#1998155 - 07/18/10 09:09 AM
Re: Honest choice?
[Re: BSK]
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44fanatic
12 Point
Registered: 01/01/08
Posts: 6055
Loc: Clarksville, Montgomery Cnty
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I would shoot the big one. If in unit L, probably try to make it back the next day and try to take the smaller one.
To me, if its a legal deer, its a trophy.
_________________________
Bill
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#1998178 - 07/18/10 09:40 AM
Re: Honest choice?
[Re: 44fanatic]
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mrk80
6 Point
Registered: 05/30/10
Posts: 734
Loc: williamson county TN
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If I see a 165 and its legal to take he's dead..Don't care what the circumstances are. If you hunt in TN only and you pass a 165 chances are you'll probably never get that chance again. I consider my self pretty lucky to be able to hunt the spots i can and have the amount of bucks i do in the 120's to 150's. I have had lots of 140's and some 150's make it through hunting season just to never be seen again. I know there are 160+ deer in TN just very few. For A 165+ in TN to happen you have to have OLD age, freak like genetics, and the stars and moon has to a line. If your passing 165's you need to move to the Midwest. 
Edited by mrk80 (07/18/10 09:43 AM)
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#1998183 - 07/18/10 09:45 AM
Re: Honest choice?
[Re: 44fanatic]
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BigGameGuy
TWRA Biologist
12 Point
Registered: 05/14/04
Posts: 6353
Loc: Nashville
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This right here is one of the main reasons why we don't practice QDM on more WMAs statewide. The simple fact of the matter is that the vast majority of hunters don't care two hoots about shooting a 5-1-2 year old 115-inch buck. They would prefer to shoot 140-inch 3-1/2 year old. And the agency simply does not have the means to create many high quality QDM areas. In other words, we can't supply the deer with the nutrition to turn them into the animals that the hunters would expect. Our only other option is to reduce the deer densities and severely restrict the number of hunters who can hunt there. Simply put, we are not about to close our public lands to the majority of hunters so a select few can harvest a deer of their dreams. We are trying to provide opportunity for the majority of hunters.
_________________________
If given the choice between education and regulation, I'll choose education every time.
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#1998198 - 07/18/10 10:04 AM
Re: Honest choice?
[Re: BigGameGuy]
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Wes Parrish
16 Point
Registered: 06/12/02
Posts: 16968
Loc: Knoxville-Dover-Union City, TN
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This right here is one of the main reasons why we don't practice QDM on more WMAs statewide.
But then, the question asked had little or nothing to do with QDM?
What QDM would deny a 3 1/2-yr-old buck with 165" antlers?
I've never seen such a QDM program, although such denials of harvest do in fact exist on some "trophy"-managed WMA's often mistakenly referred to as "QDM".
But since the topic of QDM is brought up,
my take is more TN hunters would be happier with more true QDM-like management than what we've had in the past.
In fact, one of the largest reasons TN hunters are so overall happy right now is because the statewide deer management has become so much more "QDM"-like (compared to times past, pre-1998).
A mainstream QDM-program would not restrict the harvest of ANY 3 1/2-yr-old buck, and most 2 1/2-yr-old bucks would be legal for harvest. In fact, imo, the best QDM programs allow for the harvest of ANY buck of a hunter's choosing; but they also allow for the harvest of ANY deer of a hunter's choosing. Antler restrictions are not necessarily a part of a QDM program, nor does that opportunity to hunt (days afield) necessarily need to be greatly restricted.
IMO, Real QDM is more a mindset of "quality" experiences afield trumping the "quantity" of deer killed while afield. Under QDM, a hunter can have just as many days afield, and have the ultimate in hunter choice regarding any deer he chooses to harvest ---- the true QDM hunter just has more a conservation mindset that has come to replace a "kill everything he can" mindset.
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#1998201 - 07/18/10 10:11 AM
Re: Honest choice?
[Re: ghosthunter]
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Bone Collector
12 Point
Registered: 09/09/09
Posts: 6121
Loc: Murfreesboro, TN
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165 without a second thought.
_________________________
Don't let the screen name fool you spikes are made of bone too Semper Fidelis! The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. - Thomas Jefferson
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#1998209 - 07/18/10 10:25 AM
Re: Honest choice?
[Re: Bone Collector]
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Mike Belt
TnDeer Old Timer
16 Point
Registered: 03/26/99
Posts: 16929
Loc: Lakeland, Tn.
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I'd like the opportunity to pass on 165's but don't see it even though I hunt a "managed" club. The 165 would be going home with me.
_________________________
BONE HEAD HUNTER
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#1998252 - 07/18/10 11:31 AM
Re: Honest choice?
[Re: Tomahawk]
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102
10 Point
Registered: 08/01/02
Posts: 3650
Loc: Tennessee
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Tomahawk,
Right on!
How very estute. And I should have cleared that up. It IS 170 with a rifle. OR a BOW. A muzzle loader has a separate class as well but I am NO expert with the books. I've only put a couple in there.
I also know there are different classes for typical vs. non-typical. And a bow kill can make Boone and Crockett (170) while a gun kill can't make Pope and Young.
It never ceases to amaze me how many different people throw around numbers like 165 and act like it is anything but a RARE occurrence on public or small private lands in MOST places in Tennessee.
Heck...the Tennessee BOOKS start at 115 (bow) and 140 (gun.
102
_________________________
God, Family, Job, Bowhunting
Luck is where Opportunity and Preparation MEET!
When in doubt...back out!
SCAPAS.stay calm and pick a spot.
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#1998295 - 07/18/10 12:27 PM
Re: Honest choice?
[Re: Tomahawk]
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tickweed
10 Point
Registered: 11/25/09
Posts: 3542
Loc: medon,Tn.
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For me, the 165. Wes, I respect all of your post, but you would pass a 165 inch deer late in the season in Tenn? Seriously?
Edited by tickweed (07/18/10 12:30 PM)
_________________________
The hardest thing about Bowhunting Turkeys is leaving the gun at home!
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[img]
[/img] Now it may not be in permanent records...but it was officially accepted as a B&C and that is good enough for me. 
