I agree hunting shows are a joke, for the most part. I watched one the other day and they had about 12 bucks in front of them that many people would consider the trophy of a lifetime, but they were looking for "something bigger." Many shows are filmed in locations, read 'game farms,' which most people will never have access to. It gives a false sense of reality to younger hunters.
And how 'bout hunter nowadays calling everything smaller a "cull buck." A guy at work who I've known for at least 7 years, and in that time I've never known him to kill a buck, shot a 1 antlered buck and told everybody he shot it because it needed to be "culled" from the herd. Yeah, pretty unnecessary to cull bucks from the National forest.
I hunt public land. I try and put myself in a position to kill big bucks and I do pass smaller bucks, sometimes. However, that is a personal choice and I encourage young, or new, hunters to shoot the first legal buck they see.
This year I shot a buck towards the end of season that I wouldn't have shot earlier. I'd actually already passed up several bucks slightly larger to include that one. However, after watching him through my $1700 binoculars, I looked down and realized that I have a $1500 rifle, in a $600 McMillan stock, topped with a $1500 scope, that I'd never killed a deer with. I ranged him at 237 yards, and made a perfect shot. There's a saying in the army, "train as you fight."
I'm a deer hunter. Sometimes I have to remind myself this is a hobby, and I'm just out to have fun.
As Pat McManus' friend inquired when they were outfitting him to hunt deer.... "Just how big are these deer, anyway?"
