Some of my best and most memorable hunts have come without harvesting an animal. Just love being in the woods and making memories.
Lots of keyboard cowboys who talk big and make sweeping claims about the deer they pass or shoot, but I am the only one who is sitting in my stand in west Michigan and decides to haul back the string or not. Quite frankly, it disappoints me that some guys post with the best deer they have shot and then feel the need to qualify it with "it was only a doe" or "only a 6 point" or "not the biggest buck in the woods". If you shot it, own it and enjoy it.
I have family in Rockford. I'm just south of the Kalamazoo area. My family owns quite a bit of property that I'm lucky enough to get to hunt. 9 more days... good luck!
I agree, All the stories I tell when I meet new friends or just talking about hunting in general I usually tell stories that didnt even end with me getting a deer. If there was one guy who i'd like to sit down at a kitchen table for awhile and just talk about hunting Steve Bartylla would be the guy.
Thanks for the link and completely agree with the guy. I am not a great hunter so any buck I shoot is a trophy. My friends who are good hunters have no problem with that.
It is not just trophy deer it is like that with everything in life, a person will never be happy if they compare themselves to others to form or reinforce their self esteem.
So true. The last deer I shot was with a muzzlelaoder. He was a little fork. I shot him on a hunt with my dad, out of a box blind that my dad and I had built earlier in the summer. It may end up being the last hunt my dad and I have together. I found a picture of that deer a couple weeks ago. When I first saw it I thought boy that was a smaller deer than I remember. Then I remembered the circumstances around the hunt and the hunt itself. I couldn't care less about the size at this point.
I’ve watched a few of those “pro” shows and they do not impress me. Big bucks are awesome and I hope to bag a buck of a lifetime, but for now my favorite deer I have ever taken is my first deer, real nice young two-point spike, and an old nanny doe. I’ve taken a few 7/8 point bucks, but that old doe is at the top of my list. I cannot confirm if she was the same doe that busted me for three seasons, but I ended up winning that battle last season, from the ground under a pine tree. She almost got me again, to bad I was already at full draw when the wind shifted into her nose. That is my favorite deer, and will probably remain there for a long time. I enjoy the game, she won a few battles, but I won the war. First Deer(Spike) Nanny Doe
That's a word not to hurt anybody's feelings that if a good friend or family shot a small 5 pt it's a trophy. But in reality it's not a trophy. But it's still a nice deer in the end. A trophy whitetail in reality. I look at all the state record minimums. Typical whitetail 100 inches net and 110 inches net nontypical. I got it from the NE big buck club. I measure some of the decent size bucks that i scored for family members. It sure makes sense to me what is a trophy class whitetail. I makes sense why the boone and crocket exist. Let's say 100 inches net typical is a trophy but decent, 125net typical P&Y is big, and 160inch net B&C as giant.
I remember killing my first doe and checking it in at the game station like I owned the place. haha. I was so happy because it took me several years of hunting to kill my first deer. That mind frame has continued on for the past 25 years of hunting. Even though I see a lot more deer, I get real excited every single time I see a deer coming my way.
