#1868226 - 04/02/10 12:26 AM
Just Wondering....?
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gator-n-buck
16 Point
Registered: 10/22/08
Posts: 14908
Loc: Knox, TN / Palatka, FL
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Is there anybody on here 35 yrs old or older, that started hunting as a kid (10 yrs old or less) that was taught to worry about antlers or the deers age while hunting... I never was taught to worry about those things in the late 70's or early 80's when I started deer hunting. If it was legal, then it was time to pull the trigger... I'm just wondering why times have changed and we expect more, when nothing was wrong back then shooting at legal deer... Has the media, Mags, and market change these things.... I have seen deer within 15 yards while not even wearing a piece of camo on my body... These were the days before you worried about washing your clothes or spraying them down with these new products but hunters still killed deer.. Just a few things I wanted to throw out there...
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#1868244 - 04/02/10 02:05 AM
Re: Just Wondering....?
[Re: gator-n-buck]
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Beekeeper
Good ol' Boys "Team Buckcreek"
16 Point
Registered: 08/26/09
Posts: 10934
Loc: McMinn Co. Tennessee
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I think you are correct. When I started hunting in the early 70s there was no hype about antlers. If you were lucky enough to kill a deer when you took it to the check station a spike was talked about and looked over as much as a 6, 8 or 10 point. There was no push to let any buck walk and it was a sin to even think of killing a doe. I remember years that I would not see over 1 or 2 deer and very little sign. I hunted mostly in Meigs Co. on timber company land and the yearly county wide kill was about 100+/- bucks a year.
Today, all of the TV shows and Magazine articles about killing bucks with large racks have convinced many young hunters and some of the older ones that they have to kill "Mature deer with big racks" and to kill yearlings or small racked bucks is wrong.
_________________________
Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote.
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)
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#1868245 - 04/02/10 02:44 AM
Re: Just Wondering....?
[Re: Beekeeper]
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Setterman
8 Point
Registered: 12/31/09
Posts: 1783
Loc: Knoxville, TN
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I was never taught about antler management. I learned and adopted the philosophy all on my own after tiring of shooting little bucks when I was in my teens. I just decided I had killed enough spikes and 4 pts after 4 or 5 seasons, and wanted to start killing bigger bucks.
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#1868270 - 04/02/10 05:41 AM
Re: Just Wondering....?
[Re: Double-D-Team]
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Mike Belt
TnDeer Old Timer
16 Point
Registered: 03/26/99
Posts: 16929
Loc: Lakeland, Tn.
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In defense of "selectiveness"...there are alot more deer now than back then. Once you were lucky to get a deer; any deer. Now it's common place to expect to see deer almost any time you step into the woods. You can afford to pass a few young or small deer waiting on another one.
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BONE HEAD HUNTER
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#1868273 - 04/02/10 05:53 AM
Re: Just Wondering....?
[Re: Double-D-Team]
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8 POINTS OR BETTER
10 Point
Registered: 08/15/07
Posts: 3869
Loc: Hardin, Co.
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I started hunting in the 70's and was not allowed to shoot does even though they where legal during the youth hunts. I was a brown and downer back then, but even though hunters shot every thing they seem, they where always looking for that big buck. I guess the one thing that changed me was when I had killed several small bucks one year and a guy that does not hunt very much at all ask me if I wasn't a good enough hunter to kill something besides all those small bucks. Thats when I started letting the yearlings walk. I dont kill any monster bucks, but I kill a few good ones for around here, and I started before the shows got popular.
_________________________
" Some localities are willing to work for their sport, and have plenty. Others are willing merely to take what comes easy, and have little or none." - Aldo Leopold
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#1868275 - 04/02/10 05:56 AM
Re: Just Wondering....?
[Re: Mike Belt]
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8 POINTS OR BETTER
10 Point
Registered: 08/15/07
Posts: 3869
Loc: Hardin, Co.
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In defense of "selectiveness"...there are alot more deer now than back then. Once you were lucky to get a deer; any deer. Now it's common place to expect to see deer almost any time you step into the woods. You can afford to pass a few young or small deer waiting on another one.
yep, what he said.
_________________________
" Some localities are willing to work for their sport, and have plenty. Others are willing merely to take what comes easy, and have little or none." - Aldo Leopold
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#1868310 - 04/02/10 07:06 AM
Re: Just Wondering....?
[Re: 8 POINTS OR BETTER]
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archer19
8 Point
Registered: 10/14/08
Posts: 2032
Loc: Erwin, TN
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I was exposed to hunting for different reasons, mainly to enjoy the outdoors. Hobby to keep me from running the roads drinking, doing drugs, and chasing loose women.
Deer hunting was and is still just fun. I'm not a trophy hunter, never claimed to be. I have taken several mature deer with very nice racks. I'm a deer hunter first, last year was the 1st in 25 years I didn't get one. Not from a lack of trying, where I hunt you can go days without seeing a deer. So I know the meaning of the word hunting.
My grandfather exposed me to hunting for one purpose, to have a hobby that will last a lifetime. Little deer, big deer, mature vs. yearling never came up. Just fun spending time with my best friend. He never cared anything about killing a deer. He used the time spent hunting together to teach me life lessons without me realizing it then. I plan on doing the same with my son, just hope he gets as much out of it as I did.
Back on topic: Media and TV are destroying the outdoor shooting sports. JMO
_________________________
Everybody has an Opinion. Just understand that mines the only one that MATTERS!!!!!
SEC hater!
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#1868344 - 04/02/10 07:47 AM
Re: Just Wondering....?
[Re: archer19]
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44fanatic
12 Point
Registered: 01/01/08
Posts: 6055
Loc: Clarksville, Montgomery Cnty
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Im 42 and couldnt start hunting until age 12. Growing up in MT, you shot whatever you had tags for that had head gear. Often times, if you had multiple bucks or bulls together, you shot the smaller unless they were huge. Meat was more tender and less gamey. No one was afraid or ashamed of a small buck or bull.
Things are changing with the abundance of game animals. Back then you took what you could cause it might be the only opportunity for the entire season.
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Bill
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#1868364 - 04/02/10 08:04 AM
Re: Just Wondering....?
[Re: Beekeeper]
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BSK
Jerkasourous of the non-typical kind
Non-Typical
Registered: 03/11/99
Posts: 59548
Loc: Nashville, TN
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When I started hunting in the early 70s there was no hype about antlers. If you were lucky enough to kill a deer when you took it to the check station a spike was talked about and looked over as much as a 6, 8 or 10 point. There was no push to let any buck walk and it was a sin to even think of killing a doe. I remember years that I would not see over 1 or 2 deer and very little sign. I hunted mostly in Meigs Co. on timber company land and the yearly county wide kill was about 100+/- bucks a year.
The question is, which is better? The "old days" when deer sightings were few and far between, actual kills were a real rarity, and the dream of killing a big buck was just a dream; or today's hunting where deer sightings are commonplace, harvests easily acheived in most areas, and big deer a reality?
I started hunting in my teens, in the '70s, in KY. Deer densities were so low we might see a deer once per full week of hunting. Buck kills were very rare--with a yearling buck killed about once every four or five years. A 2 1/2 year-old buck was unheard of.
For me, hunting is much better now. Not all the controversy about season and limits, but the actual hunting experience my changing goals have influenced me to acheive.
_________________________
"Know where you stand, and stand there" --Jesuit Father Daniel Berrigan
"There is no reasoning someone out of a position he has not reasoned himself into." --Clive James
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