Why the obsession w/ bucks?

S

Smaug

New member
I guess I don't know whether most hunters are after a trophy or meat. But I thought it was meat.

I hear that does outnumber bucks by a good margin. So what does it matter whether you get a doe or buck? Does would be easier to get out of the woods, the meat would be just as good, the only thing they lack is antlers.

Please forgive my ignorance and don't rip into me, as I have never been deer hunting before. But I would settle for a good photo of me, my gun, and my deer as a trophy.
 
well the trophy rack is sought by many. But to answer your question real easy... Regulations... Does are not legal take during most of the season and in Florida the buck must have at least 4 inch on one side above the head to be legal. so if you are required to take a buck, might as well go big or go home. For me I want the meat. All the antlers I get have gone to dogs for chew toys along with the bones and butcher ends.
Brent
 
hogdogs got it right in my book. Different areas have different regulations.

One place will allow 1 WT buck and 2 WT does and 1 Mule Deer buck. Another will allow 2 WT bucks (with the restriction that only one can be x number of points) and 2 WT does. Another place will allow 2 WT bucks, and 3 WT does. Another will allow 1 WT buck and have a drawing for WT does.

Some of it has to do with what's available. On the first day of the season more hunters will pass on a doe than if they are on the last day of the season and still don't have meat.

I think all deer are trophies and all taste good. That being said, if two deer walked out, one was an 8 point buck and the other a 27 point atypical buck, I'd shoot the 27 pointer.
 
To answer the question, you have to understand deer breeding behavior. One buck can breed as many as 10-15 does during the rut, and are not monogamous. They only get one chance a year to breed for about 3 weeks, so they use every chance they get. Birth rates are approximately 50-50 bucks-does. Most game departments strive for a buck-doe ratio of about 1-15, any more than that actually lowers reproductive success and populations can fall. With birth parity and a goal of 15-1, you've got to get the extra bucks out of the picture. So we focus on bucks until the populations become too high, then we harvest a few does too. They all taste good, does actually taste a bit better than bucks because of their diets.
 
I do both......trophy hunt most of the season and fill tags with a meat deer towards the end of the season.

I find trophy deer more difficult to hunt and far more challenging. The excitement is trying to improve my skills to match or beat the best that the animal has to offer.

Fortunately we are blessed with an over abundance of deer, "meat deer" are as easy to obtain as bar coded meat from the supermarket.
 
Well, it's always nice to have a nice rack to hang up as a reminder of the great time had on a particular hunt. So, it doesn't hurt to have a set of antlers being worn by the meat-bearers.

However, in Utah, all antlerless game must be drawn for. Buck Deer, Spike Elk, and Bull Elk tags (other than limited entry) are sold over the counter. It is much easier to walk into the DWR or a retailer and buy a buck/bull tag, than take your chances in the draw for a doe.

I prefer does/cows. They taste better, are often more tender, and you have the option of a head shot. (Less wasted meat.) So... for me, it's a matter of convenience. Slightly lower quality meat is offset by being able to bring home a permanent reminder of each year's experience.

My family also doesn't hold out for trophy racks. We'll take what ever we view as our best opportunity at filling the tag. One of the biggest-bodied buck muleys ever taken in my family, was a stunted 2 point with only 8" of height, and 3" of width. His microscopic antlers are one of our favorite "trophies".
 
I consider myself a ladies man. In a well populated area, I wan't the superior bucks to compete for their lovin'. Reduce the number of aging does and fawns that were born in triplets (doens't happen often, but I've taken a couple) and selective breeding steps up a little or there is less stress on the momma in the later case. Culling the massive but poor head gear bucks is the next step.

I'll take a doe most everytime when given a choice.
 
Sure I want a trophy, and you are right sometimes a picture is all the trophy I need. Hunting to me is about the hunt not so much what winds up on my wall. I do like my one deer mount I have as well as my bear rug, and I have one European mount of a pronghorn. I've shot far more does than I've ever shot bucks, and when I do hunt for a buck I look for the best one I can take until the end of season approaches then I just look for a legal one.

I really don't care if I fill my tag or not when I go hunting. I don't rely on deer or any other game I hunt to fill my freezer. I do love the meat but my family still ranches so I always have a freezer full of beef. In CO we are not allowed a whole lot of extra tags so usually it is only one animal for me per species when I hunt so why not take a trophy buck when I get the chance.

BTW have to agree doe/cow meat is much better than buck/bull most of the time. If your deer happen to be corn fed like most of the ones I hunt then sex really doesn't matter unless they are in the rut.
 
Smaug,

It's a simple fact that taking a mature buck is a lot harder than taking a Doe for the Freezer. For the point you mentioned, more Does than Bucks, and for various other reasons. Bucks are more secretive/alert than Does (except maybe when they are wild in the Rut).

I've had Does walk up and look at me and just stand there (and they were tasty! :D). Unless a Buck just plain screws up, or you are lucky, it does take a bit more work, patience and skill to take one who's been around the block long enough to grow a respectable set of antlers.

If it were all about filling the freezer, we'd all shoot a Doe.....a lot of times, the hunt is about proving your skills and matching your wits against a better opponent, the "Trophy Buck"

Hope I put it into words correctly. I know how I "feel" about it, but it's hard to put it down in writing to someone who doesn't deer hunt.
 
Great information.

I don't remember the specifics, but near me, I believe they are encouraging us to shoot more does than bucks. It may have something to do with CWD, or I may be totally mistaken.

I don't think my wife would allow antlers or a head mount on the wall, so the only use I'd have for antlers is maybe knife handles or something.

I didn't know that does taste better than bucks either.
 
Can't Eat Antlers

A nice big fat Doe is A trophy in my Book, Antlers are just A little Bonus for the shooter. I'm out for the enjoyment of the hunt and to fill my freezor. I grew up hunting for food(meat) and that is A habit thats hard to break.
 
Game regulations aside, there is a fascination/obsession with big bucks. While much of it is just sound game management, IMHO, a lot of it is machismo. Which I believe is why whitetail hunting is far more popular than wingshooting, small game or wild hog hunting. Nothing irritates me more than the hunting shows where the knucklehead runs up to his fresh kill with a measuring tape. That ain't why I hunt.
 
I don't think my wife would allow antlers or a head mount on the wall,
Click to expand...

Save the antlers and put them on the wall in your shop, or the garage. Nothing like having antlers on the wall to get your kids interested in hunting.
 
The monsters don't get that way accidentally. They're smart, and have learned. You have to be smarter than they are to beat them at their own game.
 
Here in NC last year we had unlimited doe tags all season, and I think they are going to do the same thing this year. This is being done because of just what you are saying. Too many bucks get killed and too many hunters let does walk away. The doe to buck ratio around where I hunt is probably 15 or 20 to 1. A healthy deer population should probably be somewhere around 4 to 1 and most of the places that practice deer management try to get it a little below that.
 
Depends what your priorities are as a hunter.
If your a "meat hunter" does are fine.
If you want to truly test your skills and outsmart your quarry--nothing matches the scouting, tracking, outsmarting of a trophy buck.
Like someone said in a previous post,
they don't get big by accident.

I don't have a problem with either type hunter---for some meat is the main concern for others it's the type of hunt it takes to get the trophy---and sometimes a little luck helps too!!

Dipper
 
does or bucks makes no difference to me. its the meat i want to eat and the hide i want tanned. i see more does than bucks around here anyways. as long as i can shoot either one when hunting i will.

otherwise i will wait. like general firearm season here the first week of december, its bucks only,except with a deer managment permit and you are in the proper zone. other wise bow and arrow season its either sex, muzzleloader you can take either sex too, but you must have a deer management zone permit and only take deer in that zone. and permit shotgun season which could be anywheres from 1 to 25+ days. alot of the deer zones in northern nj have permit shotgun/muzzleloader season that runs the whole month of january into the middle of february.
 
I'm a deer hunter. I'll hold out the first couple of days for a nice buck but if that doesn't happen, I'll take a doe. A huge trophy buck would be great, but I'm just as happy to take a doe. I don't live off the meat, but I eat what I kill.
 
+1 for kerzyhorse.

Deer hunting would be dang short if all I was interested in was a doe. Let's see: season opens 1/2 hour before sunrise. Shoot deer, back in truck by sunrise. Heck, then I'd have to go back to work on Monday.

Question: What the heck do you care? You're happy with a doe, fine. Someone wants to wait for a big buck, let em.

LK
 
Trophies or meat? The answer varies all over the place. Multitudes of varying opinions. Me, I always went for both. Matching wits with Ol' Biggie was always important to me, just for the challenge. Popping a doe for meat was way too easy to even call it "hunting".

Sorta separately, you can get into deer managment. Part of that deal is habitat protection, where there's more focus on does in order to not exceed the carrying capacity of the land. In order to pay the cost of such a program, there is the parallel effort to "sell" big bucks. You do that by not allowing the shooting of sixes and eights, and by improving pastures, augmenting water supplies and setting out mineral supplements. A controlled population means larger deer. More meat, whether doe or buck, and lots of trophy heads. Shooting does is as important to the effort as shooting 12- or 14-point, 24-inch spread bragging bucks.

Where I live, we're water limited--it IS a desert. Plenty of growies for deer to eat, but a nursing doe must stay within a half-mile of water; maybe a mile at most. Not all that many deer. Shooting a doe would be like spending capital. Bucks are the interest on capital.

Then you get into parts of central Texas, and does oughta have a bounty on 'em. Little runty things in overloaded habitats. No natural predators, and not enough hunting. Between Austin and Llano, the deer average about half to two-thirds the body weights of forty years ago.

So, attitudes will vary with tradition, rules and personal opinions...

Art
 
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