Trophy Hunter or Meat Hunter

[Deadeye]

That was the Topic Line on a forum that I visit often where the Lounge Talk can be taken into just about any direction---But Politics.


Anyway, several guys told what they feel they are and why and I was also one that answered.

Then This Guy did that said (I'm posting as close as I can from memory):

"No Doubt I'm a Trophy Hunter. I pick out ONE Buck and will taken only him UNLESS a Bigger Buck show. I don't eat the meat, I feed it to my Dogs.

I'll let a Guest shoot what they like, like this one my Guest shot last year and we fed the meat to the Dogs."


That just didn't set well with me, so I replied on his post that "I was raised to eat what I kill and I Personally Find what you are doing to be disgusting and it helps to give Hunters a Bad Name".

He replied that I was allowed to have my opinion, then went on to say how he has killed a ton of deer in a Deer Reduction Area and gave all the meat away and still will but his feeding it to the Dogs was a good use of it and if he wanted to eat meat he would get a good steak from a Butcher.

I left it go.

But what surprised me was just how many took his side and said that his feeding the meat to his Dogs was a great use of the meat and much better for them than buying Dog Food at the store. Several more made comments that they don't eat the meat either and as one guy stated "just because I don't eat the meat doesn't mean I can't hunt them anymore.

It was quite an eye opening Read. Never realized how many guys that hunt for Deer don't like the meat and only hunt to add another head to their Trophy Wall.

So what y'all say? Was I wrong to suggest that is feeding his Deer Meat to his Dogs was a disgusting move to me?

How Many here hunt but never eat the meat and why?

 

[THE LLC]

I always eat the meat. I don't shoot a buck unless it is THE buck, but does, no problem. And, I do give some to my dogs. They're family. I even have jerky "snack sticks" made for them as treats. Of course, I eat as many as they do. I do love venison.

 

[g squared 23]

I think there is a continuum, a line where Meat Hunter is on one extreme, and a true trophy hunter is on the other. The vast majority of hunters lie somewhere in the middle. We normally start out towards the meat hunter side and many move towards trophy hunter as we “progress”, but still have some meat hunter in them, at least enough that they hold the venison in high regard. As most end up somewhere in the middle, it’s rare and disconcerting to see someone truly sit on one extreme pole or the other. The guy above feeding his dogs is the trophy extreme; the other extreme would be the pure meat hunter which would be just as odd. My best example would be the guy that has an old booner and a young doe walk by slowly at the same distance, out in the clear. 99.99% of hunters shoot the booner. The 100% pure meat hunter shoots the young tender doe because they are only interested in the quality of the meat and you can’t eat antlers. If any of us heard the story, we would find it unbelievable. Someone having so little regard for the antlers they would pass a monster buck is almost as unbelievable as someone having so little regard for venison that they consider it dog food.


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[rusty1034]

I love to hunt whitetail in the north east. The two cuts of meat I care to eat from the harvest are the inner loins and the back straps. And then they have to be flash fried in butter, and made into a Philly Cheese steak sand which. The rest of the meat I try to give away, or have made into slimjims, jerky, or summer sausage.

If I was killing those beautiful animals to feed a dog, I’d find a different pastime.


Rusty

 

[Neahawg]

I'm both I typically draw a public land muzzleloader permit and that hunt if it's brown it's down, then I will trophy hunt on our place.

I tend to agree with you that one always been told if you kill it you better eat it, but I would say if he is feeding meat to his dogs that's better than letting it rot. Also at of people donate their deer to feed the hungry programs which I think is a good thing.

 

[Elkaddict]

We eat the choice cuts as steak and have the rest processed as sausage or snacks. When our freezers are full, I pay to have the meat processed and donate it. I’m content with what we do and really don’t care what others think about it.

 

[George]

For me trophy antlers always come with trophy meat.

G

 

[weekender21]

The dog food topic is interesting. I had a coworker ask me for venison to feed his dog years ago. At the time I was living out west and only had a few deer tags annually. He was educated and told no.

I’m a meat first hunter. Every situation is different based on deer density, regs, etc. I’m in a very high density area. My goal is to fill doe tags (we get 4) early and late season and wait for a mature “trophy” in November. As George stated above, these trophies have a large quantity of meat attached! No issues passing spikes and 2 year olds waiting for a large buck or doe.

We eat everything: hocks, heart, shoulders, etc. We don’t buy red meat from a store.


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[Mennoniteman]

At $8 a pound, nobody would shoot a prime rib, hang it in a tree for a week, and then feed it to their dogs. I feel like people not knowing how to prepare venison is a big reason why they don't want to eat it. No chef will prepare a steak the same way as they barbeque chicken, do pulled pork the same way the same way that they do a hotdog, or make a burger the same way that they do a roast. Venison is the same way, it has it's own set of characteristics, and it takes a chef with the right expertise to make a tasty dish with it.
3/4" thick backstrap steaks, marinated, and grilled over charcoal are as tasty as any beef steak. Ground burger mixed 50-50 with beef is a very tasty base for many dishes. Deer tongue and heart with some seasonings in the instapot is very tasty, with a similar texture to beef brisket. A favorite of our family is poor man's steak out of 100% venison, because the meat is floating in mushroom sauce it is never dry.
Something that is a big thing in our area is older people with heart issues who are not allowed to eat any red meat are allowed to eat venison, and these people are desperate for venison, and know how to make tasty dishes out of it. One of these people that I just gave a deer said that their favorite is canned deer ribs. I have no idea how they do this, or how they taste but it must be delicious to be considered their favorite, as these people regularly served roast duck when they could still eat it, and had us over for some, which would have been top notch in any restaurant.

 

[weekender21]

At $8 a pound, nobody would shoot a prime rib, hang it in a tree for a week, and then feed it to their dogs. I feel like people not knowing how to prepare venison is a big reason why they don't want to eat it. No chef will prepare a steak the same way as they barbeque chicken, do pulled pork the same way the same way that they do a hotdog, or make a burger the same way that they do a roast. Venison is the same way, it has it's own set of characteristics, and it takes a chef with the right expertise to make a tasty dish with it.
3/4" thick backstrap steaks, marinated, and grilled over charcoal are as tasty as any beef steak. Ground burger mixed 50-50 with beef is a very tasty base for many dishes. Deer tongue and heart with some seasonings in the instapot is very tasty, with a similar texture to beef brisket. A favorite of our family is poor man's steak out of 100% venison, because the meat is floating in mushroom sauce it is never dry.
Something that is a big thing in our area is older people with heart issues who are not allowed to eat any red meat are allowed to eat venison, and these people are desperate for venison, and know how to make tasty dishes out of it. One of these people that I just gave a deer said that their favorite is canned deer ribs. I have no idea how they do this, or how they taste but it must be delicious to be considered their favorite, as these people regularly served roast duck when they could still eat it, and had us over for some, which would have been top notch in any restaurant.

Canned ribs sound interesting. I’ve been wanting to can venison but I’m generally too busy to set aside the time and my deer is quickly cleaned, sealed, and frozen.


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[MarkDarvin]

I can see a way it's not a disrespect to the animal. If he had performance dogs or just really loved his dogs, he may want to source them clean wild food, vs the overmedicated and sick CAFO animals from which we derive our pet foods.

I have this same tug of war in my mind when I'm doing chainsaw work on my property. I spent a day dropping nice 5-8" DBH ash trees at my place. Those trees would be easy firewood, but there is no market for it in my area, so they will rot on the ground. That bothers me.

However, those ash trees newly laying on the ground are a valuable winter food source for my deer as they browse the tops extensively. The stumps sprouts are also tremendous browse for years after cutting. The remainder of that tree is excellent ground clutter as it makes homes for snowshoe rabbits, grouse, and lots of other wild game. It also provides a place for browse vulnerable plants to grow for a few years before the deer get in there to eat them.

Perspective is a big deal.

 

[THE LLC]

People in Alaska feed their dogs venison on purpose. I really don’t see an issue with it. I love my dogs. They definitely don’t get venison (or wild pork) simply because I don’t want to eat it. I love eating it but I like them to have the best food I can give them also.

 

[weekender21]

People in Alaska feed their dogs venison on purpose. I really don’t see an issue with it. I love my dogs. They definitely don’t get venison (or wild pork) simply because I don’t want to eat it. I love eating it but I like them to have the best food I can give them also.

I agree, no issues feeding venison to dogs. It’s not going to waste. It’s a little strange not eating some yourself but everyone’s situation is different.


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[Mennoniteman]

People in Alaska feed their dogs venison on purpose. I really don’t see an issue with it. I love my dogs. They definitely don’t get venison (or wild pork) simply because I don’t want to eat it. I love eating it but I like them to have the best food I can give them also.

I've hunted bears in Maine, the hunting guide would cut out the backstraps and the hams, then feed the front shoulders to the dogs right on the spot at the kill site. Their opinion was that the front shoulders weren't fit for human consumption because of all the ligaments. To me this is a good compromise, using all of it except the squeal. (And bear meat is nowhere near as good as venison)
I think where some of us hardcore deer hunters are turned off is not the fact that they are feeding their dogs well, it's the attitude and thought presented by some people that deer meat is "only" fit for dogs.

 

[George]

Yep.

G

 

[George]

A farmer friend in Iowa told me that venison tastes like dog feces. Having not ever eaten dog feces I had to wonder if I was missing out.

G

 

[Mennoniteman]

A farmer friend in Iowa told me that venison tastes like dog feces. Having not ever eaten dog feces I had to wonder if I was missing out.

G

I know a lot of farmers and I'd say there's very few that eat a lot of venison:
#1, For most farmers, either directly or indirectly, beef is their paycheck.
#2. For most farmers, deer are considered a loss off the bottom line because they feed them for free.
#3. Most farmers' idea of a vacation isn't deer hunting.
#4. Most farmers idea of hunters is that they are a pain in the butt, but they need them to get rid of the deer.
#5. Most farmers butcher their downed cows for beef, cows that they'd have to pay to get rid of, so beef is even more free than venison.
#6. Most farmers work hard and eat well, and their idea of dinner doesn't include lean meat.
So right there are six quick reasons why a farmer is apt to not appreciate a gift of venison from a hunter.
If someone is hunting on a farm and wants to take the farmer a gift, take a ham or some cream filled doughnuts.

 

[Drycreek]

Some might be surprised how many people won’t eat anything wild. I know lots of them. None of them are my family though ! As to the guy feeding his deer to the dogs, I guess that’s his business but mine never gets more than scraps from the skinning and quartering process, and I’ll bet I love my Sarge just as much as he loves his.

Everybody loves to kill a big buck, but my primary reasons for deer hunting are the meat and the actual hunt. Trophies would have to be at least third on the list. I like a good ribeye as much as the next guy but backstrap medium rare wrapped in bacon ain’t nothing to sneeze at !

 

[MarkDarvin]

I've hunted bears in Maine, the hunting guide would cut out the backstraps and the hams, then feed the front shoulders to the dogs right on the spot at the kill site. Their opinion was that the front shoulders weren't fit for human consumption because of all the ligaments. To me this is a good compromise, using all of it except the squeal. (And bear meat is nowhere near as good as venison)
I think where some of us hardcore deer hunters are turned off is not the fact that they are feeding their dogs well, it's the attitude and thought presented by some people that deer meat is "only" fit for dogs.

I don't share my venison or my bear. I canned my entire bear, every single bite of it. I flat out tell people -no- if they ask to try it. That stuff is too precious to give away on the chance someone doesn't appreciate it. I'm a big fan of wild and clean eating and sourcing your own protein. The devil's in the Omega 6's.

I'm pulling out some venison tonight to prep for canning at the cabin this week.

 

[Baker]

I'm a hunter! Never could figure out why we need to slice, dice, segregate, divide, parse.....hunters, management techniques or much of the stuff folks want to separate and polarize with. Every few years a trophy pops up on our property that excites me and I get pretty medieval after him. Big fun. Absolutely love giant whitetail antlers.

Most years however, I just shoot does and culls I want removed from the property. happy with that too. There is one rule on the farm my wife enforces. Anyone that kills a deer on our farm , we get the tenders, and one blackstrap. That feeds us for the year. Don't buy store-bought beef.

Most of the other parts of deer get fed to our dogs. Same thing in my mind. I'd rather feed our animals quality forage raised in an outstanding environment than store bought crap. We try to be as self sufficient as possible.Just me.