The way I look at it is a little different than most. On my family land there isn’t any rules. Me and my granddaddy plant the plot and put out the corn every year and anyone in the family or any friends are welcome to hunt. They can shoot whatever they want. Even though I have money and time invested in it, I never pull the trigger unless my granddaddy tells me to go kill him a deer because nobody else has given him any of the meat. I will not shoot a buck if I do go because I would saw off the horns and throw them in the shed and not be proud of them. Someone else may see that deer as a trophy.

I was probably 19 when it clicked for me. I had killed a lot of deer but very few bucks bigger than a 6 point. I was hunting by my house and a little 4 point came by and I decided not to shoot because I had a decent 8 point I was hunting coming in pretty regularly. That little 4 point crossed the landline and a 50 something year old man shot him. I went over to help him after dark and he was still shaking. We blood trailed it probably 40 yards out of the patch and he was just as proud of that 4 point as humanly possible. That’s when I decided that I wouldn’t ever shoot a buck out of greed again. It was a trophy for him and I almost took that away by me shooting just because someone else may.