the Freezer or the Wall??

S

sageadvice

Long Time Member
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What's more important to you?

Me, i generally hunt for a buck good enough for the wall but i'm a couple months now, plum out of venison and kinda wish i'd snapped a cap in that nice fat forkie that i passed on the opening weekend.

Joey
 
A forky in cali is wall worthy:) If I draw a tag out of state it is a "wall" hunt. I dont plan on going to muley country and whacking a little guy. I have not shot an elk yet so I think when I get that chance, whatever is legal is hitting the ground. Living in Tx. we are overrun by deer. I have 2 buck tags and 2 doe tags here in the county I live in. I cull a dink buck, whack a couple does and leave one tag for the muy grande. He never showed this year.
 
For me the most important part of the hunt would be the adventure or the experience of the hunt. Second would be a trophy for the wall.
Finally meat would be third. I enjoy venison, but I can always buy meat at the butcher shop.




BT
 
Only shoot mature bucks. No reason to shoot a young buck. Plenty of antlerless tags available for freezer meat.
 
The older I get it seems the less I need to shoot just any buck. Last year is the first year I can say that I horn hunted! You know what, I probably seen more bucks last year than I had in the last 5 years combined. It cost me a nice buck because I took to much time to look it over, but if I had not been horn hunting I would not have passed several decent bucks ealier to see him. The trade-offs of life!!!
 
the only red meat i buy at the store are rib eyes to barbque. so the freezer it is for me.....just mine always have wall worthy horns attached.....
 
The wall for me, the meat is a delicous bonus.

I was raised on wild game; never bought beef in my life. Except a steak at a restuarant, I guess.
 
First reason is for just getting out after anything! Second, always for a wall hanger or nothing buck wise at this stage of my life. Third, for meat I'll shoot a doe and let the young bucks grow.
 
If I'm not willing to have it mounted for my wall, I'm not willing to shoot it. I usually donate the meat to a needy family that lives in my area and shoot a bison every year for the meat for my family. I have to agree on the experience and getting my 10 year old son out on the hunt with me #1 though.
 
i love venison,but as i have aged i will only kill a mature deer,be it blacktail or mule deer.
 
I've been horn hunting the last few years for deer, elk if its got antlers its going down! If either my wife or I dont get an elk my standards for deer usually go down.

Never really HAD to kill something because everyone in my family is generous with sharing whatever meat they have in their freezer. Either me, my wife, my brother, my dad, my brother in law will kill a elk if not all of us. Not to mention the out of state hunt that happens every year. Our freezers are usually empty or very close to by the time the hunts roll around again.


4b1db2ac644136c4.jpg
 
My family rarely uses beef except for a good prime rib or steak. We use elk meat for everything. But with that said, I am a horn hunter. I always try to kill bigger then I have on my wall. I have been that way since I first started hunting. My first buck was a 18 inch 3 point and it has gone up from there. Im probably about maxed out so if I dont lower my standards I may never kill another animal.
 
it depends on the hunt , if i have a great tag i will hold off for a shooter. my family always put in for extra antlerless and for cow elk so usually have plenty of venision. if i am on a over the counter hunt and i am hunting a week. i will hold out 4-5 days for quality then i am in freezer mode........
 
LAST EDITED ON Mar-21-11 AT 01:46PM (MST)[p]Depends on where.

I killed my first elk last year, and IMO it makes some of those mulie bucks taste like shoe leather.

My taste for wild game rankings is currently:

Sandhill Crane
Elk
Antelope
Snipe
Dove
Specklebelly
Duck
Mule deer
Other Goose
 
The wall is pretty empty but so is the freezer, so I fill the wall for me and the freezer for my wife who loves venison.
 
Some tags are meat tags, some trophy tags. Always get a couple doe tags to make sure I have meat.

from the "Heartland of Wyoming"
 
Won't shoot a mule deer to fill the freezer anymore. With the overall downward trend in muley numbers, it's gonna have to be a mature buck.


Pretty much fill my freezer every year with an elk and a whitetail.







the artist formerly known as "gemstatejake".
 
For elk, im more in it for the meat, but some nice horn never hurts. As far as mule deer, I shot a buck this year that was smaller then the year prior, and I wasnt too happy about that. Since my dad shoots does, from now on ill let him fill the freezer and ill shoot for horns.
 
Wall here, it is a whole lot cheaper for me to buy meat, but the hunting experience is of course most importante!

"My only regret in life is setting my goals too low"
 
I always look for a wall hanger....then he is totally made into salami...with our generous general elk tags around here I have no problem keeping the freezer full of Elk..
 
I pretty much shoot for the wall. If i dont find a buck that interests me then it doesnt bother me to go without. Honestly i think deer is one of the lower tasteing meats, not terrible but not my favorite by any means. Antelope to me is one of the best although i have never had sheep but i imagine it would be really good.
 
wall for me, i give most my venison away keep some for jerky tho, when you have freezers of premium beef, venison just doesnt cut it.
 
I love wild game, antlers and memories so not a simple answer for me. Depends on what kind of tag (trophy vs OTC) who I am with, how many tags I have for the season and if I have meat in the freezer already or still with a "easy" tag in my pocket.


Mntman

"Hunting is where you prove yourself"
 
I've been holding out until the end of the season for something big the last couple of years, but in the end meat hunting still is the primary. My wife prefers deer to any other game, though it all gets devoured around here.
 
For the last 16 years it has been 100% wall for me
But this year we have 5 kids with there first deer tags in
hand(my boy and 4 nephews)and several more to come in the next few years
So for the next several years we are going back to freezer hunting and I have to add met I'm kind of looking forward getting back to the basics of "DEER CAMPING"
 
I refuse to shoot a mule deer in the units we hunt, I'll let the kids get their's for a while. Elk and whitetail for me, wall only! We make Jerky and Bratz with the wild game, there's to much good beef standing out in the pastures to eat wild game any other way.
 
When we go to WY we shoot a deer and an antelope so I always have plenty of meat for the freezer. Last year I didn't go so I will be out of meat come this Oct. I will not shoot any local (Central Coast, Ca.) unless he's a good buck. Our local deer don't taste too good.

Steve
Derkha derkha Muhammed jihad hakha sherpha sherpha abakhala- Gary of Team America World Police
 
its all about the experience. If a little buck gets the trigger finger "itchy" then fill the tag. If it doesn't let'em live.

You dont have to kill to fill you had a good hunt!

4a7d1f93337c7fd7.jpg
 
>When we go to WY we
>shoot a deer and an
>antelope so I always have
>plenty of meat for the
>freezer. Last year I didn't
>go so I will be
>out of meat come this
>Oct. I will not shoot
>any local (Central Coast, Ca.)
>unless he's a good buck.
>Our local deer don't taste
>too good.
>

That's odd Steve.

The blacktail from up here are far better table fare than most of the muleys I've shot.
 
Although I like blacktails too, I much prefer the much gamier taste of mulies so I agree with Wiszard to a point.

It depends on the tag but it is usually wall first for me but I have kids to shoot the meat deer when we aren't seeing a lot of wall bucks.

Bill

Look out Forkie, FTW is watching us!
 
"Although I like blacktails too, I much prefer the much gamier taste of mulies so I agree with Wiszard to a point."

I'll tell you what, the mule deer we have shot in the past taste like filet mignon compared to how the blacktails taste here locally. Gamier taste of mulies? Not the case with us. We've never had bad mule deer.

Steve
Derkha derkha Muhammed jihad hakha sherpha sherpha abakhala- Gary of Team America World Police
 
I will agree with that too wiz! I have never had a bad mulie! I was just echoing what I hear a lot of people say when they discuss the difference in the 2. Bill
 
I hunt for food,but have a couple euros from some nice bucks.Only took two little forkies and felt guilty.If I ever get that 30"er it will be wall mount.Maybe a great bull too.But a euro bull takes less space. I always am looking for a trophy tho!
 
It much more than just a buck and just some meat in the freezer. I am fortunate enough to hunt a wilderness area for trophy deer and elk and then hunt my parents ranch for some solid doe meat. Doe meat is always better than no meat. I'm all about the experience while hunting.
 
I buy two tags every year. One is strictly wallhanger, the 2nd is wallhanger until the last day,, then its meat time!!!!!
 
the most deer tags i have had in one year was 7 and the only deer i shot was a meet buck. 6 difront states and i could not find a great buck..... some times i just suck lol....
 
When I was younger with a wife and kids if it was brown I put it down. Now all I care about now is more for the wall.
 
Sage you must love the Gout...Just remember when your chowing down on that deer steak to wash it down with cherry juice.
I love deer jerky,But nothing triggers my gout faster..
As I recall I think you also suffer from gout..
 
"Sage you must love the Gout."

Actually, No! I don't much care for gout at all, few do. Honestly, venison has never brought on an attack, for me, that i'm aware of. Crab, oysters, and other shellfish have been my obvious nemesis.

To make myself clear, i have a really hard time shooting a buck just for it's meat. I'm way beyond the thrill of the kill. Having put many dozens, what i consider, quality bucks down, just to take one to eat doesn't do anything for me until way after when the fact that my freezer is getting low gives me pause for thoughts such as now. When nicely stocked, i'll eat venison at least once or twice a week. It's good for a guy, IMO, i butcher my own most of the time, and i happen to much enjoy the way i prepare it.

Joey
 
> For me the most important
>part of the hunt would
>be the adventure or the
>experience of the hunt. Second
>would be a trophy for
>the wall.
>Finally meat would be third. I
>enjoy venison, but I can
>always buy meat at the
>butcher shop.
>
>
>
>
>BT

x 2! (Couldn't have said it better myself!)

GrizlyHunter
 

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