beachpeaz

If you consider hunting a sport (to which most people who hunt do), then killing 1.5 or 2.5 year old deer or doe is not a sport. There is not a hunter young or old, good or bad, smoking in tree stand or not, orange or camo who doesn't have at least one stupid buck or young deer walk by them within in killing range on almost every hunt. Why do I go after MATURE deer (which sometimes have larger racks but not all the time), because of the sport of it. Your whits against that of a wiley, instinctive, reclusive, free-range animal. You have no room for error. For every 100 deer, there is only 1 or 2 mature bucks which makes the sport even harder. I will eat my tag for 5 years in a row before I mercy kill at 1.5 year old deer. Too each their own. As far as the comment made regarding the proliferation of trophy hunting by TV Celebrities, that is a whole other subject. That is not reality. Those shows should be banned as anything other than a woods version of Keeping Up With The Kardashians. The Bill Jordan's, Stan Pott's, Joel Snow's, Mark Drury's, Tiffany Lakoski's, David Blanton's, etc of the world are a closer version to Wal-Mart then the local Corner Store. They are corporate America created for profit and nothing else. They are pre-set up, pre-scouted, highly managed properties where these "elite" hunters show up at 3pm and drop a 160" at 4:30pm. They will single handily ruin our sport for future generations by removing access to hunting grounds and driving up the cost of land.

Just so I can stop following this thread and the idiotic comments by equally as idiotic people, let me answer all your questions: Yup, I'm a douche bag Yup, I'm the father of the year Yup, I'm jealous Yup, I'm bitter Yup, I had a bad experience Yup, I have one single turkey tied to a tree just for me that some kid shot Did I miss any other hypotheses by anyone? Any more attacks on my personal character for expressing an opinion? No. OK then. Moving on. It's a pretty sad world that we live in that an opinion gets transformed into what this thread is. SMH.

Yeah, I said I didn't like it. Good thing hunting doesn't require a high literacy rate.

No, not at all. As I have typed, I make every weekend about my kids. That's what I enjoy about hunting. Those are some of the fondest memories I have with my father growing up, is being out with him. Youth season seems to be a scape goat for people to NOT make any other time about their kids. If we were really concerned about our youth, as parents, we would take our kids with us EVERY time we hunted. I'm not saying that is realistic, but that is what people are turning this into. Great, youth weekend, now I don't have to take my kids out the rest of the month. It's sad, really. You can see that mentality just based on what has been typed by others so far.

"It's not special if it is May 1st?" EVERY DAY I spend with my kids is special. ANY weekend I take them out is special. May 1st is just a day on the calendar and means nothing to me. Having a youth weekend doesn't change that. In my world, they come first and every weekend is a youth weekend. Youth hunts under that preface are as bad as hallmark holidays. Lets only appreciate our mom on May 15th our dad on June 20th, etc.

Correct. A close friend of mine had one that was done years ago (like 7 or 8). It's not a new recall.

I believe you. That was a really interesting study if you didn't see when it was published. Quite eye opening. I've got a couple family members who are die hard GM and they drank too much Koolaid. They brag about dropping $50K on a pick-up truck. When i tell them they paid for a $30K truck and $20K in legacy cost and debt, they don't believe me. Anyway, my last 5 vehicles have been "foreign" and I keep them for 5 to 6 years and $100,000 miles usually. I live in Buffalo, we have plenty of salt. I've not had a spot of rust on any vehicle I have owned.

The other thing I find interesting is, unlike deer hunting, turkey season tends to actually get better as the month progresses. At least where I hunt, the lack of foliage opening day makes it tough. Most the birds I've shot have been towards the middle of the month. So, again, when you have an entire month to hunt turkeys and the hunting essentially is level throughout the month, what is the point of that early youth season. If you are that big of a die hard that you have to be out opening day and have nobody with you, then take your son / daughter the following weekend. Yes? No? I don't get it.

Do you think by creating a youth season, it is going to change a dad to all of a sudden be an unselfish dad (based on your point you just made?). I'm sure that same dad that can't take his kid hunting opening day, will find an excuse during youth season to have something else to do and not spend time with them anyway. My 2 sons are just getting to the point to start taking them hunting and them being with me is more important that anything else. I can't imagine not taking them opening day as my dad did with me. Youth season doesn't change anything in my mind. I bet (and this just an educated guess), that those who are "too busy" to spend time with their families aren't out during youth season, and those who enjoy taking their family hunting would have taken them opening day if that was the only option.

Did you see the study that was published where they compared a Honda Accord and a Chevy Malibu? It was like 2 years ago or so. Remove the logo, and it is basically the same car (yes, they look different, but same doors, tires, chassis, engine, seats, amenities, etc.). The difference, the Honda is currently being built for approximately $40 / hour and the Chevy for $85 / hour, over double, right here in the US. That translates to a Honda Accord for under $30K and a Chevy Malibu for over $40K. The next time you go to your local friendly Chevy dealer, just know you helped pay off billions of dollars in debt by overpaying for that vehicle by 40%. You are not paying for materials, you are paying legacy costs and debt. So yeah, "they are just the body panels rotting out" lol. Cuz that's ok after 3 or 4 years. lol.

They probably used American steal. They won't make that mistake twice. Hate is a word I would reserve for things with emotion, not inanimate objects, but when it comes to Ford and GM, its as close as it gets. Between legacy costs, government bailouts, sub-par products, greed, and past bad experience in owning both, never again will I buy the "big 3" brands. You might as well burn $100 bills to stay warm at night.

.....And before you chime in with your standard script written by the DEC of "getting kids involved with the outdoors at an early age.....yadda yadda yadda," let me remind you that the youth gun season for deer was created mostly due to weather. They wanted kids to be out while the weather was still warmish enough to enjoy, instead of mid-November. That wouldn't be true with turkey season. Doesn't make any sense to me why you couldn't just take your kid on May 1st. Seems pointless.

The difference is, if you bought a GM, it would rot out and they wouldn't give a crap. That's just part of owning a vehicle in their world. I see more GM and Ford vehicles rusted out driving around here than any other brand. I will never buy either for as long as I live.

You could be right. It is an educated guess (I'd bet you a beer that I am closer than you though). Camera pictures are SUPER deceiving. One thing I know is they underestimate mass. I have pictures of deer I have shot and surprised that they score higher than they look. He is short tined, I will agree with you on that. His width, he looks eerily similar to the deer I shot this year and he was 20" inside and 24.5" main beams. I wouldn't discount those 3 scores any more than I did.

Hard to tell off of B&W trail camera pic. Inside - 20" Main Beam - 22" (44) G1's - 3" (6) G2's - 6" (12) G3's - 8" (16) G4's - 4" (8) Average Mass - 16" (32) Gross - 138" (give or take 4")

Antler restrictions are the illegitimate child of uneducated parents. Its not hard to age a deer. If you can't decipher between a yearling and a mature buck, you shouldn't be hunting. I'm not arguing that the DEC should control what you shoot, to each your own. I'm simply stating that IF they want to allow deer to grow, then age is the ONLY thing that should be considered. The rest is straight horse $#%@

Wow, harsh. I just had a cup of tea made from the tears of my disgrace.

First off, Happy Birthday. Second, it was meant to be humorous......with a jab at the WHINY gun hunters. Not all gun hunters....just the whiny ones that cite all the injustices the world has dealt them. I gun hunt as well, but don't complain about the opportunities that exist under my own control.

I'm amazed at the comments in here. Or, actually, not amazed at all knowing the general philosophy of a few of you. I've hunted in states that allow bating and STILL wouldn't consider it. Nothing like dumping a bag of corn and then sitting in your heated shoot house with your high powered rifle and plowing unsuspecting deer. At what point have you taken the sport out of hunting? Why not high fence the place too so they can't get away. At that point, you might as well just raise cows and save yourself the aggravation of having to buy a hunting license. SMH

I think the lack of stress is a big factor. They have not had to be desperate this winter and dig in fields for remnants of food. Plus, without the "violent" action of pawing at the ground, there is nothing to help jar them loose. Walking around last week I was amazed at how many plants and trees were blooming (nature is very confused this year). I am sure this has helped the deer as well with an earlier than expected "spring" food source. Definitely a strange year for shed hunting.

I assume you just included yourself in the group of whiny gun hunters by being defensive about a humorous picture?

I won't get into the moral judgment of how people shoot deer legally, but I would say that is a pretty boring show to watch. Without ratings, not sure how it would survive TV. I sure as heck wouldn't sponsor it as a business owner, or watch it as a hunter. Sadly, you don't have to go all the way to NC to find that garbage, it happens right here in NYS as well.

Looks like something a few of you gun hunters would try and pull off.

Anybody shed hunting this weekend? lol.

Yup. That's why some western states make it illegal to hunt with magnified optics. Where I hunt mule deer in Utah during ML season, you have to use open sights or a non-magnifying scope. So, regardless of the ML you have, it keeps the season challenging.