Are you a Trophy hunter or are you a Meat hunter?
After years of hearing the same old things! I can’t do it anymore! It’s the smile and shrug then continue with the conversation when a fellow hunter gives me the well I’m a meat hunter line, as if they are some what better then you for not taking a mature animal. You know what I’m talking about! That smug bastard that you know damn well couldn’t be bothered with taking more than two steps off the road to shoot his animal yet acts like a true conservationist outdoors man. This is Shirley to piss off a few people, but I don’t care.
Currently if you’re not a survivalist living a subsistence life style you don’t rely on game to keep your family alive. On top of that most states don’t come close to issuing enough tags to keep a freezer full all year. Now game meat is great and in some places, more animals need to be harvested to keep the threat of diseases and the populations at bay but if you’re a true conservationist in an area where you aren’t being over run with animals consider becoming a Trophy hunter. You know instead of shooting the first thing you see with horns or without.
You can go into a group of non-hunters and say, hey I hunt for meat.
Generally, you will get a friendly reaction but tell them you trophy hunt and boy just wait for the looks you’re going to receive! The problem is people have been conditioned to believe trophy hunting is bad when in fact It’s the opposite if anything.
While trophy hunting you cover typically far more terrain glassing many more animals which in return gives you a good sense for the local population size and the health of the herds. That can help a good hunter make an informed and conservationist decision to move on or remove a mature animal allowing young animals to reach maturity and prevent from taking too many animals in one area. I don’t know about you, but the killing part is a good part of the hunt and the best part is the hunt! Glassing, hiking, searching for that old sneaky buck now that’s were it is at!
Once you find him you start your stock running, sliding, jumping and whatever else you have to do to close the gap to a slow methodical test of control, skill, patience, and true hunters resolve. You have challenged yourself and the wise old man of the woods to a centuries old game, one that leaves a lasting memory even when you don’t win. A lot of us trophy hunters don’t kill anything for years sometimes. we watch and wait to allow them to mature and teach our kids to do the same so that they will have the chance to do it with their kids.
Meat, Meat, Meat Below Those Horns
If meat is what you want then take the time to search out a unit or area that needs a little thinning and keep in mind, that older buck is just as prime of a candidate for the dinner table as a tender doe when you know how to properly field dress and age the meat. Please don’t fill that freezer at the expense of your kids future by blasting away at the first animal you see in a low population area.