I shoot whats legal. If I dont the next guy will. And like others have said if I shoot more than I want then I give it to some people I know that needs it. If the state is going to do anything they should start a harvest bank where you can drop off your animal if you have more than you want to help a need family or two.
yeah it's a shame but true. I don't envy the fwc trying to please everybody and working with data that is questionable/flawed at best. with all the unreported kills and poaching who knows whats really going on. IMO without changing any existing rules/limits, if they gave out tags for each animal taken, (when you got your license you would get x amount of tags, same for quota's) that had to be accounted for they would have a lot more info and more detailed and accurate to boot, whether you scored or not, and if the tags aren't completed and returned then no license/tag to be issued the following year. any animal without a tag is considered poached. all deer and tags reviewed at a check station to confirm truthfullness and get accurate age/ wt and overall health would help biologists and help to eliminate Peta from buying up quotas and permits. just spitballing here. I'm all for keeping the hunting $ spent on licenses,ammo,restaraunts,motels,gas,leases here in Fla. instead of neighboring states.
I shoot ALL the club-legal bucks I see (no spikes). If I don't then the next guy will. With 500+ members and half who hunt as hard as I do, it's a wonder any forked antler bucks make it to the following year but they do. There's more competition in these clubs than any of the surround WMAs by far. I like to shoot and I give away half of the venison anyway to people who need it worse than I do. Hunting to me is more about the total experience than the kills, the size of the rack, etc. It's fun and I don't care if I ever kill another one, it's nice enjoying God's natural world without everday distractions and a way I can decompress from everyday life.
In almost every thread of this nature there usually is posted comments along these lines (not from anyone in particular):
I shoot every legal deer I see, if I don't the next guy will.
If I shoot more than I can use, I give the rest away to someone who can.
It's the total hunting experience for me just being out there, I don't care if I ever kill another deer.
I guess I don't understand the totalness of these three usually combined together. If the attitude is that if you don't shoot it the next guy will, it is no wonder the deer herd on the average size is small. They are not given a chance to grow. And just because you pass on a buck doesn't mean it will get killed, if you kill it then for sure it's dead. If it is the total hunting experience and you don't care if you harvest a deer, why do you carry a gun/bow and shoot every legal deer you see? Lastly why do you continue to kill if you already have all the meat you can use? For every hunter that has killed all they need there is another wanting to be able to harvest one for his/her family.
Maybe it's just my own thoughts but at some point it seems to me to go from hunting to killing.
I've shot enough deer in my life that I don't have to kill one anymore, yet I do enjoy the challenge and the rush after making a kill shot. I will take what I can use and enjoy it, as well as share it with a few friends. If I ever get to the point where I've got to kill everyting thing in sight, well I hope I never reach that point.
This exact conversation took place between a buddy and I on a hunt a few weeks ago. We had the same talk last year on the same hunt also with the same results as this year. Knowing that we were going to see some decent deer we decided to hold off on the 1st legal deer in the hopes of seeing a couple shooters we knew were in the area.
My buddy had a small racked 6 bed down at 12 yards 1st thing in the morning the 1st day. I had a big 8 come by out of range about the same time and asked him to hold off. He had a couple other small bucks come by but we held off hoping for a bigger buck but nothing that day. The next day at sunup he had a small 6 and a 7 hang around for about an hour. I asked him to hold off again cause I was set up for the shooter from the day before. His eventually walked off and mine never showed.
After the morning hunt we decided that the next legal buck was fair game. Of course we had nothing but does come by the rest of the weekend with no doe tag. Skunked again 2 years in a row on this quota even though we could have tagged out the 1st morning both years. I just picked up a tag for the same WMA on this last FCFS Monday. My buddy can't make it but I'm already positive that the 1st legal buck will be eating lead.
I'm not a meat hunter. Only 2 of us in my house will eat venison. My 1st of the year gets made into sausage. The next is burger and cubed. Another one is just icing on the cake. I do give out some venison to friends each year. On my place in Ga. I will be taking a couple does early on hopefully and then I'll be horn hunting the rest of the year. My buddy on the other hand is a meat hunter. He burgers up most of his deer. They don't buy burger at all. Their freezer has been empty for almost a month now so needless to say his wife wasn't happy I talked him into passing on the younger bucks. She has already made it clear that ain't happening again. :chain
