I used to be one that would get kinda angry when someone at the camp would shoot a nice “up and coming” buck that had the potential to be something. One day I overheard a guy saying that the buck he shot was the biggest buck he’d ever seen much less shot. I then realized that the happiness in his voice and on his face was what was important, not that deer. There will be more bucks but that guy killing his biggest buck that morning only comes once. He still hunts with us till this day and has grown as a deer hunter. That buck that morning opened 2 sets of eyes. Mine and his. He realized that he got more excitement out of shooting that “big” buck then he did the small ones he’s always shot and now waits to kill better bucks. Now for me it’s about the size of the smiles not the bucks. Sure I’d like to see some that get killed have another year or 2 but we just celebrate them and move on. Life’s to short for silly crap.
This is long and I apologize in advance. That’s a great story and attitude Marsh. One that I share. If it’s something that I and my family, would and have passed repeatedly, and it will be someone’s first, last, or best buck, I don’t care if it’s two or three, weak racked or an up and coming superstar. Good for them, and I’ll help them celebrate. What I do get frustrated about is the situation when you’ve got a club full of grown men that have hunted their entire lives and killed tons of deer and tons of bucks, posting up on the property lines, on top of corn piles, late in the season, and whacking every 2-3 yr old rack buck that they see, and just sawing the horns off and tossing them in the back of the truck. In too many clubs, killing deer becomes a competition. “I’ve got to shoot it because so in so will and if he’s gonna kill it, I might as well shoot it myself”. It’s their legal right to do so, but it’s exceptionally detrimental to what many are trying to accomplish in growing mature bucks, when 15-20, two, 3, and 4 yr olds are getting whacked crossing the lines every single year. I fully understand and can see where T-Hatchie is coming from. I’ve killed truckloads of deer in my lifetime, big and small, and just killing any rack buck is no longer what I want to do. I and most of my neighbors (leased and private land) want to grow and harvest mature bucks, so we pass 95% of the bucks we see. Thats great for a couple of our other neighbors that aren’t on the mgmt program. They are accomplishing exactly what they want to do, but what they are doing makes it virtually impossible for us to accomplish our goals. Under Alabama’s current long season and lax game laws, both sides have every right to do exactly what they are doing. The problem is that the group that wants to grow the bucks, helps the shoot anything group achieve more success and better hunting than would ever have been remotely possible for them, while what the shoot anything group is doing, makes it almost impossible for the group growing bucks to even remotely accomplish their goals. Not sure what the answer is but I can tell you unequivocally that even in a 5-6k managed co-op, a couple shoot anything neighboring clubs bordering it on a couple sides, can sure have a big impact. Doesn’t matter how much food or excellent habitat you have. Bucks walk and the rut happens every single year. So then, if you’re trying to grow mature bucks, the only option is to do what 2dogs said, outbid and lease the property out from under the club doing all the killing and start building a buffer, which takes away the hunting opportunities for those 16-18 guys. People on here complain all the time about the cost of land, losing their leases due to the “rich guys”, doctors and lawyers, outbidding them, and running up lease prices to the point where hunting is becoming unaffordable and taking away hunting opportunities. I can assure you that nobody, rich or poor wants to pay more to hunt. But it’s still true and it’s happening. The cold hard facts are that this is a prime example of both how and why it often happens. It’s also why there are more and more high fences going up each year, all over the state and neither one is a good thing for the wildlife or the hunting community. With help from the state, through piss poor mgmt, enforcement, and regs, they are forcing us into a situation where we as hunters are quickly becoming our own worst enemy. Middle ground has the be found. There’s a solution out there but both sides will have to give something. Maybe we should get Trump on it. Lol.
