Rack Hunter or Meat Hunter?

Mature meat early in the season... racks later... unless I don't get meat earlier... then it's brown goes down.

 

Fletch summed it up for me.

Without question I'm a rack hunter. I can and have taken a doe here or there when I needed meat. Get a thrill from both, just lost interest in shooting young, small bucks.

 

Filling the freezer is a priority each year...fill the freezer with does, make memories with bucks. Maturity is my gauge for both sexes. Not so much rack wise, more age wise gets the nod for me. (now a nice rack always gets my attention :D )

 

both for a couple reasons. meat in the freezer and keeping a balanced herd. Always looking for a nice rack. only shooting mature deer.

 

pretty much sums up how I feel as well.

 

Here In Minnesota where I hunt we usually only get one tag. Very seldom do they give out more then one tag. In saying that I'm mostly a bone hunter. It does make your decisions tough though being you only get one tag. It's been 20+ years since I've shot a young buck (3.5 and younger). Come end of season If I'm still without I'll shoot a doe for meat.

 

Meat for me. Trophies have meat too, though

 

I would say I'm both - I usually eat a young doe and then any buck I kill (when i actually do ) I make sausage jerky or donate/give to family friends.

 

My priorities are meat first, but an equally important priority is killing a mature 150"+ buck, which also has meat on it. I can't decide which I like more, it's a tough decision between a freezer full or a wall full of shoulder mounts.

 

I am a meat person for sure but being able to kill a wall hanger in addition to getting meat for freezer

 

Here in Tennessee the state record is 189" back in 1969....lol. So we don't have monster bucks here. I haven't shot a Doe on my 101 acres in 5 years and going to have to this year cause getting too many I think. The deer population has increased a LOT of my land at least. Here in TN, we are allowed to shoot 3 Buck total...for the entire year...whether it be bow or gun. Depending the section of TN you live in depends on how many does. I live in what they consider Unit A by TWRA. I'm allowed 4 does during Archery...and 4 during Archery/Muzzle loader season. Which that is the way I understand for this year. I've gotta double check with TWRA to make sure...but that is the way it reads. So...anyway....since we don't have Monsters here....I'm a meat hunter...lol.

 

Id rather shoot yearling does over anything else for meat.

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Game plan for 2013 season: Take 2 does in the early season for the freezer, and then hunt exclusively for bucks. But as I have experienced in previous seasons, the deer don't care about my game plan, so I think I'll probably take anything mature (or a yearling doe) that presents a shot just for the meat. A nice mature buck would be more than I'm hoping for this season.

 

I usually get 2 or 3 does early season and then will try and just target mature bucks. If I still have that buck tag in mid December I go ahead and fill it with a doe. I don't buy beef, so this is my main means of meat.

 

First Deer hunter... This will be my 3rd year, first year only hunted 3 times and had to drive 2 1/2hrs to a friend of friends place... Finally picked up 2 properties this year and still learning to hunt 20 acre woodlots, it is difficult but I see deer which is good. Small acres I quickly learned a climber is to loud, this year I will have ladder stand and only hunt PM.

 

Food.

 

I hunt for the thrill of the hunt. Sometimes when I have a good encounter with a deer, but don't shoot it, I still feel like it was a successful hunt. There are plenty of time when I have shots that I pass up for various reason. I passed on the buck that I eventually killed last season because it was raining and I didn't have my camera with me. I would love to put down a trophy, and hopefully one day I will, but if a nice buck comes in and I feel right, I'm taking the shot. The meat is also important to me, as we substitute venison for beef.

 

I am a little bit of both due to the number of doe tags I can get each season.

 

Meat hunter first but I am changing my thoughts on holding out for a mature buck I thought I had it in me last year to wait for a big buck but I couldn't resist the little six pointer that came my way although I really think that will be my last young buck ill be taking. ill hopefully get some does to fill the freezer then concentrate on getting a nice mature buck from here on out.

 

Meat hunter here.I don`t shoot the little babies though.animal needs to have a little weight to it.I`d shoot a healthy forked horn over an ugly old moss back buck.