It's About More than the Antlers

I found this on another site. Enjoy!


We're all guilty of it. We see a hunter with mismatched camo with an old single-shot 12-gauge. And he's sporting his deer he just harvested on the back of his old truck. It's a doe or more than likely a smaller buck. But he's happy, and grinning from ear-to-ear like he just killed the new world record! So you laugh and joke with your buddies as he goes by. While leaning against your brand new truck, in your name brand matching camo. But have you ever stopped to think that maybe the deer on the back of his truck means a lot more to him than just big antlers.... maybe he's a third shift blue collar worker at the local steel mill, just trying to pay his bills and keep gas in his old truck. Maybe he don't have the fancy game cameras and big food plots that you have. Or the big fancy hunting blinds, that cost more than his old truck. Maybe he's happy because he finally didn't have to work this weekend. So he decided to go hunting on the little piece of land that he's hunted since he was a boy, with the gun that his dad gave him when he turned 12 years old. More than likely he's not hunting to kill the next World Record. He could care less about the antlers. But what he does care about is putting food on the table for his family at home, and knowing that they're going to eat good for now. And that my friends will put a smile on any true sportsmans face. So good luck to all the hunters out there with the rest of your season. Just remember this, support each other and be happy for each other, no matter how big their harvest is, because to some folks it means a lot more then the size of the antlers.

Great post K-zoo. My wife and I hunt for food to feed our family and all tho we have nice clothing and bows we both hunt for food cause the best trophy in my eyes is on the table. Thank you for the post

WELL SAID!!

Saw that and agree 100%!

Dad gummit? Yes.

Will

If your happy with the deer you killed the size of the antlers doesn't matter to me.

Preach brother! I love it!!

Amen, kill the one that makes you happy or don’t kill one at all !

I have no idea why anyone would wear matching camo !

Amen!!
I'm what most consider a " trophy Hunter" but that's cuz I've killed truckloads of deer and can usually fill my tag most anytime on a lesser deer if I want too.
I ridicule no one for taking what makes them happy.

Shoot wat you want tired of these guys watching hunting shows where a guy kills a big buck all the time.Then those guys want too tell others how too hunt.Shoot wat you want!

What’s wrong with mismatched camos?........ and old guns?....... are you guys laughing at me behind my back?!?

My camp doesn't match

I shot my self a doe this year I'm happy with it and proud of my self for it. I hunt fish to help feed my family cut back on grocery bill with cost of meat in stores ever lol bit helps

I don't think any of the game laws should be tailored to dictate what size a deer's antlers must be to be considered a "trophy". The celebrity hunters are ruining the spirit of hunt.
I usually wait for what I consider a decent buck during archery season. The reason I do it is so that I get to spend more time hunting. Once my tag is on a buck, my season is over for another year.

I'll bet that hunter laughed about the fancy clothes and trucks of some hunters too. Meat is the origin of the hunt.

Very well said . Hunting used to be about starvation or survival . The score did not even come into being until the last hundred years or so . I have seen good friends part ways over trivial issue like how much did it score . We all hunt for our own reasons . I too like to shoot a nice buck but it is too bad when that is the most important part of was that hunt a success . I do not mean to put down anyone that decides to hold out for a certain size animal. To each his own . When my time comes to an end the number or size of the game I killed will not be a any importance . So if it makes you happy at the time it was the right decision

Well said. I've killed my fair share of deer and am satisfied by shooting 4-5 does a year with my bow now. I love taking kids and watching them shoot their first deer. I had a conversation with a dad last week and he was wanting his kid to kill a nice buck. The kid is 10 and has only killed 1 doe. I told him to let the kid stack up some does and a few young bucks and get hooked on the sport. I think they watch too much TV and trophy deer. Any deer would be a trophy to that kid and that's all that really matters. Don't think my dad ever had matching camo but he was the best woodsman/hunter I ever saw.

Just you and me. I'm not happy when I kill my meat supply. That big pile of work is kind of depressing.

I enjoy cutting meat. Me and Fiona are pretty efficient now days after a few years together.

I've killed more deer wearing bluejeans & a flannel shirt than I ever did wearing camo, matched set or not.

That was a refreshing read!

Moosetrot

I get a kick out seeing someone wearing matching everything and they think they are hid. To me they look like a big blob, ha ha or a little blob depending on the size of the hunter !

If a guy isn't humbled by the perspective presented by K-zoo's post, then HE deserves to be ridiculed, not Joe Sixpack.

Great post K-zoo. In our house, our trophy room is in our chest freezer.

did you see me on my way to deer camp in my rusted out van wearing my overalls ? I did buy a new coat 3 years ago but my son is wearing my old coat the one I got when I was 14

most of my deer have come to the gun I bought myself when I was 14

big deer and small deer take me the same time to cut , even if the small ones skin just a little faster , I only have the energy to hunt all day and cut 3 deer a night so don't shoot any dogs.

I wack the first one I see so I can start trapping!

That's refreshing.!

I am quite over this new TV stuff with huge antlers and all the whooting and hollering combined with all the fist pumping..just over it.!

My family always hunted meat. My dad told me that grandpa put meat on the table spring summer winter and fall and that was in the north, much of that meat was anterless.

When the guy started the article with 'we're all guilty of it' it pretty much told me what he was. Sorry bubba, we all ain't guilty of it.

Meat first. Can't eat horns. At least I have not found a way to yet. I would not pass on a big rack but I'm not looking for one either. 2 or 3 deer in the freezer and I'm all set for the year. Every one I harvest is a trophy to me. I know a guy that only hunts for "trophy" racks and he's a big @$%#%^. Will trespass, bait and lie about it. He owns a land locked piece and we wont allow him to cross our land to get to it.

Nice piece. Thank you for posting. Reminds me of when I started hunting with my Dad. Every animal was a trophy if for none other then the memory. Love you and miss you Dad.

Never will eat antler soup

a lot less work thats a nice one should i take him or wait for a better one.thats nice antlers should i get a head mount or just save the horns and the top one is the doe will drop in her tracks its hard telling how long you will have to track and look for that big buck.

As I've always said. I'm a meat hunter. If its got antlers,that's nice but unimportant. A doe tastes better then that plastic tag that's still in my wallet because I have to shoot a buck. I still haven't found a recipe yet that makes them taste good!!

Brad

I kill deer every year. Mostly does. I don't care about antlers. As it says below it's for meat. I wear mismatch camo and during gun season its with my dad's old 12. Made for Western Auto. And have since I was 16.

My favorite thing about the hunt is not the hunt itself. It is moving all that meat back to camp, and then eating it. The antlers are just a bonus. At the end of the day when you are tired the meat is all you care about, because it is the only part of the animal you can eat ant it taste good.

Don't matter how you cook it, you can't eat the rack!

Or maybe a guy just sucks at deer hunting! When I was a kid growing up my father worked two jobs and was never home. I loved hunting but lost some interest because I wasnt very good at it and dad just didnt have spare time. I continue hunting today with my wife and we are pretty bad at the hunt but we still get out together and enjoy the time. So when one comes through with antlers, as long as its legal, it gets taken. My biggest deer was an 8 point and not a very big rack size. But it was a HUGE buck to me. Id love to get a biggen to hang on the wall someday but not counting on it! Ill hunt as long as I can walk into the woods.

Took me 34 years before I got a wall hanger. And that meat was tough. I would rather take 2...2 year old deer to one monster. Tender and sweet.

Bingo! If all deer that were killed were "trophy bucks" there would be a lot more deer collisions and dead people. I like deer meat, screw those who look down on the bulk of us who kill the majority of the deer to consume and are happy.

K zoo I give you 2 thumbs up!! As a fellow Michigander I understand why you post this. In Michigan the QDMA guys are just plain nasty self centered egomaniacs, They will chastise a kids first deer and a senior hunters very last deer if it don't meet their standards. Even though it is perfectly legal. We have some real tools here in Michigan.

Always amazed me that one mans success could bring scorn from other hunters. I have received snide comments from, more macho than myself, deer hunters at the boat ramp. I came back with a couple/three fat does and caught flack for shooting them. For me, it was all about the yield in meat. Can’t eat those antlers, anyways.
I would rather in years of healthy heard shoot does.

It's about the scouting camera pics, the big tracks, the rubs, the scrapes, the frosty mornings and last, but not least, the antlers.

I hunt for horns. If I don't kill something that's just fine but I'm out there looking for the biggest animal the ground provides. Can't say I've ever mocked another hunter other than for their lousy shooting ability.

I only shoot doe deer. Leave the bucks alone. Leave them for kids.

This thread got a bit off track.
The OP' s article was honest.
But for all you stating you only hunt for meat,.....
BULLSPIT!!. If you had any any sex tag and a doe walked out followed by a big buck and gave you equal opportunity for a shot, I'll bet my left nut the buck will get the shot

So the buck wouldn't have any useable meat on it ?

I love to hunt and my family loves the meat, we try to put 6 in the freezer every year. I usually take 3-4 does and try to take a mature buck with my buck tag. I hunt a lease in Illinois and I hold out for a good mature buck when hunting up there but my buddy that's on the lease with me usually takes the first decent buck he gets a shot at and it makes him as happy as it does me to take a 5yr old or older buck. I have never looked down on anyone for shooting what makes them happy. I use my doe tags for meat and only try to take one buck per state I hunt and ill admit I like the biggest rack I can get. To each there own

I have hunted for trophy bucks, not for prestige or anything like that, for the challenge it provides during the hunt. I spent five years chasing the same buck one time and then had a guy who never hunted that block before come in drunk as a skunk and shoot the massive 11 pointer during gun season, I was very (This word is unacceptable on Trapperman) off and disheartened about it for a couple of years, even today I still am sad when I think about it. My buddy owned the shop the guy registered the deer at and he shoved a cigar in the deer's mouth and had a beer in his off hand for the picture. (This was when I lived in Ohio)

I fully admit that I shoot way more does than bucks and don't mind doing it, but I will hold out IF I KNOW there is a trophy buck in the area or if I have multiple tags to fill then I shoot the first adult doe so I have the meat I want.

I loved the original post here, it brought lots of memories back to my days back home in Ohio and the friends I hunted with back then!

Hello Mr Eunuch.
Only bucks I've ever killed were when the season was buck only. Anybody that kills a buck when a doe is legal is not hunting for meat. Tough stinky sinewy waste of effort bucks.

yup, he is one of them; I be a little guilty of laughing at the slickers in the camo with the jacked truck and the scent stuff though.

Who would wear camo on a deer hunt? Orange is so much better. (more legal too)

We have bull only hunting for conservation reasons. I guess I'm a meat hunter since I leave the antlers in the woods. I shoot the smallest bull. Amazing as it sounds to trophy hunters there are a few people left that understand the real reason to take an animal's life. To give life.

well said.

More than likely around here though that guy quit hunting a few years ago when the property he hunted got sold or got leased out from under him. Access is the biggest hurdle to hunting now.

You either own it, lease hunting rights, or hunt the ever increasingly crowded public land. Hunting on permission is all but dead in the midwest now.

Sounds like BS to me. Let’s be honest here ? No one is sitting in a tree stand, or hunting any other way, is dreaming of a doe or yearling buck to walk by them. We all are dreaming of a big heavy antlered buck presenting a shot. But due to limited vacation time and few mature bucks in most areas, many settle for a doe or yearling buck, and I guess there’s nothing wrong with that.

A non-believer. I understand people obsessed with antlers cannot relate. I remember talking to a city guy who could not understand why anybody would shoot a bull in winter that had shed it's antlers.

you can definitly tell the old bucks that like deer meat and would rather take a chance of getting good meat from a doe or young deer from the young bucks that dream of horns at night. i keep a camera out year round like the pictures on the computer to see the changes from year to year i dont believe in shooting the big buck and leaving the basket rack for breeding stock

And You'd Be Limping Around Missing Your Left Nut.

In Years Past, I've Routinely Dropped The First One Down The Trail Into My Sight Picture and Often It Was A Doe In Rut Being Bird-Dogged By A Buck.

Flop His Old Lady On The Ground and Every One of Those Buck Didn't Pack Their Bags For Greener Pastures.

They All Stood There Slack-Jawed and Tongue Hanging Out Wondering What Happened To Momma.

Sometimes They Took The Next Lead Sleeping Pill, Sometimes Not. But They All Stood There Waiting For Their Medicine.

So Don't Judge Everyone Else By Your Antler-Crazed, Horn Worshipping Standards.

LMAO !!

walleyed

I understand both sides of the isle, but for me I fill my freezer with does, and hunt hard for a mature buck. It is mainly because I love hunting and the work it takes to wait for a old buck. And its my peace time when I'm hunting. About everywhere I hunt I can go any evening and kill a doe or young buck in a hour or so and its not very challenging and I'd be back working quicker. I love sitting in a tree and watching all the critters do there thing and its a nice break from my fast paced life. If my family was hungry I'd lay down the first animal I saw, but its really just something I love to do, and a nice set of horns is icing on the cake. But I don't judge anyone for what they take unless they are just killing for antlers only

If its brown, its down. Always have tags for either sex. Meat first....horns don't matter to me. Still looking but cant find a recipe for horns.

European mount? I've eaten a lot of stuff I've killed simply because I killed it. Woodcock comes immediately to mind. I choke down bear.

The meat can be long gone but decades can pass and I can still admire the antlers hanging on my wall.

I think we all eventually come full circle especially when it comes to deer hunting.

That very first time I climbed into a tree the night before I dreamed about those big racked bucks I had seen on my walks in the woods. I was the first in my family that ever had the desire to deer hunt. My dad was a goose and rabbit hunter and a trapper. My grandpa(my moms dad) was a rabbit and squirrel hunter.So this was all new to me. I applied for a tag and had my dad buy me a box of slugs. I built a stand in a treeline between a big field and a small one that the deer seemed to gather in. I was determined to shoot one of those big boys that I had seen in this field several times,but realized that very first morning when I saw the first deer I was gonna blast the very first one I had close enough.Two days later I shot a button buck. I ran to my uncles house that was just up the road from us and ask him to help me drag it. I remember my mom saying"I cant believe he really got one".

For the next several years my thoughts were on a big boy but I would blast the first deer I saw.In there somewhere I took up bow hunting and managed to kill a few with my bow because then gun hunting was your guaranteed deer and if you got one with a bow it was a bonus.

Somewhere in there I managed to kill a couple of good ones and I realized that if I waited and didnt shoot the first one I saw I had better odds of killing a good deer.So Id shoot the first doe I could with my bow and with my gun and wait as long as I could to fill my other tags. That eventually led to me waiting till the last day to fill my last tags.

Then my boys got old enough to deer hunt and gun season was all about them. I was still in the mode where I would kill the first deer I could with a bow and then buck hunt the rest of the season even if that meant only killing one deer a year. I stopped buying gun tags and just let the boys hunt and when they were done so was I.

For about 3 years I didnt bow hunt because I kinda lost interest in it. Getting up and going to the woods to shoot a deer seemed like more of a hassle than fun. I concentrated my efforts on ducks and trapping.

I seemed to start to miss bow hunting so one fall I started back up but I didnt seem to have the same desire that I once had. I didnt NEED to kill the first one I saw or even kill one at all and if I had a deer close enough to shoot that was a successful hunt in my eyes.That year I killed my biggest bow deer to that time. My need for deer hunting seemed to change. I really wanted to "hunt" for a deer not just the first one that walked by,or even the first one with horns that walked by. I wanted to kill the best one I could. I would NOT consider myself a trophy hunter I go out and find the one that suits me. He needs to be wider than his ears and preferably past his nose.

I dont feel the need to just kill a deer to say I "got my deer" like in the old days. I dont kill bucks so I can go and brag on the Facebook. I dont have them measured or measure them myself. Its more about the sense of accomplishment I feel when I scout and do my homework to get everything just perfect to have him walk into bow range.

With all that being said I dont care what you shoot.I dont care if you have the latest and greatest bow. And honestly if a guy gets out of his newer than 2012 jacked up truck wearing matching camo from head to toe and pulling a boat that looks like it just came off the showroom floor I automatically assume he is a topwater.

Until the freezer is stocked I am specifically looking for the most prime deer meat that is walking. That is young deer, maiden does or young bucks. I try for the does. Since I have started raising sheep it only takes a couple deer to give me what I need.

Once I have my meat I start hunting mature bucks.

I have 3 kids that hunt so I have no lack of deer meat.

I hear you, but once I have meat in the freezer I start TRAPPING real heavy.

So you're saying, if you looked over your shoulder and seen a huge buck and a doe standing at 20 yards and but presented an equal shot you're take the doe?

Sorry man,...., Spin it however you want

This is the very reason I pretty much quit bowhunting whitetails......blah blah blah......and started trapping again....
The whitetail world is full of yuppie want to be trophy hunters, most couldn't kill a 1.5 year old Without baiting him in...
I started bowhunting at 13 I'm 48 now, things sure have changed....