If you ask most of my friends that know me they would say I am a trophy hunter.. IMHO I am the furthest from it, for I have passed many would be considered trophies and use what I shoot... I hunt for my own satisfaction and the memories that are made... I have hunted most of my life in Illinois, which used to be the premier whitetail deer state.. I have been asked many times what my dream hunt would be and the answer is always the same, "I live it every November"!
There are already people doing the electronic shoot and release deer hunting, I saw a show on TV and thought to myself, Hmmmmm?..
As for the PC crowd I walked into church just the other weekend and a lady asked if I had "caught a deer yet' and my reply in front of several of the ladies cleaning up after fellowship was "you kill deer, you catch fish"...
As for killing the biggest deer in the woods from a management stand point is they have already done there job if they have lived to maturity, those genes are in the herd or area.. Just a couple of years ago I killed a very large deer that was probably past his prime... He dressed over 250 lbs and rack was on the down slide.. This deer had been running in the area for years and did everything to elude cameras and hunters.. With his body size and experience in the field he ran deer off the property that would score a lot higher..
I stand 6'4" and weigh 225 for reference..
So back to the would you hunt if killing wasn't involved? I do it all the time.. I have pictures of hundreds of deer that I easily could have killed.. Do I feel I am hurting the deer herd by removing maybe the biggest deer in an area?. No, the genes are already there and might be better if a buck moved in from another area and bred with the best doe in the area..
So good luck to all, shoot straight and set the hook before it's too deep!!!
