I try not to concern myself with what any of my neighbors shoot, other than to congratulate them if they get a good one. It's not my buck till I put it on the ground and tag it.
YOUR Buck?
- Thread starter TheLBLman
- Start date
100%. As a guy who works habitat to attract deer, grow bigger bucks by letting them get old, and enhance my hunt in general, I am fully aware of the fact that by proxy my efforts are enhancing the entire neighborhood's hunt. Just the nature of the beast. In most cases the people killing bucks around me have no clue what's happening on my place or if I maybe have been letting those bucks pass because I'm waiting for them to grow. And likewise, I have no idea what a guy 1/2mi down the road does on his place. The buck I shot this year may have been one he's been waiting for. Since he'd been shot twice before I killed him, it's obvious I'm not the only person who was hunting him.
BSK
Well-Known Member
I'm lucky in that my neighbors don't kill a lot of bucks. I hear a couple of shots per year from my neighbors and that's it. I definitely do NOT see a sudden reduction in the bucks using my place once MZ or gun seasons open. In fact, new bucks keep showing up at least through mid-November and only leave once the rut is over.
agelessssone
Well-Known Member
We, as hunters, have to realize that horns (antlers) have no allure to a bunch of us hunters.
I lost my lust for antlers after killing two Pope and Young deer years ago.
Now it's just body size because my family and I like deer meat.
I will wait for the biggest doe I can find, my landowner insisted I take one mature doe for each buck I take.
She'd rather I take all does to keep the herd smaller. But when I see a large bodied 3.5 year old buck, I'm thinking of how many steaks, roasts, backstraps and burgers I'm going to have in the freezer. Horns never enter the equation of shoot/no shoot.
I harbor no ill will to those hunting horns and I hope they would harbor no ill feelings for me when I shoot a mediocre racked 3.5 year old buck.
No ill feelings from me for any deer you legally take. Every hunter has their own objectives.
BSK
Well-Known Member
If someone is happy shooting a spike yearling, I'm good with that. Whatever makes a hunter happy is fine with me.
agelessssone
Well-Known Member
Doesn't bother me a bit. Although none still had spots, I've killed a lot of fawns. And I'll kill more. Doesn't bother me a bit. Young deer make great steak and stir fry. Old deer make great slow roasts and summer sausage. I'm a deer hunter.
That said, I do love hunting big antlers. I love the challenge. I can hunt big bucks and meat deer. Both can be true. I'm not so singularly simple. I also hunt and eat a plethora of other wild animals, fish, plants, and mushrooms. I enjoy the acquisition and I enjoy the meals. I think it's silly when people paint themselves or others into a box as if they can't be multi-faceted.
In a club situation I can see that.....to a degree. Does your club not have limits on which animals can be taken?
DoubleRidge
Well-Known Member
Actually I have...when I learned the lease next to us changed hands I immediately reached out and fortunately the conversation went very good....within five minutes of talking I knew we were on the same page. We even share trail cam pictures which has turned out to be extremely interesting and educational.... actually he has two properties leased, one that borders us and another that is within 1/2 mile....I also have a open line of communication with the folks who lease property on the other side of our farm but for them it's kill couple deer for freezer, buck, doe doesn't matter...then they duck hunt...I still do have one land owner to reach out to.
But the idea of starting a Cooperative is interesting to me ...and ""IF" you could every get enough people on the same page there could be so many benefits... from equipment rental or purchase cost share, purchase lime, fertilizer and seed in bulk to reduce cost, herbicide by the barrel vs jug and the list goes on....I've asked on here before if anyone had any experience with a Cooperative and got zero response...but more acres under the same management plan is a concept I like the idea of.
DoubleRidge
Well-Known Member
I think I fell in the rabbit hole in my previous post rambling about cooperatives...but even if not a full blown cooperative...it's nice to have a open line of communication with neighbors....it's nice to know what bucks are being killed....so if a particular buck your hunting gets killed it's nice to know so you can change directions, hunt another buck or another property....and Ill congratulate anyone on any deer that makes them happen....but I will admit it's nice to have a neighbor with the same goals.
DoubleRidge
Well-Known Member
What gets me is when someone complains that there are no big deer in the areas they hunt but yet they shoot the first two yearling bucks that walk by....and if you want to shoot the first two yearling bucks thats perfectly fine!...I'll be the first to congratulate you on your success!....but don't sit around the break room at work complaining that there are no big mature bucks in your area.....and don't even get me started about the guys that reference their yearling buck as a "cull" buck that won't ever amount to nothing....ok...I'll stop...rant over.
My lease isn't as unified as I'd like. I wish we'd ditch all independent cameras and pool our money for cell cams to provide everybody with pics to determine what is and what isn't a kill. If you've gotten neighboring clubs to unify that is amazing.
I was able to convince all my surrounding neighbors to only harvest bucks that were 4.5 years or older.
It's worked out GREAT. I've killed several very nice 3.5 year-olds.
I've never been a member of a club so please excuse my ignorance, but I've always assumed the premise of a club was to manage for better bucks, giving membership higher odds than hunting public ground.
DoubleRidge
Well-Known Member
I should have clarified...the two properties I mentioned in my previous post are not leased by clubs but by individual people...so I can see where a club, with multiple members, would be more challenging than working with a individual.
JCDEERMAN
Well-Known Member
I've been part of one club. My dad and I got kicked off for killing good deer. They wanted guys that would pay the dues and hunt an opener, then be done. That's not how I roll. We purchased property to not deal with BS.
I tell no one about what I get on camera. And I have stopped forwarding pics . Not even to my best friend and occasional hunting buddy. I've found that family tends to talk among family, then a son or grandson talks to friends, and before you know it everyone is in the game. But I do like to know what the neighbors kill so I can move on to other target bucks If mine gets taken.
