Thread: The choice is yours.........

I once cross the path deep into the kaimai with a lady tramper in her late 40's.
She was carrying a big tactical knife on her belt. I for sure would not have tried to mess with her!
Or maybe she did not tried to rape me because I had a gun? Who knows.... :-)

Spiker, you KNOW it's going to taste good!

Originally Posted by HNTMAD

Ok so for those that would only shoot if they needed the meat, do you hunt all the time or only when you need the meat?? Not stirring but genuinely interested. Reason is I go most weekends, reason I go is to shoot a deer (don't really care what sort but if a choice spiker/stag or yearling. If no choice then it's the one I see) couldn't be arse taking gun for a walk to not shoot anything if I didn't need the meat.......unless of course you are scared in the bush on your own hence armed tramping??

Hamish



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I hunt when opportunity arises and hunt for meat. I have never really cared for antler hunting (but that's a personal choice and not for me to judge either way) I dont get out as often as I like but we do eat rather a lot of meat in our house so we are always grateful.
recently most of my hunting has been on private land and so animals have been recovered complete which is a bonus.

where is the photo taken? if on a farm how many deer are there? any parties coming up? what am i hunting for? in my opinion you mentally consider all the context - generally when hunting you have time or already made these predetermined decisions.

if i had to shoot id shoot spiker, due to population dynamics. but most suited preference - neither as i like big bone, meats good but big bone still has meat also.

that said a bit low on meat currently, might sway my decision.

If it was private property that I had an interest in/some control over what gets shot I would take the hind (assuming deer numbers are healthy). I would try to only shoot stage once head has developed and you have some inclination if it's good or not.

If doc land would be whatever one turned broadside first but probably with a preference for the spiker

Given the question was "which would you shoot first and why" infers that the aim is to shoot both my choice would be the hind first, with the spiker second based on the assumption that the spiker might will be stupid enough to stick around to allow the second shot. If I had doubts of getting a second shot away I would take the spiker - more meat and no troubles judging age.

Spiker

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Originally Posted by HNTMAD

Ok so for those that would only shoot if they needed the meat, do you hunt all the time or only when you need the meat?? Not stirring but genuinely interested. Reason is I go most weekends, reason I go is to shoot a deer (don't really care what sort but if a choice spiker/stag or yearling. If no choice then it's the one I see) couldn't be arse taking gun for a walk to not shoot anything if I didn't need the meat.......unless of course you are scared in the bush on your own hence armed tramping??

Hamish

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And how often do you get something? You must have a big family to justify hunting for meat every weekend.

I try to be a bit selective now as I like sitting and watching deer just as much as shooting them. Even just getting out into new country is good. The majority of my hunting these days is doc land so it does make the hunting aspect a bit more challenging but the majority of times I go out I will have the chance to shoot one and if I shot all the ones I saw I wouldn't be able to go hunting again cause I would have no use for the meat

Spiker, the hind maybe preggers and also the boy one should be a bit fatter.


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Originally Posted by PerazziSC3

And how often do you get something? You must have a big family to justify hunting for meat every weekend.

I try to be a bit selective now as I like sitting and watching deer just as much as shooting them. Even just getting out into new country is good. The majority of my hunting these days is doc land so it does make the hunting aspect a bit more challenging but the majority of times I go out I will have the chance to shoot one and if I shot all the ones I saw I wouldn't be able to go hunting again cause I would have no use for the meat

Certainly family and friends benefit greatly from the proceeds of my hunting. 80-90% of my hunting is public based. I would say there are not many trips that go by that we don't see, or shoot a deer. I prefer public as it's my rules that apply so I can shoot what I want and not have to justify it to anyone. (don't want to start a morals and ethics thing, that's been done to death already)

So yes I do shoot a few last year 21 deer, 1 pig, 1 chamois and who knows how many goats. This year 12 deer and 4 pigs and the Year is not done;-)

A drop in the ocean really. Some guys play soccer, rugby or cricket in the weekend I go hunting, not walking with a gun to see deer and leave them because my fridge is full, may as well be a tramper if that's what you want to do

Hamish

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i am a trophy and a meat hunter and would take out the hind first, because of the length
of the antlers on the spiker, if the spiker had shorter antlers then it would be first to go.

I shoot the spiker. Do like Friwi answer thou apart from if I was hunting for meat and it was a normal DOC block like I hunt, it wouldn't matter if the area had little deer or not, I still shoot one.(spiker first).
Even if the area had too many deer I only shoot one, that's all I can carry and wouldn't want two

Ive only seen 1 deer in my hunting career so i would shoot the spiker as i am not after a trophy and would prefer to leave the hind to hopefully bring the numbers up

I never hunt for meat in any of my spots that are likely to produce a trophy. In any scenario I wouldnt shoot either if hunting for myself as I only hang yearlings.

But if I needed an animal for someone else and It wasn't a hassle to get out, I would tip over the spiker.

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Context is everything. You just can't answer this question without giving it context.

High population/low population? Trophy hunter/meat hunter? Public land/private land? New hunter/experienced hunter? Etc.

Also, to me, what I shoot and when is a very private thing. I make different decisions depending on the context.

But I don't get too prissy about it, and I'm certainly not guided about what other people think. I would never have been a pro meat hunter if I had worried about other people's views (I got ostracized out of NZDA in ay event). My over-riding approach is that "they are still making them", so I make my decision and don't look back.

Having said all of this, I do think a bit about what other people want, and that's a lengthy spiker with a bit of potential. So unless there was a compelling contextual issue not to, I would shoot the hind and leave the spiker for a bone hunter. If he was an ordinary spiker, he would be the one to cop it.

Under "ordinary" circumstances, if there was an ounce of room in my fridge, one of them would go down anyway.