Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Lucky, Good, or Cheating?

My season ended in an unusual way Saturday so I thought I’d share. It’s been a pretty slow season around here. With very little rainfall, the field work was pretty well nonstop. I never made it out during muzzleloader or archery season and didn’t get any trail cams up until early November. I hadn’t seen anything with great antlers or anything that looked super mature on any of the 3 properties I hunt, so I’d only been out twice with a rifle in the first 10 days of rifle season. I just haven’t been motivated this year for some reason. There was only one buck I was considering shooting if I had the opportunity, a nice 8 point that had been showing up at my feeder about 90 minutes after dark pretty consistently since rifle season started, but I’ve never seen him in daylight. I hunted that feeder on a terribly windy day last Thursday evening and never saw a deer.

Saturday, the day before rifle season closed, I had to attend little league basketball all morning and a funeral in the afternoon so I didn’t go hunting. About 5:15 pm I’m sitting on my couch and happen to open up the Tactacam app on my phone. When the app refreshed, I’ll be damned if the first pic that pops up is that 8 point walking to my feeder and the picture was only 1 minute old. I thought for a few seconds before I jumped up and told my wife I was leaving. I quickly changed my clothes , grabbed my backpack and rifle and took off.

I only had about 15 minutes of shooting time when I left my driveway and the buck was 3 miles away. The feeder he was at is near the middle of the section about 850 yards from the road, in a field bordered by trees on 3 sides and a railroad track with an overgrown right away on the other. I pulled into a field on the other side of the tracks and idled up the edge about 300 yards to a trail I’ve cleared to walk across the tracks. I walked across the right away with just a few minutes of shooting time left and getting darker by the second. I had forgotten my good binoculars so I was just using the cheap pair I keep in my hunting buggy. Being about 500 yards from the feeder it was too dark in my binos to see if the buck was still there. So I once again checked the Tactacam app and it showed me he was still at my feeder.

I slumped down and began walking along the fence line as quickly as I could to still be quiet. I stopped a couple times and got on the ground with my bipod but couldn’t see well enough to shoot so I kept going, luckily it’s dark enough now that he couldn’t see me well either. Finally I got to a terrace top and layed down again. Here I realized my see through scope cap was down and that’s why I couldn’t see through the scope. After I flipped it up, I could clearly see my target buck. He must’ve heard me as he had backed away from the feeder and was turned broadside and looking right at me.

I thought I might be around 300 yards away so I held about 6 inches high and let ‘er rip. As soon as I could get back on the scope I looked for the buck running away and didn’t see him. I got on my knees with the binos and quickly looked again, still no deer. Then I noticed what looked like a dark hump on the ground next to the feeder. There he was DRT, which I wasn’t expecting being a lung shooter. I looked at my phone again and the time was 5:34, the last legal minute of shooting time. It had been less than 20 minutes since I’d been laying on my couch watching tv. Turns out I was only 200 yards away so I hit 6 inches higher than I intended, I also hit a few inches forward, so instead of a lung hit it turned into a high shoulder/ base of neck shot. I was shooting a Remington BDL SS DM 25-06. This was the first rifle I ever bought when I was 17 in 1997. On top of it is a 3-9x50 Vari-X II with heavy duplex, which came in mighty useful. Here is the pic I got while on my couch, the first pic my camera took after I walked up to him, and the hero pic.

I’ve been using feeders for 20 years but I believe this is only the second deer I’ve ever shot that was actually standing at the feeder, and without cellular trail cams I wouldn’t have known he was there at all, even when I was 500 yards away. So what does the fire think, good, lucky, or legal cheater? Either way, I’m happy to have a successful end to my season.

As long as it's all legal...........

I think you’re all three pretty good shot considering, lucky everything worked out in such a short amount of time, and a legal cheater because the trail cam pics are the only reason you knew he was there. All said everything was legal and he’s a great buck, congratulations!

I think a little bit of cheating. Game camera to keep watch and baiting with a feeder, nothing to do with luck nor being a good hunter.. But hey, if it is legal in Kansas, and you are happy, go for it.

Here in Colorado baiting illegal. I have never used a game camera, but have sat close to a cornfield that was already harvested. If I am looking to fill the freezer, I use any legal method of take. If trying to score on a big trophy, buck that is another story. What you do and what I do doesn't matter to each of us and shouldn't matter to anyone else, but you asked for an opinion.

I’m good with it as long as you don’t call it hunting.

Good story. I think its cool. People use trail cams, so what. You got busy and utilized your resources. Congrats. He's a cool deer!

Nice buck👍👍👍

neat story congrats ,and thanks for the story,Pete53 > i would have shot too !

Next time put out the feeder within shooting distance if the bathroom and you won’t even have to leave the house.

Looks like a fine 3 1/2 yo buck. I remember when it was illegal to use electronic communication to kill deer. If you're good with it I'm good with it. I've never personally killed a deer using a game camera, but I've killed a few hogs.

I can in no way judge how you hunt/shoot deer.
If it's legal to have a feeder then that's you.
It's not hunting to me....

Not how I would do it, ever, but if you're happy.

Nice buck but I don’t consider shooting deer at a feeder hunting especially with the cell cam. But if it’s legal Ok. It sounds like a tough hunt!

Ummm.....

Judge not, lest we be judged.

Nice buck. I would never let one like that walk if legal.

Deer especially older ones become wise to feeders. They are careful around them and usually check the fringes for hot does that are using them. Don't let these whiners and backbiters make yo feel guilty for shooting a nice buck at a feeder where legal.

Looks like a nice buck from here - congrats.

Not my style but a HELL of a deer!

All legal and made it just in time. Sometimes timing is everything. Nice buck!

The whole history of hunting is on of increasing exploitation of technology. What we consider ethical behavior is an artificial construct shaped by a number of factors, not the least of which are emotional: jealousy, fear, competitiveness….

One spot I hunt here, SC, I shoot deer at a feeder because, for a few reasons, it’s the only practical way. It’s a pretty densely populated area, you have to shoot from an elevated position, there are a lot of deer, and you need to kill them DRT or nearly so. When I go up north to hunt, I prefer to go off in the big woods, “cold” so to speak, and seek out deer.

Not for me to judge how others do it. My primary concern, I guess, is in taking an ethical shot that you are very confident will result in a quick, humane kill, and if something does go wrong, you make every effort to follow up.

This has been my experience as well. Hunting around feeders is not the same as shooting fish in a barrel. Feeders are good ways to get pics of what’s in the area, but mature bucks have not been frequent visitors, especially in daytime. Most bucks that do occasionally visit one in the daytime seem to only be there a couple minutes. FWIW- I never imagined he’d still be at the feeder when I got there, but it wasn’t about to stop me from shooting him. I was hoping to catch him out in that 38 acre field somewhere, likely working back to the way I came from because I think that side of the road is where he had been coming from to get to my feeder after dark recently.

I knew some old heads would flame me, it was still a fun and different experience for me. I never really thought I could get that close and get a shot in 20 minutes. I fully realize it wouldn’t have been a rewarding experience for everyone. But hey, back straps are in the freezer and jerky will be here shortly. What the haters don’t realize is there are at least 5 different hunters with corn piles within a mile of my feeder. That’s just the way things are around here. Square sections with roads every mile, usually 4-6 landowners and 2-5 hunters per section. Our local co-op sells over 10,000 pounds of sacked whole corn per week in the fall. Many weeks much more than 10,000. The out of staters that are buying up the land around here buy it trailer fulls at a time.

The best part is that you are comparatively young and asking the question. You will figure it out for yourself which is really the only way it can be figured out. Pa Ingalls used to get his buck by setting out a salt lick and checking it for tracks until it was being visited every night by a big deer. Then on a full moon night he'd climb in a tree and shoot his deer. I'd have a hard time if you didn't eat the venison. Since you're looking for opinions, I like to have a better hunting story at the end than you do now. So, maybe you cheated yourself out of something. But, "cheating" as in unethical? No. You're good, enjoy your deer!

Not sure anyone ‘flamed you’, rather they responded to *your* request for feedback. I’m also not sure why you think folks who didn’t jump up and down with joy over your story are ‘old heads’?

When you post a story and ask for feedback, you are probably gonna get some that your don’t like. I think you knew that as you allude to such in your original post. You know your story and method probably wouldn’t be viewed positively by everyone.

The bottom like is this: outside of obeying the law you only have yourself to answer to. If what you did was legal (sounds like it was) and *you* are happy with it, that’s all that matters. If you feel like maybe what you did wasn’t very sporting or or didn’t feel ‘right’ to you, maybe don’t do it again. To hell with what anyone else thinks.

Very nice buck there pard.

👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

^^^And This^^^

Big bucks don’t come to my feeders. They scout the fringe areas for does as hogwild7 said.
I’ve only killed does and hogs, and spikes at my feeders. Never a big Buck.

As long as its legal who cares what anyone else thinks. I have hunted with the use of feeders in a world of pine thickets for over 20 years and can only say that I have killed one buck at a feeder in all that time. Mature bucks are very seldom taken at feeders in my part of the "Sportsman's Paradise." But almost everyone I know feeds corn to deer anyway. I guess I've always thought if the does stay around long enough the the bucks will come to the does eventually.
If you take that buck to the taxidermist will you always remember that you "cheated" or that you "got lucky?" I think its how you see it that matters. As long as an animal is harvested legally I think I wouldn't worry about what others think.
Like pete53 said, I would've shot it too!

How long are those tines? Ive got one with 11”+ g2’s and yours definitely looks longer

Venison is venison, and I like it! Nice buck. I would have whacked him.

This:
"The bottom like is this: outside of obeying the law you only have yourself to answer to."

You asked, some answered, you didn't like some of the answers, so you go to insults. Typical idiot.

I don’t see any indication that he didn’t like any of the responses he got, just that he expected some would flame him (which, again in my opinion, none did.) I’m pretty old (75) and don’t think referring to someone as an “old head” rises to the level of being an insult, unlike referring to someone as a “typical idiot.”

Fair enough, fat ass.

OP probably would not have asked if he didn't have little nagging thought about it. Asking an opinion is different than asking for a fact.

Ethics is what you do when no on else is around to see it.

No flame here I as I posted a originally

Really old head here.

That's a really nice deer. Congratulations on your success.

I don't know where you are at in life, what stage or anything, so I can't really say that you cheated. You are certainly fortunate to have multiple properties with bucks like that on them plus you made a good shot. I can say that when life is pulling you in 3 directions and you are doing what you can to be a good parent and husband, you are doing some things right, so good job.

At this stage of my life, with my kids not completely gone but really just needing money and a little wisdom occasionally, I would be robbing myself of the experience if I took short cuts. However, when my kids were little and I had minimal time to hunt, I would have appreciated this sort of thing. Now, I'd rather sit and enjoy the hunt with no deer harvested than take an easy road. Twice in my hunting I've left the house and returned in less than an hour with a deer and I was overjoyed. I had little kids and a semi-patient wife and needed to get back asap. Now, id rather be gone 3 days or more if I can, soaking up the atmosphere of the hunt and my buddies and the outdoors.

Do the wheels on the bus still go round & round?

I was brought up around old timers who believed hunting was a combination of knowing your game and their habits, knowing the ground where your game will be found and stalking. That pulling the trigger was a very minor part and culmination of the hunt. You then had to have knife and skinning skills and know how to preserve your meat. But to stalk your prey required woodsmanship, reading sign, managing your scent and knowing the ground to get a shot. Out West you better be able to climb and know how to scramble over loose rocks, fallen timber etc. and ride and pack a horse. Stalking, still hunting etc. is hard work but the more you do the more you learn. The use of good optics really doesn’t lessen the need for stalking skills since once your prey is spotted you still have to cover a lot of downwind ground to get a shot. So no, hunting over feeders is closer to trapping in my mind and shooting game at extreme range eliminates stalking, on foot anyway, and of course eliminates the animals protective senses so it amounts to sniping rather than hunting.

Addendum: Now that I’ve preached I have mixed feelings. I need to understand some folks can’t get out and dedicate the hours to learn stalking or have friends and uncles to show them. Like myself this past eight years some are physically incapable. Others don’t live where they can walk or drive a short distance to learn the country or follow game. And of course way more only have so much time away from their jobs and family commitments to pay for travel, outfitters etc. To those I apologize. But more than that every person who buys a license, supports hunt country mom & pop businesses and counts as a hunter when the numbers are diminishing we should all be thankful

Rick

Can I consider name calling getting flamed? lol. I can assure you there have been no responses here that have made or ruined my day, or were not expected. I’m a long time reader but seldom poster here. Strangers on the net aren’t affecting my life at all. Like I mentioned originally, this was not a usual or expected outcome of my season. Nor have I represented this as a trophy buck experience that I cherish. So why did I post it? To start a conversation.

Everyone has different opinions and methods based on upbringing, personal experiences, and location. Whitetail deer are the only big game animal I hunt. I’ve never hunted them anywhere other than the same handful of farms located within 5 miles of where I grew up and still live. I also did not have family that hunted and I’ve never hunted deer with anyone else other than kids I’ve taken. I enjoy reading stories and looking at pictures of other’s landscape, hunt setup, and deer. Some hunts go just as planned and some don’t. They’re all interesting to me. I figure there are others out there that like to see something different than they’re used to as well.

I hope you and all others reading this found success some way with your season this year. That could be a peaceful sit, a freezer full of meat, the wall hanger you’ve been chasing, or just a new and different experience whether you filled a tag or not. Happy Holidays to the Fire.

Nice buck? Absolutely. Are you happy with him? That’s up to you. The fact you felt the need to pose the question speaks volumes… I’ve killed many a deer at a feeder… I truly am happy for you but your punched tag was absolutely NOT! fair chase. You know that.

Todd

Nice buck. Congratulations! As long as it is legal, which it is in my home state of Kentucky, I would do it as well.

These are pretty much my thoughts on the matter. Years ago I worked with a young man who felt shooting deer any way, any time he could was hunting and was proud of the bucks he killed no matter the circumstances under which they were taken. He was a prolific road hunter, would drive the back roads for hours, pull over and shoot out the window of his vehicle, posted land or not made no difference as long as houses were far enough away that he couldn't be seen. He'd sometimes shoot and drive away, returning in the wee hours to retrieve his kills. He'd shoot deer out of season, with a rifle during bow season, on posted private property without permission or at night with a light. He thought he was a great white hunter of big bucks. I tried to tell him that unfortunately those bucks didn't count as any kind of trophy or evidence that he was a skilled hunter because he broke all the rules and it wasn't fair chase. He just didn't get that line of thinking at all and would reply "what do you mean, I killed them, I ate them, the horns are on my wall, how do they not count ? ".... He just didn't get it. There are many like him out there today, whether they're hunting over bait, using electronic serveilance, shooting from vehicles, shooting from 1000 yards away, whatever. It's not fair chase but they're either oblivious, dishonest or just don't care if it's hunting or fair chase or not as long as they make the kill.

How is it any different than using a suppressed rifle with a 3000 dollar optic and popping deer from 1000 yards away. Technology changes the hunting game. Often times more than not. He still had to go out and get it done. Which he did. If your that much of a purist, then grab a longbow and a flintlock. It's all right place, right time anyways.
Congrats on the deer man. Again.

It's a matter of legal or illegal, not whether it is cheating or not.

Legal doesn't neccesarily equal ethical, sporting, fair chase or even "hunting". It's legal to shoot deer off their feeder inside a small enclousure/high fence. Sometimes killing is just killing. The OP killed a deer. Whether he hunted or not or killed it under fair chase is debatable.

The difference is that "legal" is reasonably objective. We can all agree (again, within reason) on what is legal and not legal. "Ethical," "sporting," "fair chase," and "hunting" are all subjective to some extent, so not everyone will agree. As you said, debatable.

I figured most of the negative comments would come from the cell camera not the feeder. Funny the people that think a feeder takes all the work out of it. Meanwhile I haven’t see a good buck at a feeder in a few years on my lease and spent the last couple of weeks planning on new spots in the woods away from food plots for next year.

I don’t care how you killed him, that’s up to you. My only comment would be that it’s a mistake to not hunt an area just because you don’t have good bucks on camera. Year in, year out the best deer killed on our lease never walked in front of a camera. Mature bucks have an uncanny ability to avoid them. Kind of like fishing, you gotta go to know.

I’d put it in the freezer gladly, probably wouldn’t put it on the wall though. I’d hate to have to tell that story to anyone that asked about it.

I’m

Cheers. Great deer.

To those who think the criteria for hunting is just a matter of legal or not completely miss the ethical concept of ‘ fair chase ‘. Those who in the financial world who exploit legal loopholes or those companies that misrepresent their products because it’s technically legal are taking advantage of the public, our lands, resources and the general public’s inherent rights. The Kodak vs Polaroid suits are a perfect example of this mind set. Kodak stole Polaroids patents and engineering property knowing very well they could make a monetary killing selling a stolen property by dragging it through the courts for decades until the patent ran out. Was it legal, yes, but was it ethical absolutely NOT.

The entire basis of public law , ( John Stuart Mill ), is based on ethics and protection of your fellow man. In a truly ethical society you don’t need politicians constantly rewriting legal code trying to contain loopholes. So to those who believe technology will always drive and change the ethical rules of hunting I truly believe sooner than later we will find ourselves hunting from our homes with cameras, drones and remote firing mechanisms. Sounds crazy but if technology keeps on encroaching on hunting, much like 360° scanning fishing sonars, the true foundation of the hunt is over. Understand the rate of technological growth has completely overrun hundreds of years of law. New gadgets could care less about ethics since they only do their job. The legal system cannot keep pace with technological advancement but shouldn’t hunters be able to draw the line. I sure hope so

Rick

?🤷🏼‍♂️

I honestly don’t know where that post attributed to me came from. I’m confused too

👍🏼

Ethics according to who??? What happened that wasn't fair chase? Is it like when gunpowder was introduced to hunting? The ethics argument is a personal conviction and what you think versus what someone else thinks is ultimately determined by the law.

seems to me that hunting over a feeder is much the same as hunting over a water tank/hole, or over a well used game trail. Nothing wrong with doing any of that. After all, we humans are smart enough to know to hunt in a spot that gives us the best chance at the opportunity to fill any given tag.

Congrats on a nice buck.

Great buck!

Feeding and baiting deer are illegal here as is using electronic communication during a hunt, hunting from a motorized vehicle of any kind and running deer with dogs. It's been that way for as far back as I can remember and I'm in my 60's so naturally most hunters here think of them as unsporting practices. Obviously anything goes in other States so hunters there tend to think these things are OK.

Nice buck!

Grok thought Ong wasn’t ethical when he put a stone tip on the end of his spear instead of just using a fire-hardened sharpened stick like a real sportsman.

Reminds me from way back when Virginia allowed inline muzzle-loaders *GASP* and a few years later scopes on those inlines!!!

Yeah, same progression and debate in Georgia back in the day…

So does it ever end for the guys who think everything goes ? You alright with hunting from your living room or office with remote cameras and drones ? Is there any point at which it ceases to be hunting and becomes just killing ? I find it somewhat strange that a group of people who largely self identify as staunchly conservative are so liberal when it comes to what constitutes fair chase and sporting hunting practices.

Whatever else it is, it’s a good story…..

I don’t do any of those “questionable” things, but don’t care what you do.

More libertarian. I know what works for me, but I'm not going to try to impose my standards on someone else.

What's the problem? If he had seen the deer at a feeder or food plot out in the pasture behind his house and went out and propped up on the hood of his truck and shot it at 300 yards the only thing missing would be the camera.

The ethical issue I sort of have is people who shoot stuff they or their family don't eat. That is unless it is a predator or nuisance that is causing problems. We keep out corn to keep the doe deer out of trouble on neighboring property and occasionally one of the kids or grandkids shoots a buck.

That 'Hunters for the Hungry' deal is kind of a guilt release for shooting something you didn't want.

These days I just scout for the kids, all I ever shoot anymore is hogs, pit bulls, and anything else with a taste for calves.

As long as you were legally licensed using the
legal means and methods during legal
hours, that's all that counts
Be happy with it

My motto is
Hunt your own hunt and let me hunt mine

Yes but you are from Texas and as another long time poster has said here repeatedly, "what passes for hunting in Texas is never not hilarious".

I find it interesting when people think they are conservative but want to stop others from doing anything they don’t like. Very liberal mindset….

You mean like conservatives who love their alcohol but don't think others should be allowed to smoke pot ? Those kind of conservatives ?

Pretty much.

You must find this place and it's conservatives pretty interesting then.

I’m here for guns and hunting. I stay far far away from the general campfire forum and all the political [bleep].

There’s a pretty big divide between that and sitting on your ass watching TV getting notifications from you cellular camera then driving over and shooting the deer.
Feeder, who cares.

Hunting and shooting are 2 different things altogether. I know in places like Texas, you don’t have any chance of killing a deer without help, but in Montana, baiting isn’t legal. Public access to public property here is much more conducive to hunting than shooting and for more reasons than that alone, is why I live in Montana…

If it's legal and you eat it, shoot it if you want it. I bet almost everyone here would have shot that deer including the ones whose family won't eat venison.

Another thing looked down on is shooting siting ducks. I went wood duck shooting with my neighbor. He shot 3 flying, I ground swatted 3. He gave me his ducks. My 3 were much better for eating as there were no steel shot to dig out of the breast meat.

I have more respect for a man legally hunting for meat than a purist.

By the way, I have a wall full of good whitetail antlers.

I've seen champion skeet shooters shoot dove off a wire..... and then ask me after the hunt why I wouldn't shoot. We all hunt for different reasons.

1995 was different time.

You are the liberal idiot. Listening to you ethics/hunting is unacceptable unless it fits your definition. LMAO

Apparently for many it's just to kill something the easiest way they can. Texans in particular are good with calling anything that results in a dead animal hunting and being proud of it. They seem to have zero understanding or regard for the words sporting, fair chase or even wild animal. Unfortunately these people who think anything is fine as long as it results in a dead animal give a black eye to hunters and hunting in the eyes of the non hunting public and make us look like lazy, blood thirsty, slobs.

You are truly clueless aren't you.

Tell us more of what you know about TX hunting. LMAO

This thread has been using the term “ ethics “ throughout so maybe it should be clarified. Ethics and morals can be confusing since they generally go hand in hand but they are different. Killing for the sake of just killing may not be unethical or illegal but it’s immoral . “ Ethics refers to well-founded standards of right and wrong that prescribe what humans ought to do, usually in terms of rights, obligations, benefits to society, fairness, or specific virtues.” Ethics are the foundation for our laws and how the public must act. Almost every profession such as medical has a set of Ethics that in effect are laws of performance or obligations. Break these ethical rules and you lose your license.

Morals are generally unwritten except in the Bible and other sources. These are the rules of conduct that most people learn through life and family not through law books. Each person has an inner moral compass that without stopping to think about steer a persons actions. Disregard your moral code and it’s usually going to result in a damaged soul or self punishment. Unlike Muslim civilizations who follow laws derived from the Koran, the Western civilizations follow ethical laws, many of which are founded in the Bible but others that are developed by a countries founders such as the Constitution etc. so when somebody says hunting is unethical they really mean immoral. Though many will state their morals are their own it must be understood that a personal moral code has more in common with others than not. Few would disagree that murder, stealing, messing around with somebody’s wife,abusing children or cheating is not a moral violation otherwise ethical laws would be impossible.

Just Spitballing
Rick

A Texan calling me clueless when it comes to hunting is hilarious !

so it seems some would believe that shooting a tree'd mtn. lion wouldn't be "sporting"
What about shooting a turkey on the ground? Heck, they can fly so why not flush them and give them a "sporting" chance
What about rabbit hunting, is it only sporting if ya shoot 'em on the run?
Hunting bear over bait "sporting"
what about antelope over water, sporting?

Seems some of ya believe that if it's not done "your" way that it isn't sporting.

I generally agree with you. I believe killing animals just for the sake of doing so is immoral even when technically legal. My point is that morality or "the way we hunt" is still subjective to a person's personal standard of belief - unless illegal of course. You don't have to condone or agree but at least respect that right.

I have no problem congratulating the OP on a good deer. He used available legal technology to his advantage and was successful. Don't most of us do that when we hunt? Are we still hunting the same way it was done 200 years ago when it was about sustaining family and not sport? Of course not. Is that wrong? Of course not.

The only thing I would have done differently had I been the OP is never bring it up to this group. Not because I was ashamed of how I hunted but because I wouldn't want to invite the "holier than thou" attitudes.

Show me otherwise dip chit.

This^^^^^

Do you even know what LMAO means? A little touchy aren’t we?

No, not really, just calling you out for a BS statement. I know what it means for me - of course maybe in Montana it means something else.

By the way, I also called you a hypocrite in another thread - since we are talking about be "a little touchy" - LMAO

The non hunting public will ultimately decide whether hunting continues and what methods and technology will be allowed. In case your dumb ass hasn't noticed, several methods are already illegal and others have been outlawed in some States because they were considered unsporting and not fair chase. For instance, baiting and/or running bears, mountain lions and deer with dogs. It's the reason Boone and Crocket and Pope and Young don't allow entrance of pen killed/high fenced animals into the books, because it's not considered fair chase.

If you did it legally - I'm not gonna be upset.

For me tho - that was a killing, not hunting. The feeder doesn't matter to me - it's the camera with phone notification. That's not hunting to me and that's not the way I'd have done things myself. But you are the only one that has to look yourself in the mirror or at the deer. I think tho, you'd not have asked if you felt 100% okay with it. Part of you feels like it was cheating and you're taking a temperature check from others to see if you're right/wrong on that. Don't know if responses have given you the answer you want.

Just for me - legal, ok - I'm not kicking dirt on your deer. It was a good killing. I'd not exactly call it hunting tho - not for me and, me personally, I'd not feel all that enthused myself. Getting the notification on the phone and heading out then to shoot it - feels a lot like just getting a coupon in the mail and headed down to the Piggly Wiggly for venison.

Basically my thoughts as well. Although I'm personlly not big on baiting either and am glad it's illegal here, I know it's legal and accepted as legit in some areas.

Not sure how this proves your hunting prowess but OK... Funny you mention "some states" but you were talking about how much better you are than a Texas hunter. I think you are a little jealous and still a clueless dipchit.

I average 5-7 deer a season, no bait, no food plots, no lease fees, no cameras, no range finder, no turret twisting, no elevated stands, mostly on public land. Why the fuuck would I be jealous of a Texan that has to pay out the ass to sit in a box watching a feeder ? Oh and I may not be good but my hunting partners say I'm the luckiest damn deer hunter they've ever seen and I'd rather be lucky than good any day.

Sure you are kicking dirt on the guys deer. You are just trying to be nice about it. But he did ask for it.

I have several cell cameras and look at them daily. Not asking for your thoughts or opinions as I don't really give a chit.

My question is where do you say hunting technology stops and becomes Piggly Wiggly? Was it when we started using gunpowder or when hunting around farm fields became ok? I know, it's when we started driving our pickup trucks hundreds of miles to "hunt". You do know that hog hunting took on new technology with the invention of the flashlight and we got rid of the fire torches. Wade through my sarcasm and hopefully you see my point.

This whole I do it better than you or my ethics are higher than yours is BS. Hunting is regional and a privilege. Why rain on someone because you have a different opinion. Chances are if we were S TX neighbors you would hunt just like we do in S TX. If I was from a western state I would do the same. If I was from New York - I would just quit. LOL.