@fulldraw
Well-Known Member
My reply was to slabhead.Is it an anomaly that I hunt for the fun of hunting vs hunting only to kill a big buck? It is so sad that so many judge their season by antler inches and not the fun they had. SMH....
![Man facepalming: light skin tone :man_facepalming_tone1: 🤦🏻‍♂️](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f926-1f3fb-2642.png)
My reply was to slabhead.Is it an anomaly that I hunt for the fun of hunting vs hunting only to kill a big buck? It is so sad that so many judge their season by antler inches and not the fun they had. SMH....
BTW, my reply never mentioned antler inches either. SMHIs it an anomaly that I hunt for the fun of hunting vs hunting only to kill a big buck? It is so sad that so many judge their season by antler inches and not the fun they had. SMH....
responding in general to what I see today vs years before social media...BTW, my reply never mentioned antler inches either. SMH
I certainly don't know the answer, but if I see a nice buck and he breeds some of my does, well, I like adding that to the gene pool. After three years of this philosophy, and eating chicken instead of venison, some nice bucks stay around.It almost makes it so we don't even want to hunt this track any longer. I mean after 3 years of letting bucks walk and not seeing any fruits of that, is kind of discouraging. Especially when a track right down the road has produced some good bucks every year for the last 3-4 years.
Every property is different. Some hold bucks all year. Some only hold bucks in the summer. Some only hold bucks in the fall. Some only see bucks around the rut, as bucks from neighboring properties suddenly expand their ranges and begin travelling into areas they only use during the rut.It almost makes it so we don't even want to hunt this track any longer. I mean after 3 years of letting bucks walk and not seeing any fruits of that, is kind of discouraging. Especially when a track right down the road has produced some good bucks every year for the last 3-4 years.
Watched this one buck all summer and he leaves my place Oct 20. My buddy got a pic of him last week 3.5 miles as the crow flies from my place. He returns back to my farm 3 days after that. Stays home for a day and now back 3.5 miles away again. Why ? Lol who knows . This buck is 4.5 minimum. As of last night he was still alive.
In some parts of the state, I GUARANTEE that is the case. Mature bucks are darn hard critters to see and kill. In some areas, more die of natural causes than hunter's arrows or bullets.They go nocturnal and die of old age. I think more mature big bucks die of natural causes than get killed by hunters.
It's one of those things: "To each, their own." I enjoy hunting and being in the woods. In fact, I just went out for a couple more hunts. Don't know why I carried a rifle, as I wouldn't have shot anything I saw, no matter how big (already took a nice buck in MZ season). At the same time, I do want to be successful every year. I spend too much money and time on my place not to hope for a good deer. I have standards and don't want to kill just any buck. My standards aren't crazy high. In fact, they're quite realistic. But that doesn't mean I'm always going to be successful. But when I am, I'm thrilled.Is it an anomaly that I hunt for the fun of hunting vs hunting only to kill a big buck? It is so sad that so many judge their season by antler inches and not the fun they had. SMH....
I think social media has an influence on hunter wants and desires. But what really fueled the desire for trophy bucks was actually growing them. Up until the early 2000s, mature bucks were few and far between. But hunter restraint has changed all that. Now, it's exceptionally rare for me to run a photo census anywhere in TN and not find mature bucks. In the past, they didn't exist. Now, they do, which drives hunters focus on them. Killing one has become a realistic proposition.responding in general to what I see today vs years before social media...
GPS-collar studies find this behavior is fairly normal. Most older bucks, at least once during the rut, go on a long-distance excursion. They often travel several miles, stop in a location for 24-48 hours, and then return to their normal range. Why bucks do this is unknown. What they are finding (what makes them stop) is unknown. Why they travelled in the direction they did is unknown. But most older bucks do this.Watched this one buck all summer and he leaves my place Oct 20. My buddy got a pic of him last week 3.5 miles as the crow flies from my place. He returns back to my farm 3 days after that. Stays home for a day and now back 3.5 miles away again. Why ? Lol who knows . This buck is 4.5 minimum. As of last night he was still alive.
It's one of those things: "To each, their own." I enjoy hunting and being in the woods. In fact, I just went out for a couple more hunts. Don't know why I carried a rifle, as I wouldn't have shot anything I saw, no matter how big (already took a nice buck in MZ season). At the same time, I do want to be successful every year. I spend too much money and time on my place not to hope for a good deer. I have standards and don't want to kill just any buck. My standards aren't crazy high. In fact, they're quite realistic. But that doesn't mean I'm always going to be successful. But when I am, I'm thrilled.
True.I think social media has an influence on hunter wants and desires. But what really fueled the desire for trophy bucks was actually growing them. Up until the early 2000s, mature bucks were few and far between. But hunter restraint has changed all that. Now, it's exceptionally rare for me to run a photo census anywhere in TN and not find mature bucks. In the past, they didn't exist. Now, they do, which drives hunters focus on them. Killing one has become a realistic proposition.
I think you nailed it! We hunt 3 different tracks in two counties. These two properties I mentioned are only a few miles apart but it seems the bucks leave this tract when they reach 3 1/2. For the last two years we've had a good number of 2 1/2, 6 and 8 pts, then they leave and a new batch is back that next year.Every property is different. Some hold bucks all year. Some only hold bucks in the summer. Some only hold bucks in the fall. Some only see bucks around the rut, as bucks from neighboring properties suddenly expand their ranges and begin travelling into areas they only use during the rut.
That's why I run so many season-long photo censuses - to see what patterns a property has. And to confuse matters more, alter the habitat and everything changes.
Well said.All of that and some. For me it's been about big antlers ever since I got good enough at killing deer that it wasn't fun or challenging. At some point it has morphed from big antlers into older age class, which aren't mutually exclusive. Big antlers often accompany old age but that old age has replaced big antlers as my priority objective.
I enjoy studying them, scouting for them, manipulating the habitat to attract them, etc., then putting the pieces of the puzzle together to effectively hunt them. I don't have to kill one to enjoy the experience. But when I do it very much is like winning a trophy. Same as any other sport. I enjoy the game regardless but winning means getting a trophy. And social media doesn't nor ever has influenced me as I've never had it. This site is as close as I've ever had and I was hunting big old bucks way before signing up here. In fact I'm here because of others like myself who enjoy the same topic of conversation. Chicken before the egg.