over the map. Do what you want as long as it’s for the right reason. But it’s gotta be the right reason defined by me, or someone else. And if you’re not making memories made out of golden rainbows your doing it wrong. And don’t post on social media, but all the Bone Collector stuff is super cool, but influencers are bad, unless people are listening to what is said in this thread. And I think all mounts are just trash hanging on the wall once you die unless your grandpa shot it then it’s ok.

I’m on like my seventh bag of popcorn on this one.

[waterspiderpd27]

I tried to catch up on the thread but failed.

So are we allowed to let deer age before killing them or no?

Kill all the babies because you "can't eat the antlers" ahuyk ahuyk.

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I dry age em about ten to fourteen days after I kill em. Does that count?

[muddyfuzzy]

I usually keep my opinion on what’s a trophy deer to my self. Im sought out by people all over to mount their trophy and I never judge one way or the other. The trend is getting bigger and bigger. More often than not it’s about the inches not memories. I get it but it’s a sad trend in my opinion. My best memories were made of family and friends getting together, spending time and creating memories. Don’t get lost in inches, get lost in the experience.

It’s all the people moving here from California.


[emoji1662]

[Anvilheadtexas]

Kinda proud of TBH… 4 pages of opinions on trophy deer hunting and no one has melted down yet. Or maybe I missed something?

[meltingfeather]

Things always change and people always grumble about it.