Deer Hunters, a Question.

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  • warthog

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    66   0   0
    Feb 12, 2013
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    Vigo County
    OK, first off I do a lot of reading. Most of the things I read speak of a hunter looking for some trophy buck. Personally, if I ever am allowed to hunt a deer or anything else, it will be because I want to eat the meat. From my reading, does make much better eating, so IMO I would rather hunt a doe and take it for her meat than shoot a huge buck with a lot of points.

    So, there it is, gimme your opinions please.
     

    d.kaufman

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    128   0   0
    Mar 9, 2013
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    I am not concerned with a trophy buck in the least. I hunt to put meat in the freezer. When i do get a buck i give the antlers to my dog to chew on. She loves them!

    2emps0y.jpg
     

    cg21

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    May 5, 2012
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    I’m no expert...... if your looking for a challenge / sporting activity I think mature bucks offer that along with meat. Strictly hunting for meat you would think immature deer would be easier targets.

    I dont think either is wrong....? Just different views. Wrong is shooting a buck ONLY for antlers I have seen pics of deer laying with just heads cut off. Could be roadkill I suppose...?
     

    phylodog

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    Mar 7, 2008
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    Arcadia
    I’m no expert...... if your looking for a challenge / sporting activity I think mature bucks offer that along with meat. Strictly hunting for meat you would think immature deer would be easier targets.

    I dont think either is wrong....? Just different views. Wrong is shooting a buck ONLY for antlers I have seen pics of deer laying with just heads cut off. Could be roadkill I suppose...?

    100% spot on. My primary interest is in the chess game of chasing mature whitetail bucks. I encourage anyone to hunt whitetail for whatever reasons they want provided they do so legally. I don't begrudge anyone who shoots a button buck because they want meat, never understood why anyone would begrudge me for targeting specific bucks and allowing a lot of deer to pass every year. I follow the rules and am fortunate to have a great deal of time to spend in the woods every year. If I were only hunting for meat I could have more than I needed in a few days (usually). Instead I spend a minimum of three weeks hunting, still finished the season empty handed a few times and still loved the hunt. I haven't shot a doe in years but plan to before this season is over. I typically donate the meat from my bucks for logistical reasons.

    I've heard a few people screaming about us "damned trophy hunters" over the years and how we're the ones responsible for the one buck rule while at the same time stating they don't care about antlers. If someone didn't care about antlers and was truly only interested in meat I can't for the life of me understand why they would want to shoot one buck a year, let alone two when they can shoot almost all of the tasty young does they want. I stopped arguing with them about it. There is a very, very wide variety in how people enjoy whitetail hunting in this country. All I care about is that everyone follow the rules and everyone butts out when it comes to how I prefer to hunt assuming I do the same.
     

    rhslover

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    Mar 6, 2012
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    Personally I think the idea that old bucks are "tough and gamey" is just a myth. Aging, if you can, is the best way I've found to end up with delicious table fare regardless of the sex and age of the deer. If temperatures allow, I prefer to hang my deer for at least a week, and sometimes longer, checking on it a couple times a day. So for me, I take whatever wanders by first and while I've taken some giants, it's by accident more than targeting a specific animal.
     

    King31

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    Nov 10, 2013
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    100% spot on. My primary interest is in the chess game of chasing mature whitetail bucks. I encourage anyone to hunt whitetail for whatever reasons they want provided they do so legally. I don't begrudge anyone who shoots a button buck because they want meat, never understood why anyone would begrudge me for targeting specific bucks and allowing a lot of deer to pass every year. I follow the rules and am fortunate to have a great deal of time to spend in the woods every year. If I were only hunting for meat I could have more than I needed in a few days (usually). Instead I spend a minimum of three weeks hunting, still finished the season empty handed a few times and still loved the hunt. I haven't shot a doe in years but plan to before this season is over. I typically donate the meat from my bucks for logistical reasons.

    I've heard a few people screaming about us "damned trophy hunters" over the years and how we're the ones responsible for the one buck rule while at the same time stating they don't care about antlers. If someone didn't care about antlers and was truly only interested in meat I can't for the life of me understand why they would want to shoot one buck a year, let alone two when they can shoot almost all of the tasty young does they want. I stopped arguing with them about it. There is a very, very wide variety in how people enjoy whitetail hunting in this country. All I care about is that everyone follow the rules and everyone butts out when it comes to how I prefer to hunt assuming I do the same.

    Couldn't agree more. I went 10 years without killing a buck up until this year. I could have shot many smaller bucks, but I was holding out for a nice rack. (Same with women) Haha. My plan is to go out and try to take my first deer with a bow and that will be reserved for a doe. Jerky, Bologna, and Fajitas are hard to beat, but I luckily do not need a deer or two a year, to survive.
     

    trimman83

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    Jun 22, 2010
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    Warren Park
    OP, you don't sound like a guy who cares to pile up deer every season. Maybe one or two to eat every year. I wouldn't put much worry into what deer you shoot. Try to get in position for a deer down-range. If a deer provides a good fatal shot, try to make it with one short, as clean as possible shot for a fast death. Take your time with removing the entrails as cleanly as possible. Even a quick water flushing of the cavity if possible. Hang the carcass for 3-10 days in the right temperature(I say 30's to low-mid 40's). Skin it carefully, making sure no hair contaminates the meat. Fillet all meat from bone, removing as much silver skin, sinew, and lymph system, before a quick freeze. Cook your meat as published and recommended by other carnivores. You will not be disappointed!

    YouTube videos are very, very helpful with all the stages of deer handling that I mentioned above.
     

    warthog

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    66   0   0
    Feb 12, 2013
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    Vigo County
    Thank You guys. I may never be able to hunt anything but I always wondered about the folks who hunted just for a trophy.

    I have some venison that was given me by a member here marinating right now for my yearly Christmas Rudolph Stew. Can't wait!
     

    sugarcreekbrass

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    26   0   0
    Mar 29, 2015
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    West central
    I like what has been said already. To me, if hunters are legal and ethical, hunt for what you want. The problem with "trophy" hunting is that everyone's definition is different. To some, anything with antlers is a trophy. Others count points, spread, or inches. Others just look for a mature buck over 5 1/2 yrs old. If a hunter does it right and is happy with it, I'm excited for them. I admit I like to hunt for big antlers. The sense of accomplishment after a lot of time put into scouting, hunting, and practicing with my bow or gun, is over the top when I take a big buck. I like the challenge. However, I still get excited shooting does too. I shoot the big bucks for the antlers and meat. Most of the buck meat is ground to consume or made into summer sausage or jerky. The doe meat is better because it is more tender and it gets eaten in a variety of ways! If I have the chance for a small, immature buck or a doe, I will shoot the doe. If I don't fill a buck tag, so be it. Since I can only take one buck, I am going to make it count, in terms of trophy status. I can shoot more does than I know what to do with between the two counties I hunt in regularly. I put in enough time every year, that I will fill my freezer with deer meat, even if I don't fill a buck tag. I just don't like people who shoot a trophy deer and let the meat go to waste.
     

    Mgderf

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    43   0   0
    May 30, 2009
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    Lafayette
    I hunt whitetail deer for food, but I won't pass up a good size buck.
    This year, in fact, I just shot a buck with the largest rack I've seen in the woods in my time hunting.
    I managed to take a respectable 9 pointer. No trophy by any means, but I kept the head for a European mount.

    Until this year I've had very small portions of land to hunt.
    The property I hunted most over the last decade is small enough that I could throw a rock across the short direction.
    Still, I managed to take at least one deer a year most years. A few of those years yielded 3 or 4 deer each for my brother and I, hunting the same small chunk of land.

    This year I've been blessed with a 50 acre plot of some of the nicest, thickest, bottom land that one could ask for.
    Located less than a half mile from the Wabash river, my new property actually includes a good stretch of the original tow-path for the old Wabash-Erie canal.

    I hunt for meat for myself, my brothers family (6 kids), my two nieces (one has 5 kids), and friends.
    I routinely stock many freezers a season, and most seem to run out of venison before the following season.
    I don't consume much by myself, relatively speaking.
    Then again, I have not purchased beef for my freezer at home for more than 30 years. I always have venison...
     

    warthog

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    66   0   0
    Feb 12, 2013
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    That would be nice Mgderf, that is how I would likely do things. I am not against shooting a Buck, they tend to have more meat. I can also use the antlers for the handles on knives I own, sometimes I like to redo the scales or handles. So they would also be used. Not a fan of organ meat, so that would just be left for the wild animals because they also need to eat.

    Folks, I guess I shouldn't really do this but I can't help myself:

    Next season, I have rifles that are legal to hunt deer with, probably gonna scope one before much longer just because. I don't know how to do the licensing or any of that, I used to back in Illinois when I lived there but not here in Indiana. Back in IL, we had enough acreage that we would get tags because the Deer were considered nuisances. My father though never filed for them despite my asking him to do so and despite filling it all out for him a few times. He was too busy and didn't trust me.:rolleyes: But I am not looking for any sort of sympathy nor and I saying my youth was harder or more abusive. OK?:)

    I thought maybe someone who had land, might be willing to let be hunt with them next season or whenever I was able to get licensed. I have vehicle, ammo and can stay somewhere nearby so I would not be looking for any of that stuff. I just want to get a chance to hunt a deer someday.

    So if this is something you might be willing to help me with, shoot me a PM. One deer and likely if you want it, you can keep most of the meat. I have a small freezer sadly so all I would want is enough for myself, I am not married nor do I have anyone else to support.
     

    Mgderf

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    May 30, 2009
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    Locating property to hunt, and then receiving permissision to do so is a challenge these days.
    The small property I hunt was secured by working for it.
    It belongs to at least 2 different customers of mine whose properties abut each other.

    In the past, I have knocked on doors of farmers I'd never met to ask for permission, and offer my services in exchange.
    Most every time the answer was no, sometimes it was "HELL no!" even though these people had never met me.
    The 50 acres I have now is fantastic, but it was purchased by a family member and I share it with three other people.

    My best advice is to look around your area for spots, then start schmoozing your local farmers and landowners.
    Offer to take care of their nuisance animals first. Racoons and coyote are highly disliked by many landowners, but they lack the means to deal with them.
    Build a relationship with these people. Do NOT try to charge them for ridding them of their problem animals as that is illegal. You need a license to charge people.

    If they don't have problem animals, try offering to repair their front step, or maybe paint the barn... anything to help them and ingratiate yourself.
    There is always the public land route, though I fully understand why someone would not want to go that direction.
    Ask EVERYONE you know if they might know of a property where you might gain permission.

    I went years without property to hunt, but with any luck those days are over for me.
    I feel your pain and wish you luck.
    Securing permission to hunt property that does not belong to you or family is not getting any easier. In fact it is getting harder by the day.
    Do not let a day go by without talking to someone about deer hunting.
    Sooner or later an opportunity will arise, but you may need to do much more than just ask if you want permission to hunt a decent piece of ground.
     

    DragonGunner

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    Mar 14, 2010
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    N. Central IN
    Hunted deer and took first buck in 1974 at age 13. Killed a bunch. Hunted for meat for my family first, use to get 2 bucks a year and would shoot first buck that came by then try and hold off for a big one. Best eating....took lots of yearlings and young does, nice tender backstops for sure. Last few years I don't need the meat like I did back in the day and have killed so many I'm at the point I set and watch the little yearling bucks 1.5 year olds and wait for at least a 2.5 to come along. To be honest the big bucks I have takin have been just as good. Gut them, and if its warm outside I will skin and package them right away. When its cool I love for them to hang a couple days at least if I can. My grandpa way back wouldn't butcher a cow till it hung in the cooler 11 days. If I have to freeze meat right away, then when I thaw it out I let it set in fregirator for about 3 days....I think its a little more tender that way before cooking. Now I have shot some does, and my brother has also that were so old they were not very good. Just my 2 cents.
     

    two70

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    19   0   0
    Feb 5, 2016
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    For those that have a decent amount of time, a good area and sufficient skill/experience simply killing any deer can be easy to the point of being more like killing, not hunting. There is nothing wrong with killing animals for meat but I personally want more out of the experience. For me, the pursuit, the chase, the possibility, if not the likelihood of failure is what separates hunting from simply making meat. The meat is a welcome bonus certainly, but it is the pursuit and the possible failure that makes the meat more valuable than any that can be purchased or raised. There are a lot of ways to increase the challenge but the only thing I've found more difficult than hunting mature deer(doe or buck) is hunting a single or a few specific animals. This is the challenge that pushes me to try to be a better hunter and learn more about deer. That effort, that investment is what elevates hunting from simply killing deer for me and what provides for more nourishment than that provided by the flesh.

    Personally I think the idea that old bucks are "tough and gamey" is just a myth. Aging, if you can, is the best way I've found to end up with delicious table fare regardless of the sex and age of the deer. If temperatures allow, I prefer to hang my deer for at least a week, and sometimes longer, checking on it a couple times a day. So for me, I take whatever wanders by first and while I've taken some giants, it's by accident more than targeting a specific animal.

    Yes, the main reasons that any deer from the Midwest, even an old rutty buck, would not be good to eat are due to poor handling and/or poor preparation. People generally don't go to the store and buy meat then leave it out in the sun for hours in 45+ degree temps or allow that meat to touch dirt and debris but will routinely do the same with deer carcasses. Making a quick, clean kill and dressing a deer quickly are often neglected as well. Aging when done correctly(which few have the ability to do) can do wonders for tenderness of the meat but much of any toughness can be remedied simply by having enough sense to grind or slow cook the tougher portions and applying a bit of elbow grease in the form of a meat mallet to the more tender portions before cooking.
     

    Hookeye

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    Dec 19, 2011
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    armpit of the midwest
    We don't have enough does around my area due to everybody else blasting them.

    Have heard it too many times, where people making 100K a yr think they HAVE to fill their doe tags (bought the bundle).
    Supposedly their wives get snippy about wasting the money if they don't.
    Same people go to movies and eat out all the time, drive way nicer vehicles than we do.

    Rationalization.

    Most people do whatever they want and are pretty damn clueless as to what is really going on.

    I'd like to shoot a big buck...........and my bud and I passed on several small ones last yr.
    Like to grill venison too..................gotta kill to grill.

    So we both said screw it and shot little bucks this yr.
    Not the best of science..............but we run an "8 point" restriction where we hunt...........and with that as the only "minimum" we still hold off unless they're over 100".

    As for trophy hunters wasting meat...............I really don't see/hear of that. If they're hunters they use the meat, or donate it.
    The ones shooting deer just for the antlers, letting meat go to waste..................are proly 99.9% poachers.

    Kinda p*sses me off, all the folks at work and other, when they hear about you getting a deer, coming up and asking if you cut the antlers off or used the meat..........and say they're cool with you killing a deer, if you use the meat and don't "just trophy hunt".

    I really don't give a flip what their rationalizations are, like I need their blessing to kill deer...............phug em.
    Idiots don't understand that big bucks are made out of meat.

    Love it when some single mom, w kids out of wedlock..............tries to preach her hunting morality to me.
     

    dprimm

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    1   0   0
    Jan 13, 2013
    1,741
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    Just West of Indianapolis
    That would be nice Mgderf, that is how I would likely do things. I am not against shooting a Buck, they tend to have more meat. I can also use the antlers for the handles on knives I own, sometimes I like to redo the scales or handles. So they would also be used. Not a fan of organ meat, so that would just be left for the wild animals because they also need to eat.

    Folks, I guess I shouldn't really do this but I can't help myself:

    Next season, I have rifles that are legal to hunt deer with, probably gonna scope one before much longer just because. I don't know how to do the licensing or any of that, I used to back in Illinois when I lived there but not here in Indiana. Back in IL, we had enough acreage that we would get tags because the Deer were considered nuisances. My father though never filed for them despite my asking him to do so and despite filling it all out for him a few times. He was too busy and didn't trust me.:rolleyes: But I am not looking for any sort of sympathy nor and I saying my youth was harder or more abusive. OK?:)

    I thought maybe someone who had land, might be willing to let be hunt with them next season or whenever I was able to get licensed. I have vehicle, ammo and can stay somewhere nearby so I would not be looking for any of that stuff. I just want to get a chance to hunt a deer someday.

    So if this is something you might be willing to help me with, shoot me a PM. One deer and likely if you want it, you can keep most of the meat. I have a small freezer sadly so all I would want is enough for myself, I am not married nor do I have anyone else to support.

    Where are you located?
     

    trailrider

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    Jan 2, 2010
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    GREENSBURG
    I honestly can't tell the difference in the meat from bucks and does unless it's a real mature, rutty buck. Good processing and preparation will make any deer meat good!

    I hunt my land according to population. Sometimes a doe, sometimes a button buck, always a big mature buck if it walks in front me.
     
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