Thread: Should I have shot this Deer?

So first I would say that no one should begrudge you shooting any deer you want given your stage of hunting career. You have to learn and you wont learn everything you can by worrying at this stage about trophy potential. You also need to have some successful hunts, so good on you for shooting them, but also good on you for asking the question.

Honestly, I go through threads like this and many of the replies disappoint me as a hunter. It does not matter wether we are trophy hunters or meat hunters, we should be working together. We wont have deer herds for meat to feed our families if we dont treat them with respect and value! if we let the herds get too overpopulated they will be taken from us at some point. The best thing we can do as meat hunters, is shoot the females at this point in time. There are too many out there!
Same go's for trophy hunters. You are not doing anyone including yourselves any good walking past females and the world does not understand humans who wish to kill an animal for bone and leave meat behind.
We improve our herds by targeting females, and we also improve out herds by letting promising males reach their potential. Our best reason to hunt in the publics eye is to feed our families.
So I think you have the potential to be a thinking hunter by asking such a question.

My personnel approach is- I have trophies on the wall, and a full freezer. I have shot enough deer so that I leave promising males alone while very quickly pulling the trigger on males that show little or no potential or have reached it. Right at this moment in time I avoid shooting females unless they are not feeding offspring or I can shoot both- The back legs of a fawn, boned out and sliced thin make the best schnitzel you can imagine! They will also tempt those who say they dont like the taste of venison.

Dont listen to those who say it doesn't matter. They are just being selfish. Dont list to those who tell you you should leave them. They have forgotten where they came from.

Just learn and decide for yourself where you need to be.

Originally Posted by whanahuia

So first I would say that no one should begrudge you shooting any deer you want given your stage of hunting career. You have to learn and you wont learn everything you can by worrying at this stage about trophy potential. You also need to have some successful hunts, so good on you for shooting them, but also good on you for asking the question.

Honestly, I go through threads like this and many of the replies disappoint me as a hunter. It does not matter wether we are trophy hunters or meat hunters, we should be working together. We wont have deer herds for meat to feed our families if we dont treat them with respect and value! if we let the herds get too overpopulated they will be taken from us at some point. The best thing we can do as meat hunters, is shoot the females at this point in time. There are too many out there!
Same go's for trophy hunters. You are not doing anyone including yourselves any good walking past females and the world does not understand humans who wish to kill an animal for bone and leave meat behind.
We improve our herds by targeting females, and we also improve out herds by letting promising males reach their potential. Our best reason to hunt in the publics eye is to feed our families.
So I think you have the potential to be a thinking hunter by asking such a question.

My personnel approach is- I have trophies on the wall, and a full freezer. I have shot enough deer so that I leave promising males alone while very quickly pulling the trigger on males that show little or no potential or have reached it. Right at this moment in time I avoid shooting females unless they are not feeding offspring or I can shoot both- The back legs of a fawn, boned out and sliced thin make the best schnitzel you can imagine! They will also tempt those who say they dont like the taste of venison.

Dont listen to those who say it doesn't matter. They are just being selfish. Dont list to those who tell you you should leave them. They have forgotten where they came from.

Just learn and decide for yourself where you need to be.

I know your post is Jan 2023, but great words youve written. I am also a new hunter and was wondering about these conundrums. What you say makes very good sense. TY.