Neither. I could care less about deer or horns.
Hunting & Fishing Do you hunt for Horns or Venison
- Thread starter BullGear
- Start date
Generally both.
During Archery, I'm a bit more selfish.
During Rifle, I'd rather see a nephew harvest the animal without prejudice. It's kind of like hunting upland game for me .. it's almost more fun to watch the dog work than it is for me to do the shooting. Their excitement is more an adrenaline rush for me than anything these days.
During Archery, I'm a bit more selfish.
During Rifle, I'd rather see a nephew harvest the animal without prejudice. It's kind of like hunting upland game for me .. it's almost more fun to watch the dog work than it is for me to do the shooting. Their excitement is more an adrenaline rush for me than anything these days.
I hunt horns for 2.5 months and pass on a lot of deer. Then the last week or so I’ll start dropping does. I see a lot of deer though so I can be picky and choosey
If it’s brown it’s down. Meat always has meant more to feeding my family.
As a youngster, I was just happy to get a chance to go hunting and then pysched to get a deer on the farm in WI
We ate like kings. In hindsite-times may have been slim, but I sure didn't know it at the time. Ahh good times. Down here in TX now, huntin is a rich man's sport. I just can't abide spending that kinda money on a hunt (my choice I know). I stick to paper and steel.
We ate like kings. In hindsite-times may have been slim, but I sure didn't know it at the time. Ahh good times. Down here in TX now, huntin is a rich man's sport. I just can't abide spending that kinda money on a hunt (my choice I know). I stick to paper and steel.
Both. We have generous tags in NC. 4 does, 2 bucks. We eat a ton of venison. God’s organic meat.
There gets to a point where you have more than enough or two many horns. I don’t even really hunt anymore it’s just not enjoyable I have several Boone and Crocketts with a rifle, bow and muzzleloader. I let my son kill the horns and meat. I do claim another dependent on my taxes though Precision Rifle Series.
Antlers > Meat, but not by much.
I'm happy to harvest what I can because I don't get as many chances. Been a hunter for a long time, but the places I hunt are hard compared to most of the rest of the country. Out of state or in the panhandle are ideal. North Central FL doesn't have much good deer hunting during daylight, all the hogs you can eat though [those disgusting creatures].
I'm happy to harvest what I can because I don't get as many chances. Been a hunter for a long time, but the places I hunt are hard compared to most of the rest of the country. Out of state or in the panhandle are ideal. North Central FL doesn't have much good deer hunting during daylight, all the hogs you can eat though [those disgusting creatures].
The title cracks me up, I can hear my wife yelling at me, they are antlers, not horns. Cows and goats have horns. She is a wildlife and natural resource educator for the Extension service. After 24 years of marriage I can't help myself, if for no other reason to annoy her. To answer your question, venison is our primary red meat. The rule in our house is does first, and then hor.. I mean antlers.
Both, but I do focus on hunting trophies and mostly exotics now. I grew up hunting whitetail and my uncle ruined that for me. So far this year we have taken an Axis, cow elk, 3 Fallows, and a black buck. I have my first mule deer hunt coming in November that I'm pretty excited about.
This guy still looks pretty edible to me. Bow season starts this weekend... My primary goal is to fill the freezer, secondary is to get a nice buck if I can (buck only season.)
No, I’m saying that as I invest more of myself into hunting, I consume less resources. I tend to wait and shoot better animals now that I have more invested. I will still bust a culls ass though when I see one lol.
I put 5 or 6 deer in the freezer every year since 1998, except when I was working overseas. Some years more.
I don't hunt.
I call local 911 dispatch and ask to get on "the deer list". Whenever someone hits a deer & they don't want it, 911 calls me & I go get it. Sometimes the cop will wait & help me load it into the truck. (shrugs shoulders) I aint one to turn down free meat dead one hour or less. Its generally between October & January, when the deer are running around, but sometimes not. Often late in the evening, midnight. I'm retired, so who cares. A quick stop by the Sheriff's office for a Conservation Dept disposition form makes it legal to posssess.
I butcher & process it myself, tan the deerskins (braintan) and generally use every part except the guts, organ meat, (dont like it!) lower legs, feet, etc. I saw the head in half & get the brains.
I like to bow hunt, (gun hunting here in the Ozarks is just too easy, they walk by and you shoot it.) but roadkill is just too productive to ignore... I make a lot of burger & jerky, pemmican.
Never ONCE has a roadkill had the backstraps banged up! Legs broke, ham on one side or the other usually bruised & bloodied, sometimes not a mark on it, just a fresh 9mm LEO hole in the head.
The idea of roadkill turns people off, I get that. But everybody likes Mudburner' chili!
I don't hunt.
I call local 911 dispatch and ask to get on "the deer list". Whenever someone hits a deer & they don't want it, 911 calls me & I go get it. Sometimes the cop will wait & help me load it into the truck. (shrugs shoulders) I aint one to turn down free meat dead one hour or less. Its generally between October & January, when the deer are running around, but sometimes not. Often late in the evening, midnight. I'm retired, so who cares. A quick stop by the Sheriff's office for a Conservation Dept disposition form makes it legal to posssess.
I butcher & process it myself, tan the deerskins (braintan) and generally use every part except the guts, organ meat, (dont like it!) lower legs, feet, etc. I saw the head in half & get the brains.
I like to bow hunt, (gun hunting here in the Ozarks is just too easy, they walk by and you shoot it.) but roadkill is just too productive to ignore... I make a lot of burger & jerky, pemmican.
Never ONCE has a roadkill had the backstraps banged up! Legs broke, ham on one side or the other usually bruised & bloodied, sometimes not a mark on it, just a fresh 9mm LEO hole in the head.
The idea of roadkill turns people off, I get that. But everybody likes Mudburner' chili!
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Does this qualify as bad genetics? Looks to have never grown an antler on the right side.
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If it's in season and in range it's in trouble..... I shoot does to keep sharp for when the rut starts and the big boys make themselves visible for for an opportunity. I'll usually let the little bucks walk to grow bigger. To be good at something you have do it.... That goes for shooting/killing deer. You might say I set my priorities based on the time of the season... But no matter what I shoot the most important thing is a quick clean kill. As a side note I've shot three bears during the fall season, and boy do fall bears taste awesome..everybody likes it as much as venison and some of them like it even more. The happy time is coming ; bow gun muzzleloader crossbow... Get out and do it all.
I hunt for both, September sees me put some young meat in my freezer which will have ran low in the off season, October sees me hunt the rutt purely for antlers, although the meat from those animals also goes in the freezer. Nov/Dec its mainly for meat but with an eye out for any big antlers too. Once Jan and Feb comes I usually hardly shoot as its females only and they are in calf, although if my freezer hasnt been filled or friends want meat then I will shoot some yearling calves in these months.
Oh and you just cant beat the excitement of stalking into a roaring stag in the rut, wondering how big he is then seeing those antlers.
Oh and you just cant beat the excitement of stalking into a roaring stag in the rut, wondering how big he is then seeing those antlers.
Both, but with an edge for meat. I love killing does and they taste better.
I hunt for both and it really depends on species. Whitetail i will hold out a little, Muley its 180 or nothing now as they take longer to get big and are my favorite big game animal to hunt by far. Nice thing is here i can hunt both 15 minutes from my house. Elk i will lay down the first legal bull i see as it will be the 5th year of trying to kill one.
Meat!! I'll go for a trophy antelope every few years. Otherwise my wife and I hunt cow elk in NM. We like to go up to a ranch in Wyoming and bring home a half a dozen doe antelope every couple years. Being from Texas, the number of whitetail doe we could take is almost unlimited. As already mentioned, spike whitetail are always on the harvest list.
Love going after the mature bucks for the challenge here in Va.
Three days in to season... Got him!
My first archery deer kill, my first Mule deer, my first buck. And I am going to thoroughly enjoy eating him!
I was hunting with a buddy in Central Oregon. I had my trail cam watching a salt lick and had been getting sporadic visits from a group of bachelors. I had been out nearby for three days in a row for most of the day and had only seen one small buck on opening morning but couldn't get a shot.
On this day my buddy and I went out and set up an L-shaped ambush near a ridge the deer had been coming over. Wind was variable speed but in our favor. We were about to quit for the afternoon after no movement all morning when some birds alerted about 75 yards North to my right. I watched and waited and saw a flash of muzzle and velvet. The buck walked in through the same area they had been coming before crossed in front of me and paused In front and slightly to my left at 17 yards. He spotted the movement of my buddy drawing his compound from my left 35 yards in front of buck The buck spooked and did a 180 and bolted back the way he came. Buddy's arrow missed as the deer spun so fast. I drew my longbow and released in one motion aiming at where the deer would be and my arrow hit him in the right side, low chest went through and hit the inside of his left front upper leg. The arrow pulled back out the same way it came and fell out after a few more bounds. I later used a range finder from my position to where I hit him and it was 14 yards.
He left one hell of a blood trail and was hit low in the lungs but still ran/walked 3 miles through some tough terrain. We tracked for 2 1/2 hours. We finally found him hiding under a tree, breathing but not getting up again. We worked within 10 yards of him and he wouldn't budge. Gave him some time to die in peace but he wouldn't give up the ghost so I asked my buddy to administer the coup de grâce as he had a better angle for a vitals shot.
Usually shoot a doe for meat, always hoping one of the big boys show up. Filling the freezer on my 80 acres is easy, putting one on the wall is a whole other issue. Years of neighbors shooting the first thing they see with horns got the herd balance out of whack. Most of the old guys were dead set against shooting does, most of them have passed on or no longer hunt. The hunting pressure is much less and most of the hunters in the area are a bit more selective on the bucks they shoot. I'm in central Michigan.
Typically for meat... have honestly never shot a buck before. Though the whitetails up here can get quite large. Though honestly to me and my family thr does taste much better.
In 61 years of deer hunting I've yet to run across a decent recipe for antlers or stinking rutting bucks.
I try for both. The way our tags are set up you need to plan what you can get and where you can get it. Passed on a smaller buck last year just to let him bulk up. Our group does a sharing setup so even if you shoot nothin, you get something.
Compared to some on here this guy isn't a monster but certainly bigish for these parts......and 75 yards behind my house.
Got a pile of bucks out back this season.
Compared to some on here this guy isn't a monster but certainly bigish for these parts......and 75 yards behind my house.
Got a pile of bucks out back this season.
Meat, I hunt to sharpen and maintain my natural predatory instincts and keep local herd balanced.
Deer have antlers not horns. You’re thinking of goats..or rhinocerous.
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