Mature Whitetail Buck Harvest Highest Ever Reported in U.S.

[greg]

Interesting change..

Mature Whitetail Buck Harvest Highest Ever Reported in U.S. - Big Deer

If it’s brown it’s down! A lot of us started out deer hunting that way decades ago, but those days are finally over. According to the National Deer Association’s 2021 Whitetail Report, hunters killed more mature bucks in the 2019-20 season than ever reported. Out of a harvest of 2.9 million...

bigdeerblog.com

 

[gregr]

Yeah...the world was a better place when the slogan was; "If it`s brown it`s down". Since the trophy mania has become the norm, leasing agents have caused many regular hunting guys to lose the properties they`ve hunted for decades. The "serious" hunters mock and berate the meat hunter who shoots what makes them happy and stocks their freezers with venison, just because the antler inches weren`t, in their minds, adequate.
Hunting used to be, and should be about fun, time spent with friends and family, time spent in the woods and field, searching for unarguably, the most popular big-game animal in North America, the white-tail deer.

 

[rooster]

I’d like to know where they got the stats since most states don’t require any kind of aging on deer. Add to it that the only way to reliably age a deer is by tooth deformation not body/rack size and I got some serious doubts about this stat.

 

[DadSmith]

Yeah...the world was a better place when the slogan was; "If it`s brown it`s down". Since the trophy mania has become the norm, leasing agents have caused many regular hunting guys to lose the properties they`ve hunted for decades. The "serious" hunters mock and berate the meat hunter who shoots what makes the happy and stocks their freezers with venison, just because the antler inches weren`t, in their minds, adequate.
Hunting used to be, and should be about fun, time spent with friends and family, time spent in the woods and field, searching for unarguably, the most popular big-game animal in North America, the white-tail deer.

I'll take a doe over a buck in my freezer every time.

 

[greg]

Yeah...the world was a better place when the slogan was; "If it`s brown it`s down". Since the trophy mania has become the norm, leasing agents have caused many regular hunting guys to lose the properties they`ve hunted for decades. The "serious" hunters mock and berate the meat hunter who shoots what makes the happy and stocks their freezers with venison, just because the antler inches weren`t, in their minds, adequate.
Hunting used to be, and should be about fun, time spent with friends and family, time spent in the woods and field, searching for unarguably, the most popular big-game animal in North America, the white-tail deer.

If someone loses their so called place to hunt (for free)that falls on the shoulders of the land owner but I am sure it will be blamed on something/someone else.

Times change and so do hunters and land owners, shoot what make you happy and stay in your lane.

 

[gregr]

If someone loses their so called place to hunt (for free)that falls on the shoulders of the land owner but I am sure it will be blamed on something/someone else.

Times change and so do hunters and land owners, shoot what make you happy and stay in your lane.

It falls on the shoulders of the culture of trophy hunting. There was a time when the common man was denied the ability to hunt, and only royalty and the rich could afford the luxury of hunting. The big buck trophy culture in the United States is rapidly excluding the little guy again.
As for shooting what makes you happy, a lot of guys shoot nothing these days, since they lost access to their hunting properties due to leasing agents. But tell yourself whatever nonsense makes you feel good about the state of things.

 

[gregr]

I’d like to know where they got the stats since most states don’t require any kind of aging on deer. Add to it that the only way to reliably age a deer is by tooth deformation not body/rack size and I got some serious doubts about this stat.

Indiana hunters once had the great blessing of the opportunity to potentially kill 2 bucks per season. One with archery tackle, and one with a firearm. The average number of those who "double-dipped" as it was called, was relatively low. Around 16% if I remember correctly. But then the trophy guys got the ear of the DNR, and even though there is no sound biological game management basis for it, we got shafted with the One Buck Rule, (OBR). And the trophy guys never let up. They`ve since lobbied for antler restrictions and other trophy directed mandates that do nothing but reduce hunting opportunities for those who are not trophy hunters.

 

[greg]

Indiana hunters once had the great blessing of the opportunity to potentially kill 2 bucks per season. One with archery tackle, and one with a firearm. The average number of those who "double-dipped" as it was called, was relatively low. Around 16% if I remember correctly. But then the trophy guys got the ear of the DNR, and even though there is no sound biological game management basis for it, we got shafted with the One Buck Rule, (OBR). And the trophy guys never let up. They`ve since lobbied for antler restrictions and other trophy directed mandates that do nothing but reduce hunting opportunities for those who are not trophy hunters.

So a Trophy hunter is a person who wants to shoot ONE buck not two.
That make perfect sense,Thanks!

 

[DadSmith]

I'd like to be able to hunt deer at night when they are active. If you can hunt predators and varmints at night why not deer?

 

[KARP]

In 53 years of deer hunting there is one thing I have learned, " you can't eat the horns".

 

[BigRed]

I’d like to know where they got the stats since most states don’t require any kind of aging on deer. Add to it that the only way to reliably age a deer is by tooth deformation not body/rack size and I got some serious doubts about this stat.

Save for Louisianna and Mississippi, I've hunted those states.....I would not describe them as anything near a "hot bed" for big bucks. Actually, it's quite the opposite. I suspect they are pulling high fenced and ranch hunting into the numbers.

Whitetails tend to be better the further north one goes....at least in the wild.

 

[BigRed]

I'd like to be able to hunt deer at night when they are active. If you can hunt predators and varmints at night why not deer?

I would support this for thieves and thugs, but they seem even more protected than wildlife....and I do not want to hijack the thread.

 

[BigRed]

I was at a fundraiser for Ducks Unlimited a while back. Amongst the live auction items was a "guided northern deer hunt".

I didn't pay much attention to the details but started bidding to get some funds going.

Bird guys are not always deer guys, so I ended up "winning the prize".

Once I got the details, I learned it was a ranch over in Ohio where the "prize" got me onto a ranch where selectively bred deer were turned loose. Additional charges applied based on a scale of "trophy size".

They were also proud of their "luxury hotel like" accomadations and the fact that they could arrange for "fly ins" to a nearby private airport.

Well, good for ******* you!

The whole thing was a bull**** effort aimed at getting pansies in to shoot an animal, get a rack, and give them a so called "hunting story" to tell.

To Hell with that bull****.

That IS NOT HUNTING.

The only two good outcomes to the mess were that Ducks Unlimited got a decent donation and I got the opportunity to share my opinion with the operator of the place.

 

[greg]

It falls on the shoulders of the culture of trophy hunting. There was a time when the common man was denied the ability to hunt, and only royalty and the rich could afford the luxury of hunting. The big buck trophy culture in the United States is rapidly excluding the little guy again.
As for shooting what makes you happy, a lot of guys shoot nothing these days, since they lost access to their hunting properties due to leasing agents. But tell yourself whatever nonsense makes you feel good about the state of things.

If you think that everyone that leases land to hunt are Trophy hunters you have no clue about the “state of things”.Period

 

[gregr]

If you think that everyone that leases land to hunt are Trophy hunters you have no clue about the “state of things”.Period

I never said, nor insinuated that. What I said was, trophy hunting has caused the surge in leasing agents. THAT has led to an awful lot of blue collar guys losing access to properties they`ve hunted for decades.
It`s more than fine if a hunter wants to trophy hunt. It`s equally fine if a hunter wants to hunt merely for the meat and the experience. What isn`t fine is the trophy guys getting the DNR to cram trophy based regulations down everyone elses throats, which results in hunting opportunities being taken away from the non-trophy hunter. THAT`S what I said.

 

[gregr]

I was at a fundraiser for Ducks Unlimited a while back. Amongst the live auction items was a "guided northern deer hunt".

I didn't pay much attention to the details but started bidding to get some funds going.

Bird guys are not always deer guys, so I ended up "winning the prize".

Once I got the details, I learned it was a ranch over in Ohio where the "prize" got me onto a ranch where selectively bred deer were turned loose. Additional charges applied based on a scale of "trophy size".

They were also proud of their "luxury hotel like" accomadations and the fact that they could arrange for "fly ins" to a nearby private airport.

Well, good for ******* you!

The whole thing was a bull**** effort aimed at getting pansies in to shoot an animal, get a rack, and give them a so called "hunting story" to tell.

To Hell with that bull****.

That IS NOT HUNTING.

The only two good outcomes to the mess were that Ducks Unlimited got a decent donation and I got the opportunity to share my opinion with the operator of the place.

It`s unfortunate that some are fine with the high-fence "hunting", which isn`t hunting at all. Fair chase of free ranging game is the only real hunting there is.

 

[gregr]

I'll take a doe over a buck in my freezer every time.

Honestly, I`ve never detected a difference in the taste of a buck or doe. So, to that end, whether it`s a little 6-pointer or a big racked 12-pointer, or a yearling doe, or an old matriarch doe, they`re all fine table fare.

 

[gregr]

I'd like to be able to hunt deer at night when they are active. If you can hunt predators and varmints at night why not deer?

There`s this fair chase thing...

 

[Rookie]

Not that I care since I don't deer hunt, but what does fair chase have to do with night hunting?

 

[greg]

I never said, nor insinuated that. What I said was, trophy hunting has caused the surge in leasing agents. THAT has led to an awful lot of blue collar guys losing access to properties they`ve hunted for decades.
It`s more than fine if a hunter wants to trophy hunt. It`s equally fine if a hunter wants to hunt merely for the meat and the experience. What isn`t fine is the trophy guys getting the DNR to cram trophy based regulations down everyone elses throats, which results in hunting opportunities being taken away from the non-trophy hunter. THAT`S what I said.

You got and data to back up your claim that leasing agents have surged do solely to Trophy hunters? Or is that simply your opinion! Leasing agents serve all hunters.

DNR takes public input on ALL rule changes so don't give us the BS about DNR cramming stuff down hunters throat's that simply another false statement.