Trophy or meat hunter?

[michihunter]

Figured I'd try to stir up the pot here. Been awhile since we had a hot debate!! I for one am a meat hunter (does taste just as good) that would certainly love to get a trophy deer but am not pursuing them specifically. I've had some pretty nice deer in my life but they always came unexpectedly.

[bloodtrailer]

100% MEAT HUNTER, the other guys can sit and wait for that big buck, while they wait I will have already a half a freezer full , dont get me wrong, that big boy comes by and the saying goes, If its brown its goin down ;D ;D

[Greg Krause]

The first few years I started getting deer, I was a "If it's brown, it's down" meat hunter. Now I let all the young bucks walk and am more selective in the size of the does I shoot. As a result I have been a meat hunter that's "growing trophies" in the mean time. We have been starting to see much better bucks because of this. I'd rather shoot a doe than a small buck anyday. Now I do have spots that already hold large bucks and I wait for them only. When I go on a trip, like to IL, I am after a trophy.

[BT]

Funny thing is that I would consider myself both.

I wont shoot a buck unless I consider it a trophy which has left me buckless for more years than I have taken bucks.

Last year I took a buck that normally I would have passed on but I had the Recurve for the first time in years and I considered that buck a real trophy at that time , all things considered.

Normally I just love to make the shot and a doe is a preferred target animal for me since it means both food and better land for the remaining bucks.

Given only one choice as it stands today I would choose to hunt my Doe's rather than Bucks using my present system

[Scottyluck]

BT's reply brings up a good point. I may let a yearling 4pt walk but someone else may stick it and feel it' a trophy of a lifetime.
Which I have ABSOLUTELY NO PROBLEM with.

Myself I'll shoot just about any doe that walks by. To shoot a buck I try to keep the old "it has to be bigger than my last" adage.
If I shoot a buck now it's to go on the wall.

So, meat first. If I get a trophy so be it.

[tshark]

I'm generally a meat hunter, but I try not to take small bucks. I'm not specifically a trophy hunter, but would like to have a few nice wall hangers.

[tblades]

I would say I'm a meat hunter but I hunt for big buck in the early season and during the rut. I usually hunt for Does in the end of the season.

[Hunter Mike]

Meat. A big buck would just be a bonus, but I'm not just looking for him. I won't generally shoot a spike or a very small racked buck. I will let them grow unless it is the end of the season and the freezer is empty.

[smj]

Currently, my attitude towards meat hunting grows inversely to the number of days remaining in the season. Fewer days left in the season, more emphasis on meat! When my kids were still little, around third grade or so, the first time they had moo-cow they wouldn’t eat it! Said it tasted funny… They much preferred deer, elk, and most of all – antelope. I will look for a nice bull, I certainly like to call them and play the game with them in the woods – but when you get down to it I’ll take what ever the good Lord puts in front of me. If I had the choice between a bull or a cow, I’d shoot the bull – more meat than a cow. But if a cow gets in front of me on opening day, I’ll have a short elk season and a long grouse season! I have to tell you though, it is way more fun going after a bull than it is going after a cow! I understand the trophy side of it!

[BT]

Glad to see that we are on the same page here

Makes my job alot easier as far as content