APR, QDM, Trophy Hunters, etc....

[PurpleFloyd]

so purple, (might be getting off subject as I havent read the full thread for a while,..amazing that this one has been going on so long!) but, u are coming off as a meat hunter, witch im fine with, as long as each deer u shoot is a trophy to you, but this really goes out to all "meat" hunters....If you had a 190" deer at 75 yrds( im from shotgun country, open sights, so what ever is a long borderline shot for you), and you had a fork horn at 10 feet, with the same body size as the 190" (yes this is possible)... what do you take a crack at? Meat hunters should say the forky my mind says..................point is, everyone loves antlers! Even if they dont want to admit it!!

I party hunt so technically my answer could be that I would shoot both of them. Not sure what difference it is to you what I shoot and if you did read my post it should be obvious I don't care what you shoot.

That being said I would take the 10 yard shot. It is a much higher percentage with a shotgun and open sights with Foster slugs. Hopefully my son who would be near by would get the big one.

[PurpleFloyd]

....or maybe you dont have to be a "trophy" hunter to be for protection for young bucks. First and foremost i put meat in my freezer. I know at some point i can put a doe in the freezer, whether its September or December. If i drop the hammer on a buck whether its bow or gun, its going to be mature. If i get one great, if i dont, doesnt break my heart. I think thats the mindset of alot of people down here, as well as some people outside of zone 3. Does this make me a "trophy" hunter?

Or you may have enough population density of the right habitat that allows you to pass on multiple deer and still fill a tag. Believe it or not in some areas you may have only 1 deer pass by you in a season and if that deer happened to be a 4 point buck then who am I to tell you that you have to leave your freezer empty just so some other dude can hopefully hang the head on his wall in 3-4 years?

Hunting conditions and situations are never universal nor are the reasons why people do it. With that in mind I see no reason to ask one type of hunter to conform to the values of another's.

[james_walleye]

....and as I mentioned in that string of posts that I'm referring to zone 3 where deer numbers allow this, as well as the majority of hunters wanting change. This isn't a vocal minority shoving something down a majoritys throat. Never once have I ever said I think this should go outside zone 3.

And to my point of the post your referring to, this notion that a "trophy" hunter cares about nothing about how many inches a buck scores and if a 140" buck isnt on the ground that the season is unsuccessful. I have no doubt there are hunters like this, but i dont think its all to common. Yes i like seeing big bucks, but i love my pepper sticks and sausage to. Its like im a demon in some peoples eyes because i like seeing big bucks. I hesitated to post the picture of the 10 pointer i shot with my bow because so many people think you are thumping your chest with this big ego while all the while you just gave the deer away. Its absolutely not the case.

[james_walleye]

Just to add one more thing to APR's. Most people that are against them are so opposed to them that they can't get past having to let a 6 pointer go. After year 1 of APR's the buck harvest rate in year 2 goes back to what it was prior to the implementation. In year 2 and beyond there are as many harvestable bucks as there were before implementation. For every 6 pointer you have to let go, there is a 6 pointer from the year before that is now a harvestable 2 year old. So really....other than 1 year, what are you out?

[PurpleFloyd]

Just to add one more thing to APR's. Most people that are against them are so opposed to them that they can't get past having to let a 6 pointer go. After year 1 of APR's the buck harvest rate in year 2 goes back to what it was prior to the implementation. In year 2 and beyond there are as many harvestable bucks as there were before implementation. For every 6 pointer you have to let go, there is a 6 pointer from the year before that is now a harvestable 2 year old. So really....other than 1 year, what are you out?

Taking into consideration your point that you are referring to only zone 3 it is hard to know because I don't hunt there. I can only say that in my area letting a 6 pointer walk by most years will cost you a year of Venison in the freezer. At the most if we see one deer with antlers walk by that is it. In some ways yes, it would be nice to see so many deer walk by that we could use discretion on what we take but in reality much of the state just cannot carry that many deer and to be honest the farmers where we hunt don't want it to carry that many deer in my experience. Of course in other areas that may be different but in the end it boiled down to the fact that while Z3 might work with APR, there are too many guys who want to impose it universally even if it doesn't make sense or or in areas where it just isn't practical.

Lastly- Like I said- I have no issue with you hunting the way you see fit and having the ideals you have and do not wish to impose my style of hunting on you and only ask in return that you do the same.

[Surface Tension]

I think most members stopped listening to one another back around page 2.

Say good night Gracie.