Small Buck Shaming: Quit Making Excuses for Shooting a Small Buck

Small buck shaming is alive and well in the hunting industry today. Why do we feel compelled to make excuses or apologize for shooting a small... Read more...

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Have always said, IF you have to make a disclaimer or justify a harvest you should spend some serious time deciding if you should even be hunting.

 

Simple, don't worry about what other say or think about what you choose to shoot as long as it was legal. nice young deer fill the freezer nicely and taste great.

 

Never compare yourself to others nothing positive comes from that.

 

Judge Smails: Ty, what did you shoot today?
Ty Webb: Oh Judge, I don’t keep score.
Judge Smails: Then how do you measure yourself with other golfers?
Ty Webb: By height.

 

Nice to see an article like this! Hunt for the sport, the peace, and the meat!

 

I am thinking about starting a trophy doe club, what would a trophy doe measure ear tip to ear tip?

 

This is a REAL problem. I have fallen victim to it as well. I've been lucky and killed 5 nice bucks the past 5 years, all that won't top 120", but they were beautiful animals. Yet I've made comments like "if I didn't kill him someone else would have". Just dumb stuff. Own what you choose to kill and be happy with it.

Just the other day, one of my best friends made an off the hand comment that pissed me off. He has killed two 150"+ deer. My two biggest were a 130" 8 and a 143" 10. We got talking about that 8 that I killed 15 years ago and he actually said "yea that was a pretty nice deer back then when we were younger". I got pissed ... I would drop the string on that deer in a heart beat again today!

Nothing pisses me off more than antler shaming someone's trophy, or when guys do it to themselves.

 

everything has to have a number on it....always got to out do the other guy... I like big bucks, but i like does too. I choose not to shoot small bucks most years because I hunt in an area that has a lot of nice bucks. I have seen the shows where guys are measuring with a tape and their whole existence hinges on a total sum....I have killed one P&Y caliber buck. One in my avatar. Never had him scored, had guys tell me that I should have it scored, he would make book...blah, blah, blah...I know he's big, I know he's pretty and I look at him from time to time, I don't need a paper legitimizing it. The late and great traditional bowhunter Paul Schafer said once after killing a record book ram and i paraphrase.. Wensel said to Paul after measuring his ram, Paul, I think you may killed a top 3 record book ram of all time....Paul's response, good for him, he grew em...and went on about cooking or whatever...

 

Great article. As long as it is a trophy for you that’s all that matters. My number 1 reason to hunt is for the meat and I have limited time to hunt. I don’t see to many bucks through out the year so as long as I think he is a nice buck that’s all that matters. I shot a 9 pt this year and a guy at work says “ now you can’t shoot one smaller” buddy I’ll shoot what ever I feel good about. Lol. I don’t hunt your property. It’s all about the experience of the hunt.


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I'll use my buddy as my example for this. Here is a bow hunter who has not taken a deer for the past couple of years. Things came up in his life and he dealt with them all. But every time someone posted a kill on this site - this guy was one of the first to offer a warm, heart felt congratulations. He asked about how the animal was taken, the after shot trailing and you felt like he was standing right next to you cheering you on every step of the way. He never made excuses and never whined about his own lack of success. Oh, he made some jokes to make us laugh at his expense, but never was he mean or sarcastic about his teasing. He was as interested in your deer as you were. Spike, first, doe, average, small, monster whatever. Miss the shot...he encourages you to get back out there and hang tough - another one will come by.

His written comments on this site actually prompted a number of you guys to offer him places to stay and hunt so he could get a deer. Well, for those that don't know...our friend finally got his deer! Now, it's not a monster, it's not going to the taxidermist, BUT, it is going into the record books. HIS record book - and that's the only one that matters. The smile on his face as he posed with the animal is just as as big and just as well deserved as Shane (who, by the way has had an impressive year himself).

The point here is that everyone has a story. We should all try to be a little bit more like our buddy and be happy for those who take any animal. No matter what - it's a pretty impressive accomplishment, taking a deer with a bow of any type. Think about the number of licenses that are sold every year and how many folks actually use that tag on an animal. The odds favor the deer by a substantial number. Be happy for those who harvest an animal and enjoy your time in the woods and hopefully you too, will harvest an animal for your record book.

Congratulation to my friend as well as to those who have been fortunate enough to harvest an animal!

 

I blame QDMA lol

 

I kill what I want. I don't ask...........

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Shoot what you want, kill what makes you happy, but understand that if you post it looking for some kind of confirmation from others you're probably going to get some feedback that you don't like. Unfortunately, that's just the world we live in. Don't give excuses like I'm a meat hunter, or you can't eat the antlers. You made a choice to drop the string, own 100% of you actions, don't try and "excuse" it because it doesn't live up to other peoples standards.
If you kill a young buck, you can be proud because any kill with a bow is special, but also understand that killing a young buck is like making a layup in basketball. It's not as challenging as making a free throw, which isn't as challenging as making a 3-pointer, which isn't as difficult as making a half court shot. You get lots of opportunities at layups and and free throws, less at 3-pointers and the half court shots only come around every now and again and they are much more difficult to capitalize on.

 

I'll drain 3 pointers all day long!

 

You will never see an pictures or even a post about any deer I may get lucky enough to take. I really don't see where that is anyone's business but mine. I only read the post about a successful hunt to try and learn something from it.

 

Any deer taken legally is a good deer. Any deer taken illegally or unethically - well - save your story for someone else - I don't want to hear it. Have a neighbor who always "jumps the gun" the night before both bow and firearm - and then feels the need to brag without fully admitting his crime, yet everyone knows he annually allows himself this unfair advantage - to me any deer he kills is contaminated insofar as bragging, story sharing, displaying or otherwise - and little does he know, everybody that knows or associates with him feels the same way. The rules are for everybody - period!

 

This pursuit of whitetails is one heck of a thrill. Brings my aging butt back each year.

 

I think you are pretty spot on with your article. I do think you are missing part of it though. Some of these hunters are shooting an animal they know is small to get the footage...so their face is on a show...plain and simple.

 

Witnessed a common interaction among four hunters tonight. Two of then showing big buck pics and talking hunting. I join in and talk about the pursuit of the animals a bit. They want to show me pics of deer they want to kill. I tell them I shot a buck much smaller but was very happy. They don't ask me to see pics or talk about the story. Just back to the big buck talk. Doesn't bother me. Then the third hunters says he arrowed a deer this year and shows a pic of a real small buck. The response.."yeah that's fun" and don't tell him good job or ask about the story. Just like 3 seconds of acknowledgement and back to big bucks. You could tell that other hunter was very proud of that deer.....and you could tell he was sort of embarrassed by their response.

Keep hunting. If the hunt feels right and you want to unleash an arrow, do it. It's the pursuit that makes this past time the best thing on earth, not 176 1/8 inch buck talk 24/7.

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