Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Do you keep count.

Some keep track of number of shots fired out of each rifle.

When I was younger I started to keep track then gave up. Up until last year, I had the antlers from every deer and elk I’d shot. I cut most of them up and sold them to an antler buyer. I enjoy hunting and eating them more than storing the antlers.

Got a good friend who journals all of his hunting and fishing, and has since 1972. He has recorded every shot fired at game, whether hit or miss. Every fish caught whether crappie, trout, or carp. He does admit that on occasion, fishing will outpace his ability to record. He does his level best to describe that.

I've always thought it was a cool idea. After my divorce, while selling the house I found the beginnings of a number of journals.
Still think it's a cool idea. Don't see it happening, for me...

Yep. Started my log when I killed my first deer. It shows date, buck or doe, weight, distance shot , rifle:load, shot placement and reaction of animal. It only includes big game and where the hunt occurred. I can look back and read the entries and remember the hunts, otherwise no way could I keep up with them.

GreggH

I have never kept track of the numbers or the size or the score. Some were big and some not so big, but they all were just as important at the time and the hunts just as satisfying. I have green scored a few elk, caribou, moose and antelope myself just to satisfy my own curiosity. I never wrote any of it down and the numbers have since escaped me, because it just wasn't that important to me.

I've also measured the weight and inside spread of some of the nicer deer I've killed, but never wrote any of that down either.

Generally, the numbers and size of any of the animals are unimportant to me, and I could care less about seeing my name in a book.

The most important hunt is the next one...

No, but probably should have. Would be interesting to see how much meat has been put in the freezer.

I could give a crap about score.

But, they all fried up, right?

I never wrote anything down, but I can remember every deer I ever killed. Don't remember many dates, but remember the guns & ammo used.

My buddy who journals has a description, from when we were in high school, of me doubling on drake woodies in tight timber. He read that to me a few years back and I experienced a whole flood of memories. I could smell the truck of the guy we worked for who owned the place we hunted.

I recall a lot of things. Lotta water under that bridge...

Not as short as yours.

If you were bought for what you are worth and sold for what you thought you were worth, your buddy Biden could clear up the national debt…

I do that. A camera was too much trouble to keep with me

No journal of fish or game taken.
I have a few photos of various things, but
no written records.
At a guess I probably have around 2 dozen
deer photos, and maybe that many fishes
I've always been more interested in getting
whatever processed ASAP to preserve it
from any spoilage.
I have kept good records of what I've loaded
for each particular firearm, all the data and
how everything worked at the range, accuracy
etc.
The man that taught me to reload kept
meticulous records of all his doings, but
he shot a couple of different types of
competition as well as his hunting.
Keeping a written record has helped me weed
out the junk and keep the treasure.

Sometime this last year there was a man
rhat had felt necessary to give me a ration
of sheet over the fact that I don't have any
deer taxidermy done. He went on about
respecting the animals, blah blah blah
and this and that about some of the better
racks I've saved in a pile etc. etc.

They're meat to me along with some good
memories. As long as I have the memories
that's all that counts to me

Always thought I should keep a log of fish, game and mushrooms and any trips
involved. But sorry to say, I never got started. Wish I had. All were "trophy" regardless
of size or quantity.

Mule Deer has always impressed me with the data he has collected over the years.

Nope - never had the interest. Hang the antlers in the shack, talk about the year/hunt but no journal or anything.

Same here.

I suppose there may be some purpose to keeping count of the rounds fired through one’s rifles, but I never have. Pretty sure I’ll never wear one out. Back when I only had one or two, I didn’t have the time to shoot enough to do that, and now I have a bunch, so none of them gets used heavily. Anyway, record keeping is too much like a job to suit me. I had a job once, and don’t want another…….

Sometime this last year there was a man
rhat had felt necessary to give me a ration
of sheet over the fact that I don't have any
deer taxidermy done. He went on about
respecting the animals, blah blah blah
and this and that about some of the better
racks I've saved in a pile etc. etc.


Was he a taxidermist?😜

I just “love” guys that think they should be the ethics police for everyone else. Sorry fellers, but not only do I not mount my scrags, but given a chance I’ll ambush a turkey and shoot it with a rifle if that’s what I have, hunt with a crossbow, and even eat a bass now and then, so save your sermon.

I keep track of the rounds fired through most of my rifles, especially the favorites. My 300 is 1100 rds. down the bore this is its 3rd barrel , my .222 9000, my 223 7000, my old .22-250 2800 but this is its 3rd barrel. My Swift has 1300, and my .22-250 AI 3000. it is simple to keep a tally of rds fired. Right now the AI;s accuracy if falling off. I have a new barrel blank, looking for a smith to instale it.
As far as totals, I have kept a journal since I was 14 or 15. Ted Trueblood wrote a little essay about the fun of keeping a journal of outdoor activities. It is great. Memories come flooding back when I read about my trips from 60 years ago and a bit more. Things come back to life. As far as shooting game and fishing, those are entered into the journal. The only thing I can say, if you remember every deer you ever shot, you either have a photograhic memory or haven't shot many deer.
It has been a good life, and as I get older, those journals are wonderful.

This description from 99guy is exactly what I'd write. The experience is valuable to me. My only notes are related to load development. There are a couple notes about bullet performance in there possibly.

I have kept record of all the rounds I have loaded and the gun they were loaded for.
Also any trips to the range I recorded the accuracy. If I use the chrony I recorded that.

Nope