Hear entirely too much "should have left it grow".
BS spoken by trophy hunters. (Or wannabe)
Too darn much TV. Every deer video is on some private pay to hunt farm. Some, are pen raised, many are "free range" but still "managed".
Guys think real life is like that.
So they shït on another guys trophy. Pretty sure they have bad feeling toward "meat hunters".
The flip side is what has been done to our deer herd. We used to be covered in deer. PGC managed for numbers and opportunities.
Then, buck fever took hold. (Or money fever)
Kill off the does, antler restrictions.... Now it is opportunity to kill bigger bucks. And it has worked. We see nicer bucks. For PA.
But, we used to have lots of deer. Knew I could find some by taking a little walk. Very rarely hunted and didn't at least jump some.
People actually upset we didn't hunt with them. It was social, Little posted land.
Now? Fewer deer. Posted land. Folks don't want anyone hunting on them. Fewer places to hunt, even though there are almost 1/3 fewer hunters.
Driven by trophy hunting!
Last 2 bucks I killed were the 2 biggest ever. But I used to see deer. Hunting was fun, killed a lot of deer, we pretty much ate deer meat as our red meat.
Can legally get a bunch of tags now. Can't, in good conscience, kill several does. Feel guilty shooting one.
Absolutely. The trophy hunting craze has ruined whitetail hunting across the country. Everywhere that becomes known for trophy bucks, the posted signs go up right along with the lease fees and it goes from being a fun and relaxing sport for the masses to another rich mans dick measuring contest. We've been fighting the push for statewide antler restrictions in NY for years.
