with regards to taste, deer to me is like lamb. people either love it or hate it. imo the best cut of venison the tenderloin is as good as it gets, however taking the animal in total I prefer pork, every cut is good.
To each his own....
I agree, hunt how and what you want, and try not to judge other hunters ways of doing things because they differ from your own.
Yes, but when you lose enjoyment for hunting just because they don't have racks, something has gone wrong.
I agree with terrible ted, I would get tired of coming home and getting asked if I killed anything and saying no, but I saw some. I have killed a lot in deer in my years and only mounted 2, would hate to know I spent all that money over the years and only killed 2 deer. just my opinion. oh and on killing only older deer I read once that it is better to kill some yonger does too, the older ones produce offspring more regulary than the younger ones that are just starting.
Last year we (dad, my bud from GA and I) hunted my property in upstate NY and stayed in the cabin we built in 2007, this has become my folks retirement get-away. I hadn't been to the property since 2008 nor seen the cabin and facilities since it was started. Hunted five days and only saw two deer in the woods, dad saw three and my buddy saw one. We didn't kill anything since we had no doe permits for that part of the state. The best part of the hunt was hanging out, hunting, cooking, trading lies, relaxing, drinking a couple beers, and enjoying the outdoors together. I'd go on a hunt like that every year just for the comradary and time with family. It was one of the best trips I'd had in about 6-8 years. Hunted my dads farm for the next 5 days, and we all missed at least 2 deer each, myself included missing a nice 8pt at 40 yards since I hadn't racked the shotgun hard enough after my earlier shot that day, and the chamber was empty... Killed two nice does, dad and I, second and last day and we had a great time.
Bottom line, it's about the environment, calmness, peacfullness, and comradary for me... If I kill a great buck, that's awesome, if I kill a small one or a doe, its some great meat and awesome, if not I still always have a great time that I wouldn't trade for anything. Besides, a good day in the woods means, NOTHING to CLEAN!
For many years when I was younger, age 14-25, our neighbors (9 boys in the family) were "Horn Hunters" both during Archery and general Gun "Shotgun Only". They killed some very nice 8-10 PT deer over that 10-15 year spand. The thing was, we always put one in the freezer, sometimes two or three and never worried whether it was an 8 pt, basket 4, or a doe. None of us ever saw the huge bucks since the neighbors always had the patterned and assessed to be shot. When I was 25 I killed a nice 8 pt up there, and I had never seen one like that up there in the woods. Come to find out a few years later, the neighbors who used to get the huge ones, no longer hunted. Dad has killed two 10 pts, a monster 9 pt, and two great 8 pts with his 20 Gauge 870 since then. Three years ago he head shot one at 60 yards with a slug and open sights. My point is, hunting is an experience whether you are a horn hunter or not. The whole idea IMHO is that it's a family life style that keeps you together, laughing, and having fun, not just putting a huge rack on the wall.
