[jay26]

I was speaking with several fellow hunters at a picnic the other day. We were all talking about hunting and the joy it brings to all of us, I happened to have pictures of several deer on the farm I hunt with me and decided to show them to everyone and see what they thought.
Man did the attitude change, from how much they enjoy sharing hunting with family and friends to if that deer was on my property no one would hunt until that deer was mine.So I had to ask if you were hunting with your son and this deer walked out wouldn't you get more joy from helping your child to harvest the deer than to harvest it yourself?
These guys looked at me like I was stupid!!I guess I am weird I get just as much joy from sharing A hunt with A friend or family member as I do harvesting A deer myself.So my question to you is on what side of the fence do you stand on this topic and Why?

 

[tmorelli]

I walk both sides of that fence. If it were my son, I would absolutely rather see him kill any given deer than myself. If it were a casual hunting buddy, my competitive nature would come out.................assuming we are talking about a world class deer.....something that would dwarf anything else I've killed.

 

[Hasty]

I guess it depends on how vain you are and feeling the need to have a bigger deer on the wall than your buddies.

For a kid to get him hooked on deer hunting 100% all the time the kid shoots that deer. For some guy I barely know that's a gun season weekend warrior probably no. I have had tons of my buddies come out to my places to try to get big deer and when they do it's great. I get to hunt and share time in the outdoors with my buddies and time in the woods with them is more important than who's killed the biggest deer. For 4 years out there I've only killed a good one once but we all had a great time.

 

[mshred]

i always thought it was a little weird how my dad gave me the best stands and worked so hard to get me a good deer. i thanked him for it, but didnt always understand. now i have a son of my own and another on the way. i get it now. i'm right there with ya.

 

[BLan]

When the trophy mentality took over our sport. It's a shame really and I hope it changes in the coming years, but somehow I doubt it.

 

[ILbowhunter79]

I get more enjoyment out of getting others nice deer than I do myself. My buddy from Montana came to here to IL for 5 years before I finally got him on a stud of a deer. Thinks that's the most enjoyment I've ever had as far as hunting goes so far. Hopefully my daughters, nephews and neices take interest, if they do, I'd care less if I ever shot another IL giant just put all my efforts into getting those little kids on the big ones.

 

[bowtech2006]

Me I really enjoy hunting but I enjoy as much watching or helping a friend or family get a deer. Last year I let my best friend shoot the largest buck ever seen on the land I have upnorth and enjoyed it as much as I would of if I shot it! Almost everytime we hunt or talk about hunting he thanks me for letting him take the shot instead of myself.

 

[mike 04 gt]

i enjoy frinds killing about as much as i do killing them myself. however the frinds i share my hunting land with also share theres with me.

 

[jay26]

It's good to hear it I feel strongly about getting people into hunting or helping someone new to get over the strike out hump and taste the sweetness of success.
Dont get me wrong I also enjoy the success of harvesting A good deer,turkey or whatever but, I pray that I never reach the point that my joy of hunting depends on the size of game that I harvest or who of my friends has the "best trophy on the wall"

 

[highview72]

i enjoy frinds killing about as much as i do killing them myself. however the frinds i share my hunting land with also share theres with me.

Thats a good point. I have friends who always want to come hunting with me but never say a word about going to their place. They keep that for themselves....... If its my family or really close friends I am as happy to see them get a big deer as shooting it myself.

 

[dandu005]

I consider myself to be a bowhunter that is not self-centered. I would definitely would let my son take that deer. I have helped put my college roommate on his first archery deer, even though he missed, I am going to bring him out again and try to get him on a deer, and I already have told him that if he sees this big 9 on my property, to take him even though he is the target deer I am after this year. It doesn't bother me if somebody gets the deer I am after, even if it is my neighbor. As long as that person is in return not going to be selfish and throw a fit if I snag a deer that come off his property that he was after.

However one year I did get pretty upset due to one situation that I ran into. I had been getting frequent pictures of a large 14 pointer on a thick wooded fenceline. I hunted the adjacent property and left that half mile long fenceline as a sanctuary so he would have a refuge. He made it to the next season and he had grown a couple kickers on his main frame 7x7 set. This 16 point got my gears turning and gunning for bow season. I had him pegged working a fenceline along a bean field a half hour before dark every evening. That first night he never came in for a shot opportunity, split around the backside of my tree. Next night never saw him. went back to school, then the following weekend came home. Much to my delight, my dad delivered the news that the night before I arrived a large 16 point was shot in a super small hobby farm grove a mile away. I saw the buck and it was the one I worked so hard for for over two years.

The worst part of it was that deer was strapped to the roof of a H2 Hummer, and the guy was some joe blow from the city who decided to try bowhunting for the first time over a pile of apples in that grove. That deer definitely went to somebody who didn't deserve it, and that was one time I truly felt self centered about "my deer".

 

[Fortyneck]

Almost everything I do these day is for the benefit of my son. I have a lot of good memories already, it would be way more worth it to for me just to be a part of him making

his. It'll be quite a few years before he'll be hunting with me so until then...

I'll stick that Booner!:RockOn:

 

[granny]

I have no kids of my own & my stepkids do not hunt........but I think I would be just as happy if either one of us got a nice deer if I had a son or daughter that hunted. But if your talking neighbors....I would like to get the big one I would let them know about it so they would not be hunting a deer that wz already dead. About 3 years ago my neighbor showed me the nice deer he got.......so I gave him about 10 trail cam pics of my deer he got. We are buds now & share trail camera pics. ( still wish I would have gotten him with my bow...but I wz happy for him

 

[KyGaHunter]

If I was in the stand with my son letting him hunt and a booner walked out, I would take the gun/bow from him in a hurry. Absolutley no way I would let him (a brand new hunter) steal a deer of my dreams from me. He can get out, work for it and earn it himself if he wants a deer like that. I have dreamed of killing a booner all my life and there's NO WAY I would let my 9 yr old kill him.

Another thing......my friends will NEVER step a foot on my land, dont care how nice they are to me.

 

[Illinois59]

It's all about the size of the antlers. If it was a giant in your eyes would you want to hunt him or let a kid with a firearm shoot it when he has no idea how special that animal really is? For myself I would choose to hunt the giant and let my kids take the average deer until they work their way up in hunting skills when they can hunt their own giants.

P.S. Why in the world are showing anyone pictures of big deer in your hunting area? Have you lost your mind man!? :darkbeer:

 

[Deerhunter 28]

Nothing is more fun than seeing a kid or a new person to hunting harvest a deer or turkey.
A lot more enjoyable than taking it yourself!

 

[huntnfishnut]

Everyone is chasing their own trophy. Part of their actions are how long they have been doing it. My dad did the same with me as I will for my children.

 

[Fortyneck]

I consider myself to be a bowhunter that is not self-centered. I would definitely would let my son take that deer. I have helped put my college roommate on his first archery deer, even though he missed, I am going to bring him out again and try to get him on a deer, and I already have told him that if he sees this big 9 on my property, to take him even though he is the target deer I am after this year. It doesn't bother me if somebody gets the deer I am after, even if it is my neighbor. As long as that person is in return not going to be selfish and throw a fit if I snag a deer that come off his property that he was after.

However one year I did get pretty upset due to one situation that I ran into. I had been getting frequent pictures of a large 14 pointer on a thick wooded fenceline. I hunted the adjacent property and left that half mile long fenceline as a sanctuary so he would have a refuge. He made it to the next season and he had grown a couple kickers on his main frame 7x7 set. This 16 point got my gears turning and gunning for bow season. I had him pegged working a fenceline along a bean field a half hour before dark every evening. That first night he never came in for a shot opportunity, split around the backside of my tree. Next night never saw him. went back to school, then the following weekend came home. Much to my delight, my dad delivered the news that the night before I arrived a large 16 point was shot in a super small hobby farm grove a mile away. I saw the buck and it was the one I worked so hard for for over two years.

The worst part of it was that deer was strapped to the roof of a H2 Hummer, and the guy was some joe blow from the city who decided to try bowhunting for the first time over a pile of apples in that grove. That deer definitely went to somebody who didn't deserve it, and that was one time I truly felt self centered about "my deer".

I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but like Clint Eastwood says in "The Unforgiven"(amazing movie btw), "Deserve's got nothing to do with it." I would be PO'd as

heck also, but at the end of the day that deer walk into his set up, could've walked in to yours, could've walked into anyones.

 

[vendetta]

On the flip side of the argument, have those guys ever shot a deer of the caliber of the ones you showed? Maybe those deer are much bigger than what they're used to? I'm not making excuses for them, I can just see another side. My son, had I one, would take priority to me as well. It's about the hunt for me, not the shooting, but what a better hunt to have a big one walk under your stand. Just my $0.02.

 

[Curtdawg88]

I don't have kids yet, but I am getting my wife into hunting and I would give anything for her to have a chance at a nice buck even if it was "mine". I even tell my dad where I have seen deer etc, but not anybody else at the camp. I'm not going to run around blabbing about every good spot I have, but I do like to see other have fun as well. To answer the main question at hand, any deer that I find I will share with family, that's about it though.