#2036164 - 08/18/10 06:13 PM
Re: Are we spoiled?
[Re: mike243]
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Baxter83
Good ol' Boys
12 Point
Registered: 09/03/08
Posts: 7243
Loc: Winchester, TN
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I don't think we're spoiled at all. Yes, we have it pretty good compared to other states, but that's just because we haven't adopted all the crappy restrictions and limits that they have.
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#2036218 - 08/18/10 07:09 PM
Re: Are we spoiled?
[Re: mike243]
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Bone Collector
12 Point
Registered: 09/09/09
Posts: 6122
Loc: Murfreesboro, TN
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Yes!
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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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#2036375 - 08/18/10 08:41 PM
Re: Are we spoiled?
[Re: BSK]
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scn
12 Point
Registered: 02/05/03
Posts: 6975
Loc: Brentwood, TN US
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Are we spoiled when it comes to deer hunting? Absolutely. How many hunted TN back in the 70s and 80s when deer were not plentiful, and anything bigger than a fork-horn buck was a monster?
The opportunities than now exist amaze me. Basically, almost any experience you want is now avialable in TN. We can't ever be Illinois, Kentucky or Iowa, simply because of geography, but there are pockets of TN where very large antlers bucks exist. If you're a meat hunter, Unit L awaits. If you want to join a lease, that option is open. If you want to practice virtually any form of management on private property, those options are open to you.
Now that's not to say everywhere is equal. It isn't and there's nothing anyone can do about that. Some habitat supports more deer than others, and some habitat natural grows bigger antlers than others, meaning you may have to travel some to find what your looking for. But unless you're after a Booner, you don't have to leave TN to find the experience you want. What a difference today's deer hunting is from when I started hunting TN in the mid 80s!
Yet as good as it is, we still have a contingent of hunters that aren't happy for whatever reason. They bitch, moan and complain about how poorly our state's deer herd is managed. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!
Yes, we're spoiled.
Bryan, try going back to the mid-late sixties for even more culture shock. Just seeing a deer was a cause of celebration. When you heard someone talk about a big buck the majority of the time they were talking about body size rather than antlers. If the rack was mentioned at all, it was the number of points with NO emphasis to total inches of horn.
I still remember coming into Nashville for my orientation training in '77. Larry Marcum was the deer project leader at the time, and Ron was the Chief of Game Mgmt. Larry came and spoke to our group of 12 officers, and told us that through computer modeling they estimated at some point TN would top out with a deer kill of 75,000. Since we were killing something in the neighborhood of 25-30,000 deer statewide at the time, I sort of thought he might be crazy. Now we are holding steady at twice that estimate.
Being from ETN, my hunting opportunities were very limited and usually were a couple of weekend hunts up on the Unicoi WMA (now part of N. Cherokee). Very few of the counties had any open season outside of the management areas. It took me 7-8 seasons before I even got to shoot at a deer. The little 6 pt. yearling I killed in Hawkins Co (not opened long) will always be ingrained in my memory. Now, many of our kids have killed several "nice" bucks before they even exit their juvenile hunt days.
That type of background (and laying out night after night babysitting a deer stocking in a county restoration area) certainly gives a little different perspective. Folks that started hunting in the nineties or even this decade don't have a clue on how blessed they are in comparison with those that came before them. I can understand that without being better grounded in the past it is easy for them to not be able to decipher out reality from a lot of the garbage they see on the Outdoor Channel. Modern media makes it easy for them to form totally unrealistic views not only about TN but even the "big buck" states. Isn't editting great?
So, yes, I do feel like many hunters are spoiled and don't realize they very likely may be living in the "golden age" of USA deer hunting right now. It certainly is time to adopt a little more of the glass is half full attitude than worrying about it being half empty.
Edited by scn (08/18/10 08:44 PM)
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#2036685 - 08/19/10 07:11 AM
Re: Are we spoiled?
[Re: scn]
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bowriter
Non-Typical
Registered: 08/31/02
Posts: 40302
Loc: Lebanon,TN USA
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Excellent posts SCN and BSK. I too remember those days. SCN, I'm sending you a PM.
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Constipation has ruined many a good day. Not as many as stupidity, though.
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#2036693 - 08/19/10 07:20 AM
Re: Are we spoiled?
[Re: bowriter]
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Bottom Hunter
16 Point
Registered: 12/29/06
Posts: 15480
Loc: Hatchie Bottoms
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i started back in 1974........deer were seen quite often in west tn., but not to the extent that they are now..
the limit was one antlered deer per season, I believe.
spoiled...?
sure..and love every minute of it.
lol
_________________________
There are some people who always seem angry and continuously look for conflict.
Walk away; the battle they are fighting is not with you, but with themselves.
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#2036722 - 08/19/10 07:37 AM
Re: Are we spoiled?
[Re: Bottom Hunter]
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gator-n-buck
16 Point
Registered: 10/22/08
Posts: 14908
Loc: Knox, TN / Palatka, FL
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Good stuff right there.... I remember back in the late 80's when I started hunting in TN and looking through the hunting magazine that had the break down of deer killed in each county... I remember noticinng that there wasn't even one deer killed in Knox Co. That sure has changed and the funny thing about that is Knox Counties human population has grown a lot since then..... Just one example that sticks out... We have it pretty good.... 
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#2036846 - 08/19/10 08:54 AM
Re: Are we spoiled?
[Re: gator-n-buck]
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Football Hunter
18 Point
Registered: 10/22/07
Posts: 24550
Loc: Wilson Co/Perry Co
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Hard work and sacrifice = spoiled?
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The best day to plant a tree,IS TODAY!
You wont know,if you dont go!
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#2036861 - 08/19/10 08:59 AM
Re: Are we spoiled?
[Re: Football Hunter]
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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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Hard work and sacrifice = spoiled?
No, but complaing about how bad it is when it's better than anyone dreamed possible = spoiled.
_________________________
"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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#2036867 - 08/19/10 09:06 AM
Re: Are we spoiled?
[Re: BSK]
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Football Hunter
18 Point
Registered: 10/22/07
Posts: 24550
Loc: Wilson Co/Perry Co
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Hard work and sacrifice = spoiled? No, but complaing about how bad it is when it's better than anyone dreamed possible = spoiled.
_________________________
The best day to plant a tree,IS TODAY!
You wont know,if you dont go!
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#2036943 - 08/19/10 10:06 AM
Re: Are we spoiled?
[Re: Football Hunter]
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Quailman
8 Point
Registered: 08/04/03
Posts: 1329
Loc: Winchester, TN
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Hard work and sacrifice = spoiled? No, but complaing about how bad it is when it's better than anyone dreamed possible = spoiled. Complaining,or asking ?s.Pointing out discrepensies,wondering if things can be done better,I would not count myself in any "spoiled" census.
I agree FH. There were some on here that constantly complained about not having a 2 week muzzleloader in TN, but I never thought of those people as being spoiled, just greedy. 
However, now we have a 2 week muzzleloader, so maybe complaining is a good thing? 
_________________________
Why work when you can hunt?
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