# Reason you hunt



## Big Rad (May 19, 2003)

I am a meat hunter first and foremost. I kill what my family eats. That being said I don't have any animal heads hung on my wall. I believe that the money spent on trophy mounts should be spent to buy more gear  .

If I was a rich man I might have a different mind set but I doubt it. We grew up with teaching of my father which was eat what you kill and kill what you eat. I do have some antlers that I saved from my first buck (8 pointer) in the basement in a bag I pull them out every now and then and remember that rainy day. I remember standing over him with my weapon raised in triumph. Nobody else was out there cause the weather sux'd. Hmmmmmm I guess trophies do serve a purpose...... 

I've seen some massive bucks here in Maryland that I let walk. One was because I got buck fever....you know what I'm talking about......I couldn't breathe, let alone pull my bow back, and my heart tried to share the same space as my brain:redface:  .......I had been hunting that buck for two years and he just appeared by my stand. My brother was in a tree 60 yards away that day. We still laugh about the "backyard buck" that almost gave me a heart attack.... 

I also had a book buck standing broadside at fifteen yards. I let him walk because he was so magnificent. I drew on him at least three different times just to prove I could have shot him. I'm proud of myself and I could kick myself at the same time because the camera was in the fanny pack. I didn't think to take a picture until his rack disappeared on the other side of the corn field. I didn't get the fever on him because I could see his rack over the tops of the pre-harvest corn. There aint no prettier site for a hunter when you are sitting in a treestand with the sun going down and a bone white rack is coming towards you.   
Seeing the faces of your pals when you tell the story of what you saw that day is great.....
When they process the fact that you let a trophy walk and see the looks on their faces then, is priceless


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## ASK4Fish (May 4, 2005)

like you i hunt for food...i provide meat for my family aswell as for neighbors of mine...i have quite a bit of experience for someone my age...and i won't have any problem if low income strikes me later in life...i have no problem eating whatever is necessary to live...i've told my gf that if she plans to stay with me she needs to learn that i might have to roll in the mud a little if it means bringing home dinner...but in my opinion theres no better diet than wild game and fish fresh from the bay...


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## RuddeDogg (Mar 20, 2004)

*For me*

Like you guys I hunt for food and also the sport. Not just to hang trophies on my wall which I have none but I enjoy being outdoors. The man who taught me how to hunt paseed at the age of 86 in his stand while huning with wt a group of us. He taught me alot and I miss him greatly. It get kinda tough for me becaue I love striper fishin but I love to deer hunt too. Kinda hard to do both when the season comes around.


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## cygnus-x1 (Oct 12, 2005)

I do not hunt anymore. My MUCH older brother used to take me out to western MD when I was a wee ladd to hunt Squirrel and deer and then we went all over Southern MD for Goose, Quail, and Pheasant. We hunted for food and the eexperience. There would be times in the duck blind or the in the bushes when we would just watch the fowl take off and land and never even raise the gun. There is a part of me that would like to hunt again. For me its more for having the skill to survive in case a catastrophe occurs (and don't fool yourself into thinking it can't). However living in MD and this region they make it harder for people to hunt and fish. If I moved down to SC or GA I might reconsider taking it up again. Besides up here you really need access to private lands and unless you know somebody its very hard. 

I do have to say that I disdain trophy hunting but I do not mind someone mounting a 'trophy' of a kill as long as the animal was not slain in vain. I hate people that hunt just to kill and do not use the meat.


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## fingersandclaws (Oct 17, 2005)

This is a newbie question: I have never tasted venison. Are there butcher shops that sell deer meat and if so, what is your favorite "cut". 

I am assuming that there are different cuts like that of cattle, but please correct me if I'm in left field. Thanks guys. BTW, I enjoy lamb, so "gamey" meat does not bother me too much.


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## sandcruiser (Jan 15, 2007)

*believe it or not.....*

my younger brother taught me how to hunt. I went away for college and he took to the woods in his early high school years and became quite a legend in the woods of our area. I got married after college and needed to get outta the house for some air every once in a while so I took up bow hunting. 
My brother caught wind of this and fell in with me and taught me how to read the woods and how to set up on the best trails....and the rest is history as they say.
There is a deep, almost sacred feeling I have way down when I take to the woods. I respect guys who can let a mature buck walk. Sometimes I just observe from above. I don't always have to drag something out to feel proud as a hunter.
I hunt for meat and I work extra hard to earn dollars to mount extremely nice bucks. I have also kept a hunting journal for the last 17 years that I've found useful and humorous.
Some ways to write:
Just jot down time of year, weather conditions, time and place you hunted and what happened. Trust me, you'll find it useful later on and your great great grandchildren might even find it enertaining.


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## Big Rad (May 19, 2003)

*Fingers*

Venison is the name for all "game" animals. Deer is a very excellent lean meat. You, being a resturaunteer know that lean meats need special care when cooking. That being said I love backstrap medallions wrapped in bacon with a garlic sauce. My wife and children eat these like snacks as soon as they come out the broiler 

Cyg....
GHunting opportunities for bowhunters are very numerous. Put down the bang stick and join the silent assasin team   Besides you'll see more game in a natural state of mind (if you are good) and sometimes you'll forget you are hunting.

I forgot to go hunting for deer this year. I didn't feel bad about it but I'm a little remorseful that I didn't thin out the herd.


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## Adam (Feb 19, 2001)

Book animal at 15yds? My Rocket Hammerheads woulda eat him up in a heartbeat.

I try and get a couple does in the freezer then concentrate on horns ...sometimes it works, most times it dont Got my does early this past season with the bow, and then a 130-140" 8 walks in at 40yds and I shot under him


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## David (Jul 21, 2005)

Like Red said venison is all deer. I hear elk is the best of them. Most people don't cut deer the same as beef they tend to debone them. The back strap and tenderloins would be comparable to NY strip,Tbone ( nystrip and fillet) Fillet should be the tenderloin. Correct me if wrong i only watched my grand father butch beef that was over 30 years ago.
Back strap is just as it sounds. Two strips of meat that run almost the length of the animal down the back bone.
Hunting
Any more i hunt for both for the meat and enjoyment. I could survive easily with out but would be so miserable, i would be like a peta person an stupid A$$ *&^% or i end up going postal. I in no way consider myself a trophy hunter every take is special spiritual and most rewarding. 
We are created in gods image not the apes image.


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## drhnter (Jan 14, 2007)

*I hunt for*

several reasons, I have been hunting with the same group of guys (mostly family) or about 40 years and that is a big reason, I also hunt for the meat I enjoy venison, I don't "trophy hunt" but I do have a couple of nice heads mounted,1 is my first nice rack and the other head mount is a very unusal mount, I do keep all racks and don't waste anything on the deer, I also donate meat every year to FHFH


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## chris storrs (Aug 25, 2005)

I hunt because my stepdad doesnt like to fish(or hunt) when its cold, so fishing trips are very limited,I can hunt right around my house with friends... hunting passes the time till spring when i can fish again


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## TreednNC (Jul 1, 2005)

hunting period, because it was instilled in me to do so......

deer hunting and duck hunting....curiosity...then.......well if youve been there and done that, the way ur heart beats when u first catch a glimpse of a deer, or have some ducks work ur spread then lock up


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