How many of you guys...
- Thread starter OkieKubota
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j-bird
Well-Known Member
Most of my immediate neighbors don't hunt - so that's a non-issue. I do have a few hunters in my general area that I will share with if the opportunity arises, but I don;t go out of my way to do it. Otherwise it's a pic in a text and that's it. I refuse to drive all over town with a dead deer in my truck. My deer go from my house to the locker and covered with a tarp and that is it. I'm not trying to hide anything....I just chose not to broadcast it.
j-bird also brings up another point - the covering of deer to transport them...
When I was a kid one of the neatest and greatest things I ever remember my dad doing was sometimes we would go up to the local store which was also a check station and he used it as a social event and I just liked to look at the deer. When I got old enough to hunt on my own if I killed a deer we showed it to everyone. I remember when I was old enough to drive I killed a real nice 9 point and I put it in the back of the truck with the tailgate down and drove it everywhere after I checked it in. It was commonplace in November to see cars and trucks around our town at a diner or store with dead deer proudly displayed and was really very normal behavior for that time frame back in the 70's and 80's...Fast Forward to today when you NEVER see a dead deer anywhere unless it was run over in the highway. If you had a dead deer in the back of your truck with tailgate down or draped over a fender of a jeep or something then you take the risk of all kinds of repercussions for doing a legal activity that has been going on for centuries. I have heard of vehicle vandalism, Deer stolen from bed of pickup while paying for gas, confrontation from anti hunters, and just plain rude behavior... It is really sad where our country has gone in these respects... Easy to take a right away if it seems like you are having to hide to do something, enough people see you sneaking around it is deemed as wrong and the next thing you know it is illegal...slippery slope!
When I was a kid one of the neatest and greatest things I ever remember my dad doing was sometimes we would go up to the local store which was also a check station and he used it as a social event and I just liked to look at the deer. When I got old enough to hunt on my own if I killed a deer we showed it to everyone. I remember when I was old enough to drive I killed a real nice 9 point and I put it in the back of the truck with the tailgate down and drove it everywhere after I checked it in. It was commonplace in November to see cars and trucks around our town at a diner or store with dead deer proudly displayed and was really very normal behavior for that time frame back in the 70's and 80's...Fast Forward to today when you NEVER see a dead deer anywhere unless it was run over in the highway. If you had a dead deer in the back of your truck with tailgate down or draped over a fender of a jeep or something then you take the risk of all kinds of repercussions for doing a legal activity that has been going on for centuries. I have heard of vehicle vandalism, Deer stolen from bed of pickup while paying for gas, confrontation from anti hunters, and just plain rude behavior... It is really sad where our country has gone in these respects... Easy to take a right away if it seems like you are having to hide to do something, enough people see you sneaking around it is deemed as wrong and the next thing you know it is illegal...slippery slope!
j-bird
Well-Known Member
I started deer hunting at a different time (late 90's early 2000's). You want to see my deer I have no issue showing it to you, however I'm not going to drive all over town with it's head hanging off the tailgate with it's tongue hanging out or with sun glasses on it and a cigarette in it's mouth.
There is a right way to do it and a wrong way to do it and I error on the side of caution and respect.....for the deer. I see far too many "deer hunters" that make a show out of it and do nothing more than confirm the "knuckle dragging genes from which they came". I want nothing to do with that image. We are not cavemen hunting with rocks and spears. We don't need to parade around in blood soaked clothes to show how "manly" we are. I also respect the deer enough to do everything I can to present it in a respectful manner. I will put the tongue back in it's mouth and have even washed them of blood for photos and I will often change clothes or wash or hide as much blood as I can.
Maybe I'm "soft" in that manner, but I'm not going to add fuel to the fire that I am some sort of unsympathetic, blood thirsty, moron because I hunt deer, and act like I described above. Like I said - someone looks over the bed rail of my truck and asks to see my deer - I will show them, but even in line at the locker or check-in, it's covered. There is nothing wrong with being proud of your accomplishment, doesn't mean you should run it up the flag pole!
There is a right way to do it and a wrong way to do it and I error on the side of caution and respect.....for the deer. I see far too many "deer hunters" that make a show out of it and do nothing more than confirm the "knuckle dragging genes from which they came". I want nothing to do with that image. We are not cavemen hunting with rocks and spears. We don't need to parade around in blood soaked clothes to show how "manly" we are. I also respect the deer enough to do everything I can to present it in a respectful manner. I will put the tongue back in it's mouth and have even washed them of blood for photos and I will often change clothes or wash or hide as much blood as I can.
Maybe I'm "soft" in that manner, but I'm not going to add fuel to the fire that I am some sort of unsympathetic, blood thirsty, moron because I hunt deer, and act like I described above. Like I said - someone looks over the bed rail of my truck and asks to see my deer - I will show them, but even in line at the locker or check-in, it's covered. There is nothing wrong with being proud of your accomplishment, doesn't mean you should run it up the flag pole!
Chainsaw
Well-Known Member
We used to do it and it was a lot of fun;It wasn't about bragging. It was about sharing the excitement of the hunt story with other hunters. deer were cleaned and in the back of pickup with the tailgate closed. We might have rested the head on a four x four so the main beam would stick up a bit.
These days we process the deer ourselves and show our friend landowners the antlers when they stop by or trade pics with them. Even coming out of the woods with the tractor we cover the deer with a small tarp. It's just plain better all around to not give the impression that big deer are shot here. Note; Big deer are not normally shot here;they are though much bigger than what guys are usually parading around.
These days we process the deer ourselves and show our friend landowners the antlers when they stop by or trade pics with them. Even coming out of the woods with the tractor we cover the deer with a small tarp. It's just plain better all around to not give the impression that big deer are shot here. Note; Big deer are not normally shot here;they are though much bigger than what guys are usually parading around.
Blizzard Ridge
Well-Known Member
I don't go out of my way to hide my kills but I also don't go around showing it off to anyone but family and friends. I also grew up in the era of deer check stations and besides the hunt it was the most memorable part of deer season. Going to the check stations listening to all the old men's stories, seeing all the bucks in the back of the folks truck. When my grandpa would kill a deer we would run to check station then I would have to take him to the "Station" as he called it, which was a little ole gas station in town. He would show off his kill to all his old buddies whether it was a buck or a doe, then the stories would start most of which were borderline untruths but sounded better then the actual story behind his kill.
My favorite memory of hunting with my grandpa was his last year he got to hunt before he passed away. I picked him up at 4:30 am and we headed to the woods, we got settled in on a hill overlooking a nice oak bottom with a alfalfa field on the other side. At daybreak we had this little 8 point come up across the alfalfa field to within 10 yards of us, grandpa raised the gun and put the buck down in his tracks. We got it loaded up and headed to check it in, grandpa proud as a peacock as he never killed a stinkin ole buck, he wanted meat. Well after checking in that buck we headed to the "station". Here's my poor old stroke and heart attack ridden grandfather (strongest man on earth) showing off his buck of a lifetime, literally. I look over at him telling his story tears running down his face, had wet his pants(probably trying to take a leak through all the clothes) but proud as a man can be telling all the old guys at the "station" about his hunt.
We took the deer to his house drug him out and took some pictures to document this historic hunt. Tears were flowing everywhere. Grandma was another person I never saw shed a tear and I watched her weep like a baby as well as my uncles, aunts and parents. I had that buck mounted for him to hang beside his chair in the living room and listen to him tell his story about how he killed that old buck to friends and family. Grandpa passed away that following fall before deer season. He knew deep down that was his last deer hunt and that was the reason for the tears and excitement for that final kill of his. That mount hangs in my bar as the centerpiece of my mounts and not a hunting season goes by that I don't think about the last hunt.
I say if you want to show off your kill that is up to you it is how memories are made.
My favorite memory of hunting with my grandpa was his last year he got to hunt before he passed away. I picked him up at 4:30 am and we headed to the woods, we got settled in on a hill overlooking a nice oak bottom with a alfalfa field on the other side. At daybreak we had this little 8 point come up across the alfalfa field to within 10 yards of us, grandpa raised the gun and put the buck down in his tracks. We got it loaded up and headed to check it in, grandpa proud as a peacock as he never killed a stinkin ole buck, he wanted meat. Well after checking in that buck we headed to the "station". Here's my poor old stroke and heart attack ridden grandfather (strongest man on earth) showing off his buck of a lifetime, literally. I look over at him telling his story tears running down his face, had wet his pants(probably trying to take a leak through all the clothes) but proud as a man can be telling all the old guys at the "station" about his hunt.
We took the deer to his house drug him out and took some pictures to document this historic hunt. Tears were flowing everywhere. Grandma was another person I never saw shed a tear and I watched her weep like a baby as well as my uncles, aunts and parents. I had that buck mounted for him to hang beside his chair in the living room and listen to him tell his story about how he killed that old buck to friends and family. Grandpa passed away that following fall before deer season. He knew deep down that was his last deer hunt and that was the reason for the tears and excitement for that final kill of his. That mount hangs in my bar as the centerpiece of my mounts and not a hunting season goes by that I don't think about the last hunt.
I say if you want to show off your kill that is up to you it is how memories are made.
You said it yourself - you are from a different time...
You also, without knowingly doing so, have just reinforced what I have observed over the years. A time of celebration and fun and comradery has now turned into a under the cover of darkness and cloaks experience. If you had a flat bed truck and had your deer on the back on the way hauling it to the butcher shop in legal deer season with a legal tag and a legal kill how would you feel...ashamed? That is the path America is taking and is a crying shame because things that should be done under the cover of darkness and cloaked are thrown out there to our kids as normal and things that are totally legal and have been the norm and a great FAMILY pastime (deer hunting) is now turning into something to be ashamed of...
BTW - you would never know I have a deer in my truck unless it's in the back of my 95 Nissan and sticks up a bit even though the buck I killed in 2014 with a 24" inside spread did stick above the bedsides on my Ram 2500 but I don't go out of my way to hide one other than put the tailgate up. I will never throw a tarp over a legal deer I have killed and I have never put a cigarette in a deer's mouth nor do I know anyone who has. I cut the tongues off...barbarian as I am
I shoot it and shut up about it. When persons find out that you have big bucks on your land, you are just asking for problems. Especially since I don't live on my land. Nothing but trespassing problems the first few years I owned the land. Had two stands put up on my land by people that had permission to hunt neighbors property. Too bad, but that is the way the world is in my neighborhood.
Jeff H
Well-Known Member
Love that story Blizzard!!
Deer123
New Member
I used to show close friends and my landowner, well that ended up with me losing my land because the landowner saw some of the big deer I was harvesting and decided to hunt it himself ! I had put 6 years of management and habitat improvement into the land so it was a swift kick in the jewels for sure !!
On the other hand, I'm extremely annoyed by the guys driving around with their tailgates down, even worse the ones at the cafe in the morning at 10am with the deer out in the bed of his truck still !!!!
On the other hand, I'm extremely annoyed by the guys driving around with their tailgates down, even worse the ones at the cafe in the morning at 10am with the deer out in the bed of his truck still !!!!
Blizzard Ridge
Well-Known Member
Thank you
j-bird
Well-Known Member
You said it yourself - you are from a different time...
You also, without knowingly doing so, have just reinforced what I have observed over the years. A time of celebration and fun and comradery has now turned into a under the cover of darkness and cloaks experience. If you had a flat bed truck and had your deer on the back on the way hauling it to the butcher shop in legal deer season with a legal tag and a legal kill how would you feel...ashamed? That is the path America is taking and is a crying shame because things that should be done under the cover of darkness and cloaked are thrown out there to our kids as normal and things that are totally legal and have been the norm and a great FAMILY pastime (deer hunting) is now turning into something to be ashamed of...
BTW - you would never know I have a deer in my truck unless it's in the back of my 95 Nissan and sticks up a bit even though the buck I killed in 2014 with a 24" inside spread did stick above the bedsides on my Ram 2500 but I don't go out of my way to hide one other than put the tailgate up. I will never throw a tarp over a legal deer I have killed and I have never put a cigarette in a deer's mouth nor do I know anyone who has. I cut the tongues off...barbarian as I am
Not to banter on.....but it isn't "shame". I understand where you are coming from, I do. I have an uncle that used to tie his deer to his Jeep back in the 80's like you talk about. It wasn't a big deal then. I agree that society today is not as open to that anymore. However I have seen the other extreme where folks don't respect the animal and though it is "legal" it isn't "right". They put hats on it, sun glasses, give it a smoke and the like. Sometimes the hunter intentionally walks around with his front covered in blood and the like - as some sort of demonstration. All of this is "legal", but not "right". I see that more now than I care for and that activity only adds fuel to the fire against hunters. Putting a deer in the back of a truck covered or not I have no issue with......I have simply seen things done in VERY poor taste in the past. I refuse to promote that activity by my own actions and as such hope to NEVER see my kids act like that either. I see nothing wrong with gathering at the local check station and swapping stories and checking out what gets brought to town. I do have an issue when it becomes some sort of circus act. We also have to realize the social dynamic has changed since the 70's as well. I'm not saying it's a good thing, but it's a fact. Hunters are a minority now more than ever before and our actions are under more scrutiny now than ever before. For the many of us that treat the animal with respect and the like it takes the one jack-wagon like I described that gets remembered by the non-hunters in society. I have no shame in my harvested deer, I simply don't need to make a spectacle out of it either.
Blizzard Ridge
Well-Known Member
I would say the hat and cigarette thing had to be a very rare occurrence. I have never heard or seen anything like it before in my life. The biggest spectacle I have ever seen is a good ole boy propping his buck up so the world can see when he drives through town on the way to the meat processors. If you have crazy stuff like that going on around you then maybe someone just needs a boot put in their ass. None of the kids in these parts do anything of the sort or that is what they would get. If a guy has blood on his coveralls maybe he just hasn't got home to change yet, I can't imagine wanting to parade around in blood soaked clothes but I do know that I had to wear some bloody clothes before I learned to properly field dress a deer. They are probably more guilty of that than wanting the blood on them on purpose.
The thing is hunter's are not a bigger minority now then ever. Actually the opposite there are more hunter's in the woods now a days then there ever were. That is why hunter's need to stand up, ban together and fight against the true "minority" which is the Anti-Hunter's of the world. I will guarantee that hunter's out number the anti's by a long shot or hunting would have been banned many moons ago. Hunter's contribute more money to the preservation of wildlife than any other organization in the world (probably combined).
The thing is hunter's are not a bigger minority now then ever. Actually the opposite there are more hunter's in the woods now a days then there ever were. That is why hunter's need to stand up, ban together and fight against the true "minority" which is the Anti-Hunter's of the world. I will guarantee that hunter's out number the anti's by a long shot or hunting would have been banned many moons ago. Hunter's contribute more money to the preservation of wildlife than any other organization in the world (probably combined).
Skimming thru all these posts causes me to think about how different Texas is. There are countless 'big buck contest' in Texas where you will find both giant trophies and youngsters proudly showing off their first buck. Trucks still pull up to these contests and crowds gather around to see whats being brought in. The contests are bigger than ever.
There is the 'Texas Trophy Hunter' magazine with the current issue at 224 pages. Again articles on outstanding trophies as well as youngsters proudly sharing their story. Management tips from experts in every issue.
There is TexasBowhunter.com with over 76,000 members. Post range from game mgt. to current events , with countless posts showing trail cam pics, harvest pics, the one that got away, age questions...an endless list.
Go into a cafe during hunting season in the countless small towns in Texas and it looks like military maneuvers . All things whitetail dominate most conversations.
I could go on. There is a proud hunter tradition in Texas which seems much different than the tenor of most of these posts. I'm not offering judgement just noting a difference.
There is the 'Texas Trophy Hunter' magazine with the current issue at 224 pages. Again articles on outstanding trophies as well as youngsters proudly sharing their story. Management tips from experts in every issue.
There is TexasBowhunter.com with over 76,000 members. Post range from game mgt. to current events , with countless posts showing trail cam pics, harvest pics, the one that got away, age questions...an endless list.
Go into a cafe during hunting season in the countless small towns in Texas and it looks like military maneuvers . All things whitetail dominate most conversations.
I could go on. There is a proud hunter tradition in Texas which seems much different than the tenor of most of these posts. I'm not offering judgement just noting a difference.
Jeff H
Well-Known Member
Baker is right on. I lived in a Chicago suburb for 10 years. I worked with zero people that hunted deer. I personally met more anti's hunting Rock Cut state park in one year than I had ever met in my life before and since that time. They lined up to yell and protest at us. I deer hunted every year but I never felt like I could just talk to anyone/everyone about it without recourse. It gets into your psyche after a while and you start to think "this is normal".
Then I fished a tournament one year at Bulls Shoals lake in Bull Shoals Arkansas. I walked into a restaurant and the first thing I see is a flyer with the picture of a rifle on it. Someone in the community was raffling off a deer rifle. I remember thinking "if this was in Chicago somebody's gonna get sued by the end of the night". But in Bull Shoals Arkansas it was normal.
The following year I moved to the Ozarks for that very reason. I just had to get out of that mindset. Been here 17 years. A couple years ago I had a deer on my trailer and was pulling out of my place. Two kids were on bicycle and I heard one say "cool... look at that deer".
Then I fished a tournament one year at Bulls Shoals lake in Bull Shoals Arkansas. I walked into a restaurant and the first thing I see is a flyer with the picture of a rifle on it. Someone in the community was raffling off a deer rifle. I remember thinking "if this was in Chicago somebody's gonna get sued by the end of the night". But in Bull Shoals Arkansas it was normal.
The following year I moved to the Ozarks for that very reason. I just had to get out of that mindset. Been here 17 years. A couple years ago I had a deer on my trailer and was pulling out of my place. Two kids were on bicycle and I heard one say "cool... look at that deer".
Mrs. Kubota
Active Member
I grew up in the city where I was far removed from the hunting world. It wasn't until I met my husband did I know what a check station was. Before I started hunting I would go to the check station with my husband and fell in love with the idea of it. I saw multiple generations around a truck bed listening to the story of the hunt, younger generations learning from elders and finding something in common. Only a few times have I encountered the person with deer mounted on the hood of their vehicle in rush hour traffic, who I never thought represented me as a hunter. I have never been ashamed of harvesting an animal and happy to let the world know about it. It saddens me that my grandsons will never have the experience of the check stations. I want them to be proud, ethical hunters that are never ashamed because society tells them they should be. We are blessed to be on a lease that allows my grandsons to have the deer camp experience and study the campfire fellowship we share. If we teach future generations to be ashamed of being a hunter than we might as well not encourage them to take it up. Just my thoughts as a woman who has been hunting since 1998.
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dogghr
Well-Known Member
Well I have to say, I drive a Jeep, and ain't no way its going inside. Either strapped on top, or on a hitch carrier or a trailer. I've never been given attitude and more often have been given thumbs up, and have even have been asked to pull over to see said deer. One dude, even pulled back the lips and aged a deer at 4.5, which was prob right. I laughed my ass off because I thot he was just a Meth head, but a smart one I guess. I try not to go thru at real busy times on way to house or butcher, simply because many people just don't like to see a dead animal, not because they are anti hunters, just don't handle the sight well and I respect that.
farmhunter
Well-Known Member
I share alot of the same sentiments expressed here. I grew up hunting in Central NY in the 1980s - many schools would close for opening day of hunting season - and while mine didn't - there was no problem ever not coming to school on Opening Day gun which was always a Monday. Many teachers took it off too! I never paraded around with a harvested deer but I knew guys that did. I didn't judge them, heck I wanted to see! It was very common to see a deer on a car hood, or truck bed in Nov. where I grew up and it was normal. It is different, even here now. Occasionally I'll see a deer hanging in a yard or on a truck bed - but not like in those days.
I like it better now - We have some neighbors we talk with and others we don't - we share basic information - maybe a text and a picture - i'd like it to be more of a cooperative - but I get it.
I like it better now - We have some neighbors we talk with and others we don't - we share basic information - maybe a text and a picture - i'd like it to be more of a cooperative - but I get it.
Jeff H
Well-Known Member
Well said Mrs. K
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