TROPHY HUNTER or DEER SLAYER ?

When I was younger I shot to fill the freezer, but I found that the older I got the less I cared about the kill and more about the hunting experience as a whole.

Now, I look for that trophy buck and even then I will put friends/family in "hot" stands before I myself will take them. I enjoy putting the smiles on their faces after they get a kill more than bagging one myself.
 
i am usually selective til the last few days. then its "women and children first" I like antlers, but not as much as a nice tender steak.
 
I don't have much interest in killing any animal now that I'm older. When I was younger, I had a big family to feed and the venison was a welcome addition to the meager supplies in our freezer. I hunted for meat first. Antlers were an afterthought.

These days, I'm all about handgun self defense training and target shooting. Since I'm not as physically imposing as I once was, my skill with my handgun/shotgun is more critical now than it used to be.
 
I fill the tags the State of Wyoming allows me to draw and or pay for over the counter. Untill the freezer is full.

I would like a nice antelope rack and I have a tag for a buck
 
Bucks/Bulls harvested during my liftime: 0.

Does in the freezer: many. ;)


I do want a few "nice racks" on the wall, but I enjoy hunting and eating. Does/Cows are sometimes a more difficult quarry than a Buck/Bull. It makes things that much more interesting (or difficult...).

I miss Florida. The last year I was there, I could have taken something like 134 deer. Man, that would have been a lot of work...
 
I'm going to hold out as long as possible because my kids will probably fill the freezer, giving me reign to wait for a big one.;)
 
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I hunt for food first. Once 6 average deer in the freezer, than i may go for bucks it all depends on how i feel that day. Where i hunt in Maryland if you use a bow, muzzle-loader and rifle/shotgun you can take 36 deer (30 doe, 6 buck) but in each weapon season you must take at least 2 doe before you can take your next buck with a limit of 2 buck and 10 doe per weapon season.
 
Early bow and shotgun season is when I usually hunt doe and fill the freezer.

Here in Ohio, our 1st deer rut falls during bow season, peaking somewhere around the 2nd week of Nov.
Our late muzzle loader season comes in usually 1st or 2nd week of Jan.

These are the times I really try to bag my trophy which I've usually picked out during late summer scouting.
FWIW, I've hunted the same 'trophy' for the last three years and won't settle for anything less than him. Got a lot of enjoyable hours invested in him. Saw him here in the backyard about 2 in the morning, under the apple tree's about three wks ago:rolleyes: He's a real monster:D

Many times if our bow rut is a so-so rut and it peaks at the right Nov. dates, there will be many does left un-bred during muzzleloader season. The 'big boys' will be on the prowl.
 
My hope is always to shoot a very large buck first. The meat is secondary. My family usually has 2 or 3 deer shot each year but utilize only one. We keep the best meat for ourselves and give away the rest. The families who receive our excess meat are very grateful.
 
Meat hunter pure and simple, head decorations mean nothing to me and I would rather chew on a doe after the roast comes out of the crock pot.
 
Yeah, but 134 Florida deer equal about 30 decent size whitetails. I look for does that go around 140 and bucks that will push 180. I only get 6 so poundage makes a difference. Prefer does. They eat better.
 
mmm mmmm, dang it guys!!! you got me ta thinking reading this dang thread.... Chicken fried back strap, mash tatters, cream gravy, creamed kern!!!! MMM MMM MMMM!!!! Need I say anymore! :D
 
Got the trophy of a lifetime

the first time I ever went (175 gross, 156 net B&C), 5 1/2 years old, 17 points, great mass!!!! (A basic 10 point with extra points due to palmated G-2's, and extra points due to an injury while in the velvet).

So, I shoot big does until a 180+ B&C shows up.

First doe of the season goes in my freezer, any after that goes to Hunters For The Hungry. Limit 5.
 
HighExpert said:
Yeah, but 134 Florida deer equal about 30 decent size whitetails. I look for does that go around 140 and bucks that will push 180. I only get 6 so poundage makes a difference. Prefer does. They eat better.
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I live in Utah. We have to enter the lottery to have a chance at any deer (one deer unit is still over-the-counter, but it's a zoo -- I won't touch it unless I'm desperate).

We're allowed one male and one female Deer, Elk, and Antelope, each year. You do, however, have to draw those tags separately. The deer tags require a draw for antlered, and a draw for antlerless. The antelope tags are the same. Bull Elk can be bought over-the-counter, but cows must be drawn for. Hunters are lucky if they draw 3 tags (of various species), and entered all of the drawings (and had been applying for several years). Most hunters are more likely to get 2, if they really try hard.

In Florida, there are several species, and sub-species, of deer. Where I was, I was primarily hunting the Florida Coastal Whitetails. However, I was within 25 minutes of land that has some nice 'Bama-style, big white tails (western panhandle in HogDogs' neck of the woods). The hunting license doesn't distinguish between them (or didn't when I was there), except for the protected species (Keys Deer, etc.). Those Coastal Whitetails are dogs. They are tiny little things. The 'Bama deer that come down are good sized, though. I never hunted any of the other sub-species, so I can't comment on their "real" size.

This year, I put 2 doe Antelope in the freezer, and will be going after Bull Elk soon (easier to get, than a cow tag, and another 100+ pounds of meat).
 
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