Thread: Should I have shot this Deer?

Originally Posted by Moa Hunter

In direct answer to your question, neither animal will make a future trophy so you can have a clean conscience for taking them.
The spiker is late and will always be small even as a mature animal. Only one spiker in a group of half a dozen will be worth leaving normally. Big well grown deer with a broad skull and strong thick spikes.
The two year old stag lacks Bey tines and his Brows and Treys are too short, he is also late as most stags start to rapidly harden from Jan 15th and his head should be grown out by now.
Some public access areas - parts Mt Oxford, Harper Avoca get a lot of pressure and hinds are not out of control so shooting poor stags as you have done is what I would do too to maintain a hunting resource.

Great answer thanks, I'll keep those aspects in consideration for future.

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.

Good on you for asking the question. If you've done the work to have the deer in your sights then it's your decision, based on your ethics. There will be no shortage of stags on public land for those prepared to put the work in so don't be too worried about that aspect.

Good on you for not shooting hinds at this time of year. I'm not too judgmental about what people shoot, but I simply can't understand the ethics of a hunter who will shoot a lactating hind and leave a fawn to starve to death.

A good effort for someone newish to hunting - keep up the good work.

Bit late to debate it I think

I know a lot of guys will tell you that particularly when your starting out don’t be afraid to shoot what you can. But as a young hunter myself it’s amazing how quickly once you see one animal there’s normally others not far away. And while I know it’s not always possible you’ll learn a lot more about their behaviour by just observing them instead of shooting the first thing that comes into view. My advice is change your hunting objective away from just trying to shoot something and more to seeing how many deer you can find in a trip. Even though it might not always feel that way there are no shortage of deer around and the more time you spend learning their behaviour the more you’ll see instead of just bowling the first one you see.

Better to shoot them than hinds between Nov 20th and Feb 10th when they have a fawn at foot that will just starve to death.

No, you've done nothing wrong. That bigger stag is not a trophy in the making anyway.
I'm encouraged to see a young hunter consider the question though. Too often in today's society people don't think through potential consequences of their actions. Leads to attitudes of lessened responsibility which is not good. Considering how deer populations have ballooned in recent times you would do habitat and conservation good by going out and shooting more these days. Not that I'm in a strong position to talk having shot mostly goats and very few deer in the last year. Personally I try to refrain from shooting velvet stags with potential although I admit to having done so when the temptation of prime venison at this time of year was too great. With current numbers it's generally not too hard to find suitable alternative meat animals.
Good job on packing out meat from two stags. I don't think I've ever been that fit or strong.

Nothing wrong with what you have done. Its only natural to feel a bit of sadness ( for want of a better term) after taking an animal. I always feel a bit guilty about it, but that's life. You quickly forget about it when you have the bastards on your back and grunting them out, Then I REALLY regret shooting them.

Appreciate everyone's responses and guidance! Good info that's gonna steer me well in future hunts!

Interesting comment about the old hunter regretting not shooting more scrappy stags and the comment about fawns being good eating! I was wondering that when a fawn left its hind and came within 50m of me before spooking.

fawns arent good eating..they are AWESOME eating....

you UTALISED the meat......that gets the big tick in my book.

I end up shooting (yes @dannyb and missing) more hinds than stags something like 4;1 but thats not planned,its just I must normally be in hind territory.
good on you for leaving what looked like a good stag.
enjoy your venison..you surely have earned it.

Anyone dedicated enough to carry 50kg meat through 1000 altitude meters, probably has enough substance of character to make good judgment on their own level of ethics around which animals to take or leave.

Most of the time in deer stalking, you will be the only one who will know what you do. So mostly it’s you that needs to be comfortable with the standards you adhere to.

Originally Posted by longshot

Anyone dedicated enough to carry 50kg meat through 1000 altitude meters, probably has enough substance of character to make good judgment on their own level of ethics around which animals to take or leave.

Most of the time in deer stalking, you will be the only one who will know what you do. So mostly it’s you that needs to be comfortable with the standards you adhere to.

Thanks, definitely not something I think I’d repeat. That said I’ve started using walking poles and now get no joint pain with heavy packs. I walked the same route last year with no meat but no poles and knees hurt for at least a week after. Walking poles are magic.

Originally Posted by Average-Lad

Thanks, definitely not something I think I’d repeat. That said I’ve started using walking poles and now get no joint pain with heavy packs. I walked the same route last year with no meat but no poles and knees hurt for at least a week after. Walking poles are magic.

Walking hills in such a way as to not get injuries is a learned skill. Shorten steps going downhill. Turn fully sideways to step down any drop that is more than a normal step height etc etc