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Post by Woody Williams on Jul 8, 2006 7:32:26 GMT -5
.......a country boy will survive - Bocephus.
Hunting for survival vs for sport. Sometimes while I’m hunting and not seeing anything its no big deal because I can get my next meal with no problem.
BUT if we needed deer meat to survive, do you think you would only hunt till 9am if you hadn't killed one?
Or would you pass on a small buck hoping to kill a better tasting doe or maybe a big buck?
Would our ethics remain the same?
Would we opt for an easier hunting weapon instead of going for the "challenge"?
Woud we hunt the same at all?
I hunt for fun etc. but when I get in the zone (late in the season), I’m more like a predator from many years ago and hunt harder, smarter and longer to get the one I want.
Does anybody else get into a zone during the season and it becomes more primal?
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Post by Hawkeye on Jul 8, 2006 7:46:45 GMT -5
Yea,know what you mean, that would be a whole different ballgame, I just have to be careful to not get in that zone about October.
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Post by kevin1 on Jul 8, 2006 8:56:33 GMT -5
If hunting for subsistence I would use any and every advantage to bring home the meat , just like any other predator . Ethics have little place in subsistence hunting since "fighting fair" usually translates to starvation .
When hunting for sport as we now do I keep the playing field as level as I possibly can , but those darned deer just don't play fair . ;D Toward the late season if I haven't scored some freezer meat I do hunt longer and harder , and I become less selective , preferring a stupid deer over a more challenging one . If the freezer is still bare by mid December I shift to "it's brown , it's down" with no shame at all . Trophy antlers make poor soup , the only thing less filling being tag soup .
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Post by lugnutz on Jul 8, 2006 9:15:06 GMT -5
If deer meat was all my family could afford, I'd definately have the attitude, if its brown its down!
I think kevin1 hit the nail on the head with his reply!
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Post by duff on Jul 8, 2006 13:47:35 GMT -5
If killing a deer meant my family would eat or more importantly if going home empty handed meant my family would go hungry one more day, I'd do what ever it took. Hunting isn't always with a gun or bow.
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Post by budfields on Jul 8, 2006 14:24:09 GMT -5
Hello Friends..
Like everyone else, I DO NOT hunt in order to feed my family. I can easily afford to go to the store and select our food. I HUNT BECAUSE I ENJOY THE SPORT and the TRADITION OF HUNTING!!
Sure, we ALL enjoy the success and the admiration and envy received from our hunting friends when we are successful but that is really NOT the reason I go hunting!!
Like many of you...I have spent countless hours in a treestand or ground blind waiting for a deer to come past me. Many times they DO... many times they DO NOT. Sometimes I win and MOST TIMES the deer win but that is the CHALLENGE. It is called HUNTING...NOT KILLING!!
Just being out in the woods and watching the woods come alive in the morning or watching to woods going to sleep in the evening is remarkable. I like to see the reddish, orange sunshine on the frosty ground of the morning.. I like to see the squirrels wake up and start their activity as they leave their nests in the trees and when I hear a squirrel in the leafs I get excited thinking it must be a deer..
I see raccoons returning to their den trees after hunting all night, I see coyotes and fox hunting also.. I have had little chickadees actually land on my arrow as I await a passing deer, or I have had squirrels climb the tree with me and turn their head from side to side trying to figure out what I am....
When the deer begin to filter into the area I have scouted and selected to place my "Ambush" location and when I can see their breath in the cool morning, or evening air, and when they are close enough to see them "blink their eyes," I realize EXACTLY WHY I AM HUNTING!!!!
Only another deer hunter can appreciate the feelings and the situations I just described. As long as it is legal, and ethical, and as long as GOD grants me the good health to allow me to go hunting... I WILL BE OUT THERE... From just before daylight to legal hunting hours end.
GOOD HUNTING!!! Bud Fields
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Post by kevin1 on Jul 8, 2006 18:15:55 GMT -5
So do I Bud , but if I had to shoot them just to live I wouldn't enjoy the sunrise nearly as much . Would you ?
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Post by squirrelhunter on Jul 8, 2006 18:22:21 GMT -5
I more or less hunt "if it's brown it's down" from day one.The only one's I think about passing on are yearlings because I'd rather use a tag on a 100# or bigger deer than a 70# deer.I have taken yearlings too though,.What I'm getting at is,antlers don't mean nothing to me.I've only taken one in my life that had antlers,and I would have been just as happy if it hadn't.
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Post by lugnutz on Jul 8, 2006 23:39:10 GMT -5
So do I Bud , but if I had to shoot them just to live I wouldn't enjoy the sunrise nearly as much . Would you ? right on, brother
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Post by indianahick on Jul 8, 2006 23:53:06 GMT -5
When I actually started deer hunting in the early 70's, Maybe 71 or 72 it started out as comradeship and fun. After getting a deer and finding out how much meat there was it became more feed the family thing than just sport. Plus I was not making much in the way of salary so it was definitely a boone there. Now even though it is not as needed as then I still think of myself as a meat hunter first. But I try to choose a good sized doe first and then look to the body size of any bucks. Antlers they are just nice wall decorations, I prefer deer in the 175 to 200 class. Pounds that is.
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Post by indianahick on Jul 9, 2006 0:00:27 GMT -5
Oh yeah, and I can grow my own corn, green beans, squash, tomatos too. and have.
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Post by solohunter on Jul 9, 2006 7:30:50 GMT -5
Does not matter to me if itis Oct. 1st or the last day of hunting. Getting in and out without being detected is another part of the hunting. I go in a carnivore as though my life depended on it, period. With that continual attitude I am more readily absorbed into my enviroment. I have to calm myself down from the point I start to decide where I am hunting that session, I have noticed a destinct change in my breathing as I am stepping into the shower. The awe is there from the get go, I do not intellucualize it.......well maybe I just did as I was writing...... Solohunter
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Post by Decatur on Jul 10, 2006 6:29:51 GMT -5
I take a casual approach to deer hunting. I hunt hard, and I hunt alot, but I don't get overly excited if I don't score. Sure it bugs me not to score, but I'm not a fanatic. Deer hunting to me is time to relax and enjoy nature. Not cause MORE stress in my life! :-)
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Post by DEERTRACKS on Jul 10, 2006 8:19:22 GMT -5
I hunt hard from the get-go. I figure that if I am going to do "all" of the things necessary to successfully hunt & tag deer I give it 110% all of the time. But as I get older the outdoor elements, sleep depravation, eye strain, and mental sharpness just isn't what it used to be after 8-10 hrs on stand.
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Post by schoolmaster on Jul 11, 2006 13:36:00 GMT -5
When I was a kid growing up we didn't have deer to hunt but put plenty of squirrels,rabbits, and quail on the table along with catfish,turtles, and frogs. Now we have plenty ofdeer and not so many rabbits, quail, and frogs. Most of the catfish aren't good to eat any more. My kids all learned early to skin a buck and run a trot line and we had plenty of good times doing just that. They had to get used to eating beef. I have never regretted a minute spent in the wild. I will always hunt and will use the meat. Yes I have eaten ground hogs, raccoon, and muskrats. It just depends on what you are used to. I am a meat hunter. If I were to depend on wild game to survive then any means available to take an animal to eat is OK. I can afford beef but prefer venison.
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Post by lugnutz on Jul 11, 2006 18:45:12 GMT -5
i've never been shown how to cook venison the right way i suppose. Backstraps are wonderfull, and i do an ok job on the grill with the ham steaks (at least I think i do)! But mercy, when i slap some dead cow on the grill, the feast is on!
I suppose i need a dvd on how to prepare my venison better for me and my family. Maybe then, i would start keeping more of the deer i shoot, than to give them away like i do.
Any help at all would probably be helpfull!
Lug
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Post by solohunter on Jul 12, 2006 4:21:04 GMT -5
A meat thermometer is helpful..I cook it until it reads about 110 degrees, then take it off. Most people who who have tried venison and do not like it have eaten something that is over cooked. When it starts to turn gray it is over cooked and yuck. I like mine pretty rare, get a thermometer and start trying different temps. Solohunter
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Post by RiverJim on Jul 12, 2006 7:30:17 GMT -5
Ya got to like the taste too. And yeah, don't over cook it. One of my favorites is thin sliced steaks in a hot skillet of bacon grease with tater wedges (also in the bacon grease). But again, DON'T over cook it. Med rare is all the doner you want it. Just like a ribeye steak sandwhich.
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Post by RiverJim on Jul 12, 2006 7:32:16 GMT -5
Oh yeah i forgot to tell ya to woop the tar out of it with a tenderizing hammer first with a little tenderquick on it. Other than that go easy on the seasoning.
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Post by mbogo on Jul 12, 2006 7:58:42 GMT -5
I hunt for both meat and antlers but when it comes down to it I can go a year without antlers a lot easier than I can go a year without deer meat. Whenever I cook for myself it is almost always deer burger or steaks. I don't consider the beef in most supermarkets to be fit to eat and unless it is homegrown or from either of two butcher shops back home, I greatly prefer venison. I am also guilty of "overcooking" my venison as I prefer my meat to have more than a slight sun tan when I am finished cooking it. Thus far, I have never had any complaints from anyone who has eaten any that I prepare. From my experience, most people tend to cook meat way too hot and way too fast.
In answer to the original question, if I had to kill a deer in order to feed my family, the biggest change I would make would be to put away my bow, muzzleloader, or pistol and take only my rifle instead.
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