Beginings.....

[Right_Tackle74]

I hope and I pray this does not lead to a debate. But here goes. In my Hunting history, I started by myself. My Dad never Hunted. My Pappaw and Uncle Hunted but they never told me anything about it or any advice. What I learned I learned by first hand mistakes, Time in the woods. I learned to use rifles, muzzleloaders, Bows and adjust them by myself. People like myself I consider Group A.)

Other Hunters I'll refer to as Group B.) are those I consider as Dad taking them out in the woods, Scouting, Sitting on stand and general woodsmanship, Dad or Uncle shows them how to shoot a bow etc.

My questions when these "Debates occur" on here is this, Those Hunters who came up alone in Group A.) and Those who were taught by a mentor (Dad, Deacon @ Church, etc.) How does that stack up. Like myself I take pride and accomplishment in any Deer I take. This week I picked up two antler plaques of a 5 point and 3 point, But they are going on the same wall as my 16 point and 10 point shoulder mounts in the man cave. I was able to harvest them by myself on land I hunt by legal means and I'm proud I've learned how to do this alone. Whereas someone who sat with Dad 10 years ago and Dad whispered "Let that Buck walk, He's too young."

No one sat beside me to say "Let it walk". I'm not debating or arguing. Is it a consensus that Group A.) Hunters will taking any Doe or Buck (Legally speaking here) and Group B. Hunters (mentored) will be more apt to QDM, or other Harvest means. Sorry If I lost anyone. I'm trying to narrow down the root causes in why some hunters feel passionate one way and others another way. Thank you for your time and God Bless.

 

[muddyboots]

Im group A and i trophy hunt.

 

[Andy S.]

I grew up hunting brown it's down for the first seven years (1993-2000) but have slowly progressed to the point I am at today. I never had a daddy or uncle guide me and tell me to let anything walk. Somehow I just morphed into who I am today through increased self-imposed regulation. It is just how I like to approach deer hunting to challenge myself in my own unique ways, not how I think others should approach it. To each his own as long as it is within applicable guidelines and regulations. My .02

 

[Right_Tackle74]

Thanks Guys, These are the type of answers I'm looking for.

 

[TN RDG RNR]

I grew up hunting brown it's down for the first seven years (1993-2000) but have slowly progressed to the point I am at today. I never had a daddy or uncle guide me and tell me to let anything walk. Somehow I just morphed into who I am today through increased self-imposed regulation. It is just how I like to approach deer hunting to challenge myself in my own unique ways, not how I think others should approach it. To each his own as long as it is within applicable guidelines and regulations. My .02

Exactly what I would have wrote. if I were articulate.

 

[PickettSFHunter]

Im group B but grew up in a its brown its down situation. My Dad and our hunting group would have thought its crazy to let any legal buck walk. Now out of that hunting group of around 10 guys, only 2 still practice brown down mentality. It was a progression that changed the majority of us into letting 1.5 year old bucks walk.

 

[Buzzard Breath]

Group B. I shoot whatever I feel like at the time. Sometimes I pass until I see a mature buck and sometimes I just shoot the first thing that walks in front of me. I just go off how I feel that day.

I always admire the group A guys and I'm glad you have choosen the path you have.

 

[bowriter]

Why should ther be any "stacking up"? Why should killing anything be predicated by how the person learned to do it. The truth is, 95% of all deer killed are the result of luck more than anything else.

I grew up dog hunting deer. You sat down and if a dog ran a legal deer by, you shot it. I passed through the brown and down into a little more picky into trophy hunting and now shoot whatever I want if it is legal. I may shoot a spike or I may not. It just depends on how I feel that day.

What does any of it have to do with whether we were self-taught or had a mentor?

Maybe I don't understand the question.

 

[Boll Weevil]

I'm solidly in Group B and was blessed to have lots of family that hunted: Grandaddy, dad, siblings, uncles, cousins. There'd be 4 or 5 muddy trucks pull up to the barn on any given saturday during the fall...all of'em full of guys wearing orange. We were happy to shoot whatever came by then, and truth be told most are still the same way today.

A few of us (myself included) are very selective about pulling the trigger on a buck but it doesn't make a bit of difference to me one way or other. Shoot what makes you happy.

 

[Right_Tackle74]

Hey Bowriter, I'm mostly trying to get the "What was your thought process" type question. I know people debate everything on antler regulations to bag limit. I'm just curious as to the mind set to the thinking of the Hunter. Like You've heard of the Nature vs. Nuture question. Same principal. I'm just curious as if those who were brought up by other Hunters are more likely to be the ones who Trophy Hunt and Manage Deer than those who Buy a license a box of shells and learn it all by themselves and don't have the "Hunting Lessons" so to speak as they would view Hunting NOT DIFFERENTLY, but from another point of view. Like a Group A.) Hunter are they more inclined to Brown it's Down to a Group B.) Hunter who may be more inclined to restrictions. Just trying to get into the mindset.

 

[de novo]

Another vote for Group B.

I grew up with a granddad who was an awesome hunter, fisherman, trapper, outdoorsman, etc. He sacrificed many hunting opportunities in his 6o's hauling my butt around teaching me about the outdoors. Likewise, I thankfully sacrificed many hunting opportunities in my 20's hauling his butt around while he battled Parkinson's.

I had the great fortune to grow up hunting a private family club in the MS River bottoms of the MS Delta. We progressed from brown is down, to 4 point or better, to 4 on one side, to 16" spread, to the current 20" main beam regulations. I haven't killed more than one buck in a season since my teens.

 

[easy45]

I would say I'm a mixture, My dad and neighbor took me hunting but mostly for small game, I wanted to try deer hunting and pretty much self taught myself how to do it, the first few years I hunted anything was fair game but after that I became more selective up to the point today where as far as bucks go I hunt for age up to a point, I'm not gonna pass a a 170" 3 y/o for a 5 y/o 6 point

 

[BSK]

I am Group A. I started out wanting to shoot any legal deer. I did so for about a dozen years. Then I learned about QDM and started practicing that, but I already had plenty of deer under my belt by that time.

 

[BSK]

I think a lot of a hunters beginnings are going to come down to when they started hunting. QDM didn't hit the mainstream until the late 90s and after--basically only the last 10-15 years.

 

[wayers]

im in group B and im begining to start a little QDM. but i dont hesitate to shoot a small buck if its been a bad year with little to no buck sitings. And i still get that rush wether its a spike doe or 160in deer.

 

[BSK]

And i still get that rush wether its a spike doe or 160in deer.

Good for you wayers. That's what it should be about.

 

[Mr.Bro]

I think most of the older fellers here started as i did.Any legal deer was taken.Back in the 60s you were lucky with any buck that came by.My first buck, a 6 pointer, i killed in Sumner county the first year it was open.There were no experienced deer hunters at that time.It was new to all.I guess i was an "A" then.
The older i get the more i am a "B".Kinda picky about what i shoot.Dont want to gut em,drag em and almost impossible to load by myself.
Its getting harder to pull the trigger,the older i get.

I'll say something now i havent told anyone.The buck i killed lasy year was on of my largest bow kills.I passed him up 4 days earlier because it was almost dark.At 7Am he came through my funnel,I drew back and stuck him good.Got my cell out to call a friend for help.Found him,cleaned him and drug him out to the field.It was the next day it dawned on me i never once got excited.No "OH YEAH!"no "FISTPUMP".

Maybe this on was to easy.I usually hunt 3 or more days in a row befor i connect.All dayers,the second week of november.This time i hunted the evening before and shot him the next morning.

I am thinking about going back to traditional archery.Only think holding me back is i dont want to give up my portable climber.Hard to shoot a long bow out of a stand.

Getting off subject here.

I think most will go from an A to a B over time.
For the hunters that start out a B. Thats great.

 

[bigtex]

Why should ther be any "stacking up"? Why should killing anything be predicated by how the person learned to do it. The truth is, 95% of all deer killed are the result of luck more than anything else.

Yep, pretty much sums it up with me as well.
When I started hunting in the good old 60s the seasons were short and if you even saw a deer it was reason for celebration.
Heck I taught my dad how to deer hunt instead of him teaching me. Of course he did teach me how to hunt squirrells and rabbits because that was all we had to hunt.
Back then shooting a doe was frowned on by most. I remember my friends kidding me for even "trying" to kill a deer with a bow. BTW compounds weren't even invented then, I killed my first deer ever with a 60+ inch Ben Pearson recurve that only drew 45 lbs. Do I think that makes me a better hunter than someone who learned to hunt by shooting an Xbow, and who had a family member or friend sitting beside them to wake them up when a deer stepped into view? No, I don't. They were just more fortunate than I was.
For me, I like eating venison so I "usually" kill the first legal deer I see come bow season, then try to better that as the seasons and the weapons change.

 

[cecil30-30]

Im the same way as you Right_tackle74,my dad hunted but had stopped hunting long before I got old enough to start hunting with him.So I started deer hunting when I was 15 bymyself with his old slug gun he used,and what little bit of info he gave me.I have done everything on my own,and when I did kill my first deer on my own,it was an awesome feeling to know I did it by trial and error and on my own.Still to this day I hunt 99% of the time bymyself and find that any deer I kill im extreamly proud of it,doesn't matter if its a small doe/spike or a big 4.5yr old 10pt.But as I have more deer kills under my belt,I find myself letting more and more deer walk when I could have killed them.

 

[Bone Collector]

Group B. I shoot whatever I feel like at the time. Sometimes I pass until I see a mature buck and sometimes I just shoot the first thing that walks in front of me. I just go off how I feel that day.

I always admire the group A guys and I'm glad you have choosen the path you have.

I'm like Buzz, except i'm a group A guy. I also hunt heavily pressured public land, so i don't see many mature bucks no matter how long i sit. I try to shoot does for meat though more now than I did when i was young. However if it has been a while since I've seen a deer, I am short on meat, or i just feel like shooting a deer I will kill the first one by.

 

[HenryCohunter]

I am a litte of both groups i guess.. my dad and brothers taught me alot about hunting in general. My oldest brother is one of the best trackers I have ever seen and he taught me alot about how to pattern a deer and so forth. But none of them really bow hunted and until I started the practice of letting the smaller bucks walk on our land in TN they were all of the "if its brown its down" group. After the first 140 + inch 4 year old I killed they started seeing how it might be adventageous to let them 110 inch 2 year olds get a pass once in a while. Now my brother and me are the only ones left of our generation and we both try to pass as much on to the younger ones as they will listen too.

 

[critter slayer]

Im in group b and glad to say that my dad taught me everything he knew and as i was growing up we had the if its brown its down by legal means but now me and dad share what we learn together as we keep goin and practicing qdm and my mom goes now and my wife and daughter is starting to get with it so its turning into a big family thing and im not sure y some hunters r so passionate about the sport and having respect and y others could careless...but im like right tackle i got my small 6 pointer right beside my biggest buck and look at em everyday

 

[stik]

i started out on my own after somebody fed me some. the only way to get more was to shoot one. it was 3 years before i even saw a deer. trial and lots of errors and i finally learned how to hunt plus the population has grown tremendously.
i started the boys on small game when i thought they were ready and they graduated to deer at 10 for the juvy hunts.

 

[Beekeeper]

I am in group "A". I sometimes let legal deer walk but a lot of that depends on how full my freezer is at the time.

 

[Mike Belt]

I guess I fall into group A. My grandfather and uncle hunted but never deer. I got into that on my own and I amost started looking for "better" deer after my first year of hunting. My wife's uncles used to have a deer camp set up every year in Ms. and they shot anything that moved. Although I did the first couple of years as well I left that hunting group and went on my own looking for something different. There weren't near as many deer as we have now but I still killed a bunch of deer. It became too easy. Gradually it was enough for me to have been able to have killed a deer without actually killing it. In that process I began seeing things in the deer world that I had never seen before. The more I saw the more I learned and the more I appreciated the deer that I did kill. Now it's nothing for me to see in excess of 100 deer a season without ever lifting my rifle. I consider that a coup de grace in itself. Outside of taking a few does for freezer meat I now wait on the buck I want.

 

[AlabamaSwamper]

Why should ther be any "stacking up"? Why should killing anything be predicated by how the person learned to do it. The truth is, 95% of all deer killed are the result of luck more than anything else.

I grew up dog hunting deer. You sat down and if a dog ran a legal deer by, you shot it.

100% agree Bowriter. I was raised the same way along with still hunting in TN from time to time, usually on Sundays back then.

 

[plinker22]

I think most will go from an A to a B over time.
For the hunters that start out a B. Thats great.

I agree with Mr.Bro. That is what happened with me.

A friend introduced me to hunting... "here is a Muzzleloader, here is my climber, go as high as your comfortable, must have 3" antler to be legal, I'll be back about 11am." That was my lesson. I remember climbing about 8 feet up and being scared that chunk of cobbled together metal was gonna break off that tree at any second. .

What did happen, 4 does walked by. That was enough to have me hooked for the last 9 years. Thanks Tom, my blood started bubbling just writing this.

For the remainder of that season, Deer Magazines became my teacher! Yep, didn't kill a deer... and learned about 100% of those Mag writers were idiot$. (sorry bowriter)

After that first season was over, I started reading the TWRA Hunting Regulations and discovered bow season was almost 3 months long. Bought me a $25 Thrifty Nickel bow the next week. Then, I found TnDeer.com

TnDeer became my teacher/mentor. I learned almost everything I know from the guys on this board. One even told me about his favorite Hunting spot on a WMA. (thanks Bobby)

Another TnDeer regular gave me some advice that made good sense to me. He said, "I suggest you shoot the first 10 legal deer that present you an ethical shot." He said during that time I would have a ton of fun & learn many lessons. He was 100% right.

Opening morning, I let a group of 6 does walk right under my tree. This was early opening morning, I thought to myself.. "It's early, I'll wait on a buck." YEP, just like those magazine writers, I am an Idiot too! I was 6 weeks before I saw another deer in the woods... a very long six weeks. If I told you I have second guessed that opening morning decision 10,000 x's, I would be under-estimating.

Fast forward that 6 weeks, @ the WMA in Bobby's spot, and I killed not one, but two does, slicing through their lungs with stick and string! I added a buck later that year, again with three razor blades on the end of a 400 gr stick.

I continued to study, quickly receiving my PhD from TnDeer. I arrowed 6 deer my 2nd full season. Then, I was humbled by a long and hard third year, drawing blood three times only to loose them all... yet learning much more about the gives and takes of bow hunting deer.

I loved killing those first 10 deer and just as I was told, I earned a massive deer education. Now, starting my 9th year, I realize how little I really understand about deer hunting, but I love every minute I get to be in the woods.

I now enjoy watching deer within range and trying to learn how mature deer behave. I killled my first 3 1/2 yr old last year and look forward to shooting more deer with massive muscle, big horns and no spots! I have been exactly as Mr.Bro described.


All three of my daughters have deer hunted. I have mentored a young green fellow in yue bow woods. I got to sit beside my 13 yr old daughter last year as she arrowed a fat doe... and wa

 

[timberjack86]

I am in group "A". I sometimes let legal deer walk but a lot of that depends on how full my freezer is at the time.

Thats me expept I am group B.

 

[BigSatt]

Im group A and i trophy hunt.

Me too!

 

[Right_Tackle74]

Regardless How someone begins, It appears that it doesn't really matter how someone started, it's the progression of the Hunter himself. Like you go from novice to taking that first fork horn and then You may go from any Deer to that mature deer. Great answers.