[Wormonhook]

The other day , I was chatting with a guy who was doing some tree trimming for me. He had a tattoo of a big whitetail buck on his shoulder so the conversation quickly shifted to hunting. In the course of our discussion he said he had shot a nice 10pt whitetail (total points, Eastern count) but had never measured it. I told him I've never measured any animal I've shot, I don't believe in it because I feel it demeans the animal.

We chatted on and I asked him about the hunt where he took his 10pt. As he described the hunt, his experience when he first saw the deer, seeing it drop, DRT, and almost falling out of the tree stand getting down, he relived the experience. That's when I asked him "So how can you put a tape on that hunt?".

Why do folks feel that if an animal isn't at 140 class deer or a 55 inch moose or 350 class elk, they aren't satisfied? I want to hear about the hunt, the emotions, the excitement, the disappointments. Screw the tape measure.

Or, maybe I've got it wrong. Maybe bigger is better.

 

[Alex MacDonald]

no, you got it right, Karl; my best hunt, hands down, was a bowhunt for mulies high in the eastern Sierra. Stalked to within maybe 5 yards of this one forked horn before he blew up. Had him cold, at full draw with my Hoyt broadside at about 20 yards, and he knew I had him. Certain shot, and I let down. Got close enough to smell him hidden behind a coyote brush bush.

 

[Wormonhook]

no, you got it right, Karl; my best hunt, hands down, was a bowhunt for mulies high in the eastern Sierra. Stalked to within maybe 5 yards of this one forked horn before he blew up. Had him cold, at full draw with my Hoyt broadside at about 20 yards, and he knew I had him. Certain shot, and I let down. Got close enough to smell him hidden behind a coyote brush bush.

Great hunt! Love it!

 

[ribka]

Horn porn! That's what drives tv ratings , hunt prices and gear sales.

I vividly remember the big buck contest held by the local bar when I was a kid. It was exciting when a local brought in a big buck in the back of his truck or across the hood of their family car. Imagine a hunter now driving through Seattle with a big gutted out buck tied on the hood of their lezbaru
With hay bale twine , blood running down the fenders


I enjoy seeing large animals and have a few mounts but my most memorable buck was a small spike wt I shot out of an oak tree with my Ben Pearson recurve when I was 12. Damn I was excited and proud.I shot a lot of deer with bow in my 20's and 30's plus a lot of other animals but was never driven by horn size.

Have met quite few hunters over the years that don't even like eating their kill , won't field dress their animal and just give meat away. I don't get it but to each their own.

I think typical when you get older that horn size doesn't matter as much. Would I turn a big 7x 7 bull or big mulie? Heck no but I also like the prep before hunt, scouting, a good clean quick shot and time with buddies, processing game and sitting and watching animals.

 

[Luke77]

I put in special hunts for doe, not big bucks. That should tell you where my priority lie.

Ribka nails it though, horn porn makes the $.

 

[Ricardo O.]

Maybe that's why I hunt grouse...

 

[Jim F.]

I'll stick with birds now too. They are a lot easier to pack out. Besides that, Hank wouldn't point or retrieve a deer or elk . . .

 

[constructeur]

I'll stick with birds now too. They are a lot easier to pack out. Besides that, Hank wouldn't point or retrieve a deer or elk . . .

Feathers > Fur for my dude too...He doesn't think much of coyotes or raccoons, but the deer get a pass for some reason.

 

[Jim F.]

Great photo of Solly, the handsome devil. "Get out of here - you'll spook the real game!"

Hank is the same way with deer; first time he saw one, he paused, looked back at me, I commanded "No!" and that was that.

 

[Wormonhook]

When I was a kid, we had a shorthair pointer that was an idiot. The first time we took him up to the cabin at Rimrock Lake, we let him out of the Jeep. He spots a mule deer doe we hadn't't noticed and off he goes, right after her. The doe starts the mule deer bouncing thing heading up the slope, that shorthair is right on her heels, doing the same springing bouncy she's doing.

The dog and deer dissapear into the woods, we yelling at the dog, laughing our asses off. The dog comes back after a few minutes, looking kind of sheepish, hits the scent trail of that doe he just chased and off he goes again! He did that TWICE! Idiot.

 

[Jim F.]

A dear friend back in MT has always has GSP companions (no pun intended, lol.). Some ignored deer, some chased. His last dog tried to play with deer & over time, some of the resident Mulies around his place became amazingly tolerant & younger ones reciptocated. His current GSP was a chaser, until a doe chased him right back through the dog door; now when deer are around, he is content to go in the house and watch them through a window.

 

[Guest]

Maybe that's why I hunt grouse...

I hunt them because I like to eat them & the season is long !