A frequent contributor to the site sent me this picture close to the end of deer season. He offered that he was not too proud of this one, and he apologized for his “late season heavy finger.” In fact, he let me publish these photos only on condition of anonymity. As I appreciate anyone’s contribution to the site, and I am true to my word, I even distorted the license plate when I was resizing the photos. All of this started me thinking about whether the emphasis on big racks and genetic freak “super-deer” has taken some of the fun out of deer hunting. Should Mr. Anonymous have let this buck “go to grow,” as he said in his e-mail to me?
When I was learning to deer hunt as a teenager in Tennessee, whitetails were not nearly as plentiful as they are now. With a buck-only gun season, a successful deer hunt was any trip that ended with field dressing. Sure, we liked to see big racks, but the mark of a hardcore hunter was whether you had meat every season. Deer hunters who had not seen each other in a while met with the question, “Did you get your deer yet this year?”
Take a closer look at this buck:
Any one of those 8 points is big enough to hang a ring on, and that was the test back when Boone and Crockett were just folks we read about in Tennessee History class. By the gray on his muzzle and around his eyes, I don’t believe he had much more growing to do, but I’m no wildlife biologist. He may be past his prime and therefore a perfect deer to take even for those obsessed with the “management” aspect of hunting. What do you think? Our knowledge of whitetail deer has increased vastly since the old days, but I can’t help but echo the sentiments of an older gentleman who advised my nameless friend, “You can boil the horns all day long and they will never get soft enough to eat.”
3 responses so far ↓
1 ccloud32 // Mar 11, 2009 at 8:46 pm
As I work at Dell and side by side with several tech-heads, I’ve already dispatched several to UN-pixel the license plate in the photo to uncover the shooter. However, it’s only for the purpose of making a direct request for some tenderloin.
2 armchairoutfitter // Mar 11, 2009 at 11:23 pm
Mr. Cloud, that sounds like blackmail, and I’m afraid I can’t condone that. Of course, if you’d paid my retainer fee in advance, that information would have been protected by attorney-client privilege. Hey, these are tough times, and lawyers gotta eat too, ya’ know?
3 Chuck Bodiford // Apr 4, 2010 at 2:18 pm
I would have shot the buck also when I was younger and would probably shoot it today in Tenn. If you want meat to eat, some counties in Tenn. allow you to kill three deer a day, and you can also get your buck to doe ratio down. QDM is and is not a dirty word, it all depends on who you talk to. I try to kill at least one doe before I take a buck but it don’t always work out that way. I also enjoy hunting for big rack deer, but I enjoy eating them too! I don’t kill a lot of deer but I try to put at least two or three in the freezer. So I think the shooter of the eight point in the picture deserves an pat on the back for a nice kill, congrats.
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