If and when do you lower your standards?

[ready2hunt]

I agree with mattys281- just getting one takes the edge off.

 

I wont ever push my kids to wait for a "big one." Having said that, for me, the only times I will hold out for a large rack is if I have been scouting and trailing a large animal and know I have a chance or if I am hunting in Kiabab.

 

If I hear one more person say "you cant eat antlers" I will shoot myself. First of all, I hate that "holier than thou" crap from people I don't know and 2nd, it is cheaper for me to buy beef and chicken on sale than it is to buy a license, tag and trip expenses for a deer or elk so dont tell me its "all about the meat."

 

Its "all about the experience" and I want my kids to experience success as quickly as possible.

[208muley]

I say hold out and shoot only giants!!! Make sure they have a $5k rifle, full set of kuiu, or Sitka, no less than Swarovski 10x42 el hd AND 15x56hds with a $1k tripod. $400 boots. A video team to film every single moment, and more gadgets and gear than can be carried by themselves. If they don't know how to score an animal and post to social media before the animal is gutted....... They aren't ready. These kids need to be At the top of the game right away...... Ain't got time to shoot small critters as it is a direct reflection on you the parent!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Or you can just get them some gear and trigger time, get em out there, and if they see something that is legal and their eyes give you "the look". Then let them shoot... And enjoy every single moment!!!

[Farmboy876]

I lose my standards after 6 IPA's

[vitalzone]

Never pass on a buck the first day that you would be willing to take on the last day

[billrquimby]

I stopped hunting "trophies" after editing a record book for nearly 17 years. Today, I may or may not shoot the first legal animal I see. It all depends upon how I feel that day.

 

Bill Quimby

[trphyhntr]

I stopped hunting "trophies" after editing a record book for nearly 17 years.

editing records made you not want to hunt them?

[wildwoody]

Opening day!!!

[Flatlander]

Usually before I get to the bar

[DesertBull]

I like shooting animals and eating their flesh no matter what they carry on their head. I have no problem shooting a spike on day one if its a tag I can draw every year. If I've waited several years for a tag I have a different mind set though.

[trphyhntr]

Usually before I get to the bar

lions den next weekend? or lets go to lodge and get stabbed by a native

[cactusjack]

Like my buddies from the military, "Time is limited, go ugly early!"

[rcdinaz]

let them choose unless you know you are going to be really pressed for time.

 

I have one daughter that just wants to hunt and shoot and one that is patient unless we convince her otherwise. If we find a good one in the area before opening day we will wait longer but usually after day one it is pretty much game on for forks or better. It is nice that they have already shot good deer so they don't really ask about spikes. I think they have higher standards than me because they were blessed early with a couple of great hunts.

[Ed67]

Every hunt is different I try to shoot something bigger than what I have which really isn't very big but I come home empty by choice on most occasions. Last year there was no way I would shoot before my son since he had national guard duty and only had opening morning to hunt. Fortunately opening morning he shot his biggest buck to date and returned to his guard station. Unfortunately for me it was the only buck we saw but I got spooked about being alone with all the drug smugglers using the canyons/drainage we like. Hunting down south creates a lot of variables for me.

[billrquimby]

 

I stopped hunting "trophies" after editing a record book for nearly 17 years.

editing records made you not want to hunt them?

 

 

trphyhntr:

 

It made me realize that the best heads were consistently being taken by guys with the thickest wallets, and only occasionally by skilled or lucky "average" hunters.

 

For example if someone who really wants to shoot a new world record something or another has enough money, there are outfitters who will offer obscene bounties to crews who will systematically scour six or seven of the best states year around to locate it. If there are governor's permits in that state, the hunter can kill it legally. If not, enough money will find a way to make it "semi-legal." Failing that, there are breeders who gladly will grow and release a steroid-fed creature with the best genes into a "wild" area where he can shoot it like a put-and-take trout.

 

Bill Quimby