Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game B&C Critters....

Well,mother nature is interested in the body size, general condition of the animal,as well as the antler size, because,like male birds with bright plummage,large antler size and body are the outward manifestations of the desireable traits that females are drawn to in the natural selection process of breeding.....

......and if you ever had a chance to watch breeding mule deer, whitetails and elk, at work at it, you would see that a good many showdowns between competeing males are pre-empted simply by a demonstration of superior body and antler size alone.

So if Mother Nature seems to think that large bodies and antlers are a good indication of the virile qualities of an animal from the perspective of passing on good genes,and maintaining a healthy herd,I fail to see how any of this deomonstrates any "disrespect" to the animal when we pass up a good many lesser bucks, looking for a larger, special one that meets certain standards.

The "books" that you seem not to like(Boone&Crockett)were originally set up to honor exceptional animals, and ther was considerable debate about whether the hunter/owner of a record head should even be listed at all..but nevertheless the "book" exists to honor the animal; not the hunter,although some hunters do manage to get this backward.

Setting standards has other upsides as well.....lots of smaller,younger bucks(bulls),etc., with great potential, get to grow to full maturity; your hunt lasts longer(may take years), and sometimes ends with unpunched tags(pretty frequently).See Scenars post above about going 9 years without killing.I've gone home empty many times myself,when i could easily have killed,but chose not to.This is normal....I don't recall "disrespecting" anything.

Where the disrespect comes in is when a guy dumps a splendid buck and winds up "disapointed" with the animal, treats it contemptuously because it did not "measure up" somehow....The hunter is delusional and insecure enough to believe his ego is somehow bruised or enhanced because of what he shot.I have seen this happen and it is not pretty.

I agree that sometimes trophy hunting can go "too far" with some people,that does not mean that it is in general an inherently "bad thing", or that it shows any disrespect toward other animals.

Meat hunter or trophy hunter, we all are setting a "standard" when we pull the trigger;both approaches are "good" and play a vital part in modern game management.

So, when hunters get "geeky" over horn formation, length of G2's,mass, etc, they are talking about known "standards" as a basis for comparing animals;a common language that allows others experienced in such matters to have a valid basis for knowing, generally, what kind of buck we are talking about;what the potential is in the area.

This is important lingo for someone trying to determine where to go on the hunt of a "lifetime",before traveling great distance, and at great expense.

Since you have only hunted once out of state,Jeff,have done no trophy hunting at all,you may not understand all of this;but clearly it has crossed your mind because you are planning to draw that special unit....as a suggestion you should learn something about getting "geeky" over mule deer antler development,and the differences between a truly mature buck and an oversized youngster, so that you don't blow that rare tag on a promising young buck, and rob that gene pool of some of its' potential.

Let me suggest that you are showing no "disrespect";the real disrespect will be for you to show up in that unit unable to know the difference between "mature" or "immature",older or younger..;nor will the animal be reduced to merely the measurement of what is on his head.

If this happens it will be your fault and no one else's...big mature bucks have bodies too,and produce lots of meat, frequently more flavorful and having greater character than young animals.Go kill some and find out....


... just a suggestion

One morning I rode by a boat(shored up) on a horse(gathering cows), made the horse run up a few stinger coulee's(like 300 times before) when we jumped two big deer.

Opening week and they actually stopped to look back.

I bailed, hit the ground and had a round chambered by the time they slowed to turn.

A stalk from the boat might have been a little sneakier.....(grin)

Boat hunting = road hunting, if only obviously.................

Your perspective is always so wonderfully narrow.

I do think B&C should list guides as well. Not taking anything away from the hunter, but there is no doubt that these guys help make alot of those kills happen on guided hunts.

JM

Yeah, but if they did that they would probably also want to list who plowed up the food plot, or who filled the feeder, or who put out the salt blocks, or etc.

FAIR CHASE STATEMENT
FAIR CHASE, as defined by the Boone and Crockett Club, is the ethical, sportsmanlike, and lawful pursuit and taking of any free-ranging wild, native North American big game animal in a manner that does not give the hunter an improper advantage over such animals

Yeah, but if they did that they would probably also want to list who plowed up the food plot, or who filled the feeder, or who put out the salt blocks, or etc.