Thread: do you shoot hinds???

I take satisfaction in shooting hinds knowing the good I am doing and given the choice I do my best to choose females over males. This is because I understand the benefits that come from this in both trophy potential and meat quality of the herd. I hunt for trophies, meat and everything else that comes with it. In saying that Im not always a conservation saint and have my times of "if its brown its down" depending on the situation at the time.

I read some really good quotes in an article in a hunting magazine the other day. The first went along the lines of "shoot more hinds then stags and let young stags grow to meet their potential, this is the mark of a hunter with respect". The next quote then went "If you are a young or newer hunter, do not feel pressured to not shoot that younger or smaller stag. Shoot it and enjoy the reward and satisfaction that comes with it". This is a rough translation but I read it and thought what an excellent way of portraying the respect and correlation between the two situations.

An area I hunt has a lot of "legends" who love smashing stags. All they look for is stags and think they are mighty hunters for shooting heaps of them. All I see is a lack of respect, both for the herd and for their fellow hunters. The funny thing is they love stags so much but their own doings are to the detriment of what they love. Summer summer for "pure meat hunters" who shoot only for meat and bowl over every trophy stag. We all understand you don't care and that's all good but to me its about respect for your mate or another hunter who may have valued that stag more than you.

Obviously as others have mentioned, this is always subjective to the opportunities you are given and the type of hunts you do. Every situation for every hunter is different. If you apply the principles of respect for yourself, the herd/environment and other hunters then you cant go wrong IMO.