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

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.