Hunting 2013

[stig]

You can't eat antlers or horns...

Gary

Here hunters are completely obsessed with antlers.
Which is why I liked it so much when I worked in Idaho back in 81 and went hunting with a couple of work buddies.
We shot a mule deer with a rack on it that would have been a Danish hunter's wet dream, and those boys just cut the head off and tossed it in the brush, saying, no reason to carry that out, it ain't edible.
I really liked that.

 

[cory]

Ha, good on the country boys.

 

[woodworkingboy]

I bet some people would have found the head edible, maybe even delicious. I found a recipe.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Don't people eat brains and tongues?

 

[Limbrat]

Here hunters are completely obsessed with antlers.
Which is why I liked it so much when I worked in Idaho back in 81 and went hunting with a couple of work buddies.
We shot a mule deer with a rack on it that would have been a Danish hunter's wet dream, and those boys just cut the head off and tossed it in the brush, saying, no reason to carry that out, it ain't edible.
I really liked that.

Hunted with a guy in Alabama like that. He had a really nice 8 point step out and was about to take the shot when he spotted two yearlings and killed them both. They weighed about 40 pounds apiece and he was totally happy with them. And yes Butch, some folks eat the head and brains. My Daddy loved hog head "cheese". My Uncle got on me if I shot the squirrels in the head, he cracked 'em like a pecan and ate the brains

 

[Husabud]

Hog tongue is incredible!

 

[woodworkingboy]

My grandma used to cook cow's brains. If I came home from school and looked in the pot and saw them rolling around in the boiling water, I didn't much feel like eating dinner.Too much Frankenstein effect and grandma had a very light complexion..

 

[MasterBlaster]

Hog tongue is incredible!

In more ways than one!!!

 

[Husabud]

I thought she was a Pig?!

 

[Tucker943]

The allure of antlers is often the challenge. A young small buck is often dumb. He hasn't been shot at much, doesn't have the greatest survival skills yet. Usually, those deer are easy to kill. Older more mature bucks become rather elusive in some places. They'll often go nocturnal during hunting season. They become hard to pattern, terribly difficult to approach, and just generally harder to find. They didn't get big by running up to guns. That's where the challenge lies with many dedicated hunters. Holding out and being patient. Letting the immature animals grow up and breed. Being able to go years and years between harvesting an animal. Being willing to accept defeat and be constantly outsmarted by a wise deer. Having the patience not to blast the first deer you see. The large antlers on a buck for many is tied to patience, skill, willingness to leave empty handed, and to rarely fill your tag. Which is worse, the man that waits to match wits with a wise old buck, or the guy that drills the first deer he sees, when there's a 99% chance he has plenty of food in his freezer already.

 

[cory]

Excellent overview, Chris. The only issue I see is the potential removal of some of the "best" genes by harvesting the biggest, smartest, most mature deer. In some fishing circles, the same principles are recommended by some- throw the big ones back, keep the younger, smaller, more plentiful ones.

 

[Mick!]

I was under the impression that regularly changing the dominant male (by culling him) was a good idea for the stock

 

[stig]

Regularly replacing the dominant male with a younger one is beneficial.
Replacing him with one that would never have won the place on it's own, but gets the position because all the worthy candidates are turned into wall ornaments is not.
When you combine that with wiping out all predators that could cull those who are unfit to breed and you end up with a gene pool that has been depleted of the best traits.

 

[Husabud]

 

[Cold Logging]

Only predators we need are meat hunters

 

[stig]

Not true.
How many hunters test the game before they shoot it.
Wolves will try several ( one Canadian study shows up to 20-some times) prey animals before exspending the energy to actually attack one.
They, like most other predators, don't like to waste uneccessary energy on a futile hunt.

A rifle simply makes it too easy.

That whole weighting up the benefits of a prey animal /food source against the energy expended to get it is something most animals do.

Known as optimal foraging behaviour, it has been proven that most animals go through an evaluation process before deciding on which food source to go for.

I spent a summer working in the mountains in Northern California in 81 proving that Rufous hummingbirds were able to evaluate the nectar contents of two different species of flowers and expand/shrink their territory depending on which flower was prevalent.

 

[Tucker943]

Excellent overview, Chris. The only issue I see is the potential removal of some of the "best" genes by harvesting the biggest, smartest, most mature deer. In some fishing circles, the same principles are recommended by some- throw the big ones back, keep the younger, smaller, more plentiful ones.

Those genes existed since that deer was born. That's why allowing him to breed for several years before harvesting him does more for the herd then killing him right off the bat. Good genes are there from the start, they don't develop once he is old and has a big rack.

 

[Tucker943]

That's if one is managing a herd on a large property for big deer. I don't have a large property or care to play herdsman with deer. Herd management is complex and very scientific and doesn't go based on speculations from us treehousers. I myself like a big set of antlers to admire but don't really dote on the idea. I'm not a trophy deer hunter. I'd enjoy being able to shoot trophy deer but I am happy to shoot a legal buck.

 

[Husabud]

I too enjoy a nice Rack, but I am happy when my freezer is full. Fresh road kill is no exception.

 

[FireFighterZero]

I ate a pheasant last year that flew into the window of my house. Not quite road kill I guess.

 

[Husabud]

His road I suppose. Good meat too!

 

[old irish]

5 Mule Deer showed up in my yard this morning. I was just thinking of them suffering through the long winter and migrating from wherever, to arrive here with last years fawns still alive with wolves about, when I ran across this thread. I was one of the biggest killers on the planet at one time. Nothing against anyone that hunts, my wife still does and gets either a buck or an Elk every year for the freezer. The wildlife refuge here allows the hunting of cow moose with calves when the cow is probably pregnant with next years calf. I pointed out to the "officials" that they were probably killing three animals with one bullet. It changed nothing. People that lack sensitivity for animals shouldn't be given the responsibility of managing them IMO.

 

[Tucker943]

When you kill any female deer/elk/moose after the rut there is a huge chance it is pregnant. With fawns/calves the size of your finger nail at most.

 

[Tucker943]

One has to decide if they can live with that.

 

[Limbrat]

Our archery season here in NW Florida coincides with whitetail birthing and nursing. Does are legal game and some guys sling arrows at every doe they see. If I shoot an early season doe, it's a year and a half old maiden doe without a fawn. I just can't stand the thought of killing a pregnant doe or leaving a fawn to starve to death.