The Rut, depression and the wrong deer

[Izzy]

Ferret is my new spiritual advisor!!!!! You are right on with that Mickey, I couldnt have said it better.Any deer is a gift but sometimes we lose that in our egos.When this happens we have to look inside.Id still like to congratulate you on a fine animal and hope none of these posts offended you.
                   Izzy

[Tom Leemans]

Troy - He tells all about the 200 inch deer in his new book. "All My Bows Are Man Tall".

[Izzy]

Do you really have a book coming out, O' Spiritual Leader Ferret.Ill take 2 copies.  

[Bill Carlsen]

The last thing I would be feeling if I shot a buck like that is depression or disappointment. If I read what you wrote correctly you can still hunt for the bigger buck this year(?)...if not there is always next year. I know lots of guys who have hunted for years and not even seen a buck like that. I think you should consider yourself blessed and grateful as an alternative to depressed and disapointed. I met a guy on line from Switzerland looking for a bear hunt and he got to bowhunt for bear with us this year. He cannot hunt anything in his country and must go to France if he wants to shoot Roe deer or go to Africa or the USA to shoot any sort of big game. That is expensive and time consuming for  him and he cannot take advantage of the things we take for granted here. LIttle things like stump shooting while scouting. Even if you shot nothing this year be grateful you live in a country and in a part of it that allows you to even dream about hunting at your leisure and for little or no expense. After meeting Tom on our bear hunt I can tell you that my wife, Laura, and I seem to say something everyday about how fortunate we are to be able to  hunt and own property that many in the world only dream about. We truly feel blessed for having each other and sharing our love of the out doors and being able to have the opportunity to put meat on the table with our sticks and strings.

[Alex.B]

if shooting a buck like this depresses you, I would hate to see you having to tackle real life problems such as being unemployed with a family to feed

[the Ferret]

Dang Tom, ya named my arra rest, which in turn named my quiver and my Bowyers ruler and now you may have named my book. It was " Ferret-ology... the Art and Science of Primitive Archery", but I may like your title better. LOL

That is exactly what my father told me bows were supposed to be. "Man tall".

[GingivitisKahn]

Nice shooting sir!

[lt-m-grow]

I guess you just have to look at my log in to know where I stand on this.  I decided a while ago that if I wouldn't put the buck on the wall, I would not shoot it.  

Does taste great.  Exciting to hunt and need to be thinned out too.

Frankly, I am with Ferret on this one, I don't have a problem with people making their own choice on what to shoot - that is their call.

Yet the one thing I don't get is that I have NEVER, I MEAN NEVER met a hunter that doesn't get jazzed when they shoot a big buck.   There is only one way to do that - increase your odds by letting the little ones grow.  

Or coming from the other direction, I have never met anyone that let's the big ones go to shoot little ones. There is something to that.  Just be careful on how hard of a position you take on guys that hold out for bigger ones.  

Let-M-Grow
Dave

[BRITTMAN]

Nightstalker ,
Im also from N.C. and you dont see many Bucks much bigger than that or at least not around home . Heck I would have loved to got a shot at some of the smaller deer your talking about . Anyway nice deer and glad you got him .

Mike

[md126]

DTala,    by "serious issues" i mean a sense of priorities and what is really important. i second strongly what alex b. and john scrifes said.  there are many, many people in this world w/ REAL problems and shooting the "wrong" deer isn't one of them.


and i'm not belittling trophy hunters.... that buck IS a mature deer and a real trophy. that's my whole point.


nothing is more sad than hearing people who are truly blessed whine....  my two cents


mike

[yellow bow]

nice buck Tim,congrats!

[The Night Stalker]

I took the deer to the Taxidermist tonight and he said he would pull the Jaw bone. As far as the body goes, it was a huge deer which appeared to be mature, Big ole gut and blocky. When I saw the body and determined it was a shooter, my focus went to the shot. I don't even want to look at the antlers. Wherever I look is where the arrow goes. I would like to see what the deer would be in the future, I know he would definately be better next year, his rack was kind of thin. He is above average deer for the area. Probably in the top ten for the county but I  hunt all year around. I put alot of time in. Like a old professor told me, put three hours of study into each hour of class time. This year, I was kind of slack on preparation. Its not luck that the deer walked by. It was predetermined. A couple years ago, I went to Barry Wensels boot camp to compare notes. It was very informative and I have insight of questions I have had since I was a teenager. The mountains are very hard to hunt, unlike the agricultural land that I grew up with. The big thing here is the wind and the physical work. I might have to climb up and over  just to approach the stand at the right wind. I climbed many times last year only to turn around and come home because the situation was not right.
Dtala, I am at a point in my hunting that all I want to shoot is bruisers, I would rather shoot does if the conditions are right. I don't want to offend anybody. I think I agree that all deer to certain individuals is a trophy and I don't condemn anybody for shooting what ever they want. I think it has to do with where you live. I moved here because I had relatives here and because of the deer hunting. To move just because of the deer hunting is kind of crazy but then again. I have been thinking about this since I seen my first deer on stand when I was twelve. That was 31 seasons ago. Yes, I have a sickness but its not depression, it obsession. How many of you would move to better hunting grounds if you could. I would like to retire to Iowa, Kansas or Montana.   Tim in NC

[Brian Krebs]

LOL night stalker- come out west and start hunting spring bear; and then summer antelope; and then elk; and deer; and moose; and bighorns; and mt goats; and in the winter mountain lions; and bobcats...... LOL !! You will certainly not be moving into 'retirement'      

[The Night Stalker]

Brian, I am still tied here because of the farm and my aging parents. I do get calls about everyday from recruiters offering me jobs out west. One day before I am not to old to climb, I will probably make the move. If the hunting gets bad here because of devolopment, I will be out of here as before.